Frank Udemba Jacobs, president of the Association, speaking at the MAN 45th Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, said, ” I can safely say that no nation has recorded significant economic development with unrestrained high interest rates.
The case of Nigeria will not be different.  With the prevailing double-digit interest rates, the Nigerian economy will continue to suffer decline. Therefore we recommend, as the Association has done in the past and always, a single-digit interest rate”.Jacobs also challenged government on the need to treat the epileptic electricity supply and the entire country’s energy crises as top priority because without adequate and stable power, economic and social development will be a mirage.

The MAN president noted that the issue of foreign exchange for the importation of essential manufacturing inputs is equally important, but added that if government tenaciously drives the resource-based industrialisation programme, this can be overcome.

He reminded government of the anticipated negative impact of the EU-ECOWAS Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) According to him, MAN has made its position clear on the need to reject the above proposal and we appreciate the Federal Government for agreeing with our position.  We appeal that the Government will maintain its stand because of the anticipated destructive impact of the EPA on the Nigerian economy.

He further stated that MAN sees the proposed admission of Morocco into ECOWAS as equivalent to signing the EPA through the back door and therefore urged the Federal government to vehemently oppose the move as it would spell doom to the productive sector of the economy.

Jacobs who specially paid glowing respect and recognition to former president of Tanzania, Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa said the Associations National Council unanimously resolved to invite him as the Guest Speaker at the AGM, because of his outstanding performance and people oriented policies.

“Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, one may be wondering why we have to go so far to get a Speaker!  His Excellency has effectively managed an economy through turbulent tide and thereafter, sustained it effectively.  His invitation as the Guest Speaker to this AGM was for us to share the Tanzanian experience on post crisis survival.
Other considerations include his wealth of experience as the former President of Tanzania and his long and meritorious civil service as well as economic achievements recorded during his tenure (1995-2005).  Interestingly, His Excellency, Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa served as High Commissioner of Tanzania to Nigeria in 1976.
For the records, prior to 1995, Tanzania’s economy was State-controlled. The political party system in Tanzania at the time was one-party system with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Revolutionary Party) as the ruling party. You will agree that this type of command economic system has lost relevance in the current world order.
Interestingly, by 2005 when His Excellency completed his statutory two tenures, he restructured and transformed the Tanzanian economy from a State-controlled to a capitalist-oriented economy, which is in tandem with contemporary economy order. He also reorganized Tanzanian Civil Service.
His achievements while in office laid the solid foundation for the prevailing socio-political and economic progressions in Tanzania today. Data from the World Bank shows that the Tanzanian economy grew by 7.0 per cent in 2016, 6.659% in 2015, 6.965 per cent in 2014 and 7.263 per cent in 2013″ he said.

Dwelling on the theme of the AGM, which is “Recovery and Growth of the Nigerian Economy”, Jacobs noted that the theme was necessitated by the prevailing economic exigency in the country, the need to overcome it and how to sustain a post-crisis economy, assuring that the Guest Speaker who will speak on the topic: “Revitalizing Nigeria’s Manufacturing Sector” will take cognizance of the ongoing improvement in macroeconomic indicators in the economy at the moment and proffer strategies for sustaining