Forex ban threatens 100,000 tomato processing jobs

There are indications that the listing of tomato paste among the 41 items banned from accessing foreign exchange from the official window by the Central Bank of Nigeria is endangering the jobs of 100,000 workers in the country.

Labour union officials in some of the local tomato processing companies said the inability of the firms to import paste and other raw materials used in their production process had drastically affected them.
According to the union officials, the jobs of the workers are at stake unless the ban is reversed, adding that the opportunity for backward integration would be lost by the affected companies under the present regime.

In an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Monday, the Director-General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, noted that although the climatic condition in the country was in support of local cultivation of tomatoes, farmers lacked the capacity to produce them in large quantities.

He said, “What is it that has made the CBN to prohibit tomato paste manufacturers from the foreign exchange that should not be extended to numerous products, including petroleum, for which the Almighty God has blessed us with in abundance?

“Our climate can support the cultivation of tomato but processing it into tomato paste is a different kind of business. And those who are packaging tomato paste depend on output from those who are processing them before they can package.

“If tomato paste is now placed among the list of items that will not have access to the foreign exchange market overnight, that line of business has been killed because the government is working from the perspective that there are tomatoes in the environment for cultivation, processing into paste and packaging. Rather than prohibiting the items overnight, why not engage the manufacturers in discussion.”

In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the President, National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees, Lateef Oyelekan, said the companies involved should be given the latitude to plan for backward integration.

According to him, the quantity of the produce being cultivated presently in the country is not enough for local consumption as well as processing into paste.

He pointed out that it would take over a year for the planting, harvesting and processing of the produce into paste, adding that most of the companies had run out of stock.