[ad_1]
Nigeria Loses Over N300b Annually From Non-performance Of Paper Mills
Three pulp and paper mills were established in Nigeria between 1969 and 1986. They were meant to complement one another in meeting the nation’s demand for paper and paper products. Even though their combined output of newsprint and industrial grades of paper still fell under the anticipated 265,000T. OLUDARE RICHARDS reports on efforts being made by media practitioners to revive moribund pulp paper mills while they steer through the challenges of newsprint importation.
By 1986, Nigeria had three pulp and paper mills: the Nigeria Newsprint Manufacturing Company (NNMC), Oku-Iboku, Akwa Ibom State; the National Paper Manufacturing Company (NPMC), Iwopin, Ogun State; and the Nigeria Paper Mill (NPM), Jebba, Kwara State.
The Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company Limited (NNMC), now OKIPP Limited, was incorporated in 1975 as a private limited liability company to produce 100,000 metric tons of finished newsprint per annum. It was the only newsprint manufacturing company in the West and Central African sub region.
The first of the mill’s two paper machines was commissioned in 1986 and the second one a year later. During the eight years of its operation (1986 -1993), the mill produced a total of 163,684 metric tons of finished newsprint as against the expected 800,000 metric tons based on the machines’ combined installed capacity of 100,000 metric tons per annum. It was gathered that Nigeria loses over N300 billion annually from the non-performance of these paper mills.
Prior to the shutdown of the mill in 1994, NNMC exported newsprint paper to USA, Cameroun, Germany, Togo, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Newspaper organisations and publishing firms incur over N80 billion on importation of newsprints and papers despite the abundance of raw materials in trees whose barks can be used for paper production.
Experts, during the 2023 edition of the International Paper Publishing and Printing Expo held in May in Lagos, urged investors to tap the opportunity in non-wood fibre to revive the country’s moribund paper mills.
According to the experts, the advantage of the investment is pronounced especially with indigenous materials spread widely within the middle belt region which can be refined and used as additives in paper making.
Experts said this would reduce the country’s paper imports and its allied products while reducing pressure from the Foreign Exchange market. The President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, after the 2023 Annual General Meeting of the association also underscored the importance of the revival of the mills in Nigeria, which have already been through a further noose in a privatisation effort.
The NPAN President said one of the main issues that came up during the NPAN AGM is what to do about the three non-functional newsprint companies.
“But we plan to talk to government about it. That’s one of the things we discussed in the AGM. If there is a way we can persuade government to now sell these companies to the users of the newspaper, and if they agree to do that, how are we going to run because these companies that have not been working for many years. That’s a huge challenge in itself,” he said.
Mallam Kabir said an inquiry would be initiated to find out about the ownership status of the local newsprint company and “whether there is a role we can play here reviving them so that we have access to cheaper local newsprint,” he said. He noted that if newsprint could be produced in Nigeria, the problem with the dollar would be minimised.
“It seems like a very long and tall order, but we have discussed that and we’ll engage the government to see what we can do about it.
“We set up committees to try and deal with the issue of funding for the industry, sourcing of newsprint, how to also carry forward the idea of ombudsman, the association,” he added
The NPAN urged the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to engage as many stakeholders as possible, including the media on areas where the country need to move forward.
Mallam Kabir Yusuf, who is also Chairman of the Board of Directors, Daily Trust Newspaper, said President can benefit from various inputs and ideas on moving the nation forward with these strategic engagements, adding that it is what democracy is all about.
“Every sector, every industry will kind of have special problems. We’re trying to engage. So, we want to tell him what we think about the country in general and what can be done about our industry.
“The industry has many problems. Funding is a general problem. So, everybody is struggling in a very depressed economy. But the idea is when we come together in the industry, we can help each other to deal with the challenges,” he also said.
Publicity Secretary of the NPAN, Dr. Nwadiuto Iheakanwa, noted that everybody’s aware that it is actually challenging to do any business in Nigeria and the NPAN is looking to harness its resources and also get more patronage from the public so as to sustain the business.
“We spoke a lot about production materials, you know, competing demands with dollars in purchase of newsprint, ink or some other production materials. And we also spoke about the extreme rise in prices. I mean, over and above what we could fathom.
“By the time you hear the rates are this, tomorrow it doubles the price, and then you know that the revenue is not coming in like that because a lot of people cut down on their advertising budget, and then we’re also facing taxes from the government, different places. So it really makes survival unbearable,” she said.
Vice President of the NPAN, Mr. Frank Aigbogun, also spoke in line with the issues raised: “This is the biggest problem. I mean, if you’re dealing with newsprint now. Newspapers have left their cover prices at the same level for years because of the reduction in readership and purchase. That means that margins for newspapers have virtually disappeared and costs have surged so much so that they have taken whatever margins that were in the past.”
He said the Forex situation is not a peculiar thing in Nigeria that every business that has had to import their input is facing. Although it has become a bit more acute lately.
