Painting in East Africa

Add events, networking, jokes, stories or ideas
Post Reply
daniel.wurm
Site Admin
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:03 am

Painting in East Africa

Post by daniel.wurm » Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:59 am

Africa Paint
Africa Paint
africa paint.jpg (50.69 KiB) Viewed 31370 times
When we think of Africa the most common cliche views are of safaris, wildlife and tribes living in mud huts. This Africa definitely still exists, but most of us may be unaware that Africa is the world's fastest growing economy, ahead of Asia.

Recent heavy investment means that many African cities are giant construction sites, with huge new residential and infrastructure projects springing up everywhere, as millions of people flock to the cities for jobs.

Accompanying this construction activity is a rapid expansion and modernisation of the painting industry. Paint manufacturers such as Crown and Duracoat have become household names, with painting contractor busineses springing up everywhere. However, as with any rapid development, the fledgling painting industry faces serious hurdles.

Education

One of these is education. How do you train thousands of painters quickly and cheaply, when you don't have well-established and equipped technical colleges?

The National Institute of Painting and Decorating recently met with the Kenyan Institute of Building Technology, and major manufacturers in Nairobi, to discuss how we can help. Although Kenya has an established apprenticeship system for painters, a lack of funding and training facilities has meant that very little government sponsored training is being done. Manufacturers such as Crown have taken up the slack, employing a full-time trainer to train painters on the job, and establishing their own 'painting academy'. Both the government and Crown are looking at how the successful NIPD online training system can be used to train painters on the job, by streaming lessons direct to painters smartphones on the excellent Safaricom mobile network. The system can be used to teach not only practical skills, but also business skills for the new African economy.
Kenya Institute of Building Technology meets with Painters Institute
Kenya Institute of Building Technology meets with Painters Institute
Kenya Institute of Building.jpg (91.51 KiB) Viewed 31374 times
Lead Paint

Another huge problem, which shocks most painters in developed countries, is that paint with high concentrations of lead is still widely sold and used in countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cameroon, and Cote De Ivoire. Although lead was phased out as a major ingredient of paint in Australia in 1970, it still commonly exists in concentrations of more than 10,000 ppm in many paints manufactured in Eastern Africa. In many African countries there are no regulations in force to control the lead content; and consumers and painters are usually completely unaware of the health risks.

A recent study entitled 'The Economic Costs of Childhood Lead Exposure in Low and Middle Income Countries' estimates that childhood lead exposure costs the African economy $134.7 billion, or 4.03% of Gross Domestic Product. In 2009 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) jointly initiated the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint.

In Ethiopia 22% of paint has extremely high concentrations of lead, and 83% has lead concentrations that would not allow them to be sold in Australia.

In December the National Institute of Painting and Decorating met with Leulseged Mulugeta from the African Lead Paint Elimination Project at the University of Addis Ababa to discuss ways we can help raise awareness of the issue, and provide advice on how to transition to a lead-free paint industry. NIPD will be joining the fight to educate African consumers and painters on the danger of lead paint, and on how to cope with lead paint abatement.
African Lead Paint Elimination Project at Addis Ababa University December 2015
African Lead Paint Elimination Project at Addis Ababa University December 2015
lead paint africa.jpg (43.33 KiB) Viewed 31374 times
It is essential that pressure is applied to governments and manufacturers to regulate the use of lead in paint. Because introducing legislation is a long and tedious process, NIPD has recommended that faster results may be achieved by introducing new generation water-based technology, which not only is lead-free, but also is solvent free, eliminating many other hazardous chemicals from the manufacturing and application process.

How can you help? Join our fight for a better paint industry in Africa by becoming a sponsor, or a member of NIPD, the leading professional body for the painting industry. http://www.painters.edu.au/Find-A-Paint ... etails.htm

Post Reply