President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, on Tuesday, lamented that a paucity of energy was negatively affecting the growth of Nigerian industries.

Adesina commented while speaking at a meeting organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Abuja.

“Unless Nigeria decisively tackles its energy deficiency and reliability, its industries will always remain uncompetitive.”

“Today, no business can survive in Nigeria without generators,” Adesina said. “Consequently, the abnormal has become normal.

Also speaking at the meeting was the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“Poor countries need access to bigger markets to grow rapidly,” she said. “With trade projected to grow at 10.8 per cent this year, more than twice as fast as GDP, external demand will far outpace domestic demand for many countries, especially those on the wrong end of the k-shaped recovery.

“At the WTO, different groups of members are seeking to do just that. One group is working on an e-commerce agreement. Another is working on empowering MSMEs to trade, and a third is working on lowering barriers facing women in global economic trade.”

We should work harder, first to understand the barriers facing micro, medium and small enterprises in global trade and then to lower these barriers.

curl from – channelstv