By Ken Afor
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), has expressed concern regarding the repercussions of multinational companies divesting in Nigeria.
According to NECA, the number of direct employees affected by these divestments has reached a staggering 20,000, resulting in significant job losses.
This trails the recent exit of three renowned multinational companies in the FCMG section in the country’s health sector – GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Procter & Gamble (P&G), and Equinor, an energy company from the county.
The organization representing employers and advocating for business interests in Nigeria expressed concern in a press release titled “Urgent action to arrest the growing unemployment rate”.
NECA cautioned that the repercussions of the extensive employment cuts across various industries would persist in generating security challenges, as well as amplifying the prevalence of child labor and other related issues.
“We are concerned at the growing rate of unemployment in the country, made worse by the continuous divestment of global businesses and closure of local ones,” according to Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, Director-General, NECA.
“It is worrisome to note that in the last three years, over 15 organisations with a combined value-chain staff strength of over 20,000 employees have either divested or partially closed operations.
“This has dire consequences not only for organized businesses but also for labour, government revenue and the households,” he said.
Expressing the Association’s deep concerns, Mr. Oyerinde warned that “the consequences of this massive job losses across sectors will continue to create security challenges, increase the occurrence of child-labour (as children will be forced to become bread-winners), adversely affect the disposable income of families, erode the purchasing power of individuals and drastically reduce economy’s output.”
In addressing this predicament, the Director-General of NECA emphasized the need for the government to promptly tackle the diverse array of challenges that organized businesses are currently encountering.
He said, “The harsh business environment has made local businesses to be uncompetitive. The government must urgently address regulatory and legislative bottlenecks that tend to stifle businesses rather than promote them.
“Continuous efforts must be made to promote locally-made goods through the provision of critical infrastructures; urgent stabilization of the foreign exchange market and ensuring that Ministries, Departments and Agencies are appraised not only by how much income they generate but also by how many businesses they facilitated or promoted.
“The private sector creates reight out of every 10 jobs and deliberate effort must be made to ensure its sustainability and competitiveness.”
