OVH Energy Marketing joins conversations on eradication of substandard lubricants in Nigeria
Nigeria’s Lubricant market currently accounts for about 20% of Africa’s total lubricant demand and the country is planning to surge this share theough the adoption of innovative technological advancements, favorable regulations, increased stakeholder collaborations, and consumer education.
Platforms Africa reports that stakeholders and participants at the virtual 2022 Nigeria edition of the International Lubricants Conference (ILC) who said this, shared insights on global trends as well as practical suggestions to improve the state of the industry.
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The International Lubricant Conference, ILC is a bi-annual conference organized to enlighten relevant stakeholders on key industry developments and advancements while connecting manufacturers with key stakeholders. This year’s edition was held virtually on the 28th and 29th of April 2022, and had in attendance: Taiye Williams, Managing Director Lubcon Limited; Indu M Gupta, Director for Product Research and Development, Innova Specialty Chemicals; Niket Shah, Director Openspace Services Pvt Ltd; Lilian Ikokwu, Chief Marketing Officer OVH Energy Marketing; Roberto Vargas, Technical and Commercial Consultant for the Lubricant Industry in Latin America; Godwin Gabriel-Ejeh, General Manager Operations, Pacegate Limited amongst others.
“Although Nigeria’s Lubricant market currently accounts for about 20% of Africa’s total lubricant demand, the industry is still in its infancy. The adoption of innovative technological advancements, favorable regulations, increased stakeholder collaborations, and consumer education will boost performance strengthening the industry,” the stakeholders said.
The conference themed “Technology and its application to the lubricants industry”, featured panelists and speakers who shared insights on technological advancements in the lubricants industry, the influence of digital technology on the lubricant industry value chain, global regulatory changes as well as an analysis of the raw material supply chain and logistics in Nigeria.
Commenting on the impact of the conference, Mr. Taiye Williams, the keynote speaker and Managing Director of Lubcon Limited commended the organizers noting how insights shared will affect the decisions of stakeholders. He further commented on the technology and its application to the Lubricants Industry. In his words, “As manufacturers push the boundaries of engine development, the pursuit of performance has placed new demands on the lubricants required by modern machines. With the application of technology, the lubricant industry will produce top quality products, build the capacity of the industry and increase output for Nigeria to remain relevant in the lubricant market.”
Speaking at the conference on Day 1, Mrs. Lilian Ikokwu, the Chief Marketing Officer, OVH Energy Marketing spoke on Technology as a tool to curb Proliferation of Substandard Lubricants in Nigeria. In her words, “75 percent of the lubricants consumed in this country is produced locally which is encouraging. We do hope that in very few years we would do 100 percent of what we produce. Out of the 25 percent being imported, 64 percent of that volume is substandard. In total, we have 70 percent of Total Lubes consumed in Nigeria being substandard.”
On Day 2 of the 2022 International Lubricants Conference Nigeria Edition, Mr. Godwin Ejeh, the General Manager, Operations for Pacegate Limited spoke on Evolve, Adipro’s CSR said, “the vision of Evolve is to educate the girl child by providing school supplies, thereby giving back to the community. This initiative was birthed from two of the studies ranked 6th (educating women) and 7th (Family Planning) out of 100 in making an impact on reducing the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.”
One of the Panelists, Franklin Oranusih, General Manager, Sales and Technical, Pacegate Energy and Resources Limited, addressed the presence and causes of adulterated lubricants in the market. He said “the reason for having substandard lubricants is not farfetched. Most of the blenders present in Nigeria do not put many factors into consideration during the product formulation process.” He concluded that with an understanding of the right proportions of components, blenders will produce standard lubricants for the Nigerian market.
This edition of the International Lubricants Conference also recognized outstanding industry players with the presentation of awards. The 2022 ILC Prime Player award was presented to Ammasco International Limited for the second time in a row, Total Energies also received the 2022 ILC Impact Award, Bestaf Trading was awarded the 2022 ILC Best Production Technology while Seahorse Lubricants was awarded the 2022 ILC Quality award.
Meanwhile, OVH Energy Marketing joined industry experts to discuss the application of technological developments to the industry at the 2022 edition of the International Lubricant Conference themed “Technology and its application to the lubricants industry”.
The two-day conference featured an insightful session with Lilian Ikokwu, Chief Marketing Officer of OVH Energy Marketing Limited, as one of the keynote speakers. During the session, she discussed the causes and effects of the proliferation of substandard lubricants in Nigeria, the solutions, and the indispensable role of technological tools in its eradication.
Lilian lauded the conference organizers and sponsors for their efforts in bringing together industry stakeholders to share ideas on improving the lubricant sector. She stated, “The Nigeria Lubricant sector is a growing industry with huge opportunity, but existing threats to its growth must be discussed and addressed.” She also identified the impact of Covid19 on the Lubricant sector, highlighting that technology played a significant role in providing effective service delivery and improved channels of interaction between customers and partners.
Commenting on the proliferation of substandard lubricants in Nigeria, Lilian said, “Despite being in the development stage, the Nigerian Lubricant market accounts for about 20% of Africa’s total lubricant demand. However, the menace of substandard lubricant prevents it from reaching its full potential. Therefore, the root causes must be addressed by all stakeholders such as the government, security operatives, manufacturers, and end-users to eradicate the menace.”
She further proffered solutions to curb the proliferation of substandard lubricants in Nigeria, saying, “Consumers are the last line and most important leg of the value chain; hence there is a need to enlighten them on the product knowledge and application. By empowering them with the knowledge to identify counterfeit products, we directly impact the purchase of such products, further curbing the menace of substandard lubricants.”
‘With the adoption of technological advancements in the lubricants industry, such as QR coding technology, product app technology, and social awareness, as well as future interventions such as biomarker fingerprinting and case base classifiers the Nigerian lubricant Industry can reach its full potential within a short period”, She added.
Other speakers at the conference also emphasized the importance and influence of digital technology in advancing the lubricants market in Nigeria and Africa at large. OVH Energy Marketing remains committed to producing top quality lubricant products in Nigeria.
