Shem Oirere , Africa Correspondent01.15.16
Countries in East Africa are expected to grow their respective gross domestic product at between 3.5 percent for Uganda and 7.5 percent for Rwanda, a development that is expected to support the expansion of the road and rail transport sector which is a major consumer of anti-graffiti coating applications globally.
Kenya and Tanzania economies are projected to grow at 5.6 percent and 7.4 percent respectively. Both have reported expansion of their road and rail transport segments with rail operators and passenger service vehicles (PSVs) companies set to drive up consumption of anti-graffiti coating solutions in the region.
Government data in these countries show a steady increase in the number of PSVs, passenger trains and locomotives to cater for the growing number of freight and commuters. The increase has also fuelled demand for more quality road and railway signage to enhance transport safety for road and rail users. Road furniture in East Africa including road signs have become targets of illegal graffiti that leave them unreadable and exposing travelers and drivers to accidents.
The Kenyan transport sector, unlike those of Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, provide a mixed bag of market opportunities for anti-graffiti coating manufacturers, dealers and suppliers.
When in 2003 Kenya’s former Transport minister John Michuki banned graffiti in PSVs, the anti-graffiti coating market appreciated after vehicle owners were forced to look for graffiti resistant coatings suitable for the internal and external surfaces of their vehicles. New regulations required PSVs to have single color, as specified in the logbook, with no artistic drawings. The penalties for flouting the ban were hefty and PSV operators spent hundreds of dollars in cleaning up the graffiti from their vehicles.
Demand went up for graffiti resistant coatings especially the ones providing properties that ensured vehicles retained their initial appearance after applications of the coatings. After 2003, the trend in the Kenyan market for anti-graffiti coatings appeared to grow in tandem with that of the other four countries in the region.
However, the situation changed after a new government took over office 2013, with the new President, Uhuru Kenyatta, announcing in November 2014 the return of the use of graffiti in PSVs. Although the country’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said only 50 percent of the PSVs’ surface decorations and painting was to be customized with graffiti, the President’s directive meant demand for anti-graffiti coatings dropped as public service vehicle owners and operators wanted coatings that would ensure the graffiti sticks to their vehicle surfaces and not be easily erased. Most of the paintings and decorations are the famous international artists, politicians and even spiritual beings.
NTSA, which previously cracked down on vehicles with graffiti relaxed the regulations after the presidential directive and instead focused on preventing use of inappropriate graffiti messages.
“As much as we might allow free expression, there must be rules to avoid instances where, in exercising this right of artwork on our PSVs, some might be tempted to have nudity and messages associated with extremism,” said NTSA chairman Lee Kinyanjui in November last year, when the graffiti ban was lifted.
NTSA Director General Francis Meja said: “Graffiti that is offensive, that affects visibility such as blocking windows and does not promote cohesion or good behavior remains outlawed.”
Demand for anti-graffiti coatings in Kenyan PSVs is likely to remain muted or with minimal changes mainly linked to the increasing number of new vehicles. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics says newly registered vehicles increased by 9.1 percent from 94,017 units in 2013 to 102,606 in 2014. The State-owned statistics agency said although there was a decline in the number of mini-buses and PSVs, popularly known as Matatus in Kenya, by 9.4 percent between 2013 and 2014, there was a noted increase in the number of newly registered buses and coaches, another popular means of road transport in the country.
Elsewhere in East Africa, the need to attract more passengers by PSV operators provides an opportunity for growth of anti-graffiti coating solutions that have peculiar properties of repelling dirt and also allowing for easy of cleaning. As the number of PSVs increase in East Africa, so would be the competition for passengers. PSVs with services painted with quality anti-graffiti coatings that do not retain dirt and can which can be easily cleaned stand a chance of survival such a competition.
In Tanzania, the region’s second largest economy, statistics indicate the number of newly registered PSVs has been on the increase reflecting “high growth that is well above the GDP growth” according to the African Development Bank.
“Many of the vehicles entering Tanzania market comprise of used ones mainly from Japan, UK and the Middle East, where they are significantly cheaper than new vehicles and are likely to dominate the market for several years to come,” said AfDB in its Tanzania Transport Sector review last year.
The Tanzania transport sector is likely to remain a good market for anti-graffiti coatings applications as the number of PSVs continue to increase. The number of light passenger vehicles in Tanzania increased from 113,138 units in 2005 to 279,120 in 2010 according to a previous survey by AfDB. Heavy passenger vehicles in this market increased from 18,943 units to 38,809 in the same period.
