WE HAVE AMBITIOUS INVESTMENT PLAN TO EXPAND P&G BUSINESS IN NIGERIA
-MANOJ KUMAR-MD P&G

P&G as a global company is over 170 years old – this makes it older than most UN member countries in the world and certainly older than almost every multinational company. Indeed, worldwide, it’s the world's leading manufacturer of high quality consumer goods. With over 300 brands sold in over 160 countries, 4.2 billion times a day P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world.
In Nigeria, P&G is 18 years this month and within this span of time, P&G has evolved into a company with a strong portfolio of leading brands such as Always Sanitary Pads, Ariel Detergent, Pampers diapers, Vicks Throat Drops, Gillette personal care products, Duracell batteries, Oral B toothbrushes and Bonux Detergent.
In this interview the Managing Director, West Africa of the company, Manoj Kumar, revealed the secret of the company’s success and its reason for pioneering social responsibility to Nigeria community.

Congrats on your 18th anniversary, how is the journey so far
We have invested well over N10 billion ($87 million) in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. We started local production of our Always sanitary pads in 1993, expanded into producing Pampers diapers and Vicks throat drops in 1994. In 2002, we built a new Pampers Diaper factory to produce an upgraded Pampers product. In 2004, we commissioned an ultra modern unique Always Sanitary Pads line in Ibadan. In 2006, we commissioned a new world-class Detergent factory in Ibadan. It is worth noting that this factory is P&G's first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and I am proud to say that its Quality Assurance laboratory is judged as one of P&G's best in the whole of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Also, over the past two years, we have further expanded production capacity across all of our Pampers, Ariel, Always and Vicks lines.
We have a business office in Senegal and distributors across West Africa in countries such as Ghana, Cameroon and Cote D' Ivoire and Nigeria has become our business hub for the entire West Africa region as we expand into all West African countries.
At P&G, we are dedicated to supporting children-in-need through our global social responsibility platform, Live, learn & Thrive - focusing on the development of children in need between the ages of 0 - 13.At P&G we consider our people to be our biggest asset and in Nigeria we have grown to be leaders in technology transfer and capability building
We employ about 1800 people either directly or indirectly in our general office, manufacturing plants, distribution, logistics, advertising etc. It is worth noting that 95% of all our managers are highly talented Nigerian men and women working here in Nigeria but also on international assignments at other P&G locations.
We are dedicated to local employee development with a budget of over $l million per year for local and international training and on-the-job coaching.
We have created over 120 new successful entrepreneurs with sustained training and marketing support in rural and semi-urban areas over the past 5 years.
This is a very exciting time in P&G's history in West Africa.
Why is it exciting? ... because we have a very ambitious investment plan to expand P&G's business in this region.
On a global level, Africa is a major focus for P&G and within Africa Nigeria is among the fastest growing markets. Its strong, dynamic and growing population - currently over 140 million people is an enormous source of strength and potential wealth.

What are the challenges you face doing business in Nigeria
Our major challenge is that of power. Most of our production lines are not even connected to the national grid, which means they have to run on diesel generators non-stop. This is very expensive as you know the cost of diesel is very high.

What new products is P&G planning to bring to the Nigerian Market
As we continue being in touch with our consumers, we will keep aiming to satisfy their needs and this is what would lead any new product or innovation in our existing products.

What other expansion investments plans do you have for the Nigerian economy
We are accelerating our investment in the coming 5 years: - over $100million in expanding production, - latest product technology - new 42 hectares site in Agbara Industrial Estate - continue investing massively in distribution and marketing.

How many Nigerians are in the employment of Procter and Gamble
Our direct work force of over 500 Nigerian men and women are a pride for Nigeria
and for P&G. P&G employs about 1800 people directly and indirectly with Nigerians making up over 95% of our managers locally and some on international assignments.
For example, our Head of HR, Folake Okunubi, our Head of External Relations, Patricia Obozuwa and several other leaders across the different departments.
We invest a lot in building local talent with a budget of over $lmillion per year for
local and international training and on-the-job coaching.

How many brands does Procter and Gamble have in its portfolio, and how many are available in Nigeria?
We have over 300 brands globally, but in Nigeria we have just Ariel, Bonux, Vicks, Always, Pampers, Duracell, Oral B and Gillette e.t.c. So you see, there is so much growth potential for our Nigeria business.

You mentioned future investments in Nigeria, specifically what are these investments
We will invest in the next years over 100MM$ in Capital. We will open a 2nd production site in Nigeria. We are increasing capacity in detergent and have additional lines for Pampers & Always. These investments will generate IV 600 new direct jobs and thousands indirectly with our suppliers and distributors in cities and rural areas.

Will all your future investment plans for Nigeria go into your current site in Ibadan or you have branches in other parts of Nigeria
While some new investment such as the expansion and upgrading of our production lines is in our Ibadan plant, we will also have a second manufacturing plant at the Agbara Industrial Estate.

Why don't you expand your plant in Ibadan further
Our investment plans are very ambitious and the current Ibadan site does not have the capacity to accommodate this. In addition to that, Ibadan is not the most cost effective option right now. This is essentially due to lack of reliable infrastructure like energy supply, but also due to the distance/logistics costs given distance of the port, majority of our suppliers and 50% of our key customer.

Will P&G Ibadan site close down over time
There is no plan to close Ibadan site. We are opening a 2nd production site which will be a state-of-the-art Diaper and Feminine Protection Plant in Nigeria. We will have more productions lines there; 5 vs. 2 today and we will bring the latest technology.

With the move of your paper lines from Ibadan to the new site, will you
lay off jobs in Ibadan
There are no plans to layoff people. On the contrary, with our investment project, we will create an incremental 600 direct new jobs. The employees that are working currently on Babycare and Femcare lines in Ibadan will be offered to relocate to Agbara Industrial Estate.

Talking about making Nigeria a hub for West Africa, what are you doing in that regards
I am pleased to say that today Nigeria is P&G's business hub for West Africa. We control our entire WA business from Nigeria. We have also exported some products from here to other countries. However, the size of these exports could be much higher. We want to grow the size of our exports to the rest of West Africa, but it is not certain by how much we can do this with our high material duties which make local production uncompetitive.

We are informed that your Ibadan plant is just window dressing to deceive the government when you are actually importing. What is your comment on this
This is not true. Our Ibadan Plant is there for all to see. We have been there for 18 years and have increased production capacity over time to meet the Nigeria demand. We have over 1,000 direct and indirect employees working there everyday. You are welcome to visit our facilities yourself anytime.

P&G has been in Nigeria for 18 years. How come you have never had a Nigerian Managing Director
Our Nigeria business started very small 18 years ago and our growth has accelerated greatly over the last five years. P&G employs about 1800 people directly and indirectly with highly talented Nigerian men and women making up over 95% of our managers leading the growth of this company locally and some of them on international assignments.

Can you tell me what your current market shares are
I can say that globally P&G brands are leaders in most of their categories.

How much turnover do you make every year
Globally, we made sales of over $78billion dollars in the last concluded fiscal year. We do not share the regional turnover figures publicly - it's confidential information.

How come you only have few brands in Nigeria out of so many brands that P&G has globally? What are the other categories you plan to bring to Nigeria
As the saying goes, "Rome was not built in a day" It is one step at a time. You start, consolidate and then grow. That is precisely what we are doing. We are inspired by our Nigerian consumers and we are committed to serving them. As we listen to them, we will continue to provide the latest product technology to meet their needs and budgets.