By JOHNMARK UKOKO
Managing Director of Liberty Industries Limited, Abuh Kamal, has charged the Federal Government to arrest the closure of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Speaking in a telephone interview with The Trumpet, he said Federal Government’s failure to guarantee reliable public power supply was the main reason most investors were closing shops.
Kamal, whose firm produces plastic products and PVCs, noted that despite the high cost, the Power Distribution Companies (DisCos), they were unable to guarantee a stable power supply, adding that the development had made all firms to provide their independent power supply through procurement of expensive generating sets to provide power.
He lamented that the ever-rising cost of Automated Gas Oil (AGO) popularly called diesel, had further raised the cost of doing business in the country.
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“Before the Russia and Ukraine war, diesel was sold for between N270 and N300 per litre in Lagos, but as of today, the price has increased to between N700 and N900 per litre.
We still have to service our generating sets, pay huge bills to the DisCos, whose power supply is at best unreliable.
“Before the war, Nigerian manufacturers were spending between 25 and 30 per cent of their running cost on power supply and by the time we will calculate the percentage now, it would have risen to about 50 per cent,” he lamented.
Kamal also said despite the high cost of producing private power supply, MSMEs owners still have to pay all kinds of taxes and levies to the different tiers of government, The Trumpet gathered.
He added that despite the multiple taxes local businesses are made to pay the government is unable to provide the necessary infrastructure to boost business in the country.
