How Unilever blazed growth trail during recent recession in Nigeria, by EVP
The Executive Vice President (EVP) of leading fast consumer moving goods (FCMG) in Nigeria, Unilever (Ghana & Nigeria), Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh, a Chemical Engineer has given an insight on his company coasted to industrial stardom during the recent recession in the country.
Addressing Nigerian media executives in Lagos on Tuesday during an interactive media chat, he said “Nigeria has an economy playing a strategic role in the development of the African continent and we at Unilever have keyed in to be part of the success story”.
According to him, “Unilever have been around the world since 1924 and was there with Nigeria during the liberation struggle, military era and now, since the cruising democratic era, filling every needed consumer goods service gap and delivering quality products for every family”.
He revealed that currently, over 85 per cent of the company’s turnover is produced locally and the feat is driven by the corporate passion of being a key partner in Nigeria’s growth architecture and economic ecosystem.
On how Unilever scaled through with even higher turnover during the recessionary period, Nsarkoh averred that the company relied on its tradition of managerial and production discipline which deepened with working with the people to build strong local industrial capacity to sustain market competition and come out strong within the period under review.
The managerial wizkid averred that Unilever merged latest industrial economics and choice technology to grow overrun the challenges of production and sales lull within the recessionary period.
Some of the key knowledge deployment include credit supplies to credible and enterprising partners, marketing skills and strategic backward integration in sourcing of production materials based on the overriding principle of ‘Nigeria Centrality’ and passion in building resilient business model.
He revealed that “the more we build our brand, the more we showcase the capabilities of growth in the market segments we are controlling,” stressing that “Today, we are market leaders in toothpaste technology and we are driving Nigeria’s quest to strong oral health”.
“Currently, we are using new technologies to reduce energy intensity to become eco-friendly and leaders in sustainable growth by creating jobs in the development of market value chain”.
Nsarkoh noted that the open society policy of Unilever is further driving the belief the company has in transparency and deepening long term competitiveness of the business of FCMG.
He explained that the Brand protection Unit of the company has maintained strong relations with relevant regulatory agencies in making sure that counterfeiting is reduced to the barest minimum even though the greatest risks appear to be coming from South East Asia.
He revealed further that “today, Unilever is coasting on a 70 per cent local raw materials in packaging and 65 per cent general industrial raw materials used in production of stables”.
Other key officials of the company that made inputs on how the company is beating competition and other challenges noted that key focus is placed on producing what consumers want and at the right market price.
