Nigeria needs better enforcement against fake, unregistered products — Emeka Ajoiyi

Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi is the Country Manager, Inbisco Nigeria Limited, the commercial arm of Mayora Group. Noted for his remarkable business inclinations which came to light at a very young age, Ajoiyi was determined to reach the skies. Shortly after his university education, he ventured into entrepreneurship, then manufacturing of a good number of food products in the country. His voyage into manufacturing of quality food products in Nigeria endeared him to many other notable food products manufacturers across the world. In this chat with Vanguard, he opens up on his journey into manufacturing, what he thinks about the sector, why he became Country Manager, Inbisco Nigeria Limited, and lots more. Excerpts: Background Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi After obtaining his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Marketing from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu in 1997, Ajoiyi went on to the University of Calabar where he obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. Not done yet, Ajoiyi who is a member of the Chattered Institute of Marketing (CIM) United Kingdom, member, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Associate Member, Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) etc., proceeded to ESUT Business School in Enugu where he obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing all in his bid to sharpen his entrepreneurial skill and be on top of his game. He worked with Cadbury Nigeria PLC so many years before moving to Inbisco Nigeria Limited What we do According to Mr. Ajoiyi, Inbisco Nigeria Limitedprovides Nigerians with “safe, delicious and affordable food products such as candies, chocolate, wafers, biscuits, cookies etc., mostly to the delight of Nigerian children as well as children all over the world.” Job creation He said the business which is less than three years old, currently employs about 40 qualified Nigerians. “It is also providing secondary employment to almost 1000 citizens of this country. This is apart from the quality and affordable food brands that Nigerians enjoy from the stables of Inbisco. Challenges Speaking on the challenges facing the business, Ajoiyi regretted that despite being a good corporate citizen that complies with all regulations especially declaration and remittance of taxes, Inbisco Nigeria, like every business has its own challenges. “Every business comes with its own start-up challenges. In our own case, we had enormous challenges starting up the business in Nigeria. First was cost of funds. It is unattractive to borrow from within Nigeria when compared to other parts of the world and this puts the business under a lot of pressure. Another issue is start-up regulatory bureaucracies that force one to skip timelines more than once; there is lack of credible data to aid commercial planning. Finding the right people to employ is always challenging although our business is more of an equal opportunity type of business and does not discriminate against any set of individuals. Once an individual is qualified in his/her field, he/she has the chance of becoming relevant to his society. “There is also the market challenge or the challenge of competition. It is rather funny that you never get to meet these challenges the way you left them the day before. Thankfully, our products are of mass appeal for all ages and social economic classes,” he said. Sourcing raw materials “We never had much constraints in this regard and on many occasions, we source abroad as we are looking forward to consistent supplies here in the country. Business regulatory requirements “Being a food company, all our products go through NAFDAC registration. This forms part of the initial regulatory requirements we comply with before bringing any brand to the market.” While appealing to government to assist businesses by providing basic infrastructure, Ajoiyi said: “In general, I think we need to emulate some countries in infrastructure development especially power. We also need to form strong institutions that can confront our national challenges as they occur. The importance of security to investment cannot be overemphasized. For the food industry in particular, there is need for better enforcement against fake and unregistered product entry and distribution in Nigeria. The market is currently flooded with food products that no one can attest to their safety and unsuspecting consumers are mostly at risk,” he stated. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/nigeria-needs-better-enforcement-fake-unregistered-products-emeka-ajoiyi/#sthash.wsxeqcLP.dpuf