President of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), Frank Jacobs, yesterday disclosed that Nigeria spends N165 billion annually to import fruit juice.
He made this disclosure at a workshop organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) in Owerri.
While delivering a paper entitled “Promoting Investments in Concentrate Production’’, Jacobs said the situation has led to an estimated loss of one billion dollars annually.
Jacobs listed other factors to include limited demand and logistics challenges such as handling and transporting the fruits to the urban centres.
Importation of concentrates has adversely affected local fruits cultivation for juice processing,’’ Jacobs said.
The MAN president said that the continued dependence on massive importation of concentrates by industries was not healthy for the nation’s economy.
He said that the availability of raw materials, a large market, a ready domestic concentrate and good export potentials should serve as incentives to attract investment in the project.
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