greatsly:
This is a great decision by the President. All over the world leaders sign agreement/partnerships that seek to protect the Economic and political interest of their countries.

the EPA if signed will simply make Nigeria a dumping ground for cheap goods manufactured in Europe and thereby lead to closure of already struggling industries. we are a large market in Africa and we must guard it jealously for our own interest.

my Brother we don't produce anything in Nigeria so nothing like competition or whatsoever yu call it

Nasir123:


That's the point.
And that's the reality on ground.

Things have to work within us before we start inviting unknown faces. Else, we will be inviting the kind of problem we can't imaging.

God bless Nigeria.

Rhodababy123

Brother, the reality on ground is that we Nigerians are already flooding the west African countries with cheap products we got from China. Just take a trip to trade fair in Lagos and find out how many 40 tons trucks they load on a daily basis to Neighbouring countries. Clothes, cosmetics, Electronics Auto parts etc

Ariaria market too in Aba where local shoes are made load atleast five 40ton trucks every Saturday to Neighbouring countries.

Tomatoes produced in Northern Nigeria find their way to Cotonou while we buy things like Garlic from them to complement the ones produced locally.

I have sent toilet rolls produced here in Lagos to a friend in Kumasi almost 50kg. What made the supply unprofitable was the high custom duties. Protectionist economy will only limit our growth. Regional trade must be encouraged; Europe and America understand that. Nigerians are more enterprising than the rest of west African people. As of today, it's way cheaper to call China, UK, and America than to Call Ghana. A 1minute call to Ghana currently cost almost #200.

My stand is based on personal experiences.we keep signing trade agreements with China, Europe and America and shy away from same trade agreement with our neighbouring countries, it's ludicrous. Not surprised this is coming from Buhari who told us he hasn't been able to make any money as a private citizen.

boxypane:
Sorry sir, who?

Nwaamaikpe himself

who cares

okomogo:

You talk as if you know the content of the agreement. If the agreement is bad for Nigeria, OBJ will not go all the way to criticise Baba for not signing it. He is saying he refused to sign for the interest of Nigerians that his Fulani Herdsmen are killing everyday and yet nothing serious has been done to stop them, same youth he promised to pay and didn't, same youth he made jobless through his unintelligent policy. The list goes on. Stop the praises, Buhari is the worst thing that ever happened to Nigeria quote me.

so to ur mind obj knows all abi? Also who are we going to blame when Igbos are committing crimes like Arm rubbery, kidnapped and kill dia victims, selling of children, selling of drugs that killed more dan HIV,producing and selling of fake products. Pls can we blame ur FADA or NAMDI KANU

