Nigerian manufacturers make inroads into African markets

In spite of numerous problems facing Nigerian manufacturers, many of them are still making significant inroads into markets in Southern, Eastern, Central and Northern Africa.

In a recent released, MANEG confirmed to BusinessDay that the Central and West African markets are already established markets for Nigerian manufacturing exporters.

BusinessDay findings show that Nigerian exporters have captured significant market shares Comoros, Seychelles, Tanzania Ethiopia, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. A number of them are also in Northern African markets such as Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia.

Products from Nigeria sold in these markets include bathroom slippers, tobacco, glass wares, cosmetics and personal care, food and beverages, steel, furniture, aluminum and chemicals.

BusinessDay, however, gathered that there are also a number of exporters of agricultural products of Nigerian origin in these markets.

Some of the agricultural products shipped from Nigeria to these markets include cocoa, rubber, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, urea, animal skins, frozen shrimps and prawns, among others.

 The Chinese and Nigerian manufacturers have been the price givers in the ECOWAS market. The ECOWAS, made up of fifteen countries of West Africa, is Nigeria’s biggest export market after the Netherlands.  

Export to ECOWAS in 2013 and 2014 stood at $375 million and $350 million respectively, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

Opara said his firm has captured West African markets, dwarfing the Chinese and other Asian counterparts.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recent data show that Memuda Industries exported $82.3 million worth of finished leather in 2012, emerging the 4th biggest non-oil exporter, compared with $10.6 million worth of the same item sold overseas in the preceding year.

Multitan, also a key player in the tanning sector, had an export value of $36 million, from $3 million reported in the preceding year.

Deepak Singhal, CEO, Dufil Prima Foods, producer of Indomie noodles, said the company’s exports to the West African and other markets in 2013 were worth $50 million, and about 90 percent of the company’s raw materials were sourced locally.

But one key problem bedeviling Nigeria’s non-oil exports is lack of incentives to drive the sector, say analysts. The Export Expansion Grant (EEG) has been suspended since August 2013. Non-oil exporters are struggling with distribution gridlocks and poor business environment that ramps up production costs, say stakeholders.