Tower Aluminium tasks govt on protectionist policy

Stakeholders in the Aluminium sector have called on the Federal Government to review its protectionist policy in the sector, in order to protect local manufacturers from what they describe as unfair competition in the sector.

According to them, failure to do so, may lead to more companies closing shops and moving out of the country.

Group Managing Director and Country Head of Tower Aluminium Nigeria Plc, Dr. Jinesh Chandra Dugad, made the call recently, at its Ota complex, in Ogun State.

Dugad bemoaned a situation where importation of aluminium products is encouraged to the detriment of locally produced ones.

He expressed concern that the country was complacent being a trading and not manufacturing economy noting that the country’s expanding ratio of unemployment would drastically reduce if local manufacturers’ activities were encouraged and protected against importation of finished products.

He then called on the government to protect the aluminium manufacturers against what he described as unfair competition bearing in mind that other developed and developing countries protect their local manufacturers by imposing anti-dumping import duty.

“The protection we are asking for is to increase the import duty and imposition of levy on semi-finished and finished products and complete removal of import duty on raw materials. This would put the local manufacturers in a position to compete with traders, who import finished products with no factory in the country and no value addition,” he added.