- By Halimah Olamide
“If Dangote, the richest person in Africa, and foremost industrialist, can complain, then imagine the negative impacts of these policies on MSMEs who are the engine of economic growth.
President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Thursday got the backing of the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi, on his cries over what he had called killing interest rate in the country.
Obi, in a series of tweets, expressed concerns that business leaders are themselves feeling the impact of the economic policies of the Bola Tinubu administration.
NPO Reports that Dangote had, at the at the opening session of a three-day National Manufacturing Policy Summit organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, no one can create jobs with the subsisting rate.
He had said “Nobody can create jobs with an interest rate of 30 per cent. No growth will happen. No Power, no prosperity. No affordable financing, no growth, no development,” he said.
Obi, in his tweet said Nigeria must arrest the trend in order to create the atmosphere for the needed growth.
“Again, I maintain that we must urgently reverse this ugly trend which is seriously resulting in further job losses, discouraging production in our nation, and has continued to hinder our movement from consumption to production,” he said.
While Dangote’s position was what he had been saying, Obi reminded Nigerians that he had in February this year, argued against the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee on MPR to 22.5% and CRR to 45%.
He said the increases “would further worsen the economic situation”, as the increases would push interest rates on loans to above 30%, which would be very difficult for manufacturers and MSMES to borrow and repay.
Obi went further, “If Dangote, the richest person in Africa, and foremost industrialist, can complain, then imagine the negative impacts of these policies on MSMEs who are the engine of economic growth.
“To further understand the harsh economic environment that this monetary policy had exacerbated, the recent report from the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) stated “In 2023, 767 companies were shut down and 335 became distressed.”
He added that the capacity utilization in the sector has declined to 56%; adding that “the interest rate is effectively above 30%; foreign exchange to import raw materials and production machine inventory of unsold finished products has increased to N350 billion and the real growth has dropped to 2.4%.”
The presidential candidate said under “These harsh economic policies, both on the monetary and fiscal sides, have continued to slow down our economic growth, drive multinationals out of the country, stifle our small businesses and discourage the inflow of foreign direct investment.”