In Uganda, where road transport carries 95 percent and 99 percent of the country’s goods and passenger traffic respectively, the number of vehicles is estimated at between 800,000 and 1,000,000 although Ronald Amanyire of the Ministry of Works and Transport said data provided by Uganda Revenue Authority is “fragmented and incoherent with different classifications.”
Rail and road signage provide the best opportunities for anti-graffiti coating dealers across East Africa where illegal use of graffiti poses a threat to the performance of rail transport and effectiveness of signs in improving road safety.
Rail transport is more pronounced in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and recent additional investments mean more train cars and therefore a likely high use of anti-graffiti coating applications. For example, the Rift Valley Railways, the concessionaire operating the 2,350 kilometer Kenya-Uganda railway line, is currently investing in rehabilitation of the track to accommodate more trains moving at designed speed, upgrading and modernization of the locomotive fleet, rehabilitation of the rolling stock and purchase of new locomotives and wagons, a major opportunity for the anti-graffiti coating dealers in the region. The investment is expected to attract more cargo and passengers between the two countries.
In Tanzania, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates the Tanzania-Zambia railway announced in November 2014 the purchase of four new diesel-electric mainline locomotives and 18 new passenger coaches valued at US$22.4 million.
The railway operator, which is owned by the governments of Tanzania and Zambia, said it is also hoping to invest more in new locomotives and trains to attract more passengers and cargo, now ferried mainly by road.
Railway operators in East Africa are fighting to increase their share of the transport traffic market, currently estimated at less than ten percent, and are therefore keen in building and maintaining a good name by being clean through using topcoats and basecoats that would ensure less dirt and easy cleaning.
Traffic signs such as road signs, traffic signals and road markings have occasionally been a target of illegal graffiti that deface the information leading to road accidents. Applying quality anti-graffiti coatings on these road furniture that prevents the graffiti from sticking to surfaces and enables quick and easy erasing of the artwork or writings, would be one way of boosting road and rail safety in East Africa.
Anti-graffiti coating solution manufacturers such as Sherwin-Williams could, through partnerships, take advantage of increasing investments in East Africa’s road and rail sector to increase their share of the African market. Recently the company unveiled the Protective & Marine Anti-Graffiti Coating, which it said “prevents graffiti from adhering to underlying surfaces and allows unwelcome artwork to be easily washed away.”
“It can help rail and transit companies remove — and prevent — graffiti to preserve and enhance neighborhood aesthetics, foster pride in communities, and promote healthy and safe environments for residents and businesses,” the company said.
Kenya and Tanzania economies are projected to grow at 5.6 percent and 7.4 percent respectively. Both have reported expansion of their road and rail transport segments with rail operators and passenger service vehicles (PSVs) companies set to drive up consumption of anti-graffiti coating solutions in the region.
Government data in these countries show a steady increase in the number of PSVs, passenger trains and locomotives to cater for the growing number of freight and commuters. The increase has also fuelled demand for more quality road and railway signage to enhance transport safety for road and rail users. Road furniture in East Africa including road signs have become targets of illegal graffiti that leave them unreadable and exposing travelers and drivers to accidents.
The Kenyan transport sector, unlike those of Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, provide a mixed bag of market opportunities for anti-graffiti coating manufacturers, dealers and suppliers.
When in 2003 Kenya’s former Transport minister John Michuki banned graffiti in PSVs, the anti-graffiti coating market appreciated after vehicle owners were forced to look for graffiti resistant coatings suitable for the internal and external surfaces of their vehicles. New regulations required PSVs to have single color, as specified in the logbook, with no artistic drawings. The penalties for flouting the ban were hefty and PSV operators spent hundreds of dollars in cleaning up the graffiti from their vehicles.
Demand went up for graffiti resistant coatings especially the ones providing properties that ensured vehicles retained their initial appearance after applications of the coatings. After 2003, the trend in the Kenyan market for anti-graffiti coatings appeared to grow in tandem with that of the other four countries in the region.
However, the situation changed after a new government took over office 2013, with the new President, Uhuru Kenyatta, announcing in November 2014 the return of the use of graffiti in PSVs. Although the country’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said only 50 percent of the PSVs’ surface decorations and painting was to be customized with graffiti, the President’s directive meant demand for anti-graffiti coatings dropped as public service vehicle owners and operators wanted coatings that would ensure the graffiti sticks to their vehicle surfaces and not be easily erased. Most of the paintings and decorations are the famous international artists, politicians and even spiritual beings.
NTSA, which previously cracked down on vehicles with graffiti relaxed the regulations after the presidential directive and instead focused on preventing use of inappropriate graffiti messages.
