The Manufacturing and Construction Industry in Nigeria

The Manufacturing and Construction Industry

Manufacturing industry refers to the turning of raw-materials into new products by mechanical or chemical processes at home (cottage) or in the factory. It is concerned with the activities of those who engage in processing and turning raw-materials produced in the primary industry into finished products. Examples are shoe making, food processing, plastic processing and textile processing.

Construction industry is concerned with all the activities of those who engage in assembling of goods into useable form. They convert manufactured products into various uses. Examples are: road construction, building construction, airport construction, bridge construction, furniture construction, etc.

Roles/Contributions/Significance of the Industrial Sector to Economic Development

1. Industrial activities help in solving the basic problems of unemployment, inflation, budget deficit and general economic disequilibrium.
2. It assists to implement the policies of the government that have been directed towards the improvement of local production.
3. It will reduce the continued pressure on balance of payment in spite of the various policy measures taken so far to address the situation.
4. It stimulates the growth of other sectors like agriculture, mining and lumbering.
5. The establishment of an industry in a place stimulates the development of infrastructures like road, telephone, electricity and pipe borne water.
6. It helps different countries to prevent over dependence on only one product like the present Nigeria’s over.
7. It provides jobs for many people.
8. Many people are trained in different technical areas in order to manage the different aspects or machines in an industry.
9. The industrial sector provides capital for funding of education and research work in all nations.

Problems of Manufacturing Industries

1. Shortage of raw materials: Inadequate raw materials available to industries hinder large scale production.
2. Insufficient Capital: Access to finance or loan is very difficult. It is only for big investors who possess collateral securities.
3. Poor quality of industrial labour: Majority of Nigerians are illiterate who cannot fit into industrial sector.
4. Shortage of entrepreneur: Reliable investors are not common in Nigeria owing to lack of capital and some other factors.
5. High degree of foreign dependence: People highly rely on imported materials since some of the locally-made products are of lower quality.
6. Inadequate transport and communication facilities: Transportation network like road, rail, and communication networks are not enough to accommodate heavy industries.
7. Small market for industrial goods: Nigerians does not have enough purchasing power to purchase industrial goods therefore for them is very low creating small market.
8. Poor management: Corruption, embezzlement and negligence of duty are very common in African countries and these are indicators of poor management.
9. High cost of spare parts: Industrial machines imported into developing countries may break down. In most cases, spare parts for those machines are not readily available in our market.
10. Political Instability: Frequent changes in governments and frequent civil wars discourage foreign investors.

Solutions to Industrial Problems

1. Skill should be acquired by people through regular training.
2. There should be good government policies to protect local industries.
3. There should be active government participation in industrial development i.e. co-ownership of companies,
4. There should be incentives e.g. tax holiday. To local industries.
5. There should be provision of good transport facilities in order to move raw-materials to factories and finished products to market.
6. Government should set up industrial banks to give long term loans to investors for industrial purposes.
7. Government should actively be involved in industrial development.
8. Infrastructural facilities such as electricity, communication system, water etc should be provided adequately.
9. There should be stable government in order to attract foreign investors.
10. There should be local exploitation of raw-materials for industries so as to reduce the cost of production.

EVALUATION (POST THE QUESTION TITLE AND YOUR ANSWERS IN THE BOX BELOW FOR DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION)

1. List three problems confronting manufacturing industry in Nigeria.
2. State seven significance of manufacturing industry in Nigeria.
3. Highlight seven problems facing industrial sector in Nigeria.
4. Proffer solutions to the problems highlighted above.