Buy Naija to Grow the Naira, So What? – Uwem Uwemakpan

Featutred Image Credit: SGTC by Détóké (IG @stgcclothing)

Thankfully, many Nigerian brands are also up to the task in terms of quality and affordability, I must confess. And with good indigenous brands you can bank on like these, no one needs ever buy foreign products again…

The statement “Buy Naija (Nigerian made products) to grow the Naira” got me thinking last weekend, and we discussed this to some extent at Startup Grind Lagos’s meet up.
Why should we patronize Nigerian made products when there isn’t any assurance of quality or longevity? Why shouldn’t I spend my money on cheaper (but not necessarily more quality) imports?

We entrepreneurs often get sentimental with this argument because we fail to look at it from the customer perspective. By the way, I’m sure we still lookout for cheaper ‘china’ imports (don’t judge me).
I believe the ‘Buy Naija to grow the Naira train’ can only succeed with a two pronged approach –

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The government has to put in place the right infrastructures (Power, Good roads, access to finance etc). No economy in the world has grown and succeeded without the right infrastructures to support the SMEs. The government has to also make sure it is easy for entrepreneurs to procure/import the right machinery and raw materials through subsidization, reduced import charges, leasing etc.

Entrepreneurs need to step up their game but giving us good products that can compete internationally, good customer service, packaging, branding and the likes. One mistake we entrepreneurs make is to think that only pricing affects the success of good and services. It’s not always about Pricing!!!!

Our entrepreneurs have a lot to do to gain customer/user confidence or people will always prefer to patronize/invest in foreign brands even if they are knockoffs.

Thankfully, many Nigerian brands are also up to the task in terms of quality and affordability, I must confess. And with good indigenous brands you can bank on like these, no one needs ever buy foreign products again. Just check out the images in this post and sure you will agree. I believe Start-ups should not exist in isolation, but must ensure to network so that they can learn from brands like these.

NB: Entrepreneur Lingo

SME – Small and Medium Scale Enterprises aka Small Businesses
Access to Finance – often used to describe how easy it is to obtain loans, grants and funding.