The Organised Private Sector, OPS, has come down hard on the recent policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, stopping third party opening of ‘Form M’ for import purposes, noting that it will cripple Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs.
The OPS expressed its concern on the issue in Lagos last week at an interactive function put together by the Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC.
According to Vanguard Maritime Report, members of the OPS complained about not being consulted before the implementation of the policy.
They told the Council that most of imports are from China, and as such importation cannot be done without the middlemen since they cannot speak Mandarin.
A source at the meeting said, “They complained that for instance, they do not read Mandarin and many of their businesses are in China. They aked how they would read Mandarin if middlemen are eliminated.
“They were angry why the CBN would just issue that policy without having any discussion with them.”
Vanguard Maritime Report gathered that a meeting between the NSC and the apex regulatory bank has been scheduled for next week.
