As a panacea for the housing deficit in the country, experts have asked the government to revive some ceramic firms.
They recalled that some government estates were built with ceramics.
Former Director-General, the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr John Isemede, in an interview, said ceramics are used in almost all the sectors.
He called for the discontinuation of the reliance on oil and more attention paid to ceramics sub-sector.
A Professor of Ceramics Engineering, Patrick Oaikhinan, lamented the nation’s large ceramic imports of $900million yearly, out of which ceramic tiles takes over US$500 million and are projected to hit $2.1 billion in five years.
He said ceramics play an important role in industrialisation because of its strategic applications in many industrial sectors, such as building and construction, aviation, automobile, defence and security.
Nigeria has great potential for ceramic tiles and other products, despite the economic downturn, he added.
Oaikhinan said if moribund ceramics firms could be revived, the nation’s housing gap would be narrowed and the huge imports eliminated.
He regretted that the vibrancy of the ceramics manufacturing in the 1950s and 1980s disappeared when the five international ceramic manufacturing firms namely, Richware Ceramics, Modern Ceramics, Nigergrob Ceramics, Ceramic Manufacturer, and Quality Ceramics, became moribund.
He said the shift by successive administrations to oil production was a death knell for the industries.
He said: “There are nine ceramic companies in Nigeria, eight for tiles and one for sanitary ware, and they operate under various capacities. Ceramics (ROYAL) is the oldest major manufacturer of ceramic tiles and is followed by PNT. The average production capacity is 40,000 – 45,000 square metres per day for the eight manufacturing companies combined. I thank the Chinese for the 100 per cent investment in six of the eight ceramic tiles firms, and the Indian with investments support for the remaining two.”
He lamented that the slow pace of technological change has caught the industry unawares, including the absence of adequate skills. He canvassed that employees with appropriate skills should be engaged to boost the subsector.
He said though Nigeria is the eighth among the top 18 emerging economies for ceramic tiles trade, it is the only country without significant ceramics export, despite its enormous solid minerals.
Increasing home renovation and modular kitchen projects is one of the significant global ceramic tableware market growth drivers with one of the key end-users of ceramic tableware products being the residential sector.
The increase in household numbers in the country is expected to augment the demand for ceramic tableware in future, but there is no single ceramic tableware industry in the country. Except there is a huge investment in this sector, the housing sector will continue to diminish.
He said: “The global ceramic sanitary ware market reached a value of US$ 40.4 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach a value of US$ 64.8 billion by 2024, registering a compound yearly growth rate (CAGR) of about eight per cent during 2019-2024.
‘’Sanitary ware is one of the basic requirements in residential, commercial and public spaces, hence growth in the global real estate market is a key market driver. There is only one ceramic sanitary ware industry serving a population of 200 million in Nigeria.
‘’Sanitary ware is one of the basic requirements in residential, commercial and public spaces hence growth in the global real estate market is a key market driver.”
According to the don, a recovery in construction expenditures across market segments will be the primary driver of gains as the brick, block, and paver market continues its improvement from declines related to the 2006 collapse of residential construction and subsequent economic recession if the government looks in the direction of driving growth through ceramics technology.
He said this would also aid the anticipated rebounding new housing construction, if there are reforms in the sector.
Oaikhinan advised policymakers to patronise the industry as it is vital to industrialisation.
He regretted that Nigerians have no interest in using bricks, heightened by the government’s lack-luster interest in the sector
