What could be said to be a reprieve to the perennial problems facing real development and growth of the metal sector and operators in the South East and Nigeria in general may have been reeled out here to enable urgent actions to be taken by the Federal Government administration headed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Top on the solution is to ensure that quick infrastructural development is captured in the national budget and ensure it is judiciously implemented.
Also as matter of urgent national importance, Federal Government should aggressively pursue the objective of achieving steady power supply in the South East region of Nigeria, Goddi Ihenachor, a seasoned Industrialist, chairman and chief executive officer, GMICORD Industrial Group said recently, in Owerri, Imo State.
According to him, “Our local operators require more regular allocation of forex and special fund for industrialists. The availability of this needed forex should not, for whatever reason, become an optical illusion. It should move beyond the current restriction.
“The Federal Government should also ensure that the waiting time is reduced. Similarly, the paltry amount of forex allocated to operators, after much waiting, should be discouraged, if our collective quest to better the industrial climate in the South East will be realised”.
He said the Steel and Metal Operators’ sector, being the engine which drives the nation’s industrial sector in general, that the Federal Government should set up a special fund for the sector.
To ease the challenges of this sector, also, Ihenachor suggested to the Federal Government to declassify the Aluminum Smelting Plant at Ikot Abasi from the Export Zone, stating that doing that would ensure its products are available to both local and foreign markets when completed and functional.
He urged the Federal Government to take a cue from their Chinese government and grant export incentives to Industrialists to attract foreign exchange inflow to Nigeria and to give a certain percentage of export value to manufacturers.
The Indian companies which are operating in Nigeria, according to him, “are supported by the Bank of India, with very low interest rate for machineries and long term repayment plan.
“It is most interesting to note that Bank of India, finances their raw material imports and allows them to pay back within 90-120 days”, Ihenachor said.
“If Bank of India can do this for their nationals, why can’t our own Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, do same for Nigerian companies? Why can’t the CBN help the local metal operators?” he asked.
To enable the survival of the Metal Operators in the South East, the Federal government should among other things restrict the activities of the scrap smelting companies to the production of only raw materials like rods and steel wire coils.
“This is the only sure way to make our operators survive the harsh and stiff competition they are currently facing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Governor Emeka Ihedioha has said that any government that “neglects the Mines and Steel development sector does so at its own risk”, stressing that his government is committed to develop and the development of the Metal Sector of the state.
SABY ELEMBA, Owerri
