The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called for greater scrutiny of foreign businesses venturing into areas outside their traditional fields of operation, amid concerns over the growing presence of foreign operators in Nigeria’s retail market.

The Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call yesterday at a media briefing ahead of the association’s 54th Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

He said the activities of foreigners must be considered alongside trade and immigration regulations, as well as the purpose for which they entered the country.

According to him, some countries have measures governing the level of economic activities foreigners can engage in, citing Ghana as an example, and urged the media to continue interrogating the issue.

He said where foreigners begin to engage in activities outside the scope for which they came into the country, it raises questions about the role of regulatory agencies.

The DG said MAN supports the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products but argued that regulators should be more mindful of areas where foreigners venture into businesses in which they should not operate.

“If there are no extant laws to deal with that kind of a thing, I think this is the time that should be considered,” he said.

Ajayi-Kadir also faulted NAFDAC’s approach to regulating sachet alcoholic drinks, arguing that removing legitimate products from the market could push consumers towards unregulated alternatives while putting jobs at risk.
He said the focus should be on effective regulation rather than factory closures and seizure of products.

“Honestly, I think that is a very reckless approach to regulating. If the only instrument you have is a hammer, every object will look like a nail to you,” he said.

According to him, restricting sachet alcoholic drinks would not necessarily stop people from consuming alcohol, arguing that the issue was driven by demand rather than the size of the packaging.

“The fact that somebody consumes alcohol is not because it’s available in sachets. Bleach is available in sachets. Why are people not drinking it?” he asked.

Ajayi-Kadir said NAFDAC should enforce existing regulatory measures rather than target legitimate manufacturers and traders, warning that such restrictions could result in job losses and lower tax revenue.

He said the agency’s approach could also have unintended consequences if consumers turned to unregulated alcoholic products.

“If somebody has a craving for alcohol, if you take out the legitimate ones, those that have standards and are being monitored, you push them to take on unwholesome ones,” he said.

He said the development represented a failure of regulation and urged NAFDAC to focus on its regulatory responsibilities.

The concerns came as MAN renewed its broader call for policies that would strengthen domestic production and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on external supply chains.

The President of MAN, Francis Meshioye, said manufacturers continued to contend with high production and energy costs, limited access to affordable finance, infrastructure deficits, inflationary pressures and exchange-rate volatility.

He said the challenges made it necessary for Nigeria to strengthen its domestic productive capacity, noting that sustainable industrial growth could not depend on manufacturers’ resilience alone.

Meshioye said the National Industrial Policy (NIP) 2025 provides a framework for strengthening the country’s industrial base, deepening domestic value chains and placing production, competitiveness and job creation at the centre of economic strategy.

He, however, stressed that the success of the policy would depend on implementation.

According to him, implementation must translate into more competitive factories, stronger local supply chains, increased investment, improved productivity, sustainable jobs and greater access to domestic and export markets.

This, he said, informed the theme of MAN’s 54th Annual General Meeting, ‘Leveraging National Industrial Policy to Position Nigeria as Africa’s Industrial Hub’, scheduled for October 5 to 7 in Lagos.