The Nation Newspaper

Category: Industry

  • SMEDAN, Japanese firm partner on Vehicle Recycling Plant

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Kaiho Sangyo Japan have begun discussions on the proposal for conversion of the Industrial Development Centre (IDC) at the Idu Industrial Layout, Abuja, to a vehicle recycling plant. The Centre is one of the 23 established by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as a business incubation center and Industrial Park, but have remained largely under-utilized over the years.

    The proposed vehicle recycling plant is expected to recycle entirely end-of-life vehicles to be turned into three kinds of steel namely, metal, aluminum and copper, which will then be converted into motor body and spare parts in the nearest future.

    Speaking on behalf of Kaiho Sangyo Japan, the Project Consultant and Team Leader, Mr. Masayoshi Matsushita said that while he was working with United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Nigeria, he noticed that a lot of dead and abandoned vehicles littered most nooks and crannies of the country and they were an eyesore and could contaminate the environment. “I saw the waste emanating from these end-of-life vehicles hanging around the whole place, I decided that something good could come out of these comatose automobiles which cumulatively numbered about 400,000 in the whole country and about 8000 in the FCT alone. We went into partnership with the Abuja Investment Company on the development of this project. With the help of UNIDO and JICA, we were able to come up with this company to delve into automobile recycling of ELVs”, said Matsushita.

  • Dangote seeks more support for the Private Sector

    Dangote seeks more support for the Private Sector

    The President/CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said he decided to venture into the construction of a refinery and fertiliser plant as part of his contributions  to reducing unemployment in the country. Dangote stated this in Lagos while addressing members of a business group which paid him a visit.

    He said the task of growing the nation’s economy rests more on the private sector and urged  other investors to lend the government a helping hand in this direction. He said: “The responsibility of government is more of providing the enabling environment through the right policies and infrastructure provisions for the private sector to thrive.”

    He commended the current administration for focusing on issues that would help the private sector perform optimally as enshrined in the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dangote  said no government can succeed without the input of the private sector.

    He  also praised the Federal Government for listening to the private sector and intervening in some critical areas of attention such as the backward integration policy which started with the cement sector and now being extended to agriculture.

    “Nigeria has the resources and the market for any company to survive. I have always said it that Nigeria is a good place to invest. We have all in abundance. God has blessed this country,” he said.

    Expressing optimism in Nigeria’s economic revival through the private sector, he said the current challenges facing the country will soon be a thing of the past.

    The Dangote Group, he promised, will invest more in Nigeria and create more jobs.

  • ‘Uncontrolled imports affecting local industries’

    ‘Uncontrolled imports affecting local industries’

    The increased dumping of roofing materials from Asian countries, especially China, into the market is undermining the competitiveness of the nation’s distressed manufacturing sector, operator have said.

    The Marketing Director of Nigerite Nigeria Limited, Mr Toyin Gbede, said a viable manufacturing sector is the mainstay of most developed and developing economy.

    He said this was why China manufacturing index remains one of the most important indicators of either growth or contraction of its economy.

    He said: “When a nation opens its economy to unrestricted importation of products which hitherto are manufactured by its local players, or could be manufactured through right incentives, without well thought out protection policy for such players, it puts them in great disadvantage, especially in a situation such as in Nigeria, where every manufacturer has to provide basic infrastructure such as water, electricity, access roads by its self.”

    He said, this is made worse where such economy becomes a dumping ground for substandard products as in Nigeria.

    He told The Nation that the market is filled with substandard roofing products, especially from the Far East and, therefore, impossible for genuine building manufacturers to compete on price with such products.

    Gbede observed that due to severe economic situation the nation is going through, our economy is becoming more and more price sensitive with people caring less about quality.

    According to him, the implication is very simple to imagine, because more and more manufacturers are closing down or downsizing to reduce overhead, and this is worsening unemployment situation by the day.

    Furthermore, the Nigerite boss said when some people have no jobs because of government’s bad economic policies, they will go into crime.

    Besides ensuring that prices of local products compete favourably with imported goods, the government should provide adequate and functional infrastructure, he added.

    Mostly affected is the roofing material sector with various materials flooding the local market daily. Although the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has absolved itself of blame, some local manufacturers and distributors blame regulatory bodies and other government’s agencies for shirking their responsibilities.

    Also speaking the Head of Inspectorate and Compliance Directorate, SON,Mr Bede Obayi, said the agency has stand ards for the two popular roofing sheets, which are the aluminum and galvanised steel roofing sheets.

    He said: “We have Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) 488 of 2010 for aluminum roofing sheets and NIS 180, 2013 for galvanised steel roofing sheets. What that means is that SON has taken a proactive measure to ensure that these products are appropriately monitored by way of compliance which are specified in the various standards for each product.”

