Nigerian company to export syringes to Germany

In a move that could become a major boost to the Nigerian economy, a syringe manufacturing company in the country is set to export its products to Germany.

The company, Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Ltd, is based in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria’s South-south.

Owned by a Turkish national, Onur Kumral, Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Ltd is one of the several industries attracted to Akwa Ibom State by Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration.

“We applied for CE certification. CE certification is the standard of Europe and we are hoping to get it before the end of this year. We have all the qualifying stuff. A German company requested syringes from us but we need those certifications,” the CEO of Jubilee Syringe, Mr Kumral, said in an interview published on August 16 by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Kumral sees the deal between the Jubilee Syringe and the German firm as a “revolution” waiting to happen, for the Nigerian economy.

“It is not easy to get those EU certifications in Africa. That would be a reverse back policy. It strikes a revolution. We would love you to witness that one with us.

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“When the first container is loading, we will all witness it. This is huge because it is reversing back. That is a huge revenue for the country in terms of exchange rate. That is an important milestone that we targeted in the last two years,” he said.

Mr Kumral said the syringe company is working on raising its production capacity from 400 million capacity per year to between 800 million or one billion. “We will, hopefully, do that at the end of 2022,” he added.

Apart from Jubilee Syringe, the Turkish businessman and investor also owns a flour mill, Kings Flour Mill and a construction company, VKS Construction Ltd, in Akwa Ibom.

He revealed that his company is planning to set up a factory in Nigeria to produce Turkish textiles.

His business employs about 2,000 persons directly and 25,000 indirectly, he said.

Mr Kumral spoke on how COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted on his business ventures.

“During this post COVID-19, to bring materials, starting from timber, aluminum to steel, have been raised to about 70 per cent on dollar prices because of supply and demand problems. The transportation to Nigeria from Europe is about double now.

“So, this also affected our budget. Post COVID-19 investment budget and the duration are not the same. Let me give you an example, when I ordered an injection machine from Austria, I was able to get that in three months, maximum four months. If you go now and request from those same people, they will give you a minimum of nine months.

“Also, one could pay some percentage in advance and some percentage when they are loading. Now, you have to pay 100 percent up front before any business is done. So, all the cash flows, all your schedules on it have changed. We are revising that now,” he said.