Local manufacturers’ll soon take over Nigeria’s furniture business –Tawadrous

Egypt-born Michael Tawadrous, MD of VAVA Furniture, Nigeria, tells ‘Nonye Ben-Nwankwo his challenges establishing a business in Nigeria
     Some Nigerians feel foreigners have come to take over the jobs of local carpenters and furniture makers, don’t you think so?  
    I absolutely don’t think so. At VAVA Furniture, we have over 300 personnel and most of them are carpenters. I am not here to take jobs; I am here to create jobs.
We give carpenters access to industrial machinery, we increase and improve their carpentry skills, and we upgrade their professionalism and expertise. Some of them leave us to start their own business and employ other carpenters. That sounds like development to me, I feel very proud and happy when I meet people that worked with us bidding for same jobs we are on

It is widely believed that the foreigners also maltreat Nigerian workers, treating them as slaves…

    Every time I hear this, I feel distasted. We cannot ignore that a lot of members of staff are not treated as they should be in Nigeria, but it’s not an issue of nationality. In my opinion, no industry treats staff as bad as the banks do, and 95 per cent of the banks are solely indigenous. I cannot speak for other foreigners, but at VAVA Furniture, we are all like family. We don’t only have respect for one another, we love one another. If your employees are afraid of you, they would do the right things only when you are around. But if they love you and love the company, they would do the right things even when you are not around. Love is more powerful than fear.

Can you tell us why you left Egypt to establish your furniture business in Nigeria?

   A furniture company invited me as an expatriate to Nigeria. A lot of my family and friends back home in Egypt advised me about the terrain I was about moving into. I heard Nigeria was unsafe, undeveloped and poor, that was the wrong image given through the media about Nigeria in other countries. Because of all of what I was expecting Nigeria to be, the moment I arrived, and I saw that was not the case, I fell in love with Nigeria instantly. It did not take me three weeks to realise that this is where I am meant to be.

What sets VAVA apart from the other furniture company we have in Nigeria?

   VAVA is unique because we offer the most affordable premium quality furniture in the country. No other retailer has our price level with our quality level. Anything cheaper than what we offer is what I call disposable furniture – furniture you have to change every 18-24months. It is tough to make quality affordable, but that’s exactly what we do. Also, (although this is a more internal scenario) our human capital development makes us different from others. We have robust training and development programmes (for our employees) that are very consistent and in line with modern business practice.   It is also a deliberate effort by VAVA to maintain 93 per cent indigenous work force, which is at least up to 35 per cent greater than any other furniture (operating on our level) company in Nigeria.

Are there challenges that come with the furniture business?

   We have a way of facing every obstacle that confronts us. Like every other business, there are challenges, but we have fashioned a way to deal with these numerous challenges, it is never an issue for us to take the next step at our level of development.

Yes, Nigerian economy is a very large market that can accommodate any genuine investor, and there is also a great resource to complement the market, but rash investors should prepare, because the market is becoming very sophisticated to the extent that only professionals can survive.

Granted you manufacture in Nigeria, but don’t you think some people still prefer products manufactured abroad?

    We must first understand why they prefer the products that are manufactured abroad. It is not because of the location in itself; it is because of what the location offers. We create furniture at international standard and because of this, gradually indigenes are beginning to see that they can acquire and purchase great quality furniture, even when manufactured in Nigeria. I think that “abroad” preference is gradually tilting. Mark my words, with the recent occurrences in the Nigerian economy and currency, foresight would tell you that indigenous manufactures will have the upper hand in the nearest future.

But is there really any difference between your product and that of the local carpenter and furniture maker?

      Local carpenters are working as hard as they can to earn a living, and we can only but encourage them to do better. But the expertise, the revenue and research and development we put into manufacturing our products make the clear difference. If your hand can build it, your hand can break it. We upgrade machinery at our factory every 18 months, using only the best raw materials (leather, wood, aluminium, etc). We have expatriates that help with design and quality control. At the moment, it would be tough for them to match up with this level of commitment.

Don’t you think it is because your products are not affordable that most people prefer to patronise other roadside furniture makers who could equally give them something as good?

    There is no business that can sell to everybody; affordability is relative. At the price level we offer, any reduction would alter the quality we offer, and that is certainly not something we are willing to do. The moment we reduce our quality, we would gain a lot more clients that can afford the new price level, but we would also lose clients that cannot accept the new quality level. That’s not our direction.

Most foreigners doing business in Nigeria usually complain they are slammed with unnecessary levies from local to state and Federal Government agencies; do you experience such at VAVA?

   The tax and levy policies of Nigeria and its states make everyone (whether foreigner or a national) equal in the commercial realm. There’s no law that says a company that is not solely owned by Nigerians should pay more than others; but some individuals working in certain agencies believe that foreign-owned companies have a truckload of dollars coming into the system, and they try so hard to get a share from a cake that does not exist.

Do you source your materials locally?

   At the moment, 70 per cent of our raw materials are internationally sourced; this is because of certain international standards in quality measures we aim to consistently obtain. While 60 per cent of our products are fully manufactured in Nigeria, a lot of the components and raw materials used in manufacturing them are foreign sourced. Next year, it is our plan to start a company that strictly refines home grown wood. This company would help us attain utilising the best grade of wood to manufacture our products without having to source them from foreign suppliers, and provide this same grade of wood to indigenous companies that are manufacturing.

Was it your dream to become a furniture maker?

   Well, it was my dream to be a great furniture retailer; but like every dreamer, once your dream is gradually becoming a reality, you pick up a greater dream. And so, I then dreamt of being a furniture manufacturer, which I’m doing right now. At the moment, we only manufacture for Vava Furniture, and it is my dream that we manufacture for other large furniture retailers around the world.