    “We set up SONCAP and MANCAP for imported and locally produced products and offices in 29 states, where they carry out certification, routine and surveillance visits to ensure that the quality of locally made products are controlled.

    “Subsequently, we make sure that that company continues to produce according to the requirements of the standards; that is how we monitor the local product. For the imported ones, we apply the SONCAP principle, a strategy we have designed under the Inspectorate and Compliance Unit to monitor the borders and warehouses.”

    He added that SON had to review the standards of roofing sheets to ensure that they are of good qualities. He said: “We reviewed the standard minimum thickness to .15 for the ordinary grade, .20 for the premium grades and .30 and above for special grade used for special projects. In this scenario, opportunity is given to everybody to buy what they can afford and at the best quality.

    He claimed the alleged dumping of substandard materials is made worse because the agency has been excluded from the ports which accounts for over 85 per cent of imported materials.

    China’s population of 1.6 billion, no doubt, needs new trading routes for industrial goods, and Nigeria which is the most populous black nation, with a capacity to absorb many of these goods, is a target by the Chinese authorities, especially with our porous borders and weak regulatory authorities.

  • ABUCCIMA to provide exotic tents for 8th Trade Fair, says D-G

    The Abuja Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA) says it will provide “exotic tents’’ for exhibitors at the forthcoming Eight Abuja International Trade Fair.

    The fair will hold between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10 at the Jeremiah Useni International Trade Fair Complex, Airport Road, Abuja. The Director-General of the Chamber, Mr Joe Wenegieme, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.

    He said the tents, measuring 2,125 square metres and with capacity to accommodate 156 exhibitors, would be brought from China.

    “We have bought these exotic exhibition tents from China; we will be clearing them very soon. I have received the bill of laden from the supplier.

    “Unlike previous years when exhibitors were made to construct their own temporary wooden stands, we have placed orders for exotic exhibition tents from China.

    Wenegieme described as encouraging, responses from countries, state governments, corporate oganisations and other prospective participants to the chamber’s invitation.

  • ‘Shea butter export can boost Nigeria’s non-oil earnings by $2b ‘

    Experts yesterday in Abuja said that the export of processed Shea butter could boost Nigeria’s non-oil earnings by $2billion annually. They gave the figure at a briefing on the forthcoming 6th International Shea Industry Conference organised by the Global Shea Alliance (GSA).The Global Shea Alliance is the coordinating body for the development of the shea butter industry worldwide.

    The conference is an annual gathering of producers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers and other stakeholders in the shea butter industry.  The Director-General of the Niger State Commodity and Export Promotion Agency, Mr Mohammed Kontagora, who is also a member of GSA said that Nigeria’s potential in the sector was largely untapped.

    He said that Nigeria, which presently accounts for 57 per cent of the global shea value put at about $4 billion dollars, could address its challenge of poverty through shea butter export.“Nigeria stands a better chance of improving its economy through the processing and sale of shea butter.“

    The current global shea value stands at more than  $3.8 billion. “Shea butter has the potential to eradicate poverty, this is the sector I believe we all have to go back to,” he said.Kontagora said that there was no other genuine means of enhancing the rural economies of communities that had comparative advantage in shea butter production.

    He added that there was no better option to rural women empowerment than in the promotion of shea butter as a food and cosmetic product.On the export capacity of Nigeria, the DG said that more than 50,000 tonnes of the product could be exported from the country per year.He, however, bemoaned the lack of adequate statistics on shea butter production, noting that it was one of the factors militating against the development of the sector in Nigeria.

    Earlier in her address, the President of Alliance, Mrs Eugenia Akuete, solicited the support of government and other stakeholders for the development of the sector in Nigeria.She said that the growth of the sector could empower more women to contribute to the wellbeing of the families and those of their local comm-unities.“Women collect nuts across the Savannah area stretching from Senegal to Uganda and South Sudan.“Millions of women make shea butter that millions more in West Africa consume daily in food and skin care products.“The Shea has tremendous impact on local economies, for every one dollar of shea exported, local villages receive an additional 50 per cent of income,” she said.

    On her part, an executive committee member of the alliance, Mrs Salima Makama, pleaded for support and publicity for the forth-coming conference. She said that the conference would create opportunities for Nigeria and Africa to develop the local shea butter industry and open new economic opportunities for its citizens.

    Makama urged states with comparative advantage in shea butter production to take a cue from the Niger State Government’s shea development road map.

  • No short cut to success, says Fashola

    No short cut to success, says Fashola

    The truth to white collar jobs with suits and ties are going out fashion because our economy is changing”.

    With these words, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola urged his audience comprising graduates and pupils to be prepared create their own jobs.

    It was at the First Lagos State Enterprise Day. The day is set aside to address entrepreneurship development among technical college pupils.

