Dangote Cement has said that it is boosting production in order to close the gap between the supply and demand of cement.

Dangote Cement, new Group Chief Sales and Marketing Director, Rabiu Umar, who said this in Lagos,disclosed that about  40 per cent gap in cement supply had led to significant increase in the price of cement across the country.

Umar  said that the company was building more capacity as it recently invested in a new line that had been completed in its Obajana plant. The line was only waiting for power to commence operations, he said.

He added:“We have a new plant in Okpella, Edo state, that will start operations very soon. For the last couple of years one of our plants in Gboko, Benue State has not worked, but we have re-started the plant all in a bid to make sure there is enough production.”

Umar explained, “In every business, what drives the price is the demand and supply. Now as a business, we have not increased our price up until this point. So what has happened in price increment in the cement products is the forces of demand and supply.”

Umar gave the declining COVID-19 crisis, the combination of monetary policy changes and reduced capital market returns as the reasons for increased construction activities.

He said, “We got into COVID-19 last year and immediately after the pandemic, there was a surge in demand, and it is not particular to Nigeria alone.

“A couple of countries across the world like Mexico, South East Asia, among others are also experiencing the same.”

He said that though the company had direct control over its ex-factory prices, it had no control over the ultimate price of cement in the market.

He said it was important to distinguish Dangote’s ex-factory prices from prices at which retailers sold cement.

Umar disclosed that the company would be bringing in 2,000 brand new trucks to ease distribution challenges.

“We are buying these trucks and putting them out there to make sure that the distribution is also taken care of. This new development will lead to thousands of direct jobs in the country, apart from both direct and indirect jobs that the plants will also create.

“Globally, by the time we are done, we believe that the additional capacity we will put in the market compared to what we have today is probably the size of each of our competitors in terms of the additional volume that we will put in the market.”

He added that increasing production capacity would likely make impact in reducing the price of the commodity.

In this exclusive  interview with PREMIUM NEWS,the President of Chartered Institute Of Professional Printers of Nigeria,Olugbemi Malomo,assesses the state of the nation’s printing industry and gives recipes on how best to get it working.

Excerpts:

The  world is still battling the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tell us how the pandemic affected/is affecting the printing industry. How many naira and jobs did the industry lose to the pandemic?

The printing industry is both the manufacturing industry and the service industry. Usually, when there are challenges the first industry that suffers the most is the service industry because its recovery depends so much on other industry’s recovery.

As a manufacturing industry our  major raw material, a paper which we import almost 100 percent suffered a worldwide production lag which has resulted in a global scarcity with a resultant effect that the price of paper locally has gone four times higher.

We are in a very precarious situation in terms of business, printing presses are folding up by the day, resulting in unprecedented job losses.

We have lost an estimated  3 trillion nairas to the pandemic.

 What is the printing industry doing differently now to cope with the pandemic?

    We are in survival mode. We need protection. More than ever before we are now looking inward.  The future is localization.

We are tightening the noose against all printing jobs being printed outside Nigeria. We have commenced a campaign to ensure Nigerian Printing jobs remain in Nigeria. We are embarking on an enumeration of printers in Nigeria in accordance with the printers Act to separate counterfeiters, pirates, and government official turned contractors that are inimical to the survival of the printing profession , from printers that have invested cumulative  trillions of Naira in printing equipment.

We are using the full effect of the  Printers Act to ensure that government procurement jobs get directly to printers and are printed in Nigeria.

We are working seriously to get a policy for the industry that will address conflicting government policies. For instance, if you bring in printed material in the form of educational product the duty is zero percent and when you bring in paper to produce locally you pay up to 25 percent!

 What are your worries over the state of the printing industry in Nigeria?

The printing industry is an endangered industry. The government so far has given zero support to an industry employing over 10 million Nigerians.Government,  particularly our supervising Ministry, The Ministry of Information and Culture,  is playing politics with the fate of 10 million Nigerians. We have written position and policy papers, we have articulately put together what can be done with this “bleeding “ industry, even in terms of employment generation, we have shown how governments all over the world are turning to the creative industry like ours for employment generation and how we can  help in combating insecurity in Nigeria particularly among the youth by employing one million Nigerians annually with proper implementation of the Printers Act  .

We have pointed to the fact that all over the world the printing and graphic communication industry is among the first three highest employers of labor including in America, Britain etc . What did we get?  They said there is a “court case“ in the industry!!  .So what?

I can tell you categorically  that there is no court case in any court in Nigeria that I am aware of that is directly involving the current  governing council of the industry.

  My suspicion is that some powerful elements  close to the government, who want to maintain status quo and bent on taking the industry backward are responsible for this propaganda and unfortunately the Ministry is falling for it .

