The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), which represents over 400,000 bakers across the country, has announced preparations to cease operations nationally on September 23rd due to growing manufacturing costs.
Mansur Umar, the Association’s national president, told reporters on Thursday that they had sought the Ministry of Labour and Employment for help but had received no answer.
He said that the cost of production had risen to an unsustainable level and that bakers were unable to fulfil rising consumer demand.
In June, the Abuja chapter of the association had lamented the high cost of raw materials for bread production, saying there may be a 30 per cent increase in the price of bread in order to avoid the shutdown of bakeries.
Ishaq Abdulkareem, Chairman AMBCN in Abuja, had at the time said that the imminent increase in price was due to an increase in the cost of ingredients and production.
Abdulkareem said the prices of all ingredients used for baking were too high, especially flour and sugar and the increase in prices of flour and other baking materials necessitated the development.
He also appealed to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to reduce the cost of business registration.
“We want to appeal to NAFDAC, they are our regulatory agency. The current cost they are demanding for registration is not part of ease of doing business.
“We were paying N32,500 for registration before, and now it is about N90,000,” Abdulkareem said.