He pointed out issues around the exchange rate. Rather than the question of availability, he said he thinks it is more about the volatility in exchange rates which is more of the bigger problem than the availability of foreign exchange.
“The Forex situation is a common problem, not an NPAN problem. So, NPAN cannot proffer a solution that applies only to its members, whatever it is, that has to be done with the Forex situation, has to be done by government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), first in improving supply and then hoping that the volatility will begin to ease. That’s one part.
“The second part is internal, which is how does a business in Nigeria, including the newspaper business, begin to realign its costs? Or begin to rationalize its costs in the context of surging and rising prices to ensure that it stays afloat, buys newsprint, pays suppliers, pays salaries and is able to deal with other things like acquiring diesel to run your operation in a country where businesses are relying more on privately generated power than the power that is available via the national grid.”
He identified the need for media owners and partners to evolve new strategies to tackle the current challenges facing the industry. The options available to action in terms of new strategy in tackling that challenge. He said one of the critical things that must be addressed is that the volatility in foreign exchange is a new problem for newspapers but the real problem that goes or comes before the FX volatility is the migration away from traditional newspapers. He referred to the readers prefering to rea for free, and don’t even begin to think about how the news is funded.
“They read for free and they get away. Then you’re looking at a situation where advertising revenues are also flattening or even falling. So the first question then is, how do you manage your costs?
“How do you begin to move your business model towards your readers that are going far away from you because a business cannot in be a separate place from his clients? If you’re not together then that business is doomed.
“So the key thing is that people are still reading but they’re reading online, virtually. So, you ask yourself how do you produce good news and monetise it. I think those are the challenges that newspapers, not just in Nigeria but all over the world are facing.”
He said the continued viability of the print business industry cannot preempted but one can only talk about short term, because no one knows what’s going to happen over the long term. However, with the rate that readers are moving online, it may come to a point where some newspapers will have to close or stop printing altogether.
He agreed that the print media system is facing an existential threat. “That is that is obvious. There are newspapers all around the world who are shutting down their printing and moving online. There are those who are reducing the number of locations where they print and expanding their online footprint. If you ask me, that is the future
“How long we survive, where we are navigating that future. That will be something that will be determined by each newspaper, depending on how they respond. Their resilience and then of course their success in creating new revenue streams,” Mr. Aigbogun said.
Aigbogun also spoke on how editors wearing the hats of business managers would not be a theater in any way to the integrity and quality of factual news reporting.
“I don’t think it is one versus the other. It’s like suggesting that a medical practice has to choose between surviving as a business and treating patients. So, wearing the hat of the manager for an editor is not about compromise on quality of journalism.
“In fact, what I tell my audience is that the quality of journalism in the future will determine whether a particular news outlet survives or not. So this is not about a suggestion to compromise on the quality of news. The quality of news must be done. The person who seeks to produce quality news must know that it has to be funded,” he said.
He said editors, as business managers, must learn things about cost management and must be able to relate to the entirety of the print media business and the health of the business, because once the business part and its health suffers, journalism dies.
He explained that for instance, wearing the hats of the manager would mean the editor taking charge of the subject of the editorial budgets, making critical decisions as to how the resources of the of the editorial department are deployed.
He also said it is important to understand that every action an editor takes has an implication. It is not necessarily saying that the editor has to choose between producing quality news and taking interest in the health and survival of the business side of the business.
On the need for collaboration between media practitioners to reduce rising cost of production while avoiding phantom rivalry, Mr. Aigbogun said it only butresses the point about the editor wearing the hat of a business manager.
“For instance, we know of the very successful journalism consortia around the world, that break stories. Whether it’s about the Panama Papers or the others, they come together, fund it together and break stories.”
“In the past, that was not the case. It will be one newspaper, be it The Guardian or The Times or whatever working on it, funding all of it and breaking the story. So that’s one very good example of collaboration.
“Another instance is the economy of Nigeria which has been brought to its knees, essentially by the failure of NNPC that stopped remitting money to the Federation accounts for almost two years now. Why should BusinessDay alone take on that? BusinessDay can speak to the editor of Guardian or Vanguard and say let’s do this together and then we break it together. So that’s what we mean by collaboration.”
Mr. Aigbogun said collaboration is necessary tool for surviving the significant headwinds that newspapers face, not just in Nigeria but across the world.
On the challenges of securing newsprint said all the newsprint in Nigeria today is imported. He explained the situation where in dollar terms, the newsprint price has moved but more now than it has ever been.
“There were times when you were buying newsprint at $400 a ton, but now, newsprint price close to $1,000 at ton.
“So when you look at the change in Naira, for example when I joined Guardian in 1992, you could you could get $1 for less than a Naira. Now you have one dollar to 1000 naira. So even if it is just that situation alone, that you were buying newsprint before at 1000 naira – 1000 then – but now you’re buying it at 1 million, you see the difference?”
[ad_2]
Source link