The African number one industrialist and billionaire Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has faulted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for raising the lending interest rate to nearly 30 percent.
Dangote said it will stall growth in the economy, creates poverty and insecurity.
Speaking on Tuesday , July 2, at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja during the opening session of a three-day summit organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dangote expressed worry over the impact of the current interest rate regime on job creation and the growth of the manufacturing sector.
The CBN had in its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting announced upward review in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) for the third consecutive time, rising from 24.75 percent to 26.25 percent.
Dangote warned that nobody creates job with increasing lending interest rate, saying no growth will take place in such economy save insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and abject poverty.
“Nobody can create jobs with an interest rate of 30%. No growth will happen,” Dangote stated, even as he highlighted the challenges faced by manufacturers in competing and expanding under such conditions.
He also called for new policies to protect domestic industries and urged the government to provide an enabling environment for existing businesses, particularly manufacturers, to thrive.
“We must look to leading countries in the West and the East who are actively protecting their domestic industries. Import dependence is equivalent to importing poverty and exporting jobs.
“No power, no growth, no prosperity. Similarly, no affordable financing, no growth, no prosperity. There is no industrialization without protection Ignoring these facts, is what gives rise to insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and abject poverty,” he said.
