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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nEvery evening, a few indigent students who seek\nfinancial relief in the fabrication centre join the regular employees. Okoye\nsaid she desires to expand her operations and provide opportunities for more\nindividuals to help transform the financial fortune of the country. But she\nneeds affordable loans and infrastructural support to make her dream come\nthrough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the odds, EMCO has survived five years,\nwhich hundreds of such other fabrications could not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Silas Ibekwe, a retired civil servant, narrated\nhow a similar fabrication he set up in the twilight of his active service was\nkilled by his inability to access cheap funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: \u201cThe commercial banks were not\ninterested in my proposal. I applied to the Bank of Industry (BoI) for a loan\nbut never got any response from them. The interest rates of the microfinance\nbanks were too high. I put my entire savings into the business but it was\ngulped by high production costs. I closed shop in 2017 when I could not sustain\nthe operation anymore with personal resources.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally, start-ups like EMCO operate from\nincubation centres such as the ones operated by the National Board for\nIncubation, an agency of the Federal Government. The closest functional\ninnovation centre to Nnewi, the country\u2019s entrepreneurial powerhouse, is\nlocated hundreds of miles away in the Southwest. Perhaps, this is one of the\nreasons services that are better provided at subsidised rates elsewhere are a\nluxury to start-ups in Nnewi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not even the established industries are speared\nof the excessive burden of self-help. Many of the roads and social utilities\nare products of self-help. The industrial setup is built on personal sacrifice,\nwhich the operator says has made the cost of production unbearable. The\ncompanies are not asset-heavy by choice. The majority of them wish to shed\nweight, concentrate on production and build on their competitive edge.\nUnfortunately, facility sharing is not feasible, as the companies are not sited\nin a cluster or industrial estate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cutix Plc, a cable manufacturer, said it has been\nin talks with a gas power company that insists that its current energy\nconsumption (about 0.8 megawatt) is below the minimum requirement for an\nindependent plant. Cutix operates two factories producing regular and almond\ncables. Its almond cable manufacturing process requires an uninterrupted power\nsupply. Hence, it relies fully on diesel, with the entire operations of the\ncompany gulping about 32,000 litres of diesel (approximately N7 million) every\nmonth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe production of the almond cable cannot be\ninterrupted. If the machines stop as a result of power outage at any stage of\nthe production, whatever you have done is wasted. So, the plant is permanently\non a generator. It is very expensive, but we do not have a choice. We run two\nplants. Each of the plants is powered by a generator because one cannot serve\nthe two of them,\u201d Ijeoma Oduonye, the chief executive officer of Cutix told The\nGuardian during a factory tour organised as part of the activities of the\nrecent Nnewi Investment Summit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oduonye said access to reliable and affordable\npower could reduce the company\u2019s production cost by over 20 percent and\nincrease its competitiveness in the global cable market. Cutix product is rated\nas one of the best cables in the market. But like other local manufacturers,\nits production is not as competitive as the imported cables it is competing\nwith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of Cutix is the story of Innoson, Tummy\nTummy, and many other Nnewi manufacturing giants. They rely on generators to\npower their plants; access their factories through self-constructed\/or\nmaintained roads. Tummy Tummy speaks eloquently of the Nnewi\u2019s decade of\ngrowth. In 2009, the noodle maker won the First Bank SME award. As disclosed by\nOgo Emenike, the managing director of the company, Tummy Tummy currently has\n970 employees on its payroll. \u201cWith infrastructural support, we would do much\nbetter,\u201d boasted Emenike as he explained his daily operational hitches to the\norganisers of the Nnewi Investment Summit at the company\u2019s boardroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With its operation (which sits on a swathe of\nland in the heart of Nnewi) spread across the entire spectrum of manufacturing\n(refining, construction, fabrication, recycling, processing and several\nothers), Chicason Group is not a struggling company by any standard. Its\neconomy of scale advantage gives it a competitive edge in the elite club of\nmanufacturers. Yet, its executive, Linus Ilozue, said the cost of energy is a\nmajor burden the company has been struggling with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At a panel session during the Summit, Ilozue took\non Dr. Chukwueloka Umeh of Century Power Generation Company, which he accused\nof giving unrealistic conditions to Nnewi manufacturers who approached it for\nenergy solutions. Umeh, on his part, explained that his company is equally\ngrappling with the systemic constraints that have increased production costs for\nthe manufacturers. Century Power has seen commercial prospects in the Nnewi hub\nand is willing to provide a sustainable energy solution to help the businesses\nreduce their costs said to be 40 percent energy-related. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, Umeh said his company cannot bet its\nresources without a guarantee that the operators will take-up power when\nproduced. The industrialists have given their words that they will buy the\nenergy as long as it is cheaper than generators. But the devil is in getting\nthe manufacturers to give the energy company a bankable guarantee as mere words\ncannot be taken to the banks. Umeh and his team have been in the business of\npower generation long enough to know how easy it is to lose investment made\nonly based on mere statistics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Century Power boss is among those who believe\nthat Nnewi is a miracle waiting to happen. That miracle, however, is being\ndelayed by high energy cost, which he put at N90 per kilowatt. In the face of\nthe current erratic or non-existent public energy, the private sector operators\nare ready to step in. But their involvement is also being stalled by the\ninability of the service providers and the consumers to agree on a workable\npayment structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Ike Chioke, managing director of\nAfrinvest West Africa Limited, Nigeria currently has 39 trade zones with 20 of\nthem active. That Anambra, the engine room of Nigeria\u2019s entrepreneurial\nadventure, has none, he said, shows the level of neglect the area has suffered.