Remember, we are not talking about an Association, we are talking about a chartered body  guided by an ACT of Parliament whose provisions   cannot  be contravened by any court in Nigeria, except the Act is changed.

So why should a “people-oriented government” throw ten million Nigerians “under the bus” because of the whims are caprices of less than ten people? I fear for this industry, I fear for this nation!

There are concerns over the low patronage of indigenous printers giving room for tiers of government in Nigeria to import printing materials from outside the shores of the country.  What do you think should be done to reverse this trend?

This is another area that the Ministry of Information and culture that has failed us. The majority of solving this problem lies with the Ministry of Trade. One phone call from the Minister of Information and Culture to the Minister of Trade and Investment will solve 50 percent of this problem. I guess it’s the “ case in court “  that is preventing this from happening.

We need a protectionist policy. We extracted from the  current Nigerian budget all printing-related contracts and we had about 100 pages running into trillions of Naira. That’s how huge the industry is . Government is the biggest buyer in the nation, it’s time we “ make “ government use her huge purchasing power to translate to creating an “equilibrium “ that will translate to industry development and the “commonwealth” spreading around. What we are currently experiencing as a nation is the distortion of the equilibrium. The resultant effects will continue to be unemployment and insecurity.

Do you know how many printing contracts the National Assembly has queried publicly?  Those contracts end up being executed by companies that have nothing to do with printing and it ends up being printed abroad.

 We need to do the following to reverse the trend.

– Ministry of Trade and Investment  needs to ensure that only registered printers get government printing jobs as enshrined in the Printers ACT  by sending a memo to the HOS to that effect.

– The FMTI needs to give the industry a protectionist policy

– FMTI needs to make it less attractive for printing to be done abroad by either put a total ban to it or increasing tariff on imported printing material such that the local industry can compete.

– FMTI must come up with a policy to produce paper locally in the long term. Importation of paper annually is worth over three trillion. Imagine what that will do on our foreign exchange and economy.

What efforts are you making to get INEC to print  most of its ballot papers in Nigeria since it’s believed that local printers can get the job done perfectly?

When the presidential election was postponed in 2019 , I remember watching a dejected and sober INEC chairman on National television trying to explain the circumstances that led to the election being postponed. I also remember the president promising to set up a commission of inquiry to find out the reason. We are going to experience the same thing in two years’ time if INEC doesn’t listen to advice.The reason for the postponement was because the ballot paper was printed abroad!

 The INEC chairman, in his determination to ensure a free and fair election erroneously believed or was erroneously advised that if the presidential election ballot was printed locally it can easily be compromised and therefore opted for printing it abroad .

 There are two major drawbacks to that :

1. Election postponement

2. Loss of opportunity to develop local capacity.

Let me reiterate again:  If we are going to build Nigeria like he is trying to do by organizing a credible election, we must also use the resources available to build local capacity without compromising the election.

Can this be achievable ? Absolutely!

 We have Festac town today because the government used her enormous resources to build it for FESTAC 77 festival and didn’t resort to “renting hotels” . Using foreigners to print our ballot paper locally is like renting hotels ! Always taking the easy way out will not develop us as a nation. So , can we print ballot papers successfully locally? 100 percent,yes! And we can subject it to scientific process to proof it’s possible.

 Our electioneering has evolved over the years. Once upon a time the whole integrity of the election depends on the ballot paper and political elements snatched ballot paper at will ! That has been consigned to dustbin of history.

The introduction of card reader has taken a lot of “integrity issue” off the ballot paper such that what is expected of the ballot paper right now is to ensure that the ballot papers that left INEC is same that returns. We can prove that’s possible scientifically.

The major work INEC need to focus on is the transmission of the election result in real-time instead of toying with electronic voting that a single person can compromise the whole election. This is just too risky!So to solve the logistics challenges of INEC my institute is ready to work with INEC to identify, license, and audit printing companies from across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. If that will not solve the logistic problem of moving over half a million tons of paper from abroad I don’t know what will?

We can scientifically make that workable and we still have about two years to do that. The clock is ticking. We have written to INEC as a first step, proffering solutions to the logistic challenges.We are still waiting to hear from them.

 Nigeria’s paper mills were privatized some years ago, but these assets are presently not doing well. Why is this so? Are you advocating the cancellation of the privatization and possible opportunity given to your members to manage the assets?

Paper is the most important raw material of printers. Over 2.5 million tons of paper estimated at over three trillion Naira are consumed annually in Nigeria. The  three paper mills established in the 70s as part of the industrialization policy of the then military government has a combined production capacity of 250,000 tons .

Today the paper mill and technology are moribund.

They were probably privatized so that their asset could be stripped off . None is producing paper from primary raw material at the moment.Our forward thinking is that we have policy that will make local paper production attractive to investors. We are currently in discussions with FMTI for the convocation of a national paper summit where we can arrive at short and long term solutions to paper production in Nigeria .

