Coleman Technical Industries Limited, manufacturer of Coleman Wires and Cables, has intensified its effort in creating employment opportunities and enhance its backward integration strategy in the fibre cable industry.
Coleman, currently is the largest and fastest-growing indigenous wires and cables manufacturing company in Nigeria and West Africa coast, producing the highest quality wire and cable products that meet the required local and international standards with relevant certifications.
Wire and Cable Industry in Nigeria
China, India and the United Arab Emirates were the main suppliers of wire and cable imports to Nigeria, with a combined 89 per cent share of total imports.
To deepen local content across industries in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari led government signed Executive Order 3 (EO3) and Executive Order 5 (EO5) in 2017 and 2018 respectively which in addition to the local content laws, have aided the operations of cable manufacturers.
Coleman’s key competitive advantage lies in its leading role in the Nigerian cables and wires manufacturing industry, underpinned by ongoing investment in capacity expansion and technologies that continue to drive meaningful upscaling and gain efficiency relative to peers.
Coleman’s Capacity
With an installed capacity of 60,000 tons per annum for copper and 40,000tpa for aluminum, Coleman is acclaimed to have c.80 per cent of installed capacity in the country. A key challenge is the dominance of imported cables and wires into the country.
However, the government’s local content policy and foreign exchange restrictions for imported finished cables offer some support for Coleman’s business case and the wider industry
Coleman’s Strategy
Coleman recently opened its multi-billion-dollar fibre optic cable manufacturing factory, hoping to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to play big in the African market. The world-class facility is the first of its kind in the West Africa region and fifth in Africa and is expected to help develop the digital economy of the country and the West African region.
The managing director of Coleman Technical Industries Limited, Mr. George Onafowokan disclosed that the company had firm belief in local content and building capacity locally to generate wealth and create jobs.
Onafowokan mentioned that the new facility will create about 800 direct jobs and over 2000 indirect jobs, saying the company is set to commence work on the second phase of the factory in order to meet the market demand for fibre optic cables.
Brand of the Year
For this reason, LEADERSHIP Group, Nigeria’s most influential newspaper has nominated the company as the LEADERSHIP Brand of the Year 2022 nomination. Onafowokan described the nomination as a testament to its local content drive in the sub-Saharan African region.
While receiving the management of LEADERSHIP Group Limited led by its vice chairman, Mike Okpere to its head office in Ogun state, he said the award would propel his company to achieve more infrastructural milestone and particularly provide jobs for thousands of Nigerian youths.
Onafowokan dedicated the award to the great vision of the company’s board of directors, management and staff of Coleman Wires and Cables for its continuing drive to lead cable industry in Nigeria as well as the number one player in the sub-Saharan African economy.
Onafowokan recognized the need to leverage opportunities to manufacture made-in-Nigeria goods to deepen export potentials, provide industrial jobs, expand market deliverables and cut down importations of cables and wires from China, Japan and other foreign economies.
This, in his view, has shaped economic growth to drive local content, build local capacity of localized cables and fibre optic manufacturing in Nigeria which Coleman Wires and Cables has become the undisputable leader.
Onafowokan who was elated by his company’s nomination as Brand of the Year by LEADERSHIP, noted that Coleman Wires and Cables as the largest manufacturer of fiber optics in West Africa, is always ready to support network operators in the telecom industry with highest quality fiber optics to lay terrestrial cables nationwide.
The LEADERSHIP Brand of the Year Award, according to him, is a response for rapid development of indigenous technology in Nigeria’s economy to boost transmission in the power sector while addressing the challenges of local content and capacity building which he said is being championed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring (NCDMB).
He said, “the LEADERSHIP Brand award is well recognized by Coleman in the areas of building local capacity and driving local content for the country’s industrial sector. We will be breaking new grounds which will take the project size, build capacity for West Africa, Central Africa and take 50 percent of the whole African continent.”
Speaking the company’s plans for next year, he said, “we are geared to make Coleman the biggest fibre optic cable factory in African continent. The synopsis of our business is based on the premise of believing in Nigeria and growing local capacity; building the Nigeria ideology and breaking the barriers.”
Cheers from NCDMB
Congratulating the company for the feat it achieved, the executive secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Simbi Wabote remarked that the company has successfully leveraged on the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act to invest in difficult terrains that were not possible prior to the enactment of the Act.
He said, “it gladdens my heart to say that Coleman has never looked back, and it continues to expand its footprint in the industrialization roadmap of Nigeria. Today is a testament to such expansion efforts.”
Represented at the event by the general manager, Project Certification and Authorization Division, Engr. Paul Zuhumben, the NCDMB boss hinted that fibre optic cable factory will further support the employment creation drive of the Federal government as the facility will employ about 500 persons.
Zuhumben noted that Coleman will benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which seeks to enable unhindered movement of business, goods and services across the African continent because some of its facilities do not exist in most parts of the continent.
He encouraged Nigeria businesses to emulate Coleman by positioning themselves to take advantage of the provisions of AfCFTA. He pledged that the Board would continue to support the investment and ensure that project promoters and stakeholders of the Oil and Gas sector buy their fibre optic cables in-country in order to sustain the operations of the facility.
Applause from Ogun Governor
The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun hinted that the factory would boost the development of digital economy infrastructure and advance teaching and learning processes in academic institutions across the state and the country.
Abiodun noted that the facility would conserve foreign exchange, promote technology transfer as well as generate employment and alleviate poverty in the state. “The manufacture of fibre optic cables locally will aid the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the different sectors of the economy.
“It will boost tech innovation, advancement in teaching and learning processes in our academic institutions, improve medical care, improve ease and access to data information and enhance internet connection.”
Coleman Technical Industries, owners of Coleman Wires and Cables, was incorporated on July 1, 1975, while full production of wires and cables commenced in January 1998. The company has since grown to be one of the major players in quality wires and cables production in Nigeria.
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