The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said that its members have lost at least N1.5tn in the last six months to forex-related transactions.
The Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the disclosure to newsmen in an exclusive interview on Monday.
The revelation came amid dissent by manufacturers that contrary to claims made by the Central Bank of Nigeria that all valid forex requests had been cleared, several manufacturers still have pending dollar requests, some of which have been left unattended for an extended period.
Two weeks ago, the CBN announced it had successfully cleared all valid foreign exchange backlogs, effectively eliminating a legacy burden.
The announcement was made by the bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Sidi Ali, in a statement made available to newsmen.
The bank said it completed the payment of $7bn, resolving obligations to bank customers, thereby clearing the residual balance of the FX backlog.
The statement partly read, “The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced that all valid foreign exchange backlogs have now been settled, fulfilling a key pledge of the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, to process an inherited backlog of $7bn in claims.
However, in an exclusive interview with newsmen the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Francis Meshioye, said the forex requests by his members were yet to be cleared.
According to Meshioye, the lingering status of the forex requests by manufacturers, which remains unmet, has taken a negative toll on many businesses.
