Africa is a market that presents tyre manufacturers with both problems and opportunities. Theoretically, the potential may be there for a thriving industry and market, yet unreliable infrastructure, taxation issues and political instability are all features of the African tyre industry landscape that make operations complicated. However, despite such hurdles, the situation in some areas is improving.

In mid-July Dunlop Nigeria announced the planned closure of its factory, claiming tariff reductions on imported goods as a deciding factor. In early 2007 the Nigerian government reduced the tariff on imported truck and bus tyres from 40 per cent to 10 per cent, undermining, in Dunlop’s view, the investments it had made in expanding its radial production programme.