Manufacturers’ Unsold Inventory Rises To N1.4trn

Manufacturers across the country recorded N1.4 trillion in inventory of unsold finished goods in 2024, owing to a myriad of challenges facing the manufacturing sector.

This is even as manufacturers under the auspices of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) are eyeing the efficient adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which they believe, will be a game changer for the manufacturing sector in 2025 and the nearest future.

The president of MAN, Otunba Francis Meshioye, who stated this at the 2025 edition of the MAN Media Personality of the Year Award/Presidential Media Luncheon in Lagos yesterday, noted that, “Inflation in Nigeria reached an alarming 34.6 per cent by November 2024, diminishing consumers’ purchasing power and causing a decline in demand for manufactured goods. This inflationary burden also led to an accumulation of unsold inventory, which rose to N1.4 trillion across the manufacturing industries.”

Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, he added, encountered a myriad of macroeconomic and infrastructural challenges that severely impacted its performance, stressing that,“ the sector faced mounting pressure from high inflation, a depreciating naira, rising interest rates, escalating electricity tariffs, record low sales, multiplicity of taxes and levies and militating security concerns. These factors collectively strained the sector’s profitability and curtailed its contribution to the nation’s GDP.”

MAN president stressed that manufacturers were hit hard with a drastic rise in electricity tariffs, with rates increasing by over 250 per cent, saying that “this surge in energy costs became one of the highest operating expenses for businesses in the sector in 2024. As a result, many manufacturers sought alternative energy sources, further straining their financial resources and complicating their ability to remain competitive.”

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Meanwhile, Meshioye disclosed that manufacturers are eyeing the efficient adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which they believe will be a game changer for the manufacturing sector in 2025 and the near future.

He said, this is expected to help in engendering enhanced production and productivity, improved capacity utilization, innovative product development, improved inventory system, efficient logistics operations, among others.

According to him, it is projected that technology adoption through research and development will fast-track the emergence of the much-awaited transformational growth of the real sector of the economy.

“And as manufacturers, we are gearing up and ready to embark on this interesting journey on the path of growth.

For the sector to regain its momentum, efforts to improve productivity and enhance competitiveness must be sustained as this is crucial in helping Nigerian manufacturers navigate the challenges they face.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that manufacturing is pivotal to galvanising and sustaining the economic growth and development of Nigeria. We seek the government’s alignment with our conviction that a win for the manufacturing sector is a win for the economy and by extension, a better life for the citizenry,” he pointed out.

For manufacturing sector to improve its performance, Meshioye recommended to government a timely passage of the four tax bill before the National Assembly; implementation of the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products policy; taming inflation; ensuring food security and promoting local sourcing of Raw-Materials; addressing policy inconsistency; upgrading infrastructure (roads and railways); promoting energy security and downward review of electricity tariffs; prompt Clearance of backlog of Forex foreword by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); and ensuring affordable lending rate and increased access to credit.