Firm advocates foreign exchange window for furniture producers

A Lagos-based firm, VAVA Furniture Nigeria Limited, has canvassed the need for government to create a special foreign exchange window for manufacturers of furniture, and other home decoration products in the country.

The Managing Director of VAVA Furniture, Ambassador Michael Tawadrous, said this at the signing of a Nollywood actor, Mr. Alex Ekubo, as its new brand ambassador in Lagos.

Tawadrous, who was represented by the Chief Financial Officer of the firm, Mr. Oluwaseun Animasaun, said although the scarcity of foreign exchange is not only peculiar to the furniture industry, he emphasised that if the government can provide special preference for operators to access FX from Central Bank of Nigeria and other commercial banks, it will go a long way in helping the industry to grow.

“The challenge is one of the reasons we ventured into exporting furniture products to the United States of America. We plan to generate FX through exporting our goods and services, which can be used to source for some of our raw materials abroad,” he said.

According to him, government also needs to address the issue of instability in power supply, which is a major source of concern for manufacturers.

He stated that the firm is ensuring that it competes favourably with world known brands with the exportation of its products to United States markets.

“VAVA furniture employs about 1,300 staff and out of that staff strength, we have over 90 per cent of them who are Nigerians. That takes off many unemployed youths from the Labour market. We train them, they work with us and if they decide to leave, they can set up their own workshops and earn decent living, “ he said.

Tawadrous noted that the firm decided to partner with Mr. Ekubo, who is one of the best in the entertainment industry, to further showcase the uniqueness of Nigerian products to the world through his wide range of influence and followership.

The sales director, Amir Zakhary, said the firm has become one of the biggest entities in the industry, in the last ten years, producing quality products with 14 showrooms across Nigeria.

Also speaking, Mr. Ekubo, said he decided to work with the firm due to its consistency in doing business in Nigeria for over ten years, which also aligns with his journey in the entertainment industry.
He encouraged citizens to patronize made in Nigeria products to grow the economy.

Ekubo said: “Furniture is very important in daily life and people cannot do anything without it. One of the things I like about the firm is that they sourced their raw materials locally at a time the quality of the naira is dwindling. They also ensure price consistency across all their branches in Nigeria.”