 You recently convened  the maiden Nigerian National Printers Conference. What impacts have the conference had on the  nation’s printing industry?

For an industry as huge as ours and usually associated with artisans, the conference was an announcement that the industry was on an upward trajectory.It set the stage for a  reorientation and development of a strategic framework for the industry which hopefully if successive administration follows will help the industry reposition itself in the mainframe of an important industry in Nigeria .

What is CIPPON under your leadership doing about professionalizing the printing industry and promoting standards therein? The old administration used to go around periodically to slam sanctions on recalcitrant printers. Are you towing this line or you have devised a different mechanism to deal with this?

The job of professionalizing the industry has been a very challenging one . It’s such a huge industry that we have a long value chain.With the current economic challenges in Nigeria our mantra was to treat the industry like a Business ecosystem, created clusters etc , we  are embarking  on an enumeration/registration of all printing houses in Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of the Act . This is necessary so that we can bring everybody into the fold and also play by the rules .

With these pirates and counterfeiters will be isolated.It’s after this that we will now embark on enforcement. The Act makes it clear , you cannot practice printing in Nigeria without a license from the Institute. Genuine businesses will certainly conform with the law.

Over two years since you became the President of CIPPON,what  has your administration achieved? What are the challenges and how have you been addressing them.?

It’s still less than two years! We are having an election in July . Honestly, this has been an unusual period . When the old brigade left , we didn’t have access to the account for about three months, COVID 19 came and ravaged almost a year, all those shortened our tenure and the number one on our strategic framework is institutional integrity. We have made the industry recognizable. We have built bridges among other organizations that had been alienated before , we have engaged government , most importantly we have set the foundation for the progress of the industry. For what we have done the practitioners are in the best position to answer.Our biggest challenges however are from among ourselves.

We have not enjoyed the cooperation of some of the prominent printers who are doing everything to frustrate our efforts with Government agencies. They are bent on the status quo continuing. The whole thing is like a mini Nigeria.We are however undaunted. The Act must be sacrosanct and that we will uphold.

.Are you  contemplating request of intervention fund  from the Federal Government to strengthen the printing sector?

  More than intervention fund and entitlement mentality, we need protection and policies that will set us on the part of growth. There are many conflicting policies of the government that need to be addressed in our industry. We need a protectionist policy. We are having serious challenges with paper scarcity that can snowball into a national crisis when new school session starts in September.

Four Hundred and fifteen companies in Nigeria closed shop in the last one year on account of  foreign exchange restriction by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the COVID-19 pandemic  the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said.

Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the Director-General, MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir,  who  disclosed this at the cake-cutting event organised to mark MAN’s 50th anniversary,complained that  traffic logjam at the ports slowing down access to imported raw materials, had severely affected the growth of manufacturing in the country.

Power transportation acquisition of lands, multiplicity of taxes and levies from different tiers of government, and inconsistent government policies are other ills of the manufacturers,which he said they would be

 able to thrive if the constraints were nipped in the bud.

He said:“However, on our own, we are doing a lot to improve the bottom line of our members. We are linking up with manufacturers across Africa so that we can create a cross-border value chain to develop areas where we have comparative and competitive advantage.

“We are also assisting them with the provision of information about the availability of raw materials. We are partnering with different organisations, both within and outside the country.We are signing MoU with parastatals of government like SON and NAFDAC. All of these is to improve the quality and delivery of our members’ products.”

He said association would be more focused on creating resilience in the next 50years

‘‘We want to boost our capacity so that in spite of all these debilitating factors surrounding us, we should be able to thrive as a sector.We have made some progress in terms of manufacturing; it has not all been tales of woes.”

The MAN boss said he was looking forward to legislation on the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products.

The Honeywell group has  said that the loans it incurred on First Bank  were being serviced.

The group also said  its loan obligation to the bank had  come down by  thirty percent in the last two and a half years.

The company stated that it had a relationship with the bank since 1972 and invested in it about a decade later.

The statement was sequel to the 48hours the Central Bank of Nigeria gave the company  to repay the loan or face  punitive action against it for insider borrowing.

The Chairman Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, also served as Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc until he was kicked out along with other directors on Thursday by the apex bank last week.

The apex bank had noted in a letter  last  Wednesday that First Bank had yet to comply with regulatory directives on divesting its interest in Honeywell despite several reminders.

Besides, the apex bank  asked First Bank to forward evidence involving the divestment of interest in Honeywell Flour Mills groups and Bharti Airtel Nigeria Ltd within 90 days according to a report by Punch.

Honeywell,in a statement added: “In 2015, First Bank under the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria, drew our attention to a 2004 circular (BSD/9/2004) which requires that insider related facilities must not exceed 10 per cent of paid-up share capital.

