Read WHY Import Waivers For Foreign Companies Lead To Unemployment In Nigeria

An industrialist, Hasib Moukarim said Nigeria is losing billions of naira and thousands of jobs every year because foreign companies are granted waivers to import finished products already manufactured in the country.

Moukarim, the Managing Director of Nigeria Gas and Steel Limited and a member of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said this while commenting a statement credited to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Diko Inde Abdulahi, that the Customs Service plans to generate N1.2 trillion in 2014.

The industrialist stated, however, that it would not be possible unless the issue of waiver and concession given to importers of finished products is not stopped as this is depleting the FG's reserves while enriching a few companies abroad.

"When finished goods are brought into the country duty free, we are directly creating employment for foreign workers of the foreign company because such goods imported with waivers will become cheaper than the locally produced goods and this will escalate the demand and sales of the foreign manufacturers," Moukarim explained.

According to him, such state of affairs threatens the survival of Nigeria-based companies as they are forced to retrench their workforce, which negatively affects the overall employment situation in Nigeria.

Moukarim maintained that for waiver or concession to be given to an applicant, a thorough investigation must be carried out by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trade and Investment to verify the authenticity of the items being brought in at virtually no cost.

"The relevant sector of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, should be contacted for their expert opinion on the issue. Also professionals like Quantity Surveyors and Civil Engineers should be contacted for their expert opinion to determine the actual materials needed for the project in question," Moukarim added.

Moukarim suggested that waivers or concession should not be on imported products that can be substitute by locally produced goods.

He recalled that Nigerian manufacturers complained in the past that Chinese companies were abusing waivers by importing more than what was needed for their projects and flooding the markets with the surplus, thereby killing local manufacturers.

Chinese companies have been obtaining series of waivers from the FG to build airports, roads and other projects, but ended up importing more products than they need, Moukarim said.