98% of our raw materials are sourced locally says Sona Group Chair

Founder & Chairman of Sona Group, Mr. Arjan Mirchandani has revealed that his businesses were flourishing in Nigeria because the company produces about 98 percent of its products and brands locally from locally sourced materials.
Speaking to MARKETING EDGE, Mirchandani stressed that one of the major priorities of his organization was to produce goods with high qualities that would meet the needs of Nigerians on a daily bases. According to him, when goods are produced locally, it eradicates the risk of depending on imported products and Nigeria will become a self-sufficient country.
He added that the government should put in place policies that would encourage local production of goods and services as that would galvanize Nigeria into an unindustrialized nation.
Mirchandani ’s admonition resonates with government’s drive for entrepreneurs and investors to embrace backward integration as part of the solutions to Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis.
Apart from a sustainable policy, Mirchandani decried the inability of entrepreneurs and organizations to obtain loans to run their businesses in Nigeria due to the high interest rate charged by commercials banks, stressing that that was responsible for the death of most industries in the country.
Speaking on the major sources of funds for his business, he said “we work with Bank of Industry, they have cheaper source of funding for industries, but they are not giving enough money, so we also have some other commercial banks that we obtain loans from, commercial banks are very expensive, you are looking at 20 percent and it multiple effects that kills the industry,” He said.
Commenting on the economic downturn in the country, Mirchandani said that it was a period that was meant to make Nigerians stronger affirming that the situation is going to make the people stronger to face the challenges and grow with it, saying “as far as I am concerned, I don’t see any problem in my short time in Nigeria.”