Paint makers frustrated by debtors, product accreditation system
Nigeria’s paints and coatings manufacturers are frustrated by debtors, who have refused to pay for products supplied to them. The struggling industry is also stifled by lack of product accreditation system in the country, which prompts players to spend huge amounts of money abroad for certification.
“We still have to take our products to laboratories outside this country, especially Europe, to be certified. There is also a credit crisis. There are serial debtors who go from one manufacturer to another. If you are owed at a certain level, you might not be able to sustain your business,” said Rotimi Aluko, chairman, Paints Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMA), at a press conference on the sidelines of the three-day 2015 Coatings Show held in Lagos last week.
“If you know the thousands of dollars you need to test one product, you will begin to imagine what happens when you have ten products. There are over 50 products that can be sold to oil companies and there is also no guarantee that you will be given business after the certification abroad,” Aluko, who is also the managing director of Voda Paints, said.
Aluko said it is improper for manufacturers in Africa’s largest economy to certify their products abroad, calling on the SON to ensure the country has a certification infrastructure within the shortest possible time.
“We are calling on SON to set up a powerful accreditation system similar to the one seen in Europe. Let there be a level-playing field. Foreign products being brought into the country should equally undergo certification,” he said, adding that a credible accreditation system is critical, as a matter of national pride.
He said there is the need to fully implement the local content policy, which mandates oil companies to patronise local coatings firms.
Most local paints and coatings makers continuously have poor top- and bottom-lines, arising from their inability to compete favourably in the local and international markets.
“The culture of maintenance of properties in this part of the world through regular painting and repainting is yet to be appropriately imbibed at institutional and individual levels,” the PMA helmsman said.
Similarly, patronage of made-in-Nigeria products has continued to pose a problem for manufacturers in the country, as domestic consumers often have preference for imported products.
“Lack of adequate patronage of locally made goods is one of the challenges facing operators in the real sector. We should be patriotic enough and buy made-in-Nigeria goods,” he said, stressing that the inability to access funds and high cost of it have negative consequences on paint manufacturers, the majority of who are in small- and medium-scale (SME) category.
He called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure that bailout funds for MSMEs reach the paints industry, stressing that the rehabilitation, upgrading and reactivation of the national rail network begun by the immediate past government be sustained to enhance economic activities in the economy.
“We appeal to the federal government to look in the direction of the petrochemical sector while reviving the current refineries,” he added.
Joseph Ikem Odumodu, director-general, SON, who was represented by Louis Njoku, director of laboratory science, said Nigeria has become a dumping ground.
Odumodu said the manufacturing sector is declining very fast owing to the activities of fakers and importers/makers of sub-standard products.
He urged paint makers to package their products properly so that they can be competitive in the local and the international markets.
“You can have a quality product but packaging can give you out. When we do our market survey, we find that some products are poorly packaged and labelled,” he said.
Moses Omojola, director, industrial chemicals and minerals, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), who represented Hussaini Doko Ibrahim, director-general, said overdependence on imported raw materials could be attributed to non-completion of the second and the third phases of the petrochemical industries, while assuring paint makers that with their continued partnership and support, the challenges of raw materials sourcing in the industry will be reduced.
ODINAKA ANUDU