Guardian Nigeria
Jude Chime is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Elan Exhibitions West Africa. He spoke to VICTOR GBONEGUN on its yearly air conditioning and refrigeration expo, as well as construction and building materials exhibitions holding today in Lagos. He expressed the need for the government to implement policies, boost trade and stakeholders’ collaboration for industrial growth.
The air conditioning and refrigeration expo and other exhibitions have become a yearly forum that attracts local and international experts. What has been the gain to the economy?
We have a unique theme for this year’s edition, which is ‘Building Sustainable Future: Empowering Nigeria’s Construction Industry.’ This is the seventh edition and the gains over the years have been massive, remarkable and impactful.
Firstly, we have been able to drive new investments into the economy and make people realise that the building industry, which includes the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and the building materials and technology are viable markets for investments. Many of these exhibitors have also seen the need to set up assembly plants in Nigeria, as a means to reach out to other West African markets.
It has also impacted engineering knowledge, as the arrival of expatriates has impacted local professionals like engineers, builders, and architects. This year’s forum is different from previous years; we will have over 250 manufacturers from across different sectors, which is massive in terms of the opportunities it brings to the country.
We are ensuring government’s participation because they contribute over 60 per cent to the construction industry. We are bringing not just the business-to-business aspect but the government-to-business aspect.
Nigeria and other developing countries use refrigerants with high ozone-depleting potential, which contributes to global warming and climate change. How would the exhibitions help in mitigating emissions and other environmental challenges?
In every aspect of life, certain areas will rub off on humanity and that shouldn’t stop at a point. What we can do is enhance the skills and training of technicians and manufacturers to limit the negative impact on humanity. Of course, those components that can affect human life and the environment are usually eliminated in production processes.
When it comes to air conditioning and refrigerators, there are a lot of experts who are going to participate and enlighten participants on Ozone layer-depleting substances in the manufacturing and assembly of refrigerators, as well as how best to manage their use in the industry.
We also need to examine the positive impact of air conditioning and refrigeration in society in terms of whether they are serving the needs of mankind.
Nigeria is grappling with macroeconomic challenges, particularly instability in the foreign exchange market. How is this impacting the construction and building materials components of the exhibition? What should the government do to make the construction industry more attractive to investors?
I have always been advocating that the government stabilise the naira. If you are trying to convince an investor to come to Nigeria, a critical factor to be examined is the stability of the naira. If the currency is unstable, on what basis is the investor going to plan and make a forecast for business growth? If an investor is not able to do a forecast for at least five years, it becomes challenging to become part of the business community.
Price is also one of the main issues to consider in the panel section because it is critical to the construction and housing sector. The cost of rent and cement prices keep increasing and that affects the citizens directly. The issue of building collapse looms large now with the skyrocketing prices of building materials, which is above 65 per cent.
Don’t be surprised that the developers may want to consider cheaper means of providing homes and in the process may compromise standards. We need technologies that will make our building and construction industry cheaper and adhere to standards. This is why there is a need for research and development. Building a sustainable future, empowering the construction industry is crucial for economic growth and the naira needs to be stabilised to mitigate further building collapse.
How can we address shortage of skilled labour, poor quality of products and corruption in the building and construction industry?
In our last edition, we talked about building collapse, which generated heated discussions among stakeholders. The most important submission was that there is the need to collaborate and not work in silos. Until we begin to do this, we may have a lot of problems in the industry on a daily basis.
For instance, an engineer wants to do the job of architect, builder, structural engineer and surveyor at the same time. This won’t help the industry. We must go back to the specifics and allow individual experts to do their jobs. There are policies to guide against such practices but the problem is its adherence and implementation. Nigerians must also be aware that when they want to start their building projects, they must consult the professionals and carry out due diligence.
The government also needs to do more, especially the town planning departments. For example, a lot of people don’t understand what a three metres setback is all about, and they just build. A lot of reorientation needs to be done in the society to safeguard the citizens and investments.
