Shem Oirere, Africa Correspondent11.10.23
Africa’s paint and coatings market has ended 2023 with a mixed performance in its commitment to achieve 100% formulation of paints and coatings using non-lead-based ingredients.
Diverse reports portray a continent with markets that have either done well in adopting laws that require reformulation of paints, constraining ingredient suppliers to produced non-lead ingredients as well as restricting paint importers to products that comply with lead-free regulations, or markets that have not considered any restriction to the amount of lead in the protective and decorative products for sale.
As early as 2017, five of the 54 countries in the continent, less than 10%, had passed laws that limited the lead content in paint, varnishes and related products to a maximum of 90 parts per million (ppm). They include Algeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Although other countries are at various phases of passing a similar law, a new report released in October 2023 shows progress by Malawi’s paint and coatings industry despite the country having not been previously listed among the most progressive in elimination of lead in paint.
The report, published after a study by Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint’s partner Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP), in collaboration with the Malawi Bureau of Standards, said the amount of lead in sampled paint products across the country declined from 53% in previous studies to 33% in 2023.
Dr. Bernard Thole, Malawi Bureau of Standards director general, attributed the achievement to strengthening of the bureau’s testing capacity and government determination to enforce compliance to the “mandatory standards prohibiting lead in paint.”
One of the key players in Malawi’s paint and coatings market, Rainbow Paints, said through a spokesperson it has completely switched to lead-free products and terms the eradication of lead from paint “technically and commercially feasible.”
But despite the increasing number of paint manufacturers who are reformulating their products to eliminate lead, some companies are yet to comply with the new regulations.
The report identifies Monolux and Valmore Paints among those still retailing in leaded paints although they have publicly committed to have new formulations by mid-2024.
For instance, Monolux has committed to embrace eco-friendly products by early 2024 with the company spokesperson saying the paint manufacturer is “currently in the process of transitioning to lead-free formulations in our paints” according to the report.
Valmore Paints, on the other hand, said although still stocking leaded paints, it has committed to achieve lead-free paints by mid-2024.
Malawi, which is one the 94 countries on the global WHO observatory, and one of only 10 countries in Africa with controls on lead in paint, spends an estimated $878 million in addressing lead poisoning among 3.4 million children the substance affects annually.
Across Africa, some of the paint and coatings markets have been slow in introducing regulations to reduce lead in paints, hence limiting access by manufacturers in their jurisdiction to international markets where stringent anti-lead laws have been passed and strictly enforced.
A case in point is Zimbabwe, where although there are no statistics yet for 2023 on the share of leaded paints, a previous study by LEEP at the end of 2022 concluded 70% of the paint in the country’s market contained dangerously high levels of lead.
The study estimated up to 60% of the paint samples contained total lead concentrations above 600 ppm and at least 20% had more than 10,000 ppm.
Another 20% of the samples were found to contain up to 12,000 ppm, “which is over 130 times the recommended limit.”
One of the biggest constraints paint and coatings manufacturers, especially the small and medium enterprises, must contend with in their quest to produce, stock and distribute eco-friendly products is the limited technical capacity and resources to formulate lead-free paint.
According to a policy brief released by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020, ‘Global elimination of lead paint: why and how countries should take action,’ “there may be some initial investment costs for manufacturers to reformulate their paints.” The reformulation, the brief said could lead to an increase in the retail price of the paint products.
However, the brief said, past experience shows despite the likelihood of an increase in retail prices for paint formulated from lead-free ingredients, “it does not necessarily reduce paint sales in the longer term.”
“Many manufacturers, including small- and medium-sized enterprises, have already successfully reformulated their products to avoid the use of lead-based ingredients, seeing it as part of their corporate social responsibility to protect workers, consumers and the environment,” the brief said.
With the likely opportunities from initiatives such as the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a free trade area established in 2018 with 43 countries and 11 signatories, the brief by WHO said paint and coatings manufacturers embracing non-lead ingredients as feedstock for production, stand a better chance “to access to markets in countries where the lead content in paint is already restricted.
“Moreover, the existing market for lead-containing paint is likely to shrink as more countries introduce lead paint laws,” it said.
For instance, in East Africa, where the East African Community (EAC), an intergovernmental organization composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, has adopted region-wide paint standards regulations that limit lead content to the globally accepted 90 ppm.
EAC finalized the regional lead paint standard in September 2019 with another regional economic bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreeing in December 2020 to “develop a regional lead paint standard,” with paint testing having been completed in at least 21 countries across the continent.
The challenge with the EAC adoption of lead-free paint regulations across the regional economic bloc is that some of the member-countries, such as Rwanda, are yet to domesticate the law, hampering initiatives to harmonize market regulations, hence reduce barriers to increasing trade in paints and coatings.
As it stands today, Africa loses an estimated $135 billion annually due to exposure to lead, an equivalent of nearly 14% of the world’s $977 billion loss every year.
As 2024 beckons, the anticipation of many players within Africa’s paint and coatings market is that the elimination of lead paint, would not only help create a robust and fair business environment for manufacturers, exporters and importers but also pave the way for harmonization of industry laws that could boost market-widening economic initiatives such as the AfCFTA.
