Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ogun Chapter Mr Wale Adegbite, Chairman, urged commercial banks to give long-term loans to manufacturers to grow the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Speaking at 10th Business Luncheon of the association in Ota, Ogun, Adegbite said `that by providing long-term loans, the banks would have contributed their quota to Nigeria’s GDP.
According to him, banks prefer to give short-term loans to businesses with high turnover in their investments, rather than manufacturers whose investments are usually long-term based. Adegbite said the manufacturing sector had the potential to contribute more than what it is contributing to the GDP if long-term loans were available to them. The MAN chairman lamented that obtaining loans from commercial banks had not been easy for manufacturers. He said the refusal of commercial banks to grant long-term loans at low interest rates had hindered sustainable growth in the manufacturing sector and adversely affected the country’s GDP.
“Obtaining loans from regular commercial banks has not been easy for manufacturers as the banks prefer to lend short term loans to businesses with high turnover and higher prospect of quick return on their investment. This coupled with cumbersome administrative procedures and astronomically high interest rates and charges have slowed down growth of the manufacturing industry,” he said. He said if commercial banks provided long-term loans to manufacturers, it would make them to produce at optimal level and generate employment opportunities for the teeming youths.
’”This will help reduce the poverty rate in the country,’’ he said. In his goodwill message, Ogun State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr Bimbo Ashiru, said the state government was committed to providing the enabling environment for manufacturers to thrive and produce at optimal levels. Represented by Mrs Funmi Ajayi, Special Adviser on Commerce and Industries, Ashiru said the N10 billion floated by the state was to encourage the real sector to perform well.
She said over 100 manufacturers had benefited from the fund since its inception in 2011, adding that most beneficiaries have successfully paid back. Ashiru, however, urged those who were yet to pay back the loan to do so to enable others members of MAN have access to the loan.
