Experts have explained why 17 out of 42 Free Trade Zones in Nigeria are not functional.

In an exclusive chat with our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday, an economist, Oluwole Osagie-Jacobs, blamed epidemic power supply and bad government policies as reasons for the non-functionality of 17FTZs in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Customs Service had, in a statement on Friday, said that out of the 42 FTZs in Nigeria, only 25 were active.

The statement read in part, “Of the 42 Free Trade zones in Nigeria, only 25 are active, with 15 of them operating in Zone ‘A’, 4 in Zone ‘B’, 5 in Zone ‘C’ and 1 in Zone ‘D’.

“In addition to providing employment opportunities for Nigerians, these Special Economic Zones are expected to engender the transfer of technology, help build local capacity, provide viable market for other local producers of raw materials and increase the quality of goods which can potentially be available in the local market on the payment of relevant duties and taxes.”

Reacting to this, a FTZ expert, Oluwole Osagie-Jacobs, told newsmen that inadequate infrastructure and epileptic power supply were among the reasons the FTZs were packing up in Nigeria.

“Calabar Free Trade Zone is the first in Nigeria, but it was threatened at a time because the companies started folding up. What they promised people was that there was going to be adequate infrastructure like water, light, amongst others. So, it was not the fault of the investors but the Federal Government could not provide light.”

He added that power contributed 30 and 35 per cent to the efficiency of FTZs.

“The power we generate in Nigeria is still below 5000 megawatts. So, when they now distribute the power to the companies, it is interrupted. And power is between 30-35per cent of most things used by producers. When I was there, we spent over N2.5m on diesel alone in one month as at 2018 because we had a factory there at the Calabar FTZ.”