Eaton, a global power management company recently embarked on an anti-counterfeit sensitisation exercise amongst trade partners and end-users at the Jankara Electrical market located in the heart of Lagos Island.
The exercise sought to educate and enlighten both resellers and users on how to identify at-risk and suspect packaging, extraneous marks or labelling, lookalikes, non-compliant and counterfeit products. Counterfeit electrical products can result in a higher risk of failure or malfunction. Such failures may result in electrical shock, overheating, or short circuits, leading to equipment failure, fires, or explosions that can cost lives and cause considerable property damage. Through this initiative, Eaton reinforces its commitment to thwarting counterfeiting through the education and training of all relevant stakeholders in the product supply chain.
Speaking on the sensitization campaign, Kunmi Odunoku, Marketing Manager for Eaton in West Africa shared that in many instances counterfeit products appear to be genuine but are unable to meet minimum performance specifications. “Counterfeiting is a prevalent industry issue that poses a threat to lives and properties. The sourcing practices of independent resellers and brokers put customers at a higher risk of receiving used, altered, reconditioned, or potentially counterfeit products. Counterfeit product manufacturers rely on deception and prices that are below market levels to find their way into our homes, businesses, and electrical infrastructure,” he said.
“Counterfeits, re-labelled, and non-compliant products pose a significant safety hazard to the electrical industry exposing users to risk. Recently, the proliferation of the market with sophisticated counterfeit products has resulted in a need to caution and educate resellers on how to identify these counterfeit products,” Kunmi continued.
Eaton continues to pursue every means possible to stop the illegal activity of counterfeiting while making the industry and public more aware of this critical safety concern. By increasing education on counterfeit identification, Eaton hopes to empower more people to make the right choice of purchasing authentic electrical products.
