Dunlop to Recommence Production in Nigeria

Following the importation of 500 million naira (£2.1 million) worth of raw materials, Dunlop Nigeria looks set to re-open its Ikeja facility, which ceased production in April. A report in Nigeria’s Business Day newspaper indicates that the paperwork needed to clear the imported materials through customers is currently being dealt with by the country’s minister of state for commerce and industry, Humphrey Enemakwu Abah, who is apparently enthusiastic about the prospects of local manufacture recommencing.

Before production ended, the Dunlop car and truck tyre factory supplied about 15 per cent of Nigeria’s tyre needs. The company’s sole local competitor, Michelin, ended operations in Nigeria in 2007. Inconsistent power supply and tariff policies were the main given reasons for Dunlop’s decision to stop production earlier in the year.