Manufacturing sector creates 16,110 direct jobs in 2021

COMFORT EKELEME

Indications has emerged that a total of 16,110 direct jobs were created in the manufacturing sector in 2021 as against 8,692 jobs recorded in 2020.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), in its 2021 half-year review of the economy said the total job losses in the sector in 2021 were 4,451 as against 11,949 recorded in 2020.

As a result, MAN said the net job created in the sector in 2021 stood at 11,659 while net job losses in 2020 were 3,257.

The trend thus shows that manufacturing job is also rebounding following the gradual return of economic activities in the sector after a year onslaught brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the report, electricity supply provides a significant share of the total cost of production in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria, adding that this is a major reason for the poor competitiveness of made in Nigeria products and has been a key impediment to the export potential of the manufacturing sector.

However, in recent times, electricity supply to the manufacturing sector through the national grid has maintained consistent improvement in terms of average daily supply and outages.

Consequently, in the second half of 2021, daily electricity supply to the sector averaged 11 against 12 hours in the corresponding period of 2020 and 11 hours in the preceding half.

However, daily power outage for the second half of 2021 averaged 3 times as against 4 times of the same half in 2020 and 3 times recorded in the preceding half.

MAN in the report noted that it is therefore important that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) continues to drive the electricity sector by ensuring the effective and beneficial implementation of On-grid/Off-grid, Mini-grid, and Eligible Customer initiatives.

“Electricity supply from the grid has persistently been inadequate, compelling manufacturers to invest heavily in alternative energy sources to sustain uninterrupted production activity. While some of them have invested in diesel generating plants, some others are utilizing gas plants. The costs associated with these plants are further increased by expenditure on spare parts and other energy management apparatuses such as stabilizers, UPSs, and Inverters.

“Unfortunately, the cumulative expenditure on these alternative energy sources and the high tariff associated with supplies from the national grids majorly account for the high cost of production in the sector. With the share of energy standing at a colossal 40 per cent.

“Following the above circumstances, expenditure on alternative energy sources in the manufacturing sector stood at N45.04 billion in the second half of 2021 as against N57.75 billion recorded in the corresponding half of 2020; thus, indicating N12.71 billion or 22 percent declined over the period. However, it increased by N12.86 billion when compared with N32.18 billion recorded in the preceding half,” MAN said.

Also, MAN noted that expenditure on alternative energy sources stood at N77.22 billion in 2021 as against 81.91 billion recorded in 2020.

The decline in expenditure on alternative energy sources in 2021, MAN said was ascribed to the marginal improvement in the national electricity supply over the period.