MAN’s Groups Above Average In Q4’21- Survey
A survey by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has revealed that 10 sectoral groups scored above the 50 points benchmark in Q4 2021, despite the country’s economic challenges.
The groups are the foods, beverage and tobacco sector, chemical & pharmaceutical sectoral group, production in pulp, paper & paper products, printing, publishing & packaging (6Ps) group, domestic & industrial plastic group, electrical & electronic sectoral group, textile sector, leather and footwear and others.
The association notes that the decision of the Federal Government against another lockdown of the Nigerian economy during the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and its Omicron variant buoyed growths in the production capacity of some manufacturing firms.
The survey revealed that the manufacturing sector didn’t do badly given its contribution to the country’s GDP in Q4 2021.
A breakdown of the survey indicated that the index for food, beverage and tobacco sectoral groups increased by 2.8 points in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 55.9 points recorded in the preceding quarter.
Similarly, the index for the chemical and pharmaceutical products group increased by 1.8 points in the quarter under review from 60.3 points obtained in the preceding quarter.
Also, the index for motor vehicle and miscellaneous assembly maintain positive growth reading of 51.3 points in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 50.7 points obtained in the preceding quarter, indicating 0.6 points increase over the period.
MAN also evaluated the performance of its 14 industrial zones spread across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, and the level of confidence of the CEOs of manufacturing concerns operating in each of the zones using the same diffusion factors deployed for sectoral groups.
In the perspectives of the zones, index scores for 12 of the 14 zones were above the average 50 points, while the other two, Rivers and Abuja fell below the benchmark in the quarter under review.
The score of Rivers fell to 47.5 points from 53.4 points obtained in the third quarter of 2021. Similarly, the score for Abuja dipped to 43.3 points in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 48.6 points of the preceding quarter.
The dip in Abuja and Rivers industrial zones was attributed to the multiplicity of taxes triggered by the excessive drive for revenue by the government, poor access to forex for importation of manufacturing inputs, rise in the cost of transportation of goods owing to insecurity, the rising cost of production and the general reduction in disposable income of consumers.
It said: “While there is growing confidence in the economy in the majority of the industrial zones, despite prevailing economic and COVID-19 related challenges, the perspectives of manufacturers in Rivers and Abuja indicate low confidence in the economy.”
An interesting finding from the outcome of the survey is the decrease in the index scores of Imo/Abia, Edo/Delta and Kano zones. Even though the indexes of the three zones were above average, the scores decreased in the quarter under review as against what was obtained in the preceding quarter.
Index for Imo/Abia zone declined by 8 points from 61.3 points obtained in the preceding quarter.
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