Our efficiency, quality services earning us endorsements — CEO Jocaro Nigeria Ltd, Okafor
In this interview with Nigerian NewsDirect, the CEO of Jocaro Nigeria Limited, Engineer Dominic Okafor, shared insights on the activities, challenges, and prospects of the company. He also disclosed how the indigenous engineering company has remained committed to providing quality, competitive electro-mechanical products and services to the teeming populace.
Can you introduce yourself and why you are here at the Sub Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) 2022?
My name is Engineer Dominic Okafor, the CEO of Jocaro Nigeria limited. As usual, we are participating in SAIPEC 2022 after the lockdown. Last year, it was done online but I thank God that it is a physical one this year. We are here to let the International Oil Companies (IOCs) see this and all our customers know what we do and what we do best.
Considering the kind of product you offer, why are you now focused so much on power?
Well, power has always been our core business, and I am happy and bold to say that later on in the year, we are going to launch our assembly plant. So I can say now that we manufacture, we stock, sell, rent from end to end. All the value chain in the power business, both diesel and gas generator. We are also very good at engine overhaul, especially now that it is difficult and expensive to acquire new assets. So we help people to refurbish their own engines and make it look like a new one.
What kind of products do you want to assemble?
Right now, we are starting with the diesel engine generators in our assembly plant in Port Harcourt circuits from as small as 5kvm to up to 1000kvm.
Why do you focus on how to refurbish old engines?
We want people to have value for their products. Some of these engines are meant to last as long as 50 years so far you are giving it what it requires. For instance, we recently completed engine overhaul for Heirs Oil and Gas, the company that bought some assets from Shell. We refurbished their caterpillars — G342 and G348. These are caterpillar engine generators, and we recently also finished G312 and G3412 for Eni group for Agip in one of their locations, and we are doing several things to make diesel engine generators for many of our clients. They are very happy with our finished products, the refurbished engines.
What is the difference between your company and others?
If you look at our core values, we are small and indigenous, but we are good. The response rate to our customers’ requirements is fantastic. It doesn’t need to pass through so much bureaucracy before you get answers, services, attention or before you get your job done. So we are very fast. We are efficient. We are good.
How do you cope in terms of competing with original equipment manufacturers who have close relations with IOCs?
Well, I thank God for the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and incidentally, we are one of the one hundred and fifty three companies. Project 100 companies are initiatives of Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB). The essence is to build capacity. And in a very honest and transparent manner, they selected about 100 companies, and we happen to be one of them. I can’t say that we are competing. The taste of the food is in eating. So, it is not about being big; it is about the quality of our services. I tell you honestly that we are getting a lot of referrals from our subscribed customers. So it’s not all about how big you are but how efficient you are. Are you adding value to your clients? I must tell you that we are getting good recommendations from people we have worked with in the past.
What are the challenges confronting your company?
As a Nigerian company, you know the challenges are there with the exchange rate. At times, when we submit tender, by the time the money is tendered, the dollar might have increased by some percentage, and of course the cost of finance, doing business and interest rate in Nigeria is very high. And sometimes when you are competing with some people who get cheaper finance from overseas, it becomes difficult but we are weathering the storm.
What do you think is the way forward?
The way forward is that we are doing our best to help NCDMB achieve their aims of setting up Project 100 by giving more jobs opportunities to our teeming population, and I’m happy that we are doing that effectively. Apart from employment opportunities, we also train people. Like in Port Harcourt, the host community, every year, we train some of the indigenes, employ some of them, and we also help some of them secure employment opportunities in other organisations.
How soon is that assembly plan coming up?
Before the end of the second quarter of this year, it should be operational.
