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Business
September 8, 2025 by Our Reporter
The federal government has projected increase in foreign exchange (forex) earnings through public-private partnerships aimed at fostering sustainable environmental practices.
Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas, said the country stands to benefits a lot from prioritizing climate compliance actions.
He spoke in Lagos at the inauguration of an optimised system house for the production of ozone-friendly polyurethane used in rigid foam manufacturing at Vitapur Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc. Abbas said the optimised system house has potential for increased foreign exchange earnings through international demand for Vitapur’s environmentally friendly products.
He noted that the Vitapur project was one of only two of its kind in Africa, with the other located in South Africa.
He said the optimized system house would ensure a steady supply of ozone-friendly, low-global-warming-potential polyol chemicals for the production of rigid foam products.
According to him, this will help sustain Nigeria’s compliance with the Montreal Protocol and contribute to the growth of green jobs and environmental responsibility within the local industry.
Abbas highlighted that under Stage I of the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon Phase-Out Management Plan (HPMP) Project, the Ministry, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), facilitated the upgrade of Vitapur’s system house.
He explained that the upgrade supports the formulation of a climate-friendly methyl formate-based pre-blended polyol, serving as an alternative to the ozone-depleting HCFC-141b-based polyols traditionally used in rigid polyurethane foam production.
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He pointed out that the successful implementation of the project included the provision of trial chemicals, equipment, and accessories such as blending tanks, smoke detectors, sounders and flashers, electrical control panel accessories, and the enhancement of Vitapur’s laboratory with new furniture and advanced equipment like flash point testers, titrators, and k-value testers.
“With this project now completed, Vitapur has entirely phased out the use of ozone-depleting HCFC-141b in its operations. Moreover, it will also support downstream end-users in transitioning away from HCFC-141b in their rigid foam production,” Abbas said.
He further explained that the initiative had resulted in the phase-out of 301.32 metric tons of HCFC-141b in the rigid polyurethane foam sector, aligning with Nigeria’s obligations under the Montreal Protocol’s HPMP framework.
Chairman, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Zakari Sada, emphasised that the project demonstrated the value of collaboration between industry stakeholders, international organizations like the UNDP, and the Nigerian government.
He urged the Minister to support policies that encourage private sector investment in sandwich panel production across all six geopolitical zones in the country and reaffirmed the company’s full commitment to advancing the goals of the project at all levels.
Group Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria, Taiwo Adeniyi, described the launch of the ozone-friendly polyurethane system house as a historic milestone for the company and the nation.
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