[b][/b]GO GO GHANA

Why companies will continue to leave Nigeria for Ghana

That many companies have divested in Nigerian economy is no longer news. The disturbing issues are will Nigeria ever absorb the shock of this companies exodus? Are there any deliberate efforts towards making the companies come back?For the most part of the last 10 years of Nigeria’s democracy, there has been near collapse of infrastructure. The development has been so bad that most businesses groan under intense pain due to overhead cost incurred in providing alternative infrastructure like power. In fact, power has become an albatross to the nation’s manufacturing sector.For instance, in 1999, manufacturing sector accounted for not less than five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This shrunk to 4.9 percent in 2000.As a result of high cost of production that results from inadequate infrastructure, the manufacturing capacity utilization remains on the down side.The manufacturing sector is further bogged down by massive decline in capacity utilisation resulting from high exchange rate of the Naira and congestion at the ports. Prior to the financial meltdown, the manufacturing sector had not fared better largely due to lack of infrastructure and high production cost. President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Simon Okolo said there has not been significant improvement in infrastructure.According to him, industrial/commercial centres continued to witness heavy traffic, thereby constituting undesirable delays to motorists and other road users while the rail and mass transit schemes did not receive the desired boost necessary to transform the transport sector.Owing to these, the domestic economy witnessed an unprecedented closure of factories and production plants last year. Indeed, it was a confirmation that the nation’s domestic economy was sinking. With the weakening economy, more sectors were being affected by the recession and the unemployment profile kept rising. The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Bashir Borodo disclosed to Sunday Trust that absence of conducive manufacturing environment and basic infrastructure would continue to draw back the sector, except something urgent was done to reverse the situation.According to him, the dream of Nigeria being an exporter of manufactured goods would remain a mirage since Nigeria had thrown away agriculture and blindly embraced oil export.The recent decision of some companies that had bases in Nigeria to relocate to Ghana was another confirmation that the nation’s industrial sector was still held in hostage.A survey conducted by the Bank of Ghana recently revealed that Nigeria was one of the 10 sources of Foreign Direct Investment in the former Gold Coast.Nigeria placed 9th with a contribution of 2.1percent of the GHC1.5billion invested in Ghana in 2007.Nigeria’s pre-eminence in the business environment of Ghana was further re-enforced recently when Ghana’s President, John Atta Mills visited Nigeria’s president in Abuja.The president who reportedly spearheaded the move of asking Nigerian manufacturing firms to relocate to the former Gold Coast assured that his government would provide a congenial environment for the investors as well as give them some incentives.According to him, some of these incentives were 15-year tax holidays, free land and other policy initiatives which would drive their businesses.Last year, Dunlop Nigeria Plc., the only surviving tyre manufacturing company in Nigeria then, shut down its plants and laid off hundreds of its workers and put some on half pay.Dunlop Nigeria Plc and Michelin had relocated to Ghana. Patterson Zochonis (PZ) is also planning to relocate to Ghana, even as Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Unilever and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) this year, sacked sizeable number of their workers over reported high cost of production, decaying infrastructure as well as the ravaging global economic recession.Unconfirmed sources also said Guinness Plc was already putting spanners into works to move its business to Ghana, while some companies were said to have expressed readiness to move. However, External Relations Manager of Dunlop, Sola Adebanjo said his company did not relocate to Ghana. He said the rumoured relocation of the tyre company stemmed from its drive to establish sister branch in the Gold Coast.

He told SundayTrust that the Dunlop version of Nigeria was still intact and operational.But not many Nigerians would buy Adebanjo’s position.

Recently, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly expressed concern over the relocation of manufacturing companies.

This was brought to the attention of the House under Matters of Urgent Public Importance by Sanai Agunbiade, chairman, House Committee on Commerce and Industry.

Agunbiade said manufacturing companies in Nigeria were already folding up, to relocate to Ghana and take advantage of the liberal investment incentives there.

According to him, the implication for the state was high unemployment rate and increase in criminal activities.

While attributing the development to constant power outage, he added that “manufacturers in Nigeria were crying over the power situation in the country which is the real bane of the manufacturing sector.

“I think Lagos State Government should call on the federal government to allow us implement the Independent Power Project (IPP) and distribute power to industrial areas, because Lagos would be most affected by this movement of industries to Ghana.”

Contributing to the debate, Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Adeola Olamilekan said it was high time the federal government decentralised Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), because huge funds injected into the body had not yielded desired impact.

The president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Peter Esiele lamented that the relocation of companies to Ghana was a sad situation that would forever impinge on the nation’s development.

He said the relocation was a manifestation that government had no concrete plans to develop infrastructure with a view to bringing more investments into the country.

He said the business environ-ment in the country was in disarray in the sense that many businesses groaned under intense pain to survive.
According to him, it was only companies that had thrown ethics to the dogs that survived “the harsh business environment”.
He said it was amazing that the government that had not deemed it fit to put infrastructure in order imposed heavy taxes on businesses.
The Director General of Nigeria Textile Manufacturers Association, Jaiyeola Peters said the Ghana government’s plan to give the relocating companies 15-year tax holidays was a manifestation that the government had created an enabling environment to receive them.
A manufacturer, Ligali Mohammed lamented that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had done little or nothing to boost investment drive in the country.
‘’Obviously, infrastructure is zero-some here and hope of reviving same is just not there. The minister keeps promising that infrastructure would be fixed, bail-out funds would be provided to ailing industries like the textiles, but where are the infrastructure and the bail-out funds?
‘’So, if manufacturing companies decide to go to Ghana, no one should apportion blame on them, for they are in business to make profit. And they are entitled to do their business where they consider safe.”
According to Ligali, government had lost its grip on all sectors wondering how government would achieve the so-called vision 2020.
Painting the sordid picture of power in Lagos recently, the chairman of Ikeja Branch of the MAN, Mr Godwin Oteri said, “Private power generation accounted for 30percent of the cost of production and the inadequacy of supply is majorly responsible for 25.24 percent average capacity utilization.”
Today, the power situation in the country has further plummeted.
The country’s quest to hit the 6000MW by the end of the year remains a super-miracle to those in the know.
The current situation should therefore, be a litmus test for the federal government. Government needs to evolve economic agenda that would boost the investment climate of the country.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had already offered a way out of the nation’s economic doldrums by advising government to concentrate only on revitalization of the power sector instead of the bogus seven-point agenda.
Whether government would listen to Sanusi’s sermon is a matter many are still waiting to see.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/business/703-why-companies-will-continue-to-leave-nigeria-for-ghana

uridadole:


