Coleman pays back Series II N3.804bn
…Production of GAP Cable locally will save forex – Onafowokan
Coleman Wires and Cables (Coleman Technical Industries Ltd) has successfully paid back series two N3.804 billion under its N20 billion CP Issuance Programme on the FMDQ Exchange.
Recall that Coleman recently admitted N6.05 billion series 3 & 4 Commercial Paper (CP) under its N 20 billion CP Issuance Programme on the FMDQ Exchange.
Reacting to the new development, the Managing Director/CEO of Coleman, Mr. George Onafowokan said that this would enable the company to increase the capacity of the business with additional working capital.
He also emphasised that the production of GAP cables in Nigeria would save forex.
Onafowokan said, “The major advantage of this to Coleman is the credibility the repayment of the series ll gives to us as an indigenous manufacturing company.
“It has never been seen by anybody in the cable industry in Nigeria and West Africa to sustain such repayment. For us to sustain this, it means that we can sustain the business itself and the projection of the growth of the business and most importantly, we can sustain its expansion and its workforce.”
According to him, it should be noted that an indigenous company can sustain its repayment based on the belief and the faith the capital market has in it, and being an indigenous company, can sustain its employees and growth.
Onafowokan, while reacting to the transmission cable (GAP cable) that would be launched soon said, “The major advantage to us is that the new technology cable that transmits power is now being made locally, which means the forex that has been put into importation can be put into naira.”
The Coleman boss, who lamented the scarcity of forex, said that production of imported products in the country can save forex and also prevent scarcity.
He explained that the production of GAP cable by his company would stop its importation and enable the country to replace obsolete and expired transmission lines, which he said contributed to the poor power supply in the country.
“The transmission line now needs a more powerful gap cable. Until Coleman started making this locally, we had been importing this cable for the past 10years.
“Invariably, the major advantage of this to Nigeria is that we can now buy the cable locally with our currency.
“The GAP cable would be able to replace obsolete and expired transmission lines.
“Nigeria needs to build new transmission lines. The major advantage of this to us is that the new technology cable that transmits power is now being made locally, which means that the forex that has been put into importation can be put into naira,” he added.
He continued, “We can guarantee the production of transmission cables in Nigeria, which would guarantee jobs. “As we deem it fit, we have set aside another N150billion for the expansion of the production of more GAP cables in Nigeria to speed up the spate of our achievement in this regard,” he said.
Also speaking on how the company is thriving amidst the economic situation of the country, he said that the focus has brought a long-term benefit.
“With backward integration and support from the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), we were able to weather the storm of inflation, and recession among others.
“There is no company that has not experienced a tough time, our focus has been long term rather than short term and over the last 20 years, the mass growth the company has been experiencing is what you are seeing today.
“This is how we can weather the storm of inflation and recession over the years with support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and BOI, and with the way we have injected. a lot of our equity into the business,” he said.
