Nigerian state oil firm orders retail subsidiary to capture 30% market share
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) downstream subsidiary, NNPC Retail Limited, has been directed to target 30 percent market share of petroleum products distribution business in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector by 2020.
Maikanti Baru, group managing director, NNPC, said this Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling ceremony of brand new logos for four of its downstream subsidiaries: Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC), NNPC Retail Limited and NNPC Shipping.
In a statement by Ndu Ughamadu, group managing director, group public affairs division, Baru explained that the target would enable efficient products distribution and price stability across every nook and cranny of the nation even as he added that by that time NNPC Retail Ltd would also extend its businesses to other neighbouring states in the West African sub-region.
Currently, the corporation’s downstream company holds about 14 percent market share of the nation’s products distribution network.
“In making the choice to rebrand these entities, we are taking a huge step towards enhancing our corporate reputation, improved profitability, sustainable growth and most importantly, capture a larger share of the market across the entire downstream value-chain,” Baru stated.
According to him, re-branding the four companies also prepares them for more competitiveness in the downstream sub-sector, in line with the corporation’s 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFAs).
He informed that the NNPC was committed to ensuring that PPMC as a flagship national products marketing company becomes more profitable and crucial to meeting the nation’s energy demands.
Baru added that NNPC was working assiduously towards bequeathing an NPSC that would brim with revamped infrastructure for efficient storage and distribution of petroleum products across the nation, thereby ensuring supply reliability and energy security.
The NNPC helmsman noted that it was the corporation’s key aspiration to strengthen its shipping outfit to support the downstream growth objectives of its subsidiaries, saying the corporation would not relent until NNPC Shipping becomes the partner of choice in the marine transportation and logistics business.
He said, “The Downstream Sector is one critical aspect of our business upon which we are readily assessed by majority of our stakeholders nationwide and in the international market environment, making it imperative for the corporation’s long-term survival and image.”
On the significance of the unveiling of logos ceremony, Baru described a company’s logo as the visual cornerstone of its brand identity, stressing that the logo brings out a company in a crowd.
“Today, corporations and other multinationals don’t even need their names written on their logos before people understand what they stand for”, Baru stated.
He assured that in no time, the logos would spur and facilitate a great deal of improved brand loyalty towards the PPMC, NPSC, NNPC Retail Ltd and NNPC Shipping.
The gmd stated that he expected the rebranded companies to overcome their current challenges, improve on their performance and become more profitable, all collectively shoring up NNPC’s reputation.
Echoing Baru, Victor Adeniran, chief operating officer ventures and chairman of “We Can Develop Our Logo In-House” project, , stated that the unveiling of the logos seeks to rebrand the corporation’s four downstream companies, adding that ultimately the logos would be part of the underlying factors that would change their respective fortunes for the better.
“Let me particularly salute the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the participating staff who came up with these fantastic ideas and concepts, some of which we are unveiling today.
“This goes to show that the NNPC is indeed blessed with extraordinary hands that are ever ready to address its challenges without recourse to external expertise,” Adeniran stated.
He disclosed that the first tranche of entries covered PPMC and NPSC logos, of which a total of 59 entries scaled the originality test, while the second tranche covering NNPC Retail Ltd and NNPC Shipping also had 41 entries that scaled the originality test.
“To demonstrate the intensity of the competition, some even sent in multiple entries. Out of these entries, selecting the top three brands for each company was not an easy task”, he explained.