ABUJA: Nigerian Paint manufacturers say Nigeria imports more than 60 per cent of its paints needs following local manufacturers dwindling production capcity.
Chairman Paint Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (PMA), Mr Sulaimon Tella, said this on Wednesday in Lagos, in an interview with The Tide source.
According to him, the unstable power supply and lack of standards in the industry constitute major hindrances to local paint manufacturing.
Tella said that drop in the electricity supply nationwide impected negatively on the production capacity of paint manufacturers, as most of them commit about N600, 000 on diesel to power their generating sets monthly.
“Electricity has also been a major challenge to paint manufacturers, and this has led to the production of sub-standard products.
“Put all the Nigerian paints manufacturers together, we are not producing up to 40 per cent of the total paint needed in this country.
“Most people think Nigeria is self-sufficient in paint manufacturing because they think paint is only about decorative paints, but we are yet to reach half of our potentials in paint manufacturing,” he said.
He also said that the local content act had not been accessed by paint manufacturers, as the sector had been slow in the process of standardisation.
“Only a few paints that we manufacture meet the standards of the paints used in the oil and gas sector, where risks cannot be taken.
“We have standards for decorative and gloss paints but we have no standards yet for protective coating paints, road-marking paints, and marine paints and so on.
“This is why our products cannot meet the standards for oil and gas,” he said.
Tella urged the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to create a platform for the standardization of the paints that are yet to be given standards.
“We are urging the SON to work harder, with the assistance of the government to provide a laboratory for the testing of these delicate group of paints, because it costs a lot to take it outside the country for evaluation,” Tella added.
