Samsung says Nigeria not ideal for setting up its manufacturing plant

Samsung Electronics says Nigeria is not ideal for setting up its manufacturing plant.

Sung Yoon, the Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Electronics Africa, made this known during an interactive session with newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

Citing reasons for the company’s conclusions about the country, the Samsung CEO said that manufacturing a mobile phone required about 400 different components, none of which was available in Nigeria.

Yoon also said that though Samsung was the leading consumer electronics company in Nigeria, its share of the Nigerian market was smaller than South Africa’s. He said that the company’s smartphones market size in South Africa was 80 per cent, but lower in Nigeria.

According to him, other issues stalling the building of a manufacturing plant in the country are infrastructure, Return On Investment (ROI) and grey market.

“We are trying to be a local company here. Building factory depends on return on investment and efficiency of the economy.

“There are lots of grey products coming into the country and this will affect the return on investment,” he said.

He said that the company had manufacturing plants in Vietnam, China, South Africa and Korea, hence, having one in Nigeria was a possibility for the future.

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Yoon said that Nigeria’s population of 180 million was a power for the future, a reason why Samsung wanted to be part of the corporate citizenship.

He said that annually, the company spent $16 billion globally on Research and Development (R&D), sold over 700 mobile phones every minute and over 41,000 every hour, globally.

Yoon said that the company’s global vision was to inspire the world and create the future, through its innovative technologies, products and designs that enriched people’s lives and contributed to social prosperity.

He said that Samsung Africa’s vision was to be the most admired brand, through partnership and profitable growth.

The CEO called on Samsung distributors and dealers to always inform the company of their sales drive, as this would enable it to fashion its products accordingly and improve service visibility for consumers.

 

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