    It brings them in contact with entrepreneurs in order to inculcate in them the experiences of building sustainable businesses after graduation.

    Over 1,000 students and ex-students of technical colleges, several entrepreneurs, captains of industry and government officials were in attendance.

    Fashola said the nation’s future was in building a productive economy where more Nigerians would do things with their hands instead of depending wholly on importation. The days of white-collar jobs with suits and ties, he said, were gone, adding that the alternative rests in building a productive economy.

    He said: “Nigeria was essentially a trading economy.  The companies were not owned by Nigerians. Nigerians were merely employed in those companies who needed a large army of workers, storekeepers, accountants, gatekeepers, book-keepers, clerks, secretaries and so on; all that have changed now,” he said.

    Counselling the young on how to run a successful business, the governor, said the only way was to be hardworking and honest.

    “Of course, there are issues of good and bad business models. You can choose to run your business by cutting corners to make quick money. Such business does not last. Or you can choose to run it prudently and honestly, paying your tax and fulfilling all the obligations required of such business; and you can be sure to build a lasting and successful business,” he stated.

    He said the ethics required in building a successful and sustainable business were embedded in the students’ business enterprise training, stressing that “there are no short cuts in this journey to success. There will be quick stops when you reassess and re-energise, but there will be no short cuts. The road to success is hard and winding and only those with the right attitude, with the right mental framework succeed.”

    Fashola advised the youths to be innovative and embrace change in the running of their businesses, pointing out that without introducing new ways of doing things in their businesses, changing methods and continually learning new techniques and new tools of trade, the business stood in danger of being wiped out by competition

    “At the time our ancestors were doing business, they kept all their records or ledgers, there were no computers, there were no air conditioners, they used fans. You are the generation that has almost everything, speed, efficiency, i-phones, data, you now have a global search engine, and you can find anything in the world. So you will have no reason to let the past generations defeat you,” he said.

    Fashola said government was positioning the economy to respond to the needs of technical school graduates, saying that the government would also issue them contracts for the renovation and maintenance of public building in the state, including schools, hospitals, maternal and childcare centres, stadia and others under the office of the State’s Facility Management.

    Mrs. Helen Jemirigbe, a director at the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, who represented the Director-General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (N.E.C.A), said the association decided to partner with the Lagos State Government “because the state stands out with several firsts, which it has scored, especially in what it has been doing in education.”

    NECA, she said, would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding to work with the state at the Technical College, Ikorodu.

    Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) Mr. Olawumi Gasper, said the government placed emphasis on curriculum re-alignment in the technical colleges and vocational centres, thereby highlighting the importance of entrepreneurship, capacity building, involvement of industries and public private partnerships in technical and vocational education for meeting emerging needs of a global economy.

    He said the government main-streamed entrepreneurship education into its technical and vocational education, noting that one of the achievements of the government “is achieving social inclusion through the infusion of entrepreneurship education in the technical colleges, thus enabling the marginalised groups, especially girls and the poor, to engage actively in productive economic activities.

    “This effort has seen the commencement of the creation of a critical mass of competent and skilled youths with strong entrepreneurial spirit, managerial and technical knowledge that will start, grow micro-enterprises into small and medium enterprises, all towards enhancing the growth of the private sector. The aim is to enable young people to own their businesses and grow these businesses through mentorship.”

    “Technical colleges have already imbibed the entrepreneurial culture as embedded in their curriculum. Today in the technical colleges, vocational skill trades are sufficiently infused with entrepreneurial elements that have harnessed the power of entrepreneurial competences including innovation and creativity among students of the colleges, thus preparing them to become self-reliant and competitive in the new dynamic and globalised world,” he said.

  • Experts score Sure-P low

    Experts have criticised the management of the Subsidy Reinvestment & Empowerment Programme (Sure-P Fund).

    The fund is made up of a share of the savings from the reduction of subsidies on petroleum products.

    The savings are to be invested in schemes that will cushion the effect of subsidy removal of the people.

    The Federal Government’s portion of the savings is invested in critical infrastructure and social safety net programmes that will benefit the people.

    A former Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Remi Omotoso, said the programme could have added more value by collaborating with firms, such as paint manufacturers to engage young people to paint houses for individuals or for the government in big housing projects.

    He argued that the tripartite arrangement has the capacity to take millions of youths from the streets, lift companies and also encourage economic growth.

    Landlords, he noted, would be encouraged to repaint their houses as it will cost less and youths also would be gainfully employed to discourage them from crime.

    He said: “Manufacturers who have good quality paints will triple their capacity. It would be better to engage our youths in this manner than to make them sweep the streets. The programme will include training and re-training them and this will lead to young people having additional skills, earning decent pay and less dependent on their families for upkeep.”

    Principal Partner, J. Ajayi Patunola & Co, a firm of estate surveyors and valuers, Dr Patunola-Ajayi, said the Sure-P Fund would be better directed into infrastructure.

