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Iheanacho worry over govt’s neglect of metal industry

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FROM VICTOR DURUAMAKU – OWERRI

Chairman of the Metal Operators of Nigeria (South East zone Mr. Goddi  Ihenacho has lamented the neglect of the sector  by the Federal  Government . Metal Operators is a Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sub-sector of the Nigerian Metallurgical Industry.

Speaking during an interactive session with newsmen in Owerri recently, Mr. Ihenacho who is also the Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) GMICORD Industrial Group Owerri blamed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal government for the stunted growth of the Metal Operators in the country.

He therefore urged the Federal Government and the CBN to study the examples of China and India and apply same to encourage the SMEs in this sector to thrive.

According to him, “the Federal Government should borrow a leaf from its Chinese counterpart and grant export incentives to Industrialists under the auspices of Metal Operators in order to attract foreign exchange inflow to Nigeria. Government can give a certain percentage of the export value to the manufacturers”, Ihenacho  said.

In China he said,  “the lending rates are between 0.5 -2 percent with long  term repayment period and allowing Metal Operators to borrow at Commercial banks’ rates like traders are suicidal “, the Chairman  said.

Ihenacho, however charged the CBN to establish what he called “special fund” for the Operators at an interest rate of 2-3 percent with long term repayment period spreading to about 30 years.

He disclosed that Chinese companies are flooding Nigeria’s market with very low priced products which are in competition with Nigeria products, stressing that as a natural consequence of competition, this is pushing out operators, who regularly source their Forex needs from black market.

In a similar way,  “we now know that Indian companies operating in Nigeria  are supported by Bank of India with very low interest rate for machineries and long term repayment plan”,and  the Bank of India finances the Indian Industrialists’ raw materials imported  into India and allows them  to pay back within 90-120 days, the Chairman said.

Ihenacho stated that such gesture is the reason  the Indian companies are springing up in Nigeria, arguing that “if Bank of India can do this for their nationals, why can’t our own CBN do same for Nigerian companies”? He asked.

He noted that in the metallurgical industry  steel is power hence the metal sub-sector of the country must be repositioned by  the Federal  Government  to produce among other things, bars, rods, angles, sections, plates  sheets, strips, pipes,  wires etc for the use of the Metal Operators to it thrive and for the investors to scale up their businesses.

“In the Metallurgical industry,  many countries that started in the way Nigeria started its own years back have been able to lift their economies from the third world poverty and starvation due to the level of industrialization they have achieved through proper development  of the metallurgical industry.

Some of those countries include South Korea, Algeria, Tunisia, India, China, Iran, Turkey, Egypt Libya etc but Nigeria has not found its feet in this Industrial sector of the economy for decades.

Mr. Iheanacho emphasized that more worrisome is the fact that both the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria have not been providing incentives to the SMEs of the Metallurgical sector unlike China and India that give incentives to their Industrialists to grow their businesses.

One of the consequences is that the Small and Medium  industrial ventures are suffering  and this is responsible for their stunted growth”.

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