The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has warned that manufacturers spent N676.6bn on alternative energy in the first half of 2025 and still could not meet their power needs due to the country’s unreliable and unaffordable electricity supply.

The Manufacturing State of Affairs October 2025 report of the association, presented by the Director of the Research and Economic Policy Division, Dr Oluwasegun Osidipe, stated that energy woes still plague the sector despite a drop in alternative energy costs in the first six months of the year.

“Though lower, alternative energy costs of N676.6bn and raw material imports of N1.72tn in H1 2025 remain a heavy burden on operational costs and employment, with 18,935 job losses recorded in the same period,.” the report said.

The cost of alternative energy fell from N708.1bn recorded in the second half of 2024. Still, MAN insisted that the burden remained unsustainable for manufacturers already battling rising inflation, high interest rates and increased production costs.

According to the report, inadequate power supply and the high cost of electricity and alternative energy ranked among the biggest operating constraints for manufacturers in the third quarter of 2025.

MAN, however, urged the Nigerian Government to “expand embedded generation and industrial cluster power projects using gas and renewable mini-grids, ensuring manufacturers get reliable, affordable off-grid electricity.”

Meanwhile, the report by Punch newspaper had quoted the Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, as saying earlier that electricity remained a critical but inefficiently supplied input for manufacturers.

He argued that power costs had risen astronomically, saying, “No manufacturer can competitively produce in that kind of environment.”

Ajayi-Kadir said that MAN had proposed a more manageable 100 per cent tariff increase, noting, “We have indicated that a 100 per cent increase would have been tolerable. And this is for power that is inefficiently generated and run.”

GIK/APA