The abysmal state of Nigeria’s electricity contributes 40 per cent to the cost of manufactured products in the country, according to Nanyang Technology University Centre for African Studies.
Director of the Centre, Amit Jain, presenting the 150-page report titled, ‘Back to Growth: Priority Agenda for the Economic Revival of Nigeria’ in Lagos, recently noted that inadequate power supply was a significant impediment to businesses in Nigeria.
The report stated that the manufacturing sector has much higher productivity than agriculture and can absorb a larger proportion of the workforce.
For manufacturing to be competitive, the report said economic activity should, at least to begin with, stay within the country’s comparative advantage.
The report identified that Electricity blackouts, transport bottlenecks, crime, and corruption are among the key impediments to firms’ growth in the country.
“Lack of electricity adds 40 per cent to the cost of everything in Nigeria. That hurts manufacturing the most. Firms suffer from an acute shortage of power supplies”, it stated.
