MAN to FG: Support devt of energy mix, renewable

MAN to FG: Support devt of energy mix, renewable

COMFORT EKELEME

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the federal government to support development of energy mix and renewable, saying the country has huge potentials for Solar and Wind.

MAN in its Executive Summary Bi- annual economic review said it is critically important that the challenges identified by manufacturers in the course of the survey are adequately addressed.

The Association however, recommended the prioritization of forex intervention through the official market, particularly to support the raw materials and machine needs of the industries.

Also, MAN called for improved forex allocation to industrial sector, and urged the regulators to enhance the capacity of designated banks to efficiently process application of forex by manufacturers.

Further recommendations given by MAN includes granting concessional forex allocation at the official forex market to industries for importation of productive inputs that are not locally available.

“Unify the various forex windows in the country; Energy/Power Supply, Develop and implement a roadmap for improved power supply focusing on off-grid solutions and independent power projects by the private sector to ensure adequate supply of energy for production and also attract and expand investment.

“Carry out further investment in the electricity value chain and commit to adding 10000MW to the current electricity distributed in the country, commission the resuscitation of the existing national refineries to produce fuels locally, review the gas price for domestic consumption to be in tandem with the export price which is about $3.25 per cubic meter.

“Promote energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment in industries and homes; quickly incentivize more investment in gas aggregation to end gas flaring; optimize crude oil production based on OPEC quota and gas production to ramp up revenue now that hydrocarbon is still saleable,” MAN said.

MAN equally noted that there is need to resuscitate the domestic refining, review the current status of the four national refineries to determine their current state, commission the CHIYODA Group, the Japanese company that built the national refineries to rehabilitate them to resume domestic refining.

Also, to review the Nigerian energy policy and ensure that available energy sources, particularly natural gas is optimally explored and exploited, create functional incentive to attract private sector investment in gas aggregation to end the current gas flaring, create incentive to resuscitate private sector investment in the petrochemical industry and improve the capital expenditure on the energy sector for greater public investment in energy development.

On raw materials production, supply and utilization, MAN maintained investment in local development of raw materials, should be incentivized, adding that attention should be given to domestic production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and Basic chemicals.

Speaking on taxes and government regulation, MAN called for the publishing approved harmonized taxes and levies for the manufacturing sector by the Joint Tax Board (JTB) to address the issues of multiples taxes and levies.

“Commence implementation of the harmonized taxes and levies project which should be monitored and enforced strictly by the Joint Tax Board (JTB), Jettison the proposed increase in Excise Duties and develop a comprehensive and integrated framework that will facilitate the intentional movement of operators in the informal sector to the formal sector.