“As much as we might allow free expression, there must be rules to avoid instances where, in exercising this right of artwork on our PSVs, some might be tempted to have nudity and messages associated with extremism,” said NTSA chairman Lee Kinyanjui in November last year, when the graffiti ban was lifted.
NTSA Director General Francis Meja said: “Graffiti that is offensive, that affects visibility such as blocking windows and does not promote cohesion or good behavior remains outlawed.”
Demand for anti-graffiti coatings in Kenyan PSVs is likely to remain muted or with minimal changes mainly linked to the increasing number of new vehicles. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics says newly registered vehicles increased by 9.1 percent from 94,017 units in 2013 to 102,606 in 2014. The State-owned statistics agency said although there was a decline in the number of mini-buses and PSVs, popularly known as Matatus in Kenya, by 9.4 percent between 2013 and 2014, there was a noted increase in the number of newly registered buses and coaches, another popular means of road transport in the country.
Elsewhere in East Africa, the need to attract more passengers by PSV operators provides an opportunity for growth of anti-graffiti coating solutions that have peculiar properties of repelling dirt and also allowing for easy of cleaning. As the number of PSVs increase in East Africa, so would be the competition for passengers. PSVs with services painted with quality anti-graffiti coatings that do not retain dirt and can which can be easily cleaned stand a chance of survival such a competition.
In Tanzania, the region’s second largest economy, statistics indicate the number of newly registered PSVs has been on the increase reflecting “high growth that is well above the GDP growth” according to the African Development Bank.
“Many of the vehicles entering Tanzania market comprise of used ones mainly from Japan, UK and the Middle East, where they are significantly cheaper than new vehicles and are likely to dominate the market for several years to come,” said AfDB in its Tanzania Transport Sector review last year.
The Tanzania transport sector is likely to remain a good market for anti-graffiti coatings applications as the number of PSVs continue to increase. The number of light passenger vehicles in Tanzania increased from 113,138 units in 2005 to 279,120 in 2010 according to a previous survey by AfDB. Heavy passenger vehicles in this market increased from 18,943 units to 38,809 in the same period.
In Uganda, where road transport carries 95 percent and 99 percent of the country’s goods and passenger traffic respectively, the number of vehicles is estimated at between 800,000 and 1,000,000 although Ronald Amanyire of the Ministry of Works and Transport said data provided by Uganda Revenue Authority is “fragmented and incoherent with different classifications.”
Rail and road signage provide the best opportunities for anti-graffiti coating dealers across East Africa where illegal use of graffiti poses a threat to the performance of rail transport and effectiveness of signs in improving road safety.
Rail transport is more pronounced in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and recent additional investments mean more train cars and therefore a likely high use of anti-graffiti coating applications. For example, the Rift Valley Railways, the concessionaire operating the 2,350 kilometer Kenya-Uganda railway line, is currently investing in rehabilitation of the track to accommodate more trains moving at designed speed, upgrading and modernization of the locomotive fleet, rehabilitation of the rolling stock and purchase of new locomotives and wagons, a major opportunity for the anti-graffiti coating dealers in the region. The investment is expected to attract more cargo and passengers between the two countries.
In Tanzania, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates the Tanzania-Zambia railway announced in November 2014 the purchase of four new diesel-electric mainline locomotives and 18 new passenger coaches valued at US$22.4 million.
The railway operator, which is owned by the governments of Tanzania and Zambia, said it is also hoping to invest more in new locomotives and trains to attract more passengers and cargo, now ferried mainly by road.
Railway operators in East Africa are fighting to increase their share of the transport traffic market, currently estimated at less than ten percent, and are therefore keen in building and maintaining a good name by being clean through using topcoats and basecoats that would ensure less dirt and easy cleaning.
Traffic signs such as road signs, traffic signals and road markings have occasionally been a target of illegal graffiti that deface the information leading to road accidents. Applying quality anti-graffiti coatings on these road furniture that prevents the graffiti from sticking to surfaces and enables quick and easy erasing of the artwork or writings, would be one way of boosting road and rail safety in East Africa.
Anti-graffiti coating solution manufacturers such as Sherwin-Williams could, through partnerships, take advantage of increasing investments in East Africa’s road and rail sector to increase their share of the African market. Recently the company unveiled the Protective & Marine Anti-Graffiti Coating, which it said “prevents graffiti from adhering to underlying surfaces and allows unwelcome artwork to be easily washed away.”
“It can help rail and transit companies remove — and prevent — graffiti to preserve and enhance neighborhood aesthetics, foster pride in communities, and promote healthy and safe environments for residents and businesses,” the company said.