Diverse reports portray a continent with markets that have either done well in adopting laws that require reformulation of paints, constraining ingredient suppliers to produced non-lead ingredients as well as restricting paint importers to products that comply with lead-free regulations, or markets that have not considered any restriction to the amount of lead in the protective and decorative products for sale.
As early as 2017, five of the 54 countries in the continent, less than 10%, had passed laws that limited the lead content in paint, varnishes and related products to a maximum of 90 parts per million (ppm). They include Algeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Although other countries are at various phases of passing a similar law, a new report released in October 2023 shows progress by Malawi’s paint and coatings industry despite the country having not been previously listed among the most progressive in elimination of lead in paint.
The report, published after a study by Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint’s partner Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP), in collaboration with the Malawi Bureau of Standards, said the amount of lead in sampled paint products across the country declined from 53% in previous studies to 33% in 2023.
Dr. Bernard Thole, Malawi Bureau of Standards director general, attributed the achievement to strengthening of the bureau’s testing capacity and government determination to enforce compliance to the “mandatory standards prohibiting lead in paint.”
One of the key players in Malawi’s paint and coatings market, Rainbow Paints, said through a spokesperson it has completely switched to lead-free products and terms the eradication of lead from paint “technically and commercially feasible.”
But despite the increasing number of paint manufacturers who are reformulating their products to eliminate lead, some companies are yet to comply with the new regulations.
The report identifies Monolux and Valmore Paints among those still retailing in leaded paints although they have publicly committed to have new formulations by mid-2024.
For instance, Monolux has committed to embrace eco-friendly products by early 2024 with the company spokesperson saying the paint manufacturer is “currently in the process of transitioning to lead-free formulations in our paints” according to the report.
Valmore Paints, on the other hand, said although still stocking leaded paints, it has committed to achieve lead-free paints by mid-2024.
Malawi, which is one the 94 countries on the global WHO observatory, and one of only 10 countries in Africa with controls on lead in paint, spends an estimated $878 million in addressing lead poisoning among 3.4 million children the substance affects annually.
Across Africa, some of the paint and coatings markets have been slow in introducing regulations to reduce lead in paints, hence limiting access by manufacturers in their jurisdiction to international markets where stringent anti-lead laws have been passed and strictly enforced.
A case in point is Zimbabwe, where although there are no statistics yet for 2023 on the share of leaded paints, a previous study by LEEP at the end of 2022 concluded 70% of the paint in the country’s market contained dangerously high levels of lead.
The study estimated up to 60% of the paint samples contained total lead concentrations above 600 ppm and at least 20% had more than 10,000 ppm.
Another 20% of the samples were found to contain up to 12,000 ppm, “which is over 130 times the recommended limit.”
One of the biggest constraints paint and coatings manufacturers, especially the small and medium enterprises, must contend with in their quest to produce, stock and distribute eco-friendly products is the limited technical capacity and resources to formulate lead-free paint.
According to a policy brief released by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020, ‘Global elimination of lead paint: why and how countries should take action,’ “there may be some initial investment costs for manufacturers to reformulate their paints.” The reformulation, the brief said could lead to an increase in the retail price of the paint products.
However, the brief said, past experience shows despite the likelihood of an increase in retail prices for paint formulated from lead-free ingredients, “it does not necessarily reduce paint sales in the longer term.”
“Many manufacturers, including small- and medium-sized enterprises, have already successfully reformulated their products to avoid the use of lead-based ingredients, seeing it as part of their corporate social responsibility to protect workers, consumers and the environment,” the brief said.
With the likely opportunities from initiatives such as the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a free trade area established in 2018 with 43 countries and 11 signatories, the brief by WHO said paint and coatings manufacturers embracing non-lead ingredients as feedstock for production, stand a better chance “to access to markets in countries where the lead content in paint is already restricted.
“Moreover, the existing market for lead-containing paint is likely to shrink as more countries introduce lead paint laws,” it said.
For instance, in East Africa, where the East African Community (EAC), an intergovernmental organization composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, has adopted region-wide paint standards regulations that limit lead content to the globally accepted 90 ppm.
EAC finalized the regional lead paint standard in September 2019 with another regional economic bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreeing in December 2020 to “develop a regional lead paint standard,” with paint testing having been completed in at least 21 countries across the continent.
The challenge with the EAC adoption of lead-free paint regulations across the regional economic bloc is that some of the member-countries, such as Rwanda, are yet to domesticate the law, hampering initiatives to harmonize market regulations, hence reduce barriers to increasing trade in paints and coatings.
As it stands today, Africa loses an estimated $135 billion annually due to exposure to lead, an equivalent of nearly 14% of the world’s $977 billion loss every year.
As 2024 beckons, the anticipation of many players within Africa’s paint and coatings market is that the elimination of lead paint, would not only help create a robust and fair business environment for manufacturers, exporters and importers but also pave the way for harmonization of industry laws that could boost market-widening economic initiatives such as the AfCFTA.
