BusinessDay... the voice of business: ‘Nigerian Wire and Cable is restructured for shareholders’ value’

‘Nigerian Wire and Cable is restructured for shareholders’ value’
================================================================================
Admin on 29 January, 2008 01:00:00
 
Economic reforms
I believe in continuity of change whereby you set and review policies with a
view to fine tuning them as event unfolds. The economic reforms in the country
need some major reforms again because of the need to ensure that people are
empowered. We must take positive steps towards poverty reduction simply because
the present system  where the gap is widening between the have and have nots is
not good for the society and is breeding disgruntled citizentry.
Empowerment schemes
Some State governments like Ogun has put in place employment schemes for its
citizentry. We must replicate that at the Local, State and Federal government
levels, so that people will have basic standard of living and be able to achieve
minimum standard of living with good three square meals, decent housing and
education for their children.
We must channel resources from oil into creating productive avenues for people
to work and earn a living. We must re-channel the resources from oil to 
productive venture by way of Agriculture, developing rural areas in such a way
that there will be little difference between somebody living in Lagos and rural
areas.
Real sector
What the real sector requires is infrastructure and people empowerment, there
is no point for Nigerian Wire and Cable to produce cable that people cannot buy
because of money. When you have 200 people that have the money and funding that
should ordinarily be held by one  million  people, there is nothing those 200
people will do that will have equivalent multiplier effect of 1000 people not to
talk of one million people.
That is why we must look at empowering people to be able to create purchasing
power, then they will generate demand.
Policy  on cable imports
The other thing is policies of government. When substandard cables are allowed
to be imported, it will help keep the factories over there working while ours
suffers.
Likewise, we pay 25 and 40 percent duties on raw materials and people are
allowed to import finished cables to Nigeria at 15 percent.
At least, the minimum duty for finished products should be at least twice the
rate of the maximum raw materials content in order to encourage domestic
production. When you produce locally, you are adding value, but, when you bring
these finished products you are merchandising. That is the area most companies
are making money by importing and re-branding.
So, government must improve infrastructure and empower people so that they can
create demand we cannot run away from the quality of education because most
graduates cannot speak and write very well.
On Nigerian Wire and Cable
Nigerian Wire and Cable Plc was shut 18 months ago until recently when new
board and management took over. The company has been repositioned, turned around
and the new team is committed to see that the aspirations of the founding
fathers are not lost.
So, we have been able to take the company from its former stage to where we are
now. it’s not been easy but am a firm believer in the theory that if dying is
not easy, then you cannot expect living to be easy, each challenge we have been
able to face.
Truebond Investment and Capital Company is the new investor in the company and
it has injected over N1.3 billion. So when we finish the exercise of
restructuring, the shareholding structure will be Truebond, 62 percent equity,
Odua Investment, 15 percent and the remaining 23 percent will be held by15,640
Nigerians.
Future outlook and 2008
In Nigerian Wire and Cable, we have started well on a fairly good note. On the
domestic and Micro economic end, the order intake has been very encouraging,
bearing in mind that people have to pay school fees. But the Federal Government
is the biggest spender but the budget has not been passed because government
expenditure trickles down into the system.
As events unfold in several specialised cable sectors in the country, we will
be looking at  Telecommuncation, oil and gas to be recognised as a leading
player.
We already have our name in the housing domestic cable, then our vision is to
take up the specialised ones like optical fibre, specialised telecoms and oil
and gas cables.