\nChioke, whose company has carried out a detailed survey on the business\nprospects of Nnewi, said the manufacturers could cut the cost of production by\n20 percent if they operate in a properly serviced trade zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eleven of the trade zones are sited in Lagos,\nwhile three are in the Federal Capital Territory, a city whose most flourishing\nbusinesses are politics and bureaucracy. It was not surprising that Kingsley\nMoghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and\npresidential candidate at the 2019 general elections, condemned the Federal\nGovernment over what he described as politicisation of industrial policies and\ndecisions. He said Africa contributes only one percent to the total global\nmanufacturing figures as against China\u2019s 20 percent because sufficient\nattention has not been given to promising hubs like as Nnewi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moghalu, a native of Nnewi himself, said: \u201cWe are\nnot yet competing with the already most-industrialized countries, but rather we\nare seeking to build a sustainable and sophisticated industrial economy\nrelative to our current stages of growth. In that context, we must have an\nindustrial economy before we can have a post-industrial one. We, therefore,\nneed an effective industrial policy to promote manufacturing in places such as\nNnewi. A populous country like Nigeria, with millions of jobless youth, also\ncannot afford not to have a strong manufacturing component in its economy; with\nspecial attention to the efficient productivity of labour\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNnewi\u2019s manufacturing has in the past been\nneglected by the Federal Government and even state governments. But economic\ndecisions that affect the viability of manufacturing, in particular rail and\nports infrastructure, and the possibility of creating economic zones, are in\nAbuja\u2019s hands. The Federal Government has consistently focused almost\nexclusively on Lagos in this context e.g. the creation of the Lekki Free Trade\nZone, ports policy, etc., and by-passed Nnewi, Africa\u2019s Taiwan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome manufacturers appear to be more loved \u2013 and\nfavored \u2013 by the Federal Government than others. This has resulted in a\ncrony-capitalist approach to industrial policy in which waivers and access to\nforeign exchange in the past were given to specific business corporations\nrather than general policies for specific sectors, which would create a more level\nplaying field. This is a politically induced policy failure. Nnewi\nmanufacturers have been political orphans for far too long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the Presidency to the Anambra State House,\nthere is no debate about the possibilities of Nnewi. There is also no doubt\nthat there are logs on its path to emerging as the \u2018Taiwan of Africa\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the\nPresident on the Ease of Doing Business, had at the Summit reeled out\nactivities the Federal Government has embarked on to provide the needed\ninstitutional support, stressing that the government would visit Nnewi\noperators to \u201chear from them\u201d their specific needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Anambra State Deputy Governor, Dr. Nkem\nOkeke, noted that access to reliable and affordable power is a key factor in\nunlocking the goldmine that Nnewi has become. His assurance that the government\nwas doing so much to boost supply was to be deflated with his call on operators\nnot to \u201cnecessarily wait for the government\u201d as the private sector operators\nare available to provide the much-needed solution. \u201cWe need steady power but we\ncannot continue to wait for the government. We can partner the private sector\noperators,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Briefing the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe\nKenneth Orizu, member of the House of Representatives representing Nnewi\nNorth\/South\/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency, Chris Azubogu, also itemised several\nongoing negotiations and collaborations aimed at narrowing the gap between\nAbuja and Nnewi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the manufacturers who bear the brunt of the\nneglect seem to have witnessed so many failed promises that they do not believe\nany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ndigbo are often described as the Jews of\nNigeria. Nnewians (as the indigenes often address themselves) are the\nforbearers of the trait often attributed to the Igbo \u2013 a reason \u2018Nnewi sense\u2019\nis synonymous with shrewdness and entrepreneurship among the Southeasterners.\nThis tells the socio-political foundation of the creation of the Nnewi that has\nbecome the envy of all lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To buy or not to buy made-in-Nigeria has become a\npolitical issue. A few days ago, the House of Reps came under fire for\npreferring Toyota Camry in place of Nnewi-manufactured Innoson. An average\nNnewi manufacturer lists poor patronage especially by the government as a major\ndrawback to their commercial aspiration. Public figures and notable\ncommentators often condemn the government for being so insensitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now and then, people of different affiliations\nvisit the manufacturing plant of Innoson to see the making of the first\ncomplete made-in-Nigeria vehicles. At Lagos Sheraton and Transcorp Hilton, the\nNigerian elite mount the podia to sermonise the difference it would make if \u201cwe\nall use made-in-Nigeria brands\u2019. In defence of stronger naira, officials of the\nCentral Bank advocate the adoption of made-in-Nigeria. But most often, one\nwishes there is a regulation to compel these made-in-Nigeria advocates to take\na compulsory ride in Innoson or other locally assembled vehicles. Even those\nwho visit his plant to give Nnewi-born industrialist words of encouragement\noften park cars bearing imprimaturs of Toyota and Mercedes Benz to give him a\npat on the back. Does this matter? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is about 50 years when the Nnewi traders,\nrising from the trauma of the Civil War began their journey back home. It is\nhalf a century into the building of the economic powerhouse, which started in\nthe form of backward integration. The new generation industrialists look\nforward to the second half of the century with heightened excitement. But as\nthe new economic order dictates, those who will compete locally must be\nnecessarily ready to compete globally as the reality of globalization continues\nto crush the walls of protectionism into dust. Perhaps, the next leading\nNigerian industrialists are those who will have the \u2018courage\u2019 to demand the\nworld, and not Nigeria, patronise them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Geoff Iyatse Ukamaka Okoye, fabricating metals at Nnewi \u2022 \u2018Affordable Power Is Key To Unlocking The Goldmine Nnewi Has Become\u2019 Nnewi is not a tier-one city in Africa, and not in Nigeria. Even within…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[171],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-nnewi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Nnewi-974x548-1.jpg?resize=974%2C548&ssl=1\")
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