The nation’s paint makers, under the auspices of the Paint Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), are exploring ways to penetrate other countries on African continent, despite the challenges facing them.
Stating that the paint industry has been passing through trying and difficult time on account of negative effects COVID -19 pandemic has had on the operations of its members, the chairman, PMAN, Mr. Ambolu Babatunde, also added that, the industry is still struggling with the effects of the shutdowns in 2022.
The chairman, while speaking at the PMAN Nigeria 2022 coating show tagged: ‘Maximising the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area in post COVID era’ in Lagos, pointed out that the sector is still being challenged by scarcity of foreign exchange, skyrocketing prices of paints raw materials and packaging inputs as well as sales of finished paint products, stressing that, these bottlenecks have pushed the cost of production to the roof top.
“They have also made the business environment unfavourable and unattractive to investors. With these challenges, our products will be uncompetitive when the African single market eventually takes off.
“We urge the government to come to our aid by coming up with policies and programmes that will stimulate activities in the paints industry in particular and the manufacturing sector in general,” he said.
He, however, assured paints users in the country and Africa that PMAN is committed to transiting to the reformulation/production of lead free paints for healthy environment even as monitoring and enforcement are billed to commence soon.
While stressing that its members are yet to explore African markets fully, with only a fragment of players in the industry selling their products through the informal routes to some West African countries, he, however, stated that, ‘we need to explore ways and strategies to penetrate other markets outside the shores of the country.’
According to him, “There is need for paint manufacturers in Nigeria to adhere to current and future developments in the manufacture and sale of paints, developments in raw material input for industry, saying that other issues include lead contents paints, environmental issues, improved quality of their products to enable them benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will soon take off.”
Also speaking, the chief executive officer, Raw Materials Research and Development (RMRDC), Prof. Ibrahim Hussaini Doko, said the industry has grown and evolved over time, saying, Nigerian paint industry is one of the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contributors in the country and a major player in the deployment of labour and economic advancement.
The director, Research and Advocacy Support Division, MAN, Dr. Oluwasegun Osidipe, said Nigeria must have a trade policy in place before signing trade agreements, saying, a draft was submitted for the first time to the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment two weeks ago as a result of advocacy.
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