Water is big business

The economic downturn in the country has caused thousands of Nigerians to lose their jobs, leaving them searching for a means of livelihood in any way possible. And the water business appears the easiest, as it does not require huge capital outlay to set up an “industry.”

The lack of access to water and government’s inability to provide this essential commodity for Nigerians became the springboard for the thriving water business, both for job seekers and existing industries, as almost every manufacturing business has a water division.

Potable water, which used to be taken for granted, is now as expensive as petroleum products, and in some cases even more expensive.

The former Director General, National Agency for Foods Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dora Akunyili, in 2003, in Abuja, said the pure water sub-sector had become a major part of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

She said the sub-sector accounts for about 10 to 15 per cent of the total manufacturing output from the SMEs, which in turn, accounts for over 40 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The water business

The water business started off with the borehole water sold to neighbours on the streets. Then came the sachet and bottled table water to become a proper market segment.

Consumers also have an array of quantities to choose from - the sachet water comes in 50 centilitre packs, while the bottled ones are in quantities ranging from 50cl to the 20 litre bottles usually placed on a vending machine or dispenser for home and office use.

A distributor of the 20 litre bottled water, Stephen O’seun-oni, says the water market is a very large one, but adds that it was yet to be covered effectively.

“The lack of good drinking water in the country is a major reason why the market is thriving. The dispenser water market is a growing business. We came into the market about four years ago and we sell over 500 bottles per day during the raining season and an average of 1,200 in the dry season,” he says.

A bottle of the 20-litre dispenser water sells for between N200 and N300 liquid content only, while content and bottle goes for N1,500 to N1,800 depending on the label.

Regulation

Many consumers have expressed concern about the quality of water they are being offered to drink, especially as the size of the market lends it to easy entry.

To demonstrate how large the market has become, even NAFDAC, the regulatory agency has no record of the total number of registered water producers in the country.

A source at the NAFDAC office in Lagos, who spoke under anonymity said: “It will be hard for you to get the number of registered water companies in the country, because we register all the food, drug and cosmetic companies together. We do not have a separate data filing system for the different sub-sectors.

“We register these companies as they come. The sachet pure water companies renew their registration every two years, while the bottled water companies do every five years. This means we cannot get an accurate figure as some companies would have packed up before the renewal of licences.”

Implications

Such a development portends grave implications on the health of the people and the economy, as the quality of some of the sachet and bottled waters cannot be guaranteed.

However, NAFDAC at a press briefing on Thursday, noted that it keeps surveillance on all regulated products and in the recent times, inspecting and closing down many companies which fall short of the law. But the clampdowns have always been as a result of tip offs by some Nigerians.

“The agency have routine interval checks on registered companies. This can be weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly depending on the factory. If a company have been known for good management practice of operating under the guidelines of the agency, such company might not be checked as regularly as other companies,” the Director, Establishment Inspection, Hauwa Keri, said,

Because of the difficulty of keeping up absolute monitoring, the NAFDAC inspector pleads with Nigerians to be the agency’s watchdog to safeguard public health.