Raymond Onovwigun is the founder and chief executive officer of Romco Group. His company processes and trades in the global non-ferrous metal market by recycling more than 5,000 tonnes of non-ferrous scrap, mostly aluminum and copper. Founded in 2015, Romco is dedicated to decarbonizing supply chains across the world. Romco aims to access US$50mn in debt and equity to produce 100,000 metric tons a year of secondary metal through the operation of seven plants by 2025.
The company has active operations in Nigeria and Ghana and its tagline is to invest, reduce and grow.
Onovwigun saw value in waste and decided to operate this recycling business in Nigeria and Ghana, where waste could be converted into valuable materials. He believes that for Africa to effectively tackle greenhouse gas emissions, the circular economy needs to become more vibrant. Romco metals have reduced 36,993 tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in its operations and have had a 1000% revenue increase year-on-year.
In this interview with Nairametrics, Onovwigun talks about contributing to Nigeria’s economic growth and future plans for Romco in the circular economy space.
Excerpts……..
Away from cutting greenhouse gas emissions, how can your company’s metal recycling business benefit the Nigerian economy?
Romco operations create jobs both directly and indirectly in the circular economy. We hire over 200 people in our Nigeria-based facility alone and we also operate a small business buying program (SBBP), which acts as an advance capital scheme for our suppliers. This allows sole traders and businesses to thrive alongside us as we grow, who otherwise would not be able to access capital to source materials. We estimate this sees more than 500 people employed indirectly in the sustainable sphere.
We also reduce landfill by helping divert materials from being dumped. We have sorted and diverted over 75,000 m3 of waste that otherwise might have ended up in a landfill. That is the equivalent of 30 Olympic-sized swimming pools of trash sorted and diverted. Our operations also reduce the need to mine raw materials, reducing the need to destroy habitats and affecting bio-diversity levels to source the materials required to produce the metals. As we grow our business and local communities, we reduce carbon emissions, energy use, raw materials mining, and landfill.
Will Romco metals be expanding into other areas of the circular economy in the future?
Romco metals plan to diversify our sustainable product offering into e-waste, lithium batteries, lead, and zinc. We also plan to expand into five additional countries within Africa in the next five years. After a $6.2million Series A equity raise earlier this year, we plan to seek a further $50million mix of venture capital and capital markets backing to fund plants and expansion into ECOWAS countries, South Africa, Egypt, and eastwards into Kenya and Tanzania. This is to take advantage of our position as a premium frontier market secondary producer, expanding into the growing sustainable markets.
Is Romco Metals partnering with Nigeria-based organizations for green hydrogen production?
Not at this point, as there are no viable enterprises available. We would be the first — hence taking the initiative and partnering with United Kingdom-based institutions and academics to make it happen. We are investing in infrastructure now; that does not yet exist, to produce zero-carbon non-ferrous metals from the places it’s needed most; the emerging markets. The identity of our United Kingdom-based university partner for our planned green hydrogen production is not yet public knowledge, but we will make the announcement in a few weeks.
Who is the Nigeria-based compressed natural gas (CNG) suppliers for Romco Metals?
Powergas is our compressed natural gas supplier. Powergas is Africa’s largest compressed natural gas producer, distributor, and pioneer in virtual pipeline gas distribution. The company maintains the largest production and distribution capacity in Africa.
What are some of the end products made from Romco’s business?
Almost all of our products are exported. The biggest current share of end-use products is lightweight die-cast components for automotive and aeronautical, particularly new electric vehicles (EVs). These include; engine components, engine heads, wheel rims, battery housings, manifold covers, and disk break covers.
Other end uses include sustainable packaging — aluminum cans and packaging, medical equipment, electrical components, and construction materials. Aluminium is the product we recycle most.
We currently produce UBC, Alloys ADC12, and 226. These are used for manufacturing, food & beverage containers, medical equipment, and much more. Recycling aluminum reduces toxic landfill, replaces plastic, and prevents more than 90 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year.
