The Nation Newspaper

Tag: factory

  • Obaseki inaugurates glass factory

    Obaseki inaugurates glass factory

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has inaugurated Rongsheng Glass Nigeria Ltd in Utesi, Benin City.

    He said 70 per cent of building materials, needed to meet the country’s 20 million units housing deficit, could be sourced from factories in Utesi village, where industries are located.

    Noting that the village had become a hub for building materials manufacturing, the governor said: “From steel to ceramics, glass and aluminum roofing sheets, the materials required for building houses are being made in Edo State.

    ”There is need for low-cost housing in Nigeria. We need more than 20 million units to address the housing deficit, and then one considers these industries we have in Utesi community. It is easy to agree that Edo State is ready to provide Nigeria with materials to solve housing problem,” he added.

    Commissioner for Cooperatives, Employment and Wealth Creation Emmanuel Usoh said the state is a haven for investors, as the Obaseki administration has worked to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

    The Managing Director of Rongsheng Glass Nigeria Ltd, Huang Shibin, thanked the governor, the local community and the people for creating a conducive environment for their operations.

  • Police raid illegal firearms factory, arrest three suspects

    Police raid illegal firearms factory, arrest three suspects

    The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested three suspected illegal firearms dealers.

    The suspects, Philip John, Onyegabueze Okpara and Joseph Bulus, who specialise in manufacturing, supplying and distribution of locally made firearms were arrested in Zuba area of Abuja.

    The manufacturer, Philip John said he took to the business after his primary school education because  of economic hardship.

    Items jointly recovered from them include, one locally fabricated double barrel firearm, two live 12 calibre cartridges,  two single barrel fire arm frames, two dane gun frames, 58 empty cartridges’ shells, 338 live 12 calibre cartridges, and  locally fabricated revolver pistol cylinder.

    Briefing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the Commissioner of Police, FCT, CP Sadiq Bello said: “Following intelligence and discreet police investigation,  operatives of the command uncovered an illegal firearms fabricating factory located around Shenagu Village near Zuba.

    “During a raid on the factory,  three suspects were arrested and during interrogation, Philip John stated that he has been doing the illicit business for 17 years.

    “He also confessed that he sells fabricated single-barrel guns to his clients at N20,000 while dane gun goes for N10,000.

    “John also said he services and repairs malfunctioning guns brought to him by his clients whom he claimed were vigilantes and hunters.

    Okpara, the supplier of the ammunition who disguises as a bicycle spare-parts dealer was arrested at Kwaita Market in possession of some of the exhibits which he carefully conceals and sells to criminals.

    “In his statement, he narrated that he started the illicit deal since 1997 and that he sells a pack containing 25 pieces of live cartridges for N12,000, while single cartridge goes for N500. He further confessed that he gets his supply from Onitsha.”

  • Factory worker ‘defiles’ girl, 10

    A 23-year-old factory worker, Adejare Asekun, was yesterday arraigned before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly defiling his neighbour’s daughter.

    Asekun, who lives at 1, Ajano Close, Bamako Estate in Ojodu, was brought before Chief Magistrate Davies Abegunde on a count of defilement under Section 137 of the  Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The defendant pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Raphael Donny told the court that Asekun committed the offence on May 11 at his residence.

    Donny said the defendant called the 10-year-old girl to his room on the pretext of sending her on an errand. “The accused shut the door behind the girl and defiled her,’’ he said.

    The prosecutor said the girl told her mother and the case was reported at a nearby police station.

    Mrs. Abegunde granted the defendant N500,000 bail in N500,000 with two sureties in the like sum. She adjourned till June 5.

  • SON seals off factory over substandard fans

    SON seals off factory over substandard fans

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has clamped down on a company at Abule Oshun, Lagos, for manufacturing substandard fans.

    SON Director of Compliance & Enforcement Mr. Bede Obayi, told The Nation that the agency acted based on surveillance. He said HangFair International Company Limited, which claimed to have imported the fans from China actually manufacture them in their warehouse without conformity to standard practice.

    He said the company was involved in counterfeiting and faking, using a SON registration number given to another manufacturer who went through the agency’s standards procedures.

    Obayi regretted that the genuine manufacturer is somewhere believing he has done something right by registering his product with SON, but unknown to him somebody in Abule Oshun was reaping his benefit.

    The SON director said: “This man is doing nothing but simply reaping where he did not sow. We have the mandate to close the factory, which we have done and until his product goes through our mandatory assessment programme (MANCAP), we will ensure he does not go back to his illicit business, we insist that the procedure is right.”