What do you think you could gain the agreement?;economist

It will help Nigeria generate more investment, cut the cost of export and import, protect local producers, create more and better jobs, encourage industrialization, create new business opportunities etc.

Johnrake69:

Rhodababy123

Brother, the reality on ground is that we Nigerians are already flooding the west African countries with cheap products we got from China. Just take a trip to trade fair in Lagos and find out how many 40 tons trucks they load on a daily basis to Neighbouring countries. Clothes, cosmetics, Electronics Auto parts etc

Ariaria market too in Aba where local shoes are made load atleast five 40ton trucks every Saturday to Neighbouring countries.

Tomatoes produced in Northern Nigeria find their way to Cotonou while we buy things like Garlic from them to complement the ones produced locally.

I have sent toilet rolls produced here in Lagos to a friend in Kumasi almost 50kg. What made the supply unprofitable was the high custom duties. Protectionist economy will only limit our growth. Regional trade must be encouraged; Europe and America understand that. Nigerians are more enterprising than the rest of west African people. As of today, it's way cheaper to call China, UK, and America than to Call Ghana. A 1minute call to Ghana currently cost almost #200.

My stand is based on personal experiences.we keep signing trade agreements with China, Europe and America and shy away from same trade agreement with our neighbouring countries, it's ludicrous. Not surprised this is coming from Buhari who told us he hasn't been able to make any money as a private citizen.

You have a valid point there i must say,and I want to say we all do.

You talked about Europe and America, Let me say this:.
The UK is pulling out of the EU because they believe their interest is not been protected enough. The USA is closing down some bilateral trade agreement because they believe their interest is not being protected enough. China wount allow u to flood their market because they believe they have the economic strength (population) to grow their own economy. The truth is Nigeria have nothing much to loose,because like China,like the US,we have the market (population) to also grow(at least to stabilize) our own economy.
I'm not saying the trade agreement is a bad one,not at all. But they are certain things we must put in place before we allow such agreement to run with our own economy. For now,most of the things we can produce are still been imported into our economy (e.g fuel,coffee, rice etc). And we're complaining of unemployment even with the resources(raw materials/man power) in our disposal. Something is not right.

The Truth is,some will definitely benefit, but the larger population will have to pay the larger price for a very long time.

For the main time, We can continue to have bilateral trade agreement with others as we always do,with its terms and conditions attached.

A lot of company are closing down in Nigeria. They are moving to neighboring counties like Ghana and the rest,WHY?
Because their overhead cost always outwayed their profit. Again,something is absolutely wrong.

Let's fix our infrastructure(which include power).
Let's fix our smaller industries,
Let's fix our security.
Let's fix all these to an extent before we say yes to this agreement. This way,every one of us(including the shoe maker on the street) will benefit.

God bless Nigeria.

