LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-Nigeria has seen a staggering increase in the importation of manufactured goods, reaching a total value of N16 trillion between 2023 and 2024.
According to an analysis based on the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics’ Foreign Trade report, this marks a 60% rise compared to the previous 12-month period from April 2022 to March 2023.
The value of total manufactured goods imports for the 2023/24 year was N16,684bn, compared to N10,448bn in 2022/23, marking an increase of N6,236bn, which is a 60 percent rise over the previous year.
In the key highlights of the country’s international trade for the first quarter of 2024, published earlier this month in the Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics, the NBS reported“The value of total imports stood at N12,643.23bn in the first quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 39.65 per cent compared with the value recorded in Q4, 2023 (N9,053.78bn) and a rise of 95.53 per cent from the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2023 (N6,466.10bn).
“In the first quarter of 2024, China ranked highest among the top trading partners on the import side, followed by India, United States of America, Belgium, and The Netherlands.
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“The most traded commodities were motor spirit ordinary, gas oil, durum wheat (not in seeds), cane sugar meant for sugar refinery, and other liquefied petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons.
“In the reviewed quarter, the value of imported manufactured goods was N5,738.32bn, reflecting a 44.47 per cent increase from N3,971.91bn in Q4 2023 and a 139.47 per cent rise from N2,396.23bn in Q1 2023,” it added.
However, an analysis by Saturday PUNCH of the quarterly Foreign Trade Statistics report from the NBS revealed that the value of manufactured goods imports was N3,019bn in the second quarter of 2023, beginning in April.
The value of manufactured goods imports rose to N3,956 billion in the third quarter of 2023 and increased slightly to N3,971 billion in the fourth quarter, ending in December.
This brought the total to N16,684 billion, including the cost of goods imports for the first quarter of 2024.
Over the past 12 months from April 2022 to March 2023, the country imported manufactured goods valued at N2,756 billion in the second quarter of 2022, N2,849 billion in the third quarter, N2,447 billion in the fourth quarter, and N2,396 billion in the first quarter of 2023, totaling N10,448 billion.
In response to the development, the Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, attributed the increase in the country’s import figure to the devaluation of the naira.
He said, “I think it is because of the naira depreciation. If you are importing something that was $1m when the exchange rate was N450, now you are importing products worth $1 million, and the exchange rate is N1,500.”
Additionally, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) pointed out that the significant disparity between Nigeria’s import and export rates stems from local manufacturers’ inability to compete internationally, largely due to high production costs.
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The President of MAN, Francis Meshioye,
highlighted that these elevated costs burden Nigerian manufacturers, consequently leading to higher prices for manufactured goods.
Meshioye said, “We tell our members to export more, but all these things are based on competitive advantages. If you want to export a product, it is fine, but at what cost are you going to export it? What will be your price? If the cost is astronomically high, it will be difficult to export. It is a circle.
“The export base should be good enough to support the floating exchange rate, but we need to have a good economic base to do that.”
He urged the government to investigate why manufacturers are not meeting expected export levels, suggesting a summit or forum as a potential solution.
“They can look at those products that can generate money, and ask what the impediments to exports are. That would be fantastic. We need to boost our export base. It should be robust. The more we export, the more forex we earn. And the more forex we earn, the more we have to source our importation needs,” the MAN president remarked.