SON, MAN to boost products standardisation via rebranded logo

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), have agreed to work as strategic partners in the rebranding of the new Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) logo.

This pact is to achieve standardisation that will ensure Nigerian products are widely acceptable across the continent in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and beyond.

The Director General/Chief Executive of SON, Dr Ifeanyi Okeke and MAN Director General, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, mni, made this pact during the launching and public presentation of the rebranded MANCAP logo in Lagos.

Okeke stated that it became necessary and imperative to start a new course in the country’s unwavering commitment to upholding the quality and standards within the Nigerian manufacturing sector.

DG/CE SON said: “As you are aware, MANCAP, established in 2006, under the auspices of SON, serves as a critical products and digital scheme.

“Its mandate is to ensure that all local manufactured products adhere strictly to the relevant Nigerian industrial standards before they are released for sale or for export.

“This initiative is of paramount importance in promoting a level playing field for our manufacturers, safeguarding the interests of our esteemed consumers, and ultimately enhancing the competitiveness of Nigerian products on the global stage.”

He added: “The branding of the MANCAP logo is not simply a change of aesthetics; it represents a new dedication to quality assurance and a proactive response to the evolving challenges confronting us, including the pressing need to combat counterfeiting and streamline the process for our valued manufacturers.

“Together we have achieved significant milestones in raising the bar for Nigerian products.

“As we unveil this new logo, let it serve as a constant reminder of our collective responsibility to champion quality in all endeavours.”

In his own speech, Ajayi-Kadir said: “We are at the threshold of unleashing the Intra-African Trade Fair, which is coming up in Algiers.

“And one of the key issues that will be discussed is how to ensure that we consume what we produce in Africa.

“And our industries need to be able to achieve this.

“Otherwise, we would have created a market of 1.5 billion people for Asia, America, and Europe to explore if we do not ensure that our qualitative products are able to have market assets.

“Now, this is very important, that we are able to streamline our standardisation process such that they become acceptable across the continent.”

Speaking on technical barriers to trade, Ajayi-Kadir said: “We feel that it is intimately related to what we are doing today, ensuring that we’re keeping the confidence that we have in our standards for us to be able to proudly demonstrate that our products are indeed up to standard.

“Even within Nigeria, we have skeptics who believe that manufacturers are not making quality products.

“Many of them often say that foreign products are far more qualitative and more effective applications in terms of how they deal with what they are intended to do.”