Abimbolu Babatunde
Mr. Abimbolu Babatunde is the new chairman of the Paints Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMA). He is also the Managing Director, Blentech Limited. In this interview with BERTRAM NWANNEKANMA, he outlines the challenges of paint manufacturing and how the association is tackling adulteration and other issues in the industry.
The increasing cost of paints is becoming a major source of worry to stakeholders in the built environment. What do you think is responsible for this?
It is a reflection of the economy. Everything now is increasing in price; therefore paint is not an exemption. So, it would be wrong to say paint cost is going up because petrol is going up and everything.
How can the high cost be mitigated?
The major cause of the problem is infrastructure. For example, energy alone accounts for 20 per cent of the cost of production. There is no way, you will be able to compete when you compare it with an imported paints even from those produced in Ghana. For those in technical area of paints, you have to run your plants for 24 hours. In some cases, you start production when light comes up and stop, when it is off. But for some production, it has to be continuous until you finish. That is the problem.
Another problem is transportation. One of our suppliers told me that a transport bill for a 20 feet container goes for about N35, 000 before now but it is N350, 000 today. You can imagine what effect it will have on the cost of materials, so the manufacturers must have to spread it across all products.
Nigeria is witnessing dearth of skilled painters, how is the association tackling the problem?
What we are doing is to encourage painters to improve their skills. We educate them that if the job is perfectly done, it will enhance their trade but if they don’t do it well; there will surely be substitute for paints. If there is substitute for paints, then they will have nothing to do. What we do is a kind of advocacy to tell them the need to do it well. We also advise them to charge correctly so that they can handle the paints well. That is what we will continue to do.
What can be done to ensure better paint finishing in buildings?
We started a programme for artisans as well as for painters at Yaba College of Technology Lagos. Our plan is to enhance their performance and help them know the nitty-gritty of their trade. When they have that information they can then build on it in terms of their experience. But what we found out is that because of lack of jobs, anybody can just come into it and become a painter. They just look at people painting and in two weeks, they say they can paint. So we will continue to train them.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed Executive Order 5 to improve local content in public procurement with science, engineering and technology components, how has the order benefited your members?
Surely, the order is beneficial to the economy in general but it is one thing to promulgate an order and another thing is to follow it through. Following it through, I think is the problem we have right now. The order is a way forward for the industry but it is one thing to say, and another thing to implement it to the latter. I can incorporate a company in Nigeria and get paints anywhere outside the country and then supply as a Nigerian company, I have certified that order. So, there is a difference between using paints and products manufactured in the country and a Nigerian company supplying products. But as far as that order is concerned, a Nigerian company importing and supplying, as a Nigerian but the product I am taking to the project site is not made in Nigeria, that is boycotting the spirits of the law and that is what is happening.
The quality of paints manufactured in Nigeria has been a source of worry for many; in what way can quality be improved? How has Paint Manufacturers assisted in improving the quality of paints in the country?
I really do not think that there is a problem of quality because paints all over the world consist of four ingredients, major ingredients whether you manufacture in Nigeria or in china or in America, it is the same. You have the pigment, you have the colourant, you have the binder, you have the solvents and the additives. But the way you combine them together matters a lot. I am bold to say that there is no raw material that is indigenous to Nigeria except water, sand and calcium carbonate. Every other thing is not indigenous. They are imported; materials importation is another way of securing the quality of paint. So if you start with a wrong material and those materials are not produced in Nigeria. Binders are assembled in Nigeria. So the way to improve is to bring to the knowledge of people that you are using the correct materials to make your paints. PMA has a technical committee, whose job is to disseminate information among its members that these are the correct things you need to do to ensure quality.
What do you consider as recipe to the problem of adulteration of paints?
Adulteration is real. It is killing a lot of industries. You agreed with a client or with a customer that you are going to use a particular paint but what do you do? You went and produce at your backyard; buy used cans and put it in and supplied to sites. It is killing a lot of industries. One the quality is suspect; secondly, the revenue that supposed to accrue to the owner is gone down.
How can the malaise be tackled?
What PMA is doing is to strike the conscience of those involved through advocacy. It is because of the bad economy and the competiveness in the market. In some projects, it is the winner takes all. We must create space for others; let people know you for quality of course there will be space for you.
What do you consider as the major challenges of paint manufacturing?
The volume of paints being consumed in Nigeria is going down. It is going down because a lot of companies have folded up due to economic reasons. For example, I remembered that there is a particular plant that produces 20,000 litres of paint every day. And every day it is topped up by 2,000 litres. That one is gone.
The same with Metal furniture in Ikeja, there are so many, the volume has gone down. Again there are some building components now that have taken volume away from paints. If you look around, a lot of people will finish their buildings with tiles. Even in exterior, that is cladding and things like that. Those volumes are taken away. The ceiling is now moved to PVC, it is 20 per cent of paints that have gone. So it is diminishing by the day. Also, quality was part of the problem. Those ceilings and tiles you cannot paint them. So you stuck with that structure for a long time.
How is PMA encouraging Nigeria’s economic growth?
We told our members that tough times do not last forever. That the situation of our country will not continue like this; that opportunities will be there. That they should just have faith that it will come one day. Government is doing its own part in infrastructure, when it matures, only those who are consistent are the one that will reap it. So we believe that the sky will be the limit for Nigeria and paints industries in the country.