German company to build plant in Nigeria

Nigeria may soon join the league of manufacturers of customised cylinders and other precision equipment in the near future.
CHIDI NDUKA AJA
This hint was dropped by Peter Sengpiel, managing director of Festo, a German-based automation and process technology company at the Institute of Directors of Nigeria National Industry Forum/Exhibition Tuesday in Lagos.
Speaking exclusively to BUSINESSDAY at his company's stand, Sengpiel said it is a matter of company policy to establish plants in high potential countries after return on investment, adding that Nigeria is the headquarters to service the West African sub-region.
He observed that Nigeria is the biggest market in sub-Saharan Africa which is a major attraction to many companies such as Festo [/b]and expressed happiness at the number of companies investing in the country which he said meant more business for his company.
He urged the Federal government to urgently address the [b]problem of poor infrastructure because the economy has the potentials of growing faster than any economy in the world.
Sengpiel explained that Festo is a market leader in Europe with 55 years experience, operating in 250 locations around the world and product offering covering all sectors of the economy, including biotech, processing, oil and gas and food packaging.
He commended the level of patronage of the company's products since it opened shop two years ago, saying that customers are happy to have the original manufacturers of their parts in Nigeria. According to him, the company not only sells spare parts but also does broad checks, plant modernisation and suggests what clients can do to save cost.
The managing director pointed out that though there is little product variation these days, Festo products are preferred by clients because they company knows what they need and when they need it.
"We discuss with our customers and cooperate with them in designing products that meet their need. That is why our clients prefer to have Festo products," he stated.