Insecurity still a threat to manufacturers in North-East

Local manufacturers in the North-East states of Adamawa and Yobe are consistently lamenting dire effects of the insecurity situation on their production processes and business.

In Adamawa State, manufacturing companies like Savannah Sugar Company Limited, Faro Table Water, cotton milling companies, bottling firms, fabricators, furniture makers, cotton milling and weaving companies are operating under stiff security conditions, Real Sector Watch has gathered.   

 ‘’Manufacturers are seeking means of survival. Power supply lasts between 6 and 8 hours. We all are suffering. Rainy season is coming, so farmers are returning to their farms, but it looks like there will a very big security challenge for small-scale farmers and cattle rearers in the Northern part,’’ said  Moddibbo Abdurrahmam, president, Adamawa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in an interview with BusinessDay.

In Yobe State, manufacturers and other businesspeople have deserted Gujba, Gulani and some parts of Damaturu local government areas of the state, where Boko Haram insurgents mainly operate.

‘’We used to produce 250 tons of Gum Arabic annually but we now struggle to produce 50 tons.,’’ said Shettima Dukar Jallaba, president, Yobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 Jallaba said players in the sector left the state owing to insecurity and incessant power outages, adding that border-related businesses had been closed, thereby foreclosing the possibility of export businesses across the borders of high –risk zones.