By Ginika Okoye
MTN NIGERIA and other multinational business owners have appealed to the federal government to create a level playing field to enable businesses to sustain their investments in the country.
They made the appeal during a panel session at the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Modupe Kadri, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of MTN Nigeria, said that high inflation rate and foreign exchange had made it difficult for the telecommunications industry to operate effectively.
According to Kadri, this is so because majority of their products are imported.
He said that the current development had caused the tariff increase in the petroleum and electricity industry and wondered why the same increase would not be allowed in the telecommunications industry.
“Our business is mainly dependent on forex, so customers need to understand that for you to get the services that you desire, it costs money.
“When people have to invest in the country and are not able to monetise their investment, it cannot work.
“The only way that this economy will thrive is if there is appropriate pricing such that investments in the sector are guaranteed.
“The telecommunications industry contributes 16 per cent to the GDP, and it is not something that you mess around with,” he said.
He said that for the government to encourage the survival of businesses, there had to be a level playing field.
“If we are not careful, what happened to the oil industry, which led to loss of investments will happen to telecommunications, and the industry will come to a halt. It’s not rocket science,” he said.
Oyeyimka Adeboye, the Chief Executive Officer of (Cadbury) Mondelez West Africa, said that the company’s productions were heavily import dependent.
Adeboye said that the cost of doing business had tripled in the country in the last two years.
She stressed the need for the country to minimise imports and create access to financing for local production.
“We import glucose but we have people that can make it here locally. The problem is that they do not have access to finance,” she said.
Mr Courage Obadagbonyi, the Chief Financial Officer of APM Terminals West Africa, said that there was need for coordination between government regulators.
Obadagbonyi said that the lack of coordination had caused confusion for businesses, adding that investments would not thrive in confusion.
Mrs Nkechi Obi, the Group Managing Director of Techno Oil Limited, said that businesses would only thrive with good policies.
Obi expressed optimism that with the coming of Dangote refinery, the prices of petroleum products would be a bit stable.
“Techno Oil is working on its refinery to avoid shocks or uncertainties in the sector,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the title of the panel session was ‘Navigating Business Growth in a Volatile Environment’. (NAN)
