Ernest Nnezianya is the Managing Director/CEO Health-Gate, an agro-processor, who is involved in processing and packaging. In this interview with Charles Okonji, he recounts how investment articles in The Nation influenced his decision to go into manufacturing. Excerpts:
As an entrepreneur can you tell us what motivated you into manufacturing and agro processing?
I am a regular reader of The Nation and my participation in reading the paper has helped me so much. It your articles that made me what I am today, I am talking of the section where you publish SME investment and production projects. It has been my power of inspiration into what I’m doing today as an entrepreneur in processing of fruits and beverages. So, at the same time, I recommend that people read The Nation if they really want to be like me. They should go and look for The Nation to educate them through your publications. For instance, when I asked my vendor to get me one of the national papers that writes on SMEs, he quickly told me that if that I want to invest in any production in small or medium scale that I should subscribe to The Nation, and I told him to buy all the 2018 publication of The Sunday on Nation. Today, I am a proud employer of labour and I will remain grateful to God for linking to 000.
How long have you been reading The Nation and how did you discover it?
Actually I was reading Punch for a very long time and one day as I was busy flipping through Punch, my vendor asked me what was I looking for, I told him I’m looking for something in processing and he said that I don’t have to go through punch but The Nation. So showing me The Nation, I went through the whole thing and since then I don’t miss The Nation and since I tell people to go for The Nation whenever they think investment.
How has the articles helped you to improve and to invest?
You should understand that I do not have any other knowledge in manufacturing and processing, except from the articles I read in The Nation. My carefully studying of the articles helped me understood how to start the business and run it because but it was well detailed.
How many persons have you been able to employ or you are still a one man capacity?
I have employed over than 15 people directly, this is because of the high demand of our products. Right now, I am planning of expanding the production lines for us to be able to meet up with the market demand as it has been popularly accepted by the eastern market.
What is your turnover like, monthly or yearly turn over?
Because I am the originator of this business, I started without borrowing from anybody. This is because I saw your write up on the paper and the explanations, proved what I have been looking for, but now I do my research on my own. I didn’t have any form of initial education or knowledge about this business before starting, so, I have started doing research on daily basis. I don’t have fears because the outcome is very positive and have hope for a greater tomorrow.
In terms of government policies how has it played out with you?
Yes, that is a very big challenge to us because most packaging materials are still being imported into the country. So you have to think about that and you also have to make sure it is of a very good quality and standard. We are improving on the daily basis to make sure that we can even exporting our product to other African countries in a very short space of time from now. The policy as it affects loan and other things from bank, should be looked into and urgently be addressed by the appropriate authorities. We can’t access loans from bank because the collaterals are almost impossible for starters like us, and even when you can meet up with the requirements, the cost of funds become a very huge hindrance to us. This force majority of us to start with personal savings and in most cases remain at the same level for years without expansion. But if the government should attend to these issues with urgency, unemployment would soon become a thing of the past.
How would the recent CBN reduction in lending rate to 13.5% actually improve your business?
We are still appealing to the government to further reduce the lending rate to at least, single digit. This is because when compared to other developing countries, the rate is far lower than what is obtainable in Nigeria. For instance, China and India grew their economies with lending rates less than 5%, and in the USA and Europe, it is less than 1%, which make companies in such regions to grow and compete healthily with the global market.
In the agriculture value chain, and the processing equipment and other related areas loan, we are a bit on the high side. It is supposed to be 5% or less, to enable us access every funds we are supposed to. At least we are not doing this only for our own interest, but we are also helping people leave the streets and roads by providing jobs for them through investment. Since it is the responsibility of the government to provide job for its citizens, so the government should help us as we helping the achieve this.
Which is your flagship product?
For now, I will tell you that I have a variety of products and they are all marketable and they are all in high demand. What differentiates us is quality. We have high quality standards, and we are carrying out research daily to see how can improve and remain the best in the portion of market we control and to also expand our market share.
Can you mention one or two of your product?
We process yam flour, cassava flour, chin-chin, peanut; amongst others. Our peanut is a special product that is not comparable to others in the market.
Is it only marketed in the Eastern market or all over the nation?
For now, we are trying to certify the eastern market. The demand is more than we can produce. This is because there is no fund to expand the production line, but we are not sleeping, we are strategizing on how to raise funds for expansion.
What are your experiences so far as a manufacturer?
It is nice being a manufacturer; I enjoy it because I have passion for manufacturing. I had always wanted to be an employer of labour from my youthful days, but my encounter with The Nation brought my dream to a reality. So, this is to say that there is a great hope for Nigeria. But then people are supposed to do what they are supposed to do. Like now, I was able to train people on what to do and how to do it about production. And I tell them to make use of your publication because that will help them so much and that if there is any problem that they should consult me.
What is your final word to government?
There is no need for people to look for white collar jobs; it is for them to consult the right people. Like I said it earlier, The Nation is servicing Nigeria as a whole. The government is supposed to be paying you for giving us information, right information to people on how to carry out production. I believe government should recognise you and give you a great support.
What is your experience like with tax officers?
They should make sure that they reduce tax because they are taxing us heavily, especially when we are double taxed. It is a very a bad situation that we are facing. After paying multiple taxes, it affects our production negatively.
Did they give you in anyway tax holiday?
Not at all, the moment they started seeing our sign board, they started coming to us to force us to pay taxes, even when we have not made any form of profit.
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