    Obayi accused the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Uchenna Ugah, of depriving people the benefit of enjoying the cash they spend on his products.

    He further accused him of using ISO 9002, which SON has discontinued since 1987, stressing that it shows the ignorance of the manufacturer on the need to adhere to quality standards.

    Obayi said SON insists that manufacturers do the right thing, especially as the Federal Government is diversifying the economy and encouraging Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME).

  • CAP Plc inaugurates automated factory

    Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc, a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc. (UACN), has commissioned its new state-of-the-art in-plant tinting factory.CAP Plc is the manufacturer of Dulux premium brand of paints and the technological licensee of AkzoNobel.In his welcome address at the commissioning event at the company’s factory in Lagos, the Managing Director, CAP Plc, Mrs. Omolara Elemide, noted that the acquisition of in-plant tinting technology was well-thought-out.

    She said it was intended to place the company in alignment with market trends as well as meet the increasing customer demand for paint colours in small volumes.

    Elemide revealed that the company invested in the new automated In-Plant Tinting Technology, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, to continue to push the limit of excellence in the paint industry and reaffirm its leadership.

    She explained that the automated in-plant tinting technology will make it possible for the company to profitably manufacture premium quality paints in large and small batches within the shortest possible time, while also completely eliminating  colour variation from batch to batch.”

     

  • Corps orders 100,000 uniforms from factory 

    The massive investment made by the Cross River State government with the establishment of the Calabar Garment Factory has started yielding fruits.

    The Peace Corps of Nigeria at the weekend engaged the garment outfit to produce 100,000 pieces of uniforms for its officers and men.

    Under the terms of the contract, the factory is to produce 40,000 pieces as the first consignment, with an additional 60,000  later.

    Speaking during a facility tour of the factory and delivery of materials by the corps for the production of the uniforms, the Deputy National Commandant in charge of Administration, Mr. Edet Ekpenyong, hailed the fully automated factory and assured of the corps’ readiness to synergise with the government to ensure the factory performs within its install capacity.

    He praised Governor Ben Ayade for his industrialisation drive as well other transformation initiatives going on in the state.

    His words: “We are here to deliver our materials to the Calabar Garment Factory to begin production of 100,000 uniforms for us, but starting with 40,000 units. I am very excited and proud with what I have seen here at the factory. It is very clear that Governor Ayade is doing everything to move the state from a civil service state to an industrial hub. We have been monitoring the activities of Cross River and it has been a beehive of industrial activities since Ayade came to power. The state has never been in the media the way it has been since the coming of the present government. Honestly, I’m overwhelmed and we are very proud we will be working with the state.”

    Governor Ayade said the government would help the corps succeed, adding that 4,000 indigenes would be recruited into the Peace Corps.”

    Speaking on the development, he said the concept of the garment factory was not driven by politics, but by the obligation of the state to reconstruct its economic and financial architecture.

    Ayade said: “The state, by its geography, by its location, is supposed to be an industrial hub because it is on a coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. When we saw the state had no presence of heavy industries and businesses, considering our early contact with the white man, it became clear that notwithstanding our opportunity of early enlightenment, we needed to take advantage to create a new industry, a new workforce, a new structure that can take Cross River State out of what our history was. So it had to start with a garment factory.”

    The governor, who expressed happiness that the officials of the corps were impressed with the sample of the uniforms the factory had produced, said: “I am happy that the same thing I was fighting for while in the Senate has turned into reality. My core motion in the Senate was for the creation of the Peace Corps and with this contract for the production of their uniforms, we are going to be happy and of course, you know we have similar understanding with the Nigeria Police. But the Nigeria Peace Corps has come so fast and so sudden. I am happy that production has started.

  • Minister lauds Fidson on new factory

    •Reaffirms support for indigneous manufacturing

    The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has praised Fidson Healthcare Plc for its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sango, Ogun State.

    He reiterated the Federal Government’s support for indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturing, saying with the facility, the firm deserves the support and patronage of the government and  stakeholders.

    The Minister, who spoke to reporters during his familiarisation tour of the factory described the facility as a ‘wonder’, saying he is “impressed with its enormous production capacity” and pledged government’s support.

    “What Fidson has built here is extraordinary. We must encourage and support this project in terms of patronage and tax relief to ensure that the company is able to coordinate production in a sustainable manner,” Adewole said.

    The Minister said part of the support would be in raw materials’  import. “We will get the Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority to witness this so that there can be support in terms of getting on board more raw materials needed for drug manufacturing,” he said.

