Suara Sherif
Coleman Technical Industries has a message for the Federal Government: Nigerian manufacturers have the capacity to power the economy, they just need policies that let them use it.
That was the rallying cry from Managing Director and CEO George Onafowokan, who spoke to journalists after a media tour of Coleman’s factories in Sagamu, Ogun State.
His warning was stark: Nigeria is bleeding jobs, investment and export opportunities because manufacturers cannot operate at optimal capacity due to unfavourable policies and structural bottlenecks.
The numbers back him up. Coleman’s high-voltage cable facility, built with investment made in 2014, is currently running at less than 10 percent capacity.
Across its expanded facilities, overall utilisation sits at just 20 percent.
Yet the company’s fibre-optic plant has the capacity to serve Nigeria and a substantial slice of the African market, if only it could operate at full strength.
Onafowokan revealed that Coleman has invested more than $60m in its fibre optic operations, with support from the Bank of Industry, FCMB and InfraCredit.
The company is wholly indigenous, investing as a business rather than a government-backed enterprise.
But despite the capital deployed, the plants remain underutilised.
“Running factories at higher capacity would create thousands of additional jobs, increase tax revenue and boost Nigeria’s export earnings,” Onafowokan said, pointing to the enormous opportunity being wasted.
He cited the use of Coleman cables on Seplat’s Yoyo offshore platform as proof that Nigerian manufacturers can meet specialised industrial requirements.
But to compete in regional and international markets, they need a supportive policy environment.
Among Coleman’s demands is approval for a free trade zone licence for its Sagamu facility, an application that has been pending for more than a year.
The company also criticised the current tariff structure, which makes it difficult for Nigerian manufacturers importing raw materials to remain competitive when exporting finished products.
Onafowokan advocated a bonded system that would allow manufacturers to import raw materials for export bound products without paying full duties, provided they demonstrate the finished goods are subsequently exported.
Similar systems already operate in India, China and South Africa, he noted, so why not Nigeria?
He also urged the Federal Government, particularly the Ministries of Finance and Industry, Trade and Investment, to review tariff, manufacturing and export policies to make Nigerian products more competitive globally.
For a nation desperate to diversify its economy and create jobs, the message from Sagamu is clear: Nigeria’s manufacturers are ready. The question is whether the government is ready to let them run.
