Notwithstanding the prevailing challenges undermining the fortunes of the industry, the Paint Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has urged its members to explore new market routes within the African region, especially as continental trade becomes operational.

According to the association, the sector is still being challenged by the scarcity of foreign exchange, skyrocketing prices of raw materials and packaging inputs, as well as sales of finished paint products, stressing that these bottlenecks have spiked the cost of production.

The Chairman, PMAN, Ambolu Babatunde, argued that the business environment remains unfavourable and unattractive to investors, adding that with these challenges, our products will be uncompetitive when the African single market eventually takes off.

The Chairman, at the PMAN Nigeria 2022 coating show tagged “Maximising the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area in a post-Covid era” in Lagos, urged the government to come to the sector’s 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, however, assured paint users in the country and Africa that PMAN is committed to transiting to the reformulation/production of lead-free paints for a healthy environment even as monitoring and enforcement are billed to commence soon.

He also stated that its members were yet to explore African markets fully, noting that only a fragment of players in the industry is selling their products through the informal routes to some West African countries.

He stated the need to explore ways and strategies to penetrate other markets outside the shores of the country.

According to him, there is a need for paint manufacturers in Nigeria to adhere to current and future developments in the manufacture and sale of paints, and developments in raw material input for the industry, saying that other issues include lead contents paints, environmental issues, improved quality of their products to enable them to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which will soon take off.

He pointed out that some industry players have observed that the paint industry is facing the challenges of the dearth of middle-level manpower (paint technicians) and have called for the restart of the Certificate programme in Paints and Coatings Technology at the Yaba College of Technology, stressing that the programme collapsed due to wrong management decision at the institution.

“The National Executive Council, our parent body and other stakeholders are looking at the various options available. The programme may run on a new arrangement if things work out as envisaged,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, of Raw Materials Research and Development (RMRDC), Prof. Ibrahim Hussaini Doko, said the industry has grown and evolved over time, saying that the 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.

He noted that the industry has witnessed technological advancements in the methods of production as a result of new innovations, saying that the event is ideal at this time, as it provides a platform for manufacturers to exchange and share ideas and knowledge with high-level decision-makers, suppliers, professionals and other stakeholders.

The Director, of Research and Advocacy Support Division, MAN, Dr. Oluwasegun Osidipe, said Nigeria must have a trade policy in place before signing trade agreements, saying that a draft was submitted for the first time to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment two weeks as a result of advocacy.

He said the essence of a trade policy is to clearly define the area of interest, adding that during negotiations, agreements must be signed in line with national aspirations.

He also called on economic managers to put the right infrastructure in place to benefit from the trade pact, saying that AfCFTA like any other agreement is not a playground for countries that have not been able to satisfy local demands.

“Nigeria must adopt strategies where we can have aggregations and that is part of the strategies that the Nigerian government is looking at where you aggregate the output of a number of SMEs so that you have the right quantity to which you can possibly trade,” he said.