    He promised a review of the policy on importation tariff on raw materials, particularly in the indigeneous manufacturing of medicines in Nigeria.

    “We have discussed with the Minister of Trade and Investment asking for a reversal of the policy on the high tariff on imported raw materials. My visit to this new factory is another reminder in that regard,” he said.

    Adewole stressed that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is focused on creating the market for local manufacturers through patronage, protection and payment. “As far as patronage is concerned, the government will patronise local pharmaceutical manufacturers. We will also offer protection while ensuring that we clear outstanding payments and will only place orders when there are funds for immediate payment.’’

    The facility is one of the five  shortlisted for World Health Organisation (WHO) certification in Nigeria. The plant is equipped with six production lines – tablets, capsules, liquids, cream and ointments, dry powder and intravenous fluids to meet the needs of the Nigerian and West African markets.

    Fidson Healthcare Managing Director, Dr Fidelis Ayebae, expressed optimism that with the government’s support, the new plant would not only boost local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, it would transform industry.

    He said the pharmaceutical business requires huge investment to meet future healthcare demands of Nigerians. He noted that with the completion of the plant,  the  industry could launch into global reckoning and attract foreign investors.

    Ayebae highlighted the benefits of the factory to include high quality and affordable healthcare products, world-class pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, employment generation, increased local content, generation of stronger partnerships, as well as strategic brand and market positioning.

    He said the plant would manufacture large scale pharmaceutical products for Nigerians, thereby strengthening its leadership position in the industry and  place the firm on the global map.

  • Fidson Healthcare to open N9b WHO factory

    Fidson Healthcare to open N9b WHO factory

    •Govt urged to prioritise drug manufacturing

    Fidson Healthcare Plc at the weekend took select journalists on a tour of its newly completed World Health Organisation (WHO)-standard manufacturing factory with a call on the government to prioritise domestic manufacturing of drugs.

    Glistering in the daylight sun of Ota, Ogun State, the new plant, arguably the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Africa, is one of the few that had been shortlisted for WHO certification in Nigeria. The new plant is equipped to produce six distinct product lines-tablets, capsules, oral liquids, creams and ointments, dry powder and intravenous infusions to meet Nigeria and regional medicine needs.

    Operations, Fidson Healthcare Plc Director, Mr Abiola Adebayo, who led the tour, said the factory had gulped N9 billion, with the funding generated through debts and internally generated revenue.

    He said the plant was completed about eight months ago, but it could not start operations immediately because of issues of foreign exchange (forex), which has impeded raw materials sourcing.

    He urged the government to treat medicine as part of national security by implementing policies that will encourage the growth and sustainable development of Nigerian domestic pharmaceutical industry.

    According to him, the government should ensure a stable operating environment that would encourage long-term investments in the healthcare sector while also prioritising local manufacturers in its healthcare policies and transactions.

    He said in spite of the National Drug Policy that stipulates that 70 per cent of the drugs purchased by the government should be from the local industry, many local manufacturers are still not receiving the support of the government, a situation that is compounded by non-payment for supplies by the government.

    He called for a review of the present regulatory environment and regional agreements with a view to protecting the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, noting that the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) as it is now, places Nigerian domestic manufacturing in jeopardy.

    According to him, the major issue with the current CET implementation on medicines is the reduction of import duty tariff on finished pharmaceutical products to zero per cent compared with five to 20 per cent duty on raw and packaging materials respectively, thus encouraging importation to the detriment of local manufacturing.

    He said government can protect the local industry by invoking the Import Adjustment Tax of the CET while working on a medium to long-term review of the agreement, adding that Nigeria constitutes 72 per cent of local pharmaceutical industry in the ECOWAS region.

    “We need to take a stand to ensure local pharmaceuticals survive,” Adebayo said.

    Noting that the company had to provide its own infrastructure such as power, water and road in addition to numerous community development initiatives, Adebayo said government should consider the state of Nigerian infrastructure to support domestic manufacturers, who see the operation of Nigerian pharmaceutical industry as a patriotic duty.

    “We need to be protected, we need to be patronised, we need to be paid, we have the quality and we have the same global standards,” Adebayo said.

  • Fidson Healthcare rallies on completion of new WHO-compliant factory

    Fidson Healthcare rallies on completion of new WHO-compliant factory

    Fidson Healthcare Plc recorded the second highest gain at the stock market at the weekend after the healthcare company announced the completion of its new World Health Organisation (WHO)-compliant ultra-modern manufacturing plant.

