Experts raise concerns over rising collapse of companies in Nigeria

By Abbas Musa
Kanempress
8th August 2023

The news of the imminent exit of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from Nigeria have sent shock among citizens.

GSK has been operating in Nigeria for about 51 years and has been one of the major pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing best-known prescription medicine, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products, including brands like Panadol, Macleans, Andrew Liver Salt, and Amoxil.

Nigerians found the news shocking and disturbing why for the last decade, there has been a steady exit of multinationals out of Nigeria, and the collapse of an increasing number of local companies.

The likes of ShopRite, Procter & Gamble, Surest Foam Limited, Mufex, Framan Industries, MZM Continental, Nipol Industries, Moak Industries, Deli Foods, and Stone Industries, among others, have shut down fully or partially in the past five years.

The news of GSK’s impending exit, considered by many Nigerians as one too many, has heightened public anxiety over the viability of the country’s manufacturing sector.

The anxiety is further heightened by messages coming from stakeholders in the manufacturing sector.

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), in a statement by its National President, Sunday Ezeobiora, and the Director-General, Onallo Akpa, raised the alarm that the soaring price of maize in Nigeria is causing a shutdown of poultry farms.

Similarly, a former chairman of the Textile Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Senator Walid Jibrin, said that 155 Nigerian textile companies collapsed in a few years.

Also, the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Francis Meshioye, said more multinationals would exit Nigeria if an electricity hike was implemented.

President Bola Tinubu had given assurances that he is taking the proper steps to solve Nigeria’s problems with his recent policies.