Technology experts in the printing industry have lamented continuous importation of second term machines or old technology, stating that it is crippling the industry as well as discouraging local manufacturing.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Business Day at the launch of bizhub i-series printers recently in Lagos, Ugur Bozat, Business Support Manager, Konica Minolta, described the practice as still legal in Nigeria—and this is a “problem in the industry.”
“When you talk about second term products import, you are still getting old technology products from the developed countries. Life here is not easy, and the use of old technology and out-dated machines makes it worse,” he said.
According to Bozat, the consequence is that you are then faced with lack of service and lack of spare parts. “Money here is very important, and once an entrepreneur pays money for a second term machine and it breaks down after a year and he cannot find a spare part, this is a loss for him,” he said.
“I believe Nigerian markets and all African markets deserve the same quality products with the rest of the world; that is why we are launching almost at the same all products all over Africa, Europe, and US together,” he added.
Bozat said that second term import of machines was a problem in other countries like India, and Turkey, but government took actions and stopped second term import of any kind, saying it is a problem they face in order countries.
The manufacturers are creating new bills to push government to change the rules about parallel import and even second term imports. There are countries in Africa that you cannot import one piece if you are not an authorised distributor, he said.
“You don’t need to consume the waste of the rest of the world. I would advise the government to place a ban on second term products. I know it makes the market smoother when the prices are down. But in the end, you look at total cost of ownership,” he said further.
Also speaking to BusinessDay, the managing director of SkySat Technologies, Izzat Debs, said it was also damaging the industry a lot, and “it is not delivering good quality, and on top, they are using ink and toners that are not genuine, so it also destroys the machines.”
“First of all, they are bringing all those machines that are scrapped in Europe and other parts of the world. It is affecting the quality of what is printed. Some just buy the machines for very low amount of money; they use it for a month and then buy another one.
“If they invest in a new machine and we give them the support, on the long term they will see that it is much more beneficial for them, and they will make much more money on the long term than this short term hit and run approach,” he said.
Debs, said the Nigerian printing industry could grow a lot more given that there is a lot of hunger for growth, but there must be a lot of support from the government, adding also that when government is allowing people to import books, to import so many printing material, it does not help the industry here.
“Another thing is the government policy as regards importation of published and printed books. They should increase customs duty on that, if not banning it, so that it would protect the industry,” he said.
Asked the major change he would like to see in the industry, he said: “The power supply is something that is a game changer. Not only for us the in printing industry, but also for the whole of Nigeria. So if the power supply could be addressed, you cannot imagine how many how many small scale industries will just flourish because they have enough power supply.
“So many people would like to start a business, but they don’t have power but you will have to go and buy a generator, or buy the diesel. You are talking about so many additional cost to the main business that you would like to open. So this is one very important thing,” he said.
Debs also reiterated the interest of Sky Sat technologies to partner with the government if it could introduce an empowerment programme for the youth, and invest in it.
“We will be ready to partner with the government to empower the youth if they want to start a new business in the IT sector as a small scale or start buying machines, we can provide the training, and we can provide the supply of the machines and help them to set it up. If the government can partner with us on this issue, it will create huge growth in the industry for everyone,” Debs said.
Desmond Okon
