CPPE Opposes Bill Seeking to Ban Raw Materials Imports into Nigeria
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has said the bill seeking to ban the importation of raw materials that are available locally has “very weak value proposition”.
Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of CPPE, urged lawmakers to stop deliberations on the bill, which “has the prospect of creating significant adverse and unintended consequences for Nigerian exporters and manufacturers”.
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council Bill also proposed that no primary products exports should take place unless there is a minimum of 30% local value addition.
“On the face of it, the idea of promoting local value addition is good for the economy and potentially enhances the chances of better earnings from our exports,” Yusuf said. “The current proposal
in the bill will penalise exporters in the country, most of whom export primary products. Thousands of jobs in the primaryproducts export supply chain would be put at risk.”
The bill, according to him, has not taken into account the critical challenges of manufacturing, processing and value addition in the Nigerian economy.
“Most agro-processors have collapsed not so much because of the raw materials availability, but the challenges of productivity and competitiveness,” he said. “Production costs are prohibitive.”
If passed, the bill would create new corruption gateways in the bureaucracy as businesses will now be burdened with another chain of approvals, according to CPPE.
