Economy
How Businesses, Govt Can Re-strategize After COVID-19—Amzat
Corporate organisations have been urged to rethink their business model and adopt technologies that would keep the green-light on, should another pandemic of COVID-19 scale ever happen again.
This advice was given by the Group Managing Director of Zedcrest, Mr Adedayo Amzat, during an Instagram Live Chat with the Editor of TechEconomy, Mr Peter Oluka on the theme, Implications of COVID-19 on Nigerian Economy: Way Forward for Businesses.
The capital market expert said the battle against COVID-19 was one that leaders today must win if we are to find an economically and socially viable path to the next normal.
“This is the worse than the worst case scenario that businesses plan for,” Mr Amzat said, noting that the last time the world experienced a pandemic like this was 1918 (the Spanish flu).
“No company or individual could have foreseen and made adequate preparations to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies and businesses.
“Businesses are shutting down in their numbers because this crisis is unprecedented. In order to stay alive, businesses will require a shift from a brick and mortar mind set to exploring digital channels to reach their consumers.
“What we have now are opportunistic winners. Digital business are taking over brick and mortar businesses,” he submitted.
He stated that very few insurance packages have pandemics in their contracts which unfortunately means that many businesses will struggle after the pandemic.
The financial expert also urged the government restructure its finances and to give more support to agriculture, mining and other sectors that can create jobs to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the Nigerian economy.
“Before now, the government have been trying to move the economy from an export driven economy to a consumption driven one. There should be more local aggregate demand to drive the economy. Government has heavily invested in supporting the agricultural sector. With lessons that we have learnt during this COVID-19 crisis, it makes sense to deepen internal competences across different sectors.
“Agriculture has the capacity to employ a lot more people. Our first problem in Nigeria is unemployment, if we can develop our agriculture value chain, a lot more people will be employed.
“Almost 100 million Nigerians live in abject poverty, but remember, poverty isn’t just the lack of money, and it is also lack of access to information that can lift you out of that poverty. Agriculture can increase aggregate demand and we can generate more tax revenues, which can make our GDP more liquid.
“We have a GDP of $360 billion, but we don’t make up to $20 billion in tax revenue. We can make our GDP more liquid by ensuring that people get to work”, he explained.
Mr Amzat opined that the government also needs to increase funding and encourage more research in the health sector.
“There was a video by Bill Gates that he did after the Ebola crisis, everything he said is happening right now. There is this theory that anything that can go bad will one day go bad.
“We have to have a plan for every possible situation. We need to create our health sector response and model it after the military. The military is funded even when there is no war, it’s like an insurance. Every year there is one health crisis or the other so why do we not have the same response for the military? What if HIV comes back what are we going to do?” he queried.
“We have to have reserve health doctors that can be called upon for periods when there are health crisis that can overwhelm the health sector,” he urged.
The Zedcrest Group boss concluded that this is the best time to reduce the cost of governance by slashing the prodigious salaries and allowances of political officers; needless tours and other ostentatious expenses.
For now, Zedcrest Group has since activated its business continuity plan which amongst other elements include a work from home arrangement for staff.
The Group’s consumer finance outfit, Zedvance Finance Limited remains one of the lending firms that are still active at this time through their digital channels.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Seven price gainers ensured that the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the first trading week of the year 2025 in the positive territory, with a 0.55 per cent gain.
In the four-day trading week, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N9.74 billion to N1.046 trillion from the N1.036 trillion recorded in the last trading week of 2024, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 16.74 points to finish at 3,052.34 points, in contrast to the 3,035.61 points achieved in Week 52 of last year.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc topped the advancers’ chart after it closed higher by 33.3 per cent to close at 20 Kobo per unit versus 15 Kobo per unit, UBN Property Plc grew by 10 per cent to end at N1.98 per share compared with the previous week’s N1.80 share and Air Liquide Plc also gained 10 per cent to end at N8.80 per unit against the former value of N8.00 per unit.
