Okoye Chibueze is on a brilliant idea of how he could reduce emission of carbon dioxide by manufacturing brisket as a source of energy and also create employment.
His initial challenge was how to source about N3 million to build a medium size plant.
Chibueze, Managing Director of Bueze Access, started a small scale enterprise in 2009 with other product lines. He approached Bank of Industry (BOI) for loan under the platform of the Association of Micro Enterprises of Nigeria (AMEN). But he was turned down.
From first hurdle to second
I saved up, pooled resources with a colleague in a joint business venture, and ordered the brisket making machine and got delivery of it some months ago.
My new concern is finding a location with fairly stable electricity to power the heavy plant.
The machine requires stable power to function optimally. Operating on diesel generator will add huge cost that may make the product less competitive as customers have alternative sources of energy.
Finding a suitable location where there is fairly stable electricity to power the plant is now the issue. We have been going round in search of a good location that is also affordable.
We can’t cite the plant in a highbrow area; it is not quite suitable and it comes with huge cost.
Market for the product
There is a huge population of Nigerians whose only source of hitting energy is firewood and charcoal, and this number contributes to the high level of carbon dioxide emission.
Sawdust and paper materials which litter the environment are the raw materials converted into a carbonless hitting lump called brisket.
Brisket is good for bakeries that waste money on firewood, and other companies that use fire to power production.
It’s not only cheap in terms of cost but also environment friendly and healthier as it does not generate carbon emissions harmful to human health.
You cannot get carbon emissions from brisket; it is smokeless yet burns harder than firewood. We use sawdust, rice husk, and other waste materials like carton to manufacture it.
Converting raw materials to brisket
These raw materials are available in large quantities in Lagos and other parts of the country. Converting them to brisket involves removing the moisture to about 12 or 8 per cent and transferring them to the machine that heats them into firewood. It is a simple technology.
The cost of the machine depends on the capacity. There is a machine that can produce 250 pieces per hour and there is one that can produce 350 per hour. We have the one that can give us 350 pieces per hour.
We know that demand is going to be high when we eventually begin manufacturing and supply to the market.
Even in Europe, they use brisket during winter. That’s what they use to warm up homes because is it cheaper than electric stove.
Motivation for manufacturing
I want to be an employer of labour, and that’s where the future lies. Countries and entities that manufacture to meet people’s needs rule the world. We cannot get anywhere by being mere consumers. We have to manufacture or we remain at the mercy of others.
That has been the problem of Nigeria, and the earlier our government and leaders realise this all important fact and shift focus to how to attract and encourage manufacturers the better.
We keep sending our children to school and they come out carrying files looking for jobs. If we don’t create jobs for them, where are they going to work? Who will employ all our children in and out of school?
We may wake up one day and see all of them doing unimaginable things if we do not give boost to the manufacturing sector and assist government to reduce unemployment.
Sourcing funds
There are so many of our country men who have ideas for manufacturing looking for sponsorship or take off grant. But the government has no plans for such people. It is only in Nigeria that you have ideas and you can’t get sponsorship or take off grant to develop your ideas.
In other parts of the world, ideas rule. Once you have viable ideas, the government helps you to establish and manufacture if only to help provide jobs. But here in the country the story is different.
Early last year, we approached the BOI for credit but the conditions they gave were frightening; so, we decided to explore alternative sources of raising funds for both the drying and the pressing machines which cost us about N3 million.
Inspiration for manufacturing
I did not learn it in school. The inspiration came from God. I was into importation of electronics and other household wares but I realised that it will not help the country any bit.
Besides, during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, some of these imported products were outlawed and they became contraband.
So, I decided to chart a new business direction that could add to the economic growth of the nation.
