Budding entrepreneurs to boost local ceramics production

Experts at Epina Technologies Limited, a management and engineering blended solutions provider in Africa is set to train young Nigerian entrepreneurs on how to use locally available raw materials to manufacture ceramics tiles, floor tiles, flower vases, spark plugs and sanitary wares, among others.

The training will involve entrepreneurs from different walks of life willing to go into the lucrative business of ceramics making as well as unemployed Nigerians who wish to create value for themselves and the economy. 

The training will take place at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, during the first ever international ceramics trade fair billed to take place between August 27 and 28, 2014.

“Ceramics is increasingly used in many applications: in aviation, automotive, construction, construction, household and medical, petrochemical, beverage, power distribution, mining, textile, metal and glass, among others,’’ said Patrick Eguakhide Oaikhinan, CEO, Epina Technologies Limited, the organizer, during a press briefing in Lagos last Thursday.

 “We want to produce many self-made entrepreneurs because Nigeria currently imports $600 million worth of ceramics and is the 9th ceramics consumer in the world. What it means is that we want to have an appropriate strategy to create 1.2 million direct and indirect potential jobs and take our youths off the streets. It is equally a means to promote Nigerian non-oil exports,’’ he added.

He further pointed out that issues related to raw materials processing, ceramics processing, glaze technology and art, ceramics laboratory procedures, quality control as well as applications in various sectors, will be treated. He wondered why the country is yet to tap into ceramics production even when  feldspar, iron, silica, quartz, among other raw materials, are locally available. 

John Isemede, director-general, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines  and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said the event and training are necessary because ceramics products are not what the country should be importing in the 21st Century, adding that the country is riddled with many problems because of inability of its citizens to look inwardly.

“We are having problems because the Organised Private Sector (OPS) is not collaborating with universities and research institutes,’’ he said, stressing that Nigerians should see the trade fair as an opportunity to develop a captive sector.  This entrepreneurial capacity building initiative is supported by NACCIMA and other relevant government agencies.

ODINAKA ANUDU