Berger Paints Plc is looking to launch an automated water-based paint factory in Lagos. The new factory is a N2 billion investment, according to the Vanguard.
Why this matters: The paint company would launch the new plant in order to revolutionize the industry as well as create employment opportunities for Nigeria while focusing on strengthening the naira.
Mr. Abi Ayida, the Chairman of the Company, made these intentions known after visiting the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Otunba Richard Adebayo in Abuja. Adebayo noted that the project would be completed next year.
In a statement issued by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr Julius Toba-Jegede, Ayida said the “plant is in its final stage of factory acceptance testing.”
Ayida’s words: “The company is on the cusp of a major revolution in the paint industry as it commissions a fully automated water-based paint factory. “The plant has adequate capacity for large volume production with derived benefits of increasing local capacity, thereby, reducing importation of finished products and consequently strengthening the naira. “The fully automated factory is expected to activate the industrialisation era of the paint sector in Nigeria as this will be the trend going forward.’’
Going forward, he called for improved access to Forex for raw materials while advocating for the promotion of paint technology in the nation’s tertiary institutions by including it in the school curriculum. A move he said would boost local paint production.
In his remarks, the minister appreciated the visit and reiterated the support of the Federal Government for investment drives.
“One of my mandates here following my appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari is to support private sector industrial growth. We are proud of what your management is doing and we are ready to support you. I am not unaware of some of the challenges facing the paint industry in Nigeria. But we are working round the clock to address them. To create jobs, eradicate and take 10 million Nigerians out of poverty, we are looking at industrialisation and agriculture,” he said.
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