Packaging firms commend CBN’s forex policy

The Central Bank of Nigeria foreign exchange policy has been described as a game changer for the majority of local manufacturers in the country. This was the position of two leading local manufacturers in the packaging industry.

The manufacturers acknowledged that the impact of the CBN policy on forex since its inception had more than doubled their productive capacity with attendant benefits in terms of expansion to meet increasingly higher demands for their products and services.

The manufacturers warned that it was important for the CBN and the Federal Government to mitigate challenges facing local manufacturers, to prevent the Greece experience in Nigeria.

According to the Deputy Managing Director of Tempo Paper Pulp & Packaging Limited, Mr. Nassos Sidirofagis, since the CBN foreign exchange policy came into existence, Tempo has been able to increase its production capacity from 50 to 70 per cent.

This, he said, had impacted on their ability to increase exports with higher volumes which would ensure higher foreign exchange earnings.

Speaking further, he said the policy had helped the manufacturers realise the urgent need to expand because of increasing demands for their products. He revealed that their company planned to start an expansion project due to increasing demands between 2016 and 2017.

On challenges facing local manufacturers’ ability to expand, he noted that the government should focus more on manufacturers so that Nigeria would not experience what Greece experienced. He advised that the policy must be in place for a minimum of two years to facilitate full development of local capacity and attract investors.

In the same vein, the Group Operation Manager of SREN Chemicals Limited, Mr. Oluwasesan Taiwo-Tijani, narrated how his organisation had benefitted from the CBN foreign exchange policy.

Taiwo-Tijani explained that the CBN forex policy had forced several companies, which are import-driven, to patronise SREN Chemicals. “This impacted on our sales and our productive capacity has increased by 30 per cent,” he said.

He appealed to the Federal Government to retain the policy with a view to sustaining local content development and turning Nigeria into an export-dependent country.