Sehinde Johnson is the Infinity Paints International Limited Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. In this interview with JOSEPH JIBUEZE, he praises the Federal Government’s import restriction policy and says more should be done to encourage local manufacturers.
What is your view on Federal Government’s import restriction?
We do not have any problem with government policy on importation. Some materials that are injurious to health have been restricted in manufacturing. To a large extent, there are substitutes and people are becoming compliant. Some of our materials are sourced locally. Calcium is almost 100 percent sourced in Nigeria. We only hope that government will have the willpower to divest from oil and look at the second phase of our petrochemical development. Then, we would not have to be importing some of these raw materials. There are products that are done in Nigeria and there is supply sufficiency. We only expect that things will get better.
How have you been able to cope with manufacturing challenges?
I am an incurable optimist. A system will not be a system unless it has a weakness and of course, strengths. We ordinarily expect that in a business system, there would be challenges; and of course, in our own economic milieu there are bundles of challenges. People talk about infrastructural deficit; the ease of doing business in Nigeria, multiple taxation; there is also the issues of insecurity, power, easy access to financing, among others. But if you look at it from the angle that every system in the world has its weakness and its strengths, that gives one the courage to say ‘let me engage the weaknesses in the system and maximise the strength and make whatever I can make out of it’. The can-do spirit of an average Nigerian is keeping us going.
What are your thoughts on the 2020 budget proposal?
When a budget is presented, the figures could be heartwarming, but what is the percentage that is being executed? We wish the government well. They are doing a lot. I believe that the manufacturing sector is the pivot upon which modern economies thrive. The real sector must always be the foundation upon which national economies are built. From the first world to the third world, any successful economy must be built on the real sector. The government must have the willpower to divest our economy from being mono and oil economy to the real sector where the medium and small businesses are given their priority place in ensuring that the real sector is built. They will provide employment for the masses and give hope for the future generations. Millions of small and medium scale enterprises are driving the economy of China. By and large, the government should focus on the development of the real sector. That is the way to go if we are going to sustain the coming generation.
How exactly do you mean?
Some Nigerian companies have moved to others countries. If you go to Ghana and Benin Republic, you will see a lot of Nigerian companies. These countries give companies tax relief and other incentives to attract investors. Nigeria should not be left out. We should look at our real sector by reengineering our policies to encourage more investors. If we don’t deal with unemployment today, it will affect our tomorrow because the more our youths are idle, the more they get involved in crime. Look at the impact the gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway axis has on the market. Most of the manufacturing companies in that belt have been groaning due to revenue losses. How long can an industry survive in that kind of climate? Government is doing great by constructing the road, but on the other hand, one would have expected that alternative routes should have been created. A lot of companies have sacked their employees. Markets have also gone low and companies re not running at optimal capacity. These are some of the challenges but we trust that the road would be done in a short while so that we can have relief after so much pain.
How did you find yourself in paint manufacturing?
I am an accountant. For almost 10 years, I managed people, finance, materials, market, methodologies, machineries and many others. So, we were well equipped to handle every aspect of paint manufacturing. That’s what I did at the top echelon; and that provided the basic pedigree for me to launch and move to the industry and take it to the next level. When we started Infinity, we were not just looking at paint manufacturing; we were looking at total paint solution. We do paint manufacturing; we do aesthetics consulting; we do property branding, and paint application. So, it is an organisation you come into and everything about your paint requirement is met. It is a one-stop-shop for paint manufacturing. It is quite an experience for us. Infinity has been in business for over 10 years. We started out late 2008; since then we have been doing the best we could to carve a niche; to add colour to the Nigerian building industry and to make paint in a way that it has not been done before in Nigeria.
How do you cope with competition?
Having operated at the highest echelon of the paint industry for about 10 years before we started Infinity Paints, we could build a brand that is going to stand the test of time. We are not willing to just do anything. We want to do a kind of quality product that can be called the Nigerian value paint, not only in terms of quality, but in terms of cost and effectiveness. Because you bear in mind also that when you are looking at the building industry generally, by the time a man begins to do a building construction, paint comes at the very last point of finishing. At that time, may be, his budget has been exhausted by almost about 50 or 100 percent variance; his capacity to do a kind of finishing that he would have loved to do has been whittled down; he doesn’t have access to extra funds any longer. Not only that, you must make paint that is of very high quality. It must be cost effective. That is the niche that we have carved for ourselves at Infinity Paints.
What can the government do to help local manufacturers?
When you look at the paint sub-sector, it has a turn-over of about $250 million annually. Unfortunately, we don’t have a protectionist policy for the indigenous manufacturers. The trend over time is that you see an influx of foreign paints. Not only that, it is as good as dumping from India, China, from all over the place. They just bring in paints and flood the market; that makes it even more difficult to now say, this is the size or percentage of the market share. Most of the players in the industry merely trade; some of them don’t even have traceable offices and addresses. So, it is not helping the local manufacturers. The Paint Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has been advocating for raising duties on imported paints to protecting local players. When it is even more profitable and better for them to trade, local manufacturers might want to close shop and begin to import. You can imagine the multiplier effect of that on the labour market. How many people can a trader employ compared to a full-fledged manufacturing company that has all strata of workforce in their employ?
How has technology affected paint manufacturing?
Unlike the traditional paints where you have a few colours, colours are now being personalised. Without technology, you cannot meet clients’ demand and taste, especially in the decorative segment. People may want a unique colour and if you are traditional in your method of production, you may not satisfy them. So, you need technology. Paint manufacturing is now technologically-driven to a large extent in Nigeria and everybody is buying into it. If somebody gets into your shop, within an hour, you are giving them their preferred colour and they are going home with their paint. You already have the gauge fixed into your system. Sometimes, it is done online because we do a lot of online marketing.
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