    Fidson Healthcare submitted a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) confirming the completion of the new factory. At the first trading session after the announcement on Friday, Fidson’s share price rose by 9.90 per cent, the second highest percentage gain during the five-hour trading session. Altogether, Fidson’s share price rose by 16.84 per cent last week, the fifth highest gain at the stock market during the five-day trading week.

    Market pundits said the new factory could be a major game changer for Fidson and Nigerian healthcare industry, positive sentiments that appeared to have excited investors.

    “In our view, the new manufacturing plant is expected to contribute significantly to the company`s profitability and also enhance shareholders value in terms of dividend,” SCM Capital, former Sterling Capital Markets, stated.

    According to the regulatory filing, the new factory, which is arguably the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Africa, is equipped to produce six distinct product lines-intravenous infusions (IV) and other sterile preparations, tablets, capsules, oral liquids, creams and ointments and dry powder.

    The company stated that the new factory is part of the strategic expansion and diversification programme started following the successful private placement in 2008, noting that the supply gap existing in the infusion products’ sub-market persists as demand keeps growing linearly with population, which informed Fidson’s foray into the IV fluids market.

    It is estimated that two per cent of the population, estimated at 170 million, get admitted to hospitals in Nigeria monthly. About 70 per cent of medical patients get infusions at an average rate of four bottles per admission. For surgical patients, over 90 per cent of them will be given infusions. These translate to 3.2 million admission cases monthly, 10.2 million bottles per month and 123 million bottles per year. This is expected to increase with Nigeria’s growing population which is currently put at 2.8 per cent per annum. Market size in revenue terms was conservatively put at N25 billion in 2013, according to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group (PMAG) of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN).

    Fidson noted that there is an unmet gap of 2.36 million bottles per month which its new facility is positioned to bridge while growing volumes in the existing production lines.

    “With this new facility, we aim to significantly meet orders of the major consumers – the teaching and general hospitals, federal medical centres, big private hospitals and corporate clinics among others as far as infusion products are concerned using the existing marketing and distribution platforms.

    “The expected financial contribution from this project is such that shall grow the company’s turnover by additional N1.9 billion at 75 per cent activity level by the third year of production, N2.9 billion at 90 per cent  activity level by sixth year and N3.6 billion by the 10th year at same 90 per cent activity level. Overall, this project shall contribute handsomely to the overhead recovery of the company thereby growing shareholder value significantly. This will be in addition to increased capacities by almost two-fold for the existing five product lines that will open up opportunities for contract manufacturing,” Fidson stated.

    According to the company, aside from increasing its production capacity, the new factory would enhance business prospects in three major ways including ability to tender for WHO-sponsored programmes, which Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers are unable to access, losing out to foreign companies in these tenders; opportunity to export some of its products to other countries in Africa and beyond and grow foreign exchange income and the overarching benefit in job creation as additional 300 jobs are being created.

  • Berger Paints assures shareholders as new factory berths

    Berger Paints assures shareholders as new factory berths

    The board and management of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc have assured shareholders that the company would continue to grow the business value and improve returns on their investments as the paints manufacturing company sets to launch a new top-of-the-range manufacturing plant.

    At the annual general meeting yesterday in Lagos, chairman, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Dr. Oladimeji Alo, told shareholders that the impending launch of the company’s automated plant, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to enhance the global competitiveness of the company’s products and increase significantly operational efficiencies.

    He said the new factory, which could be commissioned this year, would bring about tremendous improvement in the company’s operations adding that talks are ongoing with the appropriate authorities to secure tax break as pioneer status.

    Alo outlined that as part of the strategy to sustain the company’s competitive edge, special attention would be placed on increasing earnings and profitability, optimization of existing assets and business operations, investment in the leading brands, entering new categories with emphasis on Nano castings, and driving efficient financial management among others.

    He pointed out that in spite of the challenging operating environment, the company continued to sustain its performance, with emphasis on profitability and value creation for shareholders as profit before tax grew from N249.3 million in 2014 to N565.2 million in 2015, representing a 126.7 per cent increase.

    He said the company earmarked N217.37 million as dividends for the 2015 business year in demonstration of the confidence it has in the future sustainability and to reward shareholders for their investments.

    He assured shareholders that their request for bonus shares would be considered at the appropriate time while the company would more of its products as part of the new measures to improve community social relations (CSR).

    In his remarks, managing director, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Mr Peter Folikwe, said that one of the strategic plans to boost earnings was to reduce cost through operational efficiency.

    He added that consumer education would be accorded high priority to strengthen the relationship between the company and its customers.