sufferNsmiling:
[b][/b]GO GO GHANA

Why companies will continue to leave Nigeria for Ghana

That many companies have divested in Nigerian economy is no longer news. The disturbing issues are will Nigeria ever absorb the shock of this companies exodus? Are there any deliberate efforts towards making the companies come back?For the most part of the last 10 years of Nigeria’s democracy, there has been near collapse of infrastructure. The development has been so bad that most businesses groan under intense pain due to overhead cost incurred in providing alternative infrastructure like power. In fact, power has become an albatross to the nation’s manufacturing sector.For instance, in 1999, manufacturing sector accounted for not less than five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This shrunk to 4.9 percent in 2000.As a result of high cost of production that results from inadequate infrastructure, the manufacturing capacity utilization remains on the down side.The manufacturing sector is further bogged down by massive decline in capacity utilisation resulting from high exchange rate of the Naira and congestion at the ports. Prior to the financial meltdown, the manufacturing sector had not fared better largely due to lack of infrastructure and high production cost. President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Simon Okolo said there has not been significant improvement in infrastructure.According to him, industrial/commercial centres continued to witness heavy traffic, thereby constituting undesirable delays to motorists and other road users while the rail and mass transit schemes did not receive the desired boost necessary to transform the transport sector.Owing to these, the domestic economy witnessed an unprecedented closure of factories and production plants last year. Indeed, it was a confirmation that the nation’s domestic economy was sinking. With the weakening economy, more sectors were being affected by the recession and the unemployment profile kept rising. The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Bashir Borodo disclosed to Sunday Trust that absence of conducive manufacturing environment and basic infrastructure would continue to draw back the sector, except something urgent was done to reverse the situation.According to him, the dream of Nigeria being an exporter of manufactured goods would remain a mirage since Nigeria had thrown away agriculture and blindly embraced oil export.The recent decision of some companies that had bases in Nigeria to relocate to Ghana was another confirmation that the nation’s industrial sector was still held in hostage.A survey conducted by the Bank of Ghana recently revealed that Nigeria was one of the 10 sources of Foreign Direct Investment in the former Gold Coast.Nigeria placed 9th with a contribution of 2.1percent of the GHC1.5billion invested in Ghana in 2007.Nigeria’s pre-eminence in the business environment of Ghana was further re-enforced recently when Ghana’s President, John Atta Mills visited Nigeria’s president in Abuja.The president who reportedly spearheaded the move of asking Nigerian manufacturing firms to relocate to the former Gold Coast assured that his government would provide a congenial environment for the investors as well as give them some incentives.According to him, some of these incentives were 15-year tax holidays, free land and other policy initiatives which would drive their businesses.Last year, Dunlop Nigeria Plc., the only surviving tyre manufacturing company in Nigeria then, shut down its plants and laid off hundreds of its workers and put some on half pay.Dunlop Nigeria Plc and Michelin had relocated to Ghana. Patterson Zochonis (PZ) is also planning to relocate to Ghana, even as Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Unilever and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) this year, sacked sizeable number of their workers over reported high cost of production, decaying infrastructure as well as the ravaging global economic recession.Unconfirmed sources also said Guinness Plc was already putting spanners into works to move its business to Ghana, while some companies were said to have expressed readiness to move. However, External Relations Manager of Dunlop, Sola Adebanjo said his company did not relocate to Ghana. He said the rumoured relocation of the tyre company stemmed from its drive to establish sister branch in the Gold Coast.

He told SundayTrust that the Dunlop version of Nigeria was still intact and operational.But not many Nigerians would buy Adebanjo’s position.

Recently, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly expressed concern over the relocation of manufacturing companies.

This was brought to the attention of the House under Matters of Urgent Public Importance by Sanai Agunbiade, chairman, House Committee on Commerce and Industry.

Agunbiade said manufacturing companies in Nigeria were already folding up, to relocate to Ghana and take advantage of the liberal investment incentives there.

According to him, the implication for the state was high unemployment rate and increase in criminal activities.

While attributing the development to constant power outage, he added that “manufacturers in Nigeria were crying over the power situation in the country which is the real bane of the manufacturing sector.

“I think Lagos State Government should call on the federal government to allow us implement the Independent Power Project (IPP) and distribute power to industrial areas, because Lagos would be most affected by this movement of industries to Ghana.”

Contributing to the debate, Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Adeola Olamilekan said it was high time the federal government decentralised Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), because huge funds injected into the body had not yielded desired impact.

The president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Peter Esiele lamented that the relocation of companies to Ghana was a sad situation that would forever impinge on the nation’s development.

He said the relocation was a manifestation that government had no concrete plans to develop infrastructure with a view to bringing more investments into the country.

