Economy
Accelerating Potential of Nigerian SMEs
By Timi Olubiyi, PhD
As businesses grow, many decisions come to bear, from marketing to funding, expansion, investments, operations, logistics, staffing, technology adoption, and so on, all to enhance business productivity. Without a doubt, just like individuals make poor choices and bad decisions, businesses do too.
Business leaders and entrepreneurs make bad decisions not because they are not clever or experienced but because they are humans. Certainly, humans are never perfect decision-makers at all; a bad decision can occur once in a while or repeatedly, and such is the case with business leaders, entrepreneurs, top management, and/or owner-managers of businesses around as well.
As important as decision-making is in business operations, the good news is that business failures have been identified largely to be due to poor decision-making by operators, owners, or business managers. Why is this good news? Understanding the major cause of past business failures could help restrain many entrepreneurs or businesses from repeating this error clearly. Since poor decision-making has been identified as a major concern for business sustainability, making a good choice most time is important for any business, though this can be argued.
In business, no matter the structure in place, decision-making is key and is one of the main indicators of a high-performing business or one of the indicators of how healthy a business is. Remember, not having a decision-making process is in itself a decision on its own.
I have observed keenly that a large number of businesses, be they large or small in Nigeria, particularly the ones in the industrialized States and areas, relish taking shortcuts as a normal practice, and they hardly ever have an articulated decision-making process within their businesses.
It is rather worse in small-scale businesses where decision-making could be the sole responsibility of the operators or business owners. In fact, in small-scale businesses, the most common cause of poor decision is that the operators are so dominant with excessive managerial control that they see decision-making as their sole right without any recourse to the ideas or opinions of employees or others. This is the big issue really.
Furthermore, no initiative or contributions from employees and subordinates are ever considered, key decision-making is never participatory, and this sometimes leads to business concerns. A decision-making responsibility before, during, and after any implementation of a task in a business should not