If anyone built a house in Nigeria in the last 10 years without using roofing tiles or plumbing materials from Wichtech, it is most unlikely that the house would have a touch of class. Wichtech Industries Limited, the flagship member of the Wichtech Group, is Nigeria’s leading supplier of quality and trending roofing and plumbing systems. It is the kind of sheets you find on the roofs of well-appointed houses in the highbrow areas of Nigeria’s urban centres built by people of class, taste and means.
Wichtech has been the supplier and now manufacturer of different and outstandingly beautiful designs of stone coated roofing sheets that come in different profiles and colours like black, brown, grey, red and green.
The company has such an intimidating presence in Nigeria and other parts of the world. It is involved in almost every aspect of building, as manufacturer and supplier of roofing, plumbing and paint products that are reputed to be of the highest quality. Before now, it had been one of the largest importers and distributors of roofing and plumbing products in Africa.
Wichtech Industries has a large footprint of 220 offices throughout Nigeria. As a manufacturer and supplier of roofing, plumbing and paint products, the name Wichtech has built its reputation on the quality of its products and services. Supported by national billboard advertising, local TV commercials and backed up by advertising on CNN international, the Wichtech brand has become a household name in middle – and upper income circles. Over a period of 10 years, Wichtech has grown to become an outstanding international partner of stone coated metal roofing supplied by New Zealand’s AHI Roofing Ltd. (gerard-roofs.com), who supply products in over 120 countries worldwide. AHI form part of Fletcher Building Ltd (fletcherbuilding.com), New Zealand’s biggest listed company. Wichtech also provides distribution for AHI in Ghana, Benin and Cameroon.
Other brands supplied exclusively by Wichtech in Nigeria are IPS pipes from Argentina, Pushfit Plumbing Systems from the UK, and PVC rainwater and drainage systems from Britain’s Hunter Plastics.
The latest addition to Wichtech’s products portfolio are Cables and wires. It produces and distributes quality electrical, telecommunication wires and cables that meet the required standard. These include thousands of miles of underground cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, as well as medium and low voltage cables for the construction and Infrastructure sector.
Considering the high standards usually associated with Wichtech products, quality of management and the expansive marketing and distribution network, it is expected that Wichtech Cable and Wire products are expected to not only dominate but take over that segment of the building and construction market in Nigeria in the nearest future.
Something else that sets Wichtech apart is their investment in people. All of Wichtech Offices receive annual training, both from suppliers and also from leading industry experts in the fields of Professional Management, Leadership and Customer Service. From the technical side, Wichtech brings in several Training Managers from partner companies who coordinate training for installers throughout Nigeria. To date over 6,000 plumbing and roofing installers have received training. These initiatives have generated outstanding recognition for the company.
The Chairman of the company, Dr Chidozie Nwankwo, started his business journey under the business name Chidoo Business Ventures in 1986 with N10, 000 sourced from his savings and tokens from his family. Later, he registered Wichtech Industries Limited as a special vehicle for innovations into the construction business. The company took off in 1999 with the introduction of stone-coated roofing tiles from Ahi Roofing, Newzealand, and, in 2004, introduced PPR from IPS, a German company based in Argentina. Other world-acclaimed products introduced into Nigeria, were Water Heaters from Famous Feroli, Italy; Betek Wichtech Paints owned by a German-Japanese. In 2021, it launched Wichtech cables with engineers using a team of engineers with the best industry practice led by a well-seasoned leading professional in the industry with more than 30years experience in the Nigerian cable industry.
Wichtech is today a colossus bestriding Nigeria’s building industry landscape because Nwankwo keeps innovating. “I am continuously setting higher goals for myself and the business”, he explains. With this drive, Nwankwo nurses the dream of making Wichtech one of the top companies on the African continent.
It is in recognition of Wichtech’s position as the most outstanding one-stop shop for supply of quality building materials in Nigeria in the last ten years that it has been conferred with The Building Materials Company of the Decade award by the Top10 magazine.