He said the business environ-ment in the country was in disarray in the sense that many businesses groaned under intense pain to survive.
According to him, it was only companies that had thrown ethics to the dogs that survived “the harsh business environment”.
He said it was amazing that the government that had not deemed it fit to put infrastructure in order imposed heavy taxes on businesses.
The Director General of Nigeria Textile Manufacturers Association, Jaiyeola Peters said the Ghana government’s plan to give the relocating companies 15-year tax holidays was a manifestation that the government had created an enabling environment to receive them.
A manufacturer, Ligali Mohammed lamented that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had done little or nothing to boost investment drive in the country.
‘’Obviously, infrastructure is zero-some here and hope of reviving same is just not there. The minister keeps promising that infrastructure would be fixed, bail-out funds would be provided to ailing industries like the textiles, but where are the infrastructure and the bail-out funds?
‘’So, if manufacturing companies decide to go to Ghana, no one should apportion blame on them, for they are in business to make profit. And they are entitled to do their business where they consider safe.”
According to Ligali, government had lost its grip on all sectors wondering how government would achieve the so-called vision 2020.
Painting the sordid picture of power in Lagos recently, the chairman of Ikeja Branch of the MAN, Mr Godwin Oteri said, “Private power generation accounted for 30percent of the cost of production and the inadequacy of supply is majorly responsible for 25.24 percent average capacity utilization.”
Today, the power situation in the country has further plummeted.
The country’s quest to hit the 6000MW by the end of the year remains a super-miracle to those in the know.
The current situation should therefore, be a litmus test for the federal government. Government needs to evolve economic agenda that would boost the investment climate of the country.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had already offered a way out of the nation’s economic doldrums by advising government to concentrate only on revitalization of the power sector instead of the bogus seven-point agenda.
Whether government would listen to Sanusi’s sermon is a matter many are still waiting to see.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/business/703-why-companies-will-continue-to-leave-nigeria-for-ghana

100%

Nothing more to add.

Johnrake69:


Your argument really lacks merit. Have we stopped bringing in cheap products from China? There is no need for long talk. Just go to trade fair and find out how many trailers of cheap products we got from China that we re-export to Ghana and other Neighbouring countries on a daily basis.

Clothes, Electronics, Fabrics, Auto parts etc that we bring from China end up in Ghana and other Neighbouring countries. Africa need to trade more with each other.

We can't continue to discourage regional trade. The disadvantages is more. As of today, it's way cheaper to call China and Europe than to call Ghana. Nigeria has a big rule to play here.

I agree, Nigeria has a big role to play. However you don't want to be part of a partnership where it is clear you will be at the losing side. Look China close her border for about 30yrs to reposition is economy before opening its border to other countries for commerce. The I dess is for our beloved country to be self sustainable and have a robust industrial economy that is full fit to compete with other similar industries of other nation. You can now complement what you don't have enough by opening your borders.

I will likened the Nigerian economy to a personality who would like to participate in a competition. The best option is to make oneself self-sustainable, by keeping fit, before going into any competition. If he/she is not standing fit, he/she may not only loose the compeition but may be badly injured, down crawling and begging for survival. Such is applicable to a typical economy like those of my beloved country.

Please, learn not to argue blindly. There is virtue in learning. I learn everyday too and keep calm to understand issue before I comment. That's what I'll do.

Nasir123:


You have a valid point there i must say,and I want to say we all do.

You talked about Europe and America, Let me say this:.
The UK is pulling out of the EU because they believe their interest is not been protected enough. The USA is closing down some bilateral trade agreement because they believe their interest is not being protected enough. China wount allow u to flood their market because they believe they have the economic strength (population) to grow their own economy. The truth is Nigeria have nothing much to loose,because like China,like the US,we have the market (population) to also grow(at least to stabilize) our own economy.
I'm not saying the trade agreement is a bad one,not at all. But they are certain things we must put in place before we allow such agreement to run with our own economy. For now,most of the things we can produce are still been imported into our economy (e.g fuel,coffee, rice etc). And we're complaining of unemployment even with the resources(raw materials/man power) in our disposal. Something is not right.

The Truth is,some will definitely benefit, but the larger population will have to pay the larger price for a very long time.

For the main time, We can continue to have bilateral trade agreement with others as we always do,with its terms and conditions attached.

A lot of company are closing down in Nigeria. They are moving to neighboring counties like Ghana and the rest,WHY?
Because their overhead cost always outwayed their profit. Again,something is absolutely wrong.

Let's fix our infrastructure(which include power).
Let's fix our smaller industries,
Let's fix our security.
Let's fix all these to an extent before we say yes to this agreement. This way,every one of us(including the shoe maker on the street) will benefit.

God bless Nigeria.

Now, this is a very intelligent contribution. I agree %100

Thank you Mr President. GEJ did the same also, but we are sending you back to Daura.