The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has lamented the increasing rate of importation in the country.
NASME stated that some of the Made-in-Nigeria products have better standards than some imported goods but the prevalence of price differentiation has continually led to a decline in the patronage of the locally-made goods.
In an interview, the South-West region Chairman of the association, Solomon Aderoju expressed displeasure over the current monetary policy rate which hinders Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from borrowing more than 16.5 per cent.
Aderoju stated that SMEs have been exposed to the effects of inflation, interest rate and other factors, urging the government to look into the matter.
According to him, a market with an influx of foreign products will suppress the growth of locally made products in the country.
“The influx of foreign products is killing our locally produced goods and some of them are not better than what we are producing in Nigeria.
“Also, infrastructure has to be in place to address the issue of energy. We have to look into that because the cost of production is very high,” Aderoju said.
On his part, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf noted that the high cost of production in Nigeria which influences the price of products has made people go for cheaper foreign goods.
On finding a panacea to the situation, Yusuf advised that there should be a policy mandating all levels of government in the country to patronise Nigeria-made goods.
“Across all the sectors of small businesses, the greatest worry is the rising cost of prices. It has even forced some of them out of business. So, it will benefit them a great deal if in the New Year we can have an improvement in our macroeconomic environment,” he stated.