“Based on this directive we subsequently entered negotiations with the bank to agree an appropriate repayment structure and the final negotiated position was duly approved by the CBN.

“In addition to the above, First Bank, on the directive of CBN, requested additional security in the form of FBN Holdings Plc shares held by the Chairman of Honeywell Group, Dr Oba Otudeko citing a 2001 circular. This was duly provided through an authorisation to place a lien on the shares”.

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has advocated the need  for immediate action to address the nation’s current Inflation trends.

Amb. Ayoola Olukanni, Director-General, NACCIMA, gave the advice in reactiin to the Inflation figure released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).showing a surge from 17.33% recorded in February to 18.17% in March as well as the rising cost of food in Nigeria

He said NACCIMA on several occasions in recent past, had  warned that the upward trajectory of inflation is what will happen if  action is not taken to address underlining causes of the inflationary trends.

He said:” Most significant in this regard is the issue of insecurity which is spreading across the country and its consequences on agricultural production especially by the small farm holders across  the  food belt of the nation; many of these farmers are either not able either to engage in active farming or evacuate their farm produce”

He added that  shortage of forex, depreciation in exchange rate and huge import bill have also all combined to produce the upward inflationary trend  Nigeria is witnessing.

He explained that steps must be taken by government to arrest the trend.

” In all of these, perhaps most important is the issue of insecurity.Business and productive activities only thrive in a safe and secured environment. An enduring solution must therefore be found to the problems of banditry and other sources of  insecurity across the country.

“The current low  productive capacities in various sectors of the economy have also been  due to the recent massive power outages and consequential effect on electricity supply to homes and industries especially SMEs.

“There is therefore the need to expedite action on the energy component under the Economic Sustainability Plan as part of the strategic options designed  to address the energy crisis.To address  food  inflation there must be significant  improvement in the area of road infrastructure to facilitate movement of farm produce and  goods across the country.

“This is  to strengthen the food supply chain and reduce cost of transportation from the farm to the market. More support should also be given to the SMEs in the  agribusiness sector as they are important in the quest to ensure food security and combat  food inflation”

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN),has said that Nigeria spends between  $600m to $1 billion to import  sugar into the country annually.

Godwin Emefiele,the Governor of the apex bank,who disclosed  this  in Awe, Nasarawa state when he inspected  the proposed $500 million Dangote sugar processing facility,explained that the development caused the CBN to include sugar and wheat on the foreign exchange restriction list .

According to Emefiele, “we are looking at sugar and wheat. We started a programme on milk about two years ago, eventually, these products will go into our FX restriction list.

Before adding the commodities to the FX restriction list, the CBN Governor said they “want to see to what extent we see the traction that is coming from those who are currently importing these items.We must all work together to produce these goods in Nigeria rather than import them”.

He spoke on  how much CBN was supporting the project with, he said “we have made up our mind on how much we’ll put but of course as you heard from Dangote, the project is worth about $500 million. If you convert that to naira, you know how much that is. I know he’s going to commit some equities to it. From there, we will determine what is the shortfall and we will come in through intervention through the banks for whatever loan that is required for this.

“Of course, foreign currency will be provided as long as it is for the importation of equipment for the project through the banks, for whatever loans that is required for this as long as it is for importation of equipment and we will gradually begin to restrict foreign exchange to those who want to import sugar until we achieve this result”.

Speaking,Aliko Dangote,the president of Dangote Group,said  proposed $500 million Dangote sugar processing plant in Awe, Nasarawa State will save Nigeria some $1 billion and create more than 150,000 jobs.

He said the group has  acquired 60,000 hectares of land in Awe, Nasarawa State to grow  close to  one third of Nigeria’s sugar consumption, which is almost a million tonnes.

He  added that the initial investment for this project was about $480-500 million noting that the CBN will provide support to make it a reality.

Dangote stated that they have “a very good relationship with the community and stakeholders. This project as you see it, will produce a lot of jobs and as a matter of fact, we have to bring a lot of people outside of this areas into the project to help in terms of employment. We’re talking about thousands of jobs direct and indirect jobs, more than 150,000 jobs”.

The sugar processing project he said has a lot of potentials.

The project he pointed out “is not just for us to make money from the sugar refinery, but boost economy”

Speaking on the implication of the project to the stability of the Naira, Aliko Dangote stated that “Emefiele is not just a Governor of CBN but also a developmental Governor because he is not just looking at the monetary policy, he is also looking at what he can do to support the naira like this sort of initiative.

He has a problem today meeting up with the demands of import. Supporting projects like this, going forward, the naira in your hands will be very strong. We have quite a lot that we’re doing here.With regards to the sugar project, Dangote said they are “targeting about half a million tonnes but right now, we’re talking about 250 million tonnes and that is worth about N450 billion”.