What started as a modest soap-making operation in the sitting room of a three-bedroom apartment in 1995 has grown into a manufacturing business with products distributed across different parts of Nigeria and ambitions of expanding into the West African market.
That is the story of Olu Ventures Nigeria Limited based in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the company behind the popular Olu Quality Soap brand, founded by the Oganla of Owu-Kingdom, Hon. Johnson Olu-Fatoki.
From its humble beginnings, the company has expanded its product portfolio beyond Olu Quality Soap to include De-Ree Antiseptic Soap, De-Ree Multipurpose Soap and Kero Antiseptic Soap, while also producing customised hotel soaps and supplying machinery to small-scale manufacturers.
For Olu Fatoki, the journey has been defined by consistency, resilience, aggressive marketing and a determination to build a local manufacturing brand despite the difficult operating environment.
“We started production of Olu Quality Soap in 1995. I can tell you that we started in my sitting room,” Olu-Fatoki revealed to Edu-biznews Brand and Industry Update crew
According to him, the company initially moved from the sitting room to a warehouse, which served as its factory, before it eventually established its present manufacturing facility located at Adeun on Lafenwa-Ayetoro Road in Abeokuta
The breakthrough, however, did not come overnight. For four years, the company invested heavily in marketing and consumer awareness, including distributing free samples in markets to convince consumers of the quality of its products.
By 1999, Olu Quality Soap, which was initially positioned largely as a laundry soap, had established itself as a household name in Abeokuta, Ibadan and Ilorin.
Olu-Fatoki said the first major customers began visiting the factory around September 1999 to place substantial orders, including purchases of about 50 cartons.
From that point, the company embarked on a steady expansion in manufacturing capacity, production, sales outlets and distribution networks.
Today, its products are available beyond the Southwest, with distribution extending to parts of Northern and Eastern Nigeria.
Building products for different markets
One of the company's strategies has been to develop products aimed at different income groups and consumer preferences.
According to Olu-Fatoki, De-Ree Antiseptic Soap and Kero Antiseptic Soap are herbal products, while Olu Quality Soap and De-Ree Multipurpose Soap serve multipurpose cleaning and bathing needs.
De-Ree Antiseptic Soap is packaged in 85-gram tablets, with four tablets in a box, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Olu Ventures Nigeria Ltd, explained that its market price could range from about ₦1,500 to ₦2,000, depending on the market.
Recognising that such a price may be beyond the reach of some consumers, the company introduced Kero Antiseptic Soap in a smaller and more affordable format.
“The quality is almost the same, the functionality is perfect, but the size is smaller,” he said, explaining that the product was designed to make the company's offering accessible to lower-income consumers.
The company's multipurpose soap range also comes in different colours to appeal to varying consumer preferences, with De-Ree Multipurpose Soap produced in gold and Olu Quality Soap in pink.
Beyond household consumers, Olu Ventures has developed customised soap products for hotels. The company produces round, individually wrapped soaps in sizes ranging from 20 grams to 50 grams.
Olu-Fatoki explained that the company largely works through intermediaries who purchase the hotel soaps in bulk and distribute them to hotels.
From soap manufacturing to industrial support, Olu Ventures' activities extend beyond the production of soap.
The company also imports machinery for small and medium-scale manufacturers, helping businesses acquire equipment for soap production, pure-water packaging and Gala pillow packaging.
The machinery is sourced from countries including China and India and supplied to prospective manufacturers.
For Olu-Fatoki, this aspect of the business reflects a broader commitment to supporting industrial development and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
However, he believes the potential of local manufacturing remains constrained by several structural challenges.
High interest rates threaten expansion
One of the most significant challenges confronting the company, according to Olu-Fatoki, is access to affordable finance.
The former member of Ogun State House of Assembly said the high cost of borrowing makes it difficult for manufacturing businesses to secure loans and still generate enough returns to service their debts.
“Interest rates are between 28 and 32 percent, and that is too high for any growing industry,” he decried
Olu-Fatoki explained that if the company had access to affordable funding, it would have been able to expand more rapidly across Nigeria and establish a stronger presence in other West African countries
Instead, the business has had to rely largely on personal resources to finance its growth.
The company's ultimate ambition is to expand beyond Nigeria into markets across West Africa, including Porto-Novo in Benin Republic, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire.
But achieving that objective, he said, will require a more supportive business environment, including Electricity which according to him remains a major manufacturing burden
Another major challenge is the cost and reliability of electricity.
Olu-Fatoki said that although his factory is connected under Band A electricity supply, the company still has to rely on diesel-powered generators.
“Until we have stable supply of electricity, the economy will remain the same,” he said.
He argued that reliable electricity is essential for improving productivity, reducing manufacturing costs and strengthening the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses.
Drawing lessons from China, he pointed to the country's extensive use of electricity in transportation and other sectors as evidence of what consistent power supply can achieve for economic development.
According to him, Nigeria needs a dependable 24-hour electricity supply if local industries are to compete effectively.
Olu-Fatoki also expressed concern over what he described as unnecessary import of products readily available in the local market, stressing the need for the Federal Government to protect the local manufacturers by urgently reviewing it's Nigeria First Policy aimed at protecting and promoting the usage of local products
He also called for a review of Nigeria's import policies, particularly concerning products that can be manufactured locally.
The Managing Director of Olu Ventures Nigeria Ltd questioned why products such as toothpicks and soap should continue to be imported when Nigeria has the raw materials, human resources and industrial capacity to produce them domestically.
He argued that the continued influx of imported products makes it difficult for local manufacturers to compete on price and threatens employment in the manufacturing sector.
“If the government wants to encourage productivity and manufacturing, then the import of unnecessary products must be stopped,” he said.
He also advocated lower import duties on machinery and raw materials that are not readily available locally.
According to him, these measures would reduce production costs and encourage more investment in manufacturing.
Roads and infrastructure critical to industrial growth
Beyond electricity and finance, Olu-Fatoki identified Nigeria's road infrastructure as another major impediment to industrial growth.
He called for urgent government intervention in road construction, arguing that efficient transportation networks are essential for moving raw materials and finished products across the country.
“In fact, a state of emergency should be declared on the construction of roads in order to meet the set targets,” he said.
He maintained that a combination of stable electricity, better roads, affordable finance and supportive trade policies would significantly improve Nigeria's manufacturing capacity.
Knowledge as a competitive advantage
Despite the difficult operating environment, Olu-Fatoki believes one of the company's key advantages is his direct involvement in the technical side of soap production and research and development.
He stressed that manufacturing cannot be treated simply as an investment where an owner provides capital and leaves the technical operations entirely to others.
“I know the rudiments, I know the details, and when you talk of research, I'm involved, practically involved in research and development,” he said.
For him, understanding the manufacturing process is critical to achieving efficiency, maintaining quality and ensuring that a company can remain profitable.
The story of Olu Ventures therefore reflects both the possibilities and the challenges of Nigerian manufacturing: a local enterprise that grew from a sitting-room operation into a recognised household brand, but whose next phase of growth depends heavily on access to affordable capital, reliable infrastructure and a policy environment that gives local manufacturers room to compete.
As the company looks towards West Africa, Olu-Fatoki's ambition is clear: to transform the Nigerian-made brand from a household name at home into a competitive manufacturing brand across the region of Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment