MAN made the call yesterday in a statement titled, “Manufacturers Association Call for the Suspension of NESREA’s Proposed Ban on Single-Use Plastics Below 80 Microns Pending Regulatory Impact Assessment.”

The association noted that the, “proposed regulation is premature, lacks sufficient empirical justification, and poses significant risks to Nigeria’s economy, industrial sector, employment landscape, and the livelihoods of millions of citizens.

The NESREA, according to MAN, “seeks to prohibit the production and use of single-use plastic products below 80 microns in thickness pursuant to Section 26(1); impose taxes on shopping bags with wall thicknesses ranging from 30 to 50 microns under Section 26(2), and restrict a wide range of plastic products listed in the Eleventh Schedule.”

Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the director general of MAN, noted that,

“The proposed measures could significantly disrupt industrial production, undermine investments in the plastics value chain, threaten thousands of direct and indirect jobs, and impose substantial socio-economic costs on manufacturers and consumers alike.”

 Ajayi-Kadir stated that NESREA should focus on the full implementation of the comprehensive Plastic Circularity Roadmap, which the federal government developed in 2024 through the National Plastic Action Partnership in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment.

He said the roadmap provided a strategic framework for achieving plastic waste reduction through enhanced collection systems, recycling infrastructure, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), circular economy initiatives, public awareness campaigns, and investments in waste management.

“Unfortunately, many of the critical recommendations contained in that roadmap are yet to be fully implemented.

“It is, therefore, difficult to understand why the government is proceeding with a new prohibition regime without first evaluating the effectiveness of existing measures and implementing the agreed roadmap designed specifically to address plastic pollution in a sustainable and inclusive manner,” he said.

MAN further noted that international experience has shown that banning thin plastic bags and other thin plastic products rarely delivers the intended environmental outcomes.

It stated that “Kenya’s 2017 ban led to factory closures and job losses, yet banned bags continue to circulate through smuggling.

“Bangladesh’s 2002 ban remains largely unenforced after two decades, while South Africa and India experienced only temporary reductions before usage rebounded.”

In contrast, MAN stated that countries such as Germany, South Korea and the Netherlands have achieved high recycling rates through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems without disrupting local industry or increasing the daily cost of living.

 MAN added:

“The proposed ban raises serious concerns regarding its economic implications. Nigeria’s plastic manufacturing industry remains one of the country’s largest and most significant light manufacturing sectors, supporting hundreds of manufacturing facilities, thousands of small and medium enterprises, and an extensive value chain that stretches from petrochemicals and packaging to food processing, pharmaceuticals, retail trade, agriculture, logistics, and recycling.

“The implementation of an 80-micron threshold would require substantial changes in manufacturing processes, machinery configurations, and raw material consumption.

“Such changes could render existing investments obsolete, increase production costs significantly, reduce competitiveness, and expose manufacturers to substantial capital losses.”

MAN further argued that international experience has consistently shown that sustainable outcomes are achieved through effective waste management systems, recycling infrastructure, circular economy initiatives, and strong enforcement of anti-littering regulations, not through blanket prohibitions alone.

It, therefore, stated that,

“Nigeria must pursue environmental sustainability without sacrificing industrial growth, economic competitiveness, employment, and social welfare.

“Effective regulation should strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development.

“The association remains committed to working collaboratively with government and all stakeholders to advance practical, science-based, and economically sustainable solutions to plastic waste management in Nigeria.

“The challenge lies not in the production of plastics, but in the inefficient collection, sorting, recycling, and disposal of post-consumer waste.”

It stated that sustainable environmental outcomes would be achieved through stronger waste management infrastructure, expanded recycling capacity, enforcement of extended producer responsibility regulation, and greater public awareness, rather than through measures that restrict production without addressing the underlying causes of pollution.

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The manufacturers declared the exercise unfruitful, even as Nigeria requires 30,000MW of electricity to appreciably meet the growing electricity demand.

MAN said beneficiaries of the privatisation lacked the technical and financial capacity to operate and deliver power optimally.

MAN made the declaration yesterday in a public statement that decried the incessant increase in electricity tariff, which it said had hindered the performance of the manufacturing sector and growth of the economy.

The statement signed by Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the director-general of MAN, urged the government to commission a review of the performance of power Distribution Companies (DisCos) after the last unwarranted increase.

It also asked government to conduct a study on the impact of the increase on the manufacturing sector, in particular, and businesses and households, in general

Ajayi-Kadir urged the government to sincerely and critically interrogate the so-called cost reflective tariff template of the DisCos, and audit their level of commitment to investment in distribution infrastructure.

He emphasised that electricity was a critical input in manufacturing processes, with significant effect on production cost and prices of products.

The statement said,

“It was based on the critical importance of energy security in achieving the industrial aspiration of Nigeria, that the power sector was privatised in 2013 to improve the scale of energy supply to the nation, particularly the industries.

“Unfortunately, this particular privatisation has not yielded the desired results. It is widely believed that this is because the operators in the value chain lack the technical and financial capacity to operate and deliver optimally.”

Ajayi-Kadir pointed out that the Nigerian power sector’s installed capacity, put around 10,000 megawatt (MW), had not been fully utilised due to the limited capacity of the power generating companies (GenCos) and DisCos to generate and distribute adequate electricity nationwide.

He said,

“Despite the inability to meet the consumer demand, we have witnessed consistent increase in tariff without a commensurate and good quality supply.

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the electricity supply stood at 5,909.83 (Gwh) in Q2 2023 but reduced to 5,769.52 (Gwh) in Q1 2024 and 5,612.52 (Gwh) in Q2 2024, when the tariff increase of over 230 per cent was implemented.

“Thus, indicating 5.03 per cent decrease year-on-year and 2.72 per cent quarter-on-quarter.”

According to him, MAN has severally advocated increase in electricity supply from the abysmal average of 4,000MW of electricity per day for over 200 million people.

He said Nigeria needed more than 30,000MW of electricity to appreciably meet the growing electricity demand by businesses and households in the country.

Ajayi-Kadir also advised the government against yielding to any proposed increase in electricity tariff because it would be “inimical to the competitiveness of Nigerian products and businesses”.

He said such increase would also further exacerbate the effect of high cost of production, worsen the current inflationary pressure, aggravate the pressure on the disposable income of the average Nigerian, increase the unsold inventory of manufacturers, erode their profit margin, increase unemployment rate, and lead to closure of more private businesses.

The MAN director-general stated, “The persistent increase in tariff means that consumers will continue to bear the brunt of the inefficiency in the electricity value chain.  “As it stands, manufacturers are disadvantaged as the increase cannot be transferred to consumers who are currently battling with low purchasing power.

“However, I am not certain that the federal government has reached the conclusion that electricity tariff would be increased. I hope not.”

According to MAN, it goes without saying that incessant increase in electricity tariff in Nigeria is hindering the performance of the manufacturing sector and growth of the economy.

It said, “No nation can attain significant industrial development without energy security, which is timely access to sustainable and cost-effective energy.”

MAN added that “sustainable and low-cost energy supply provides incentives for scale production and competitiveness of the industrial sector”.

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