Further, 11 Plc rose by 7.9 per cent to N232.10 per share from N215.00 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc improved by 4.8 per cent to N23.05 per unit from N22.00 per unit, Food Concepts Plc jumped by 1.3 per cent to close at N1.60 per share versus N1.58 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 0.8 per cent to N4.89 per unit versus N4.85 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc shed 9.3 per cent to N39.76 per share from N43.84 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc depreciated by 9.1 per cent to N1.40 per unit from N1.54 per unit.
Last week, the volume of equities transacted went down by 41.8 per cent to 12.44 million units from 21.37 million units, the value of securities traded by investors slumped by 46.7 per cent to N61.62 million from N115.8 million, and the number of deals declined by 30.99 per cent to 49 deals from 71 deals.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc was the busiest stock in the week by value with N55.8 million, IGI Plc recorded N2.1 million, 11 Plc posted N1.5 million, CSCS Plc traded N1.1 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc recorded N0.59 million.
By volume, IGI Plc topped with 55.8 million units, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc transacted 1.4 million units, UBN Property Plc recorded 0.276 million, Geo-Fluids Plc traded 0.120 million units, and CSCS Plc exchanged 0.047 million units.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerians may soon begin to purchase petroleum products at the retail stations of Heyden Petroleum and Ardova Plc across Nigeria at lower prices.
This is because the two players in the nation’s downstream petroleum sector have entered into a bulk purchase agreement with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Recall that a few weeks ago, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc sealed a deal with Dangote Refinery, enabling it to sell premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, at N935 per litre across all its stations nationwide, addressing the long-standing issue of price disparities between states.
This action pushed the share price of MRS Oil at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited to a new 52-week high last Friday, as investors became increasingly optimistic about the company’s future earnings prospects.
Propelled by the economic relief provided by President Bola Tinubu’s crude-for-naira swap initiative, Ardova Plc and Heyden Petroleum agreed to join Dangote Refinery to bring down the prices of petroleum products.
Reports indicate that the bulk purchase agreement with Dangote Petroleum Refinery will enable both Ardova and Heyden to secure a reliable and consistent supply of petroleum products from the world’s largest single-train refinery, ensuring a stable supply of fuel at competitive prices, benefiting consumers across the country.
The arrangement ensures that Ardova and Heyden will have access to a full range of refined products, thereby securing their operations with a reliable supply chain.
The partnership with Dangote Refinery is poised to have a transformative impact on Nigeria’s oil and gas market. By ensuring a stable and affordable supply of fuel products in the over 1,000 retail outlets of the two companies, the agreement will help to alleviate the recurring issue of fuel scarcity that has long plagued Nigeria.
“This framework will see Ardova Plc offtake a full slate of petroleum products from the refinery. While Ardova Plc has been a significant off-taker from the refinery since its inception, this new framework will institutionalise a more robust relationship between the two companies to further enhance the emerging competitive landscape in the downstream oil and gas industry in the country,” a statement from Ardova stated.
Ardova has been a key off-taker from the Dangote Refinery since its inception, but this new framework is expected to formalise and strengthen the partnership between the two companies, creating long-term benefits for both parties.
The Dangote Refinery, which began production in 2024, has already played a pivotal role in addressing these challenges. Its large-scale operations have helped alleviate the supply pressures that often lead to price hikes and fuel shortages.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
All shares of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc have been delisted from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited trading platform.
This development was confirmed in a notice issued by the bourse last week to the investing public.
The disclosure was signed by the Head of the Issuer Regulation Department of the NGX, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai.
Before the action was taken, the stock exchange had suspended trading in the shares of the company ahead of its exit from the market.
“We refer to our market bulletin of 16 December 2024 with reference Number: NGXREG/IRD/MB93/24/12/16 wherein the market was notified of the suspension placed on trading in the securities of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc in preparation for the delisting of the company.
“Following the approval of the company’s application to delist its entire issued share capital from Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), please be informed that the entire issued share capital of Flour Mills of Nigeria were on Monday, December 30, 2024, delisted from the daily official list of NGX,” the statement said.
Flour Mills is leaving the local equity market after its majority shareholders agreed to acquire the stocks held by minority investors at N86 per unit.
The organisation is embarking on an ambitious $1 billion investment plan to expand its presence and impact across the African continent over the next four years, which is anticipated to create new opportunities and unlock value for the company, its employees, and economies throughout Africa.
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