P&G halts Nigerian production, cites harsh economic climate

An American multinational consumer goods firm, Procter & Gamble, popularly known as P&G, has announced that it is winding down its on-ground presence in Nigeria.

The Chief Financial Officer, Andre Schulten, made this known during his presentation at the Morgan Stanley global consumer & retail conference in New York on Tuesday.

P&G is the manufacturer of common Nigerian household items such as Pampers, Always, Oral B, Ariel, Ambi-pur, SafeGuard, Olay and Gillette.

According to Schulten, P&G will transition into importing its products to Nigeria rather than producing them in the country, adding that it is a result of the country’s challenging business environment as well as the difficulty in creating US dollar value.

“The other reality that arises in some of these markets is that it gets increasingly difficult to operate and create US dollar value.

“So when you think about places like Nigeria and Argentina, it is difficult for us to operate because of the macroeconomic environment.

“So with that in mind, we are announcing a restructuring program with the intent to adjust the operating model and adjust the portfolio to ensure that we maintain the portfolio discipline that has brought us to this point.

“The restructuring program will largely focus on Nigeria and Argentina. We’ve announced that we will turn Nigeria into an import-only market, effectively dissolving our footprint on the ground in Nigeria and reverting to an import-only model,” he said.