    He said were there are infrastructure, the youths would be removed from the un-employment market. Any other programme by government may just not be enough, he said.

    On the critical infrastructure to be provided, he said electricity ranked top as it would enable not only smallscale industries to thrive but also artisans.

    Patunola-Ajayi said: “Government should not create ad hoc programmes with the fund because if there is constant electricity for instance, youth unemployment would be reduced to at least 65 per cent.”

    Patunola-Ajayi also advocated encouraging indigenous building materials’firms, noting that the government that created the enabling policy for them to operate will create employment and stimulate the construction industry, which is a huge employer of labour.

  • Close Up unveils N2b promo

    Close Up Nigeria has begun a promo to appreciate its customers’ support over the years. The promo,which is worth over N2 billion, will reward over 94 million consumers nationwide, said Unilever Nigeria, the manufacturer of the toothpaste brand.

    The promo, scheduled to run from August till December 2013, will give consumers who buy the Big family size Close Up toothpaste tube an extra 30 grammes for free at the same price. Consumers, who buy the New 15gramme sachet, will get an extra 50 per cent for same price.

    Unveiling the promo in Lagos, Brand Building Director, Unilever Nigeria, David Okeme, said: “This promo goes to show our appreciation to the vast individuals and families that make up the Naija we love. The romance between the Close up and our consumers have waxed stronger over the years and the massive support we have received has contributed immensely to making the Close Up brand Nigeria’s number one.

    Category Manager, Oral Care, Oiza Gyang, said, Close Up had been busy in engaging and connecting with various levels of the community.

    Dexter Adeola, Brand Manager, Close Up said: “We are excited about this promo as we get to reach every Nigerian individual and family we cater to. Our gesture goes to show that we take the recent awards we have received recently seriously.”

  • NACCIMA visits Niger

    The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has gone on a four-day trade mission to Niamey, the Niger Republic capital to strengthen trade ties.

    The delegation, led by NACCIMA’s National President, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar visited the country for trade and business–to-business meetings.

    The focus of the delegation, according to a statement from the chamber, is various sectors.

    The delegation focused on real estate, transport & logistics (Inland Dry Port), agriculture, road construction, petroleum marketing, textiles and food processing during the visit.

    The delegation visited the Niger Republic Ministers of External Affairs, Cooperation and Diaspora, Bazoum Mohammed; his counterpart in the Ministry of Commerce and Private Sector Development, Saley Saidou and the Minister of Health, Lawali Chaibu .

    The delegation met with the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Energy and Petroleum; Solid Minerals and Industries and the Director-General of Housing Development Corporation (Sonuci).

    On the delegation were – Ahmad Rabiu, a National Vice President of NACCIMA, Emeka Unachukwu, President, Port-Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Elder Mike Fowowe, President, Ibadan Chamber of Commerce, Umar Farouk Rabiu, President Kano Chamber of Commerce and Dr Abdul Alimi, President, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce.

  • ‘Don’t merge NAFDAC, SON’

    ‘Don’t merge NAFDAC, SON’

    Former Minister for Industry Chief Mrs. Nike Akande has thrown her weight behind the Orosanye panel that ministries, development and agencies (MDAS) be streamlined to make them more responsive. She cited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) as duplication of functions, arguing that such multiplicity leads to high cost of doing business in the country.

    She expressed optimism that government would come up with the best solution after the consideration of the panel’s report.

    But the Chairman of DN Meyer, Mr. Remi Omotoso, kicked against the recommendation that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) be merged. He said the agencies perform different functions.

    Omotoso argued that the agencies should not be merged, warning that if the Federal Government merges them, the citizens would be worse for it.

    According to him, SON was set up with a mandate to formulate standards for industries and ensure that fake and substandard goods are not allowed into the country while NAFDAC concerns itself with matters relating to food and drugs regulations and administration.

    He warned that if the minority canvassing for the merger of the agencies is allowed to have its way, the nation will go back to where it was before NAFDAC had a dynamic director-general in Prof Dora Akunyili who fought importers of fake and substandard drugs into the country with impunity.

    He commended NAFDAC for going a step further to track drugs imported into the country and cut down the influx of fake drugs from Asian countries.

    Merging the agencies, he said, would make them to become unmanageable. Instead of a merger, he urged the Federal Government to look into the constraints of SON with a view to strengthening it and making it more effective and dynamic like NFDAC.

    The DN Meyer chief noted that SON may be overwhelmed by the myriad of goods imported into the country through various countries, adding that this may be a result of its limited human and material resources.

    He insisted that there can only be an effective SON if its management is committed, arguing that the must be a conscious effort by government to reduce the volume imported goods into the country so as to narrow its search for substandard goods.