The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has lamented the difficulty in accessing the Central Bank’s N1tn COVID-19 Stimulus for Manufacturing and Import Substitution, 2020.
Its Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, in a position paper titled, ‘Comment of MAN on CBN intervention fund for manufacturers and naira 4 dollar scheme,’ and received Thursday said members had not been able to access it due to prevarication of the participating financial institutions and Deposit Money Banks.
The paper read, “Generally, MAN observed through feedbacks from members and interaction with the CBN on several occasions that these facilities and funds have not been adequately accessible to manufacturers due mainly to the prevarication of the PFIs and MDBs.
“MAN, while acknowledging the excellent initiative of the CBN in setting up the N1tn COVID-19 stimulus facility for manufacturing and import substitution, observed that most of its members who applied were not able to get it.
It added, “According to the CBN, only 76 companies have received N300bn, which translates to 30 per cent, in one year.
“Intriguingly, according to our members, the banks are claiming that they have not received the framework for the administration of the facility from the CBN.”
The manufacturers, who commended the CBN funding windows faulted the poor implementation which hindered the attainment of the noble objectives of these funds.
Going forward, the paper proposed strict enforcement of the grants to the manufacturers adding, “this is especially with respect to the N1tn manufacturing and import substitution facility, the N220bn Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, the 100bn Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Support Funds and N300bn Real Sector Support Facility.”
It also sought specific timelines as to when the funds would be completely disbursed, stressing that any PFIs and DMBs who failed to diligently disburse the funds should be sanctioned.
Regarding the CBN naira 4 dollar scheme, it stressed the need to dimension the inflows which has historically been 70 per cent for family support and 30 per cent for other purposes, including real estate which carries the greater part.
It also urged for the need to consider where the domestic foreign exchange earners stood within the context of the scheme, as well as the manufacturer who suffered several infrastructure and macroeconomic challenges.
