Patronage of made-in-Nigeria products: Less talk, more action

There have been several campaigns in recent times focused on raising Nigerians’ consciousness on the need to patronise locally made products. These campaigns, embarked upon between 2004 and 2010, have been spearheaded by the two governments in power and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

The raison d’être behind them was to educate Nigerians on the capacity and quality of locally made goods and dispel the long-drawn belief that all anything produced in the country was inferior while everything imported ones was superior.

However, it should not take a clairvoyant to understand how poorly unsuccessful these campaigns have turned out to be as the situation has only had a slight improvement for obvious reasons.

To underscore the low level of success of the campaigns, BusinessDay’s Real Sector Watch recently interacted with a cross section of Nigerian consumers in Lagos who, though part of the growing middle-class, still nurse the belief that locally made products are inferior to imported ones.

“For more than five years, I was used to buying pairs of shoes made in Lagos and Aba,”said Emeka Okwelogu, a large-scale trader at Isolo part of Lagos, but who hails from the South-East part of Nigeria.

“But within these five years, I have changed my shoes nine times. In fact, at some point, I ordered for two pairs of shoes from Aba while in Lagos. But they all tore into pieces within one year. But I later decided to buy a pair of shoes made in Spain. It cost me five times what I often paid for the locally made ones, though, but I have been wearing the pair for over three years now,” Okwelogu said.

Dayo Ariyo, a civil servant who lives in Maryland, Lagos, said the made-in-Nigeria ‘Ghana-must-go’ sack she bought the previous day tore as soon as she packed some of the wares she bought in it.

“Can this happen if it were made in Europe or even some parts of Asia?” Ariyo asked this writer. “I have bought locally made handbags and they  have all been the same story,” she said.

‘Ghana-must-go’ bag is a locally made thick sack, which has different sizes and can contain a lot of wares.

James Ndem, a building engineer, said some locally made products are as bad as imported ones from China. According to Ndem, poor quality of many locally made goods could be attributed to poor emphasis on standards in the country and the belief that the majority of consumers are in the low income class.

“Some producers believe that Nigerians only buy cheap products. So they reduce the quality and churn out the inferior products. But they fail to understand that we have a growing middle-class that is desirous of high quality products. Little wonder why the likes of Shoprite, Konga, Spa, Jumia and other shopping channels are growing,” he said.

He advised local manufacturers to improve the quality of their products as this will attract high sales.

In spite of these, our findings have shown that a large number of locally made goods sell like cakes in both the modern retail and online outlets in the country. For example, Cadbury’s confectionery, Nestle’s and Promasidor’s milk products and Flour Mills’ flour and sugar products, among others, are also bought by the middle-class and the super rich in these outlets. Apart from goods produced by the multinationals, products manufactured by other local firms are also sold and bought by the super rich in the country.

Also, many of the locally made products have found their markets in Africa, Europe, the Americas and even Asia. For instance, Indomie noodle, produced by De-United Foods Limited in Lagos, is a sought-after delicacy in the United States and Europe. Deepak Singhal, CEO, De-United Foods, announced in a conference in Lagos in early 2014 that the firm’s export to other countries in 2013 was worth $50 million. 

Similarly, Everest Metal Limited earned $33.7m in export in 2012 while Dansa Food Processing Limited realised $32m within the year. The West African Cotton Company Limited, Dangote Cement, Honeywell Flour Mills, PZ Cussons, Nigerian Breweries and Guinness Nigeria plc, among many other firms, earn a lot of foreign exchange from exports. This indicates that locally made products may after all be misrepresented by the activities of few manufacturers struggling with raw materials sourcing, energy cost and market, among others.

Frank S. Udemba Jacobs, president, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), told this writer that the problem is not the quality of products but the wrong attitude of Nigerians towards made-in-Nigeria products.

“Many Nigerians believe that anything made in this country is inferior, which is unfortunate. Our locally made products are not inferior at all,” Jacobs said.

“Cables manufactured here are superior to Chinese. In fact, Chinese products are the sub-standard ones we are talking about. This extends to all other products made here,” he said.

Jacobs further stressed that goods produced in the country must be certified by either or both of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) or National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and must meet international standards before they are certified fit for use.

“Our concern as manufacturers is that government should do everything possible to prevent the influx of sub-standard products into the country. The problem is that some people confuse these imported products as locally produced ones,” he stressed.

Our findings have shown that some local manufacturers have resorted to branding their goods ‘made in Asia’ or ‘made in Europe’ owing to the poor perception by Nigerian consumers, who feel that locally made products are inferior to imported ones.

The practice is common among companies owned by Asians, particularly those making ceramic tiles, iron and steel, cosmetics and food products. It is also a common practice among footwear makers, especially those in Aba, the commercial city of Abia State. This is also seen among fashion designers.

It has been found that some Nigerian marketers put pressure on manufacturers to change the labels of their products from local to foreign as they complain that goods with local labels are often rejected in preference to imported ones with foreign insignia.

“We need to get over this inferiority complex among our citizens. We should be proud and see a product made in the country as our own,” Rasheed Olaoluwa, MD/CEO, Bank of Industry (BoI), said in Ogun State, during an inspection of Wempco (an iron and steel maker) and Momas (a meter producer) facilities.

But manufacturers still point fingers at the government for its failure to patronise made-in-Nigeria products.

Paul Jaiyeola Olarewaju, director-general, Nigeria Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMAN), said government uniformed agencies such as the police, the army, the immigration, the customs and the civil defence, among others, do not patronise the industry.

“Government often gives out contracts to people who go abroad and import the uniforms. How can we grow if the government does not patronise us?” Olarewaju asked, rhetorically.

During an interactive lecture and mini exhibition of the Toiletries and Cosmetics group of MAN in 2010, Okon Umoh, chairman, attributed lack of success of campaigns to boost patronage of locally made goods to lack of sincerity on the part of government, lack of political will and limitation of scope, among others.

A local textile maker, who preferred anonymity, supported this position by asking: “How many among the promoters of the campaign wear Nigerian made textiles?”

Other local manufacturers who spoke to us believe that whoever emerges as president must push a bill in the National Assembly for a law on patronage of Nigerian products.

“The problem is that there is no legal backing. Without a legal backing, government departments and agencies will continue to look outside for what is produced here. People will also continue to import whatever they want without being punished,” said Ike Ibeabuchi, CEO, MD Services Limited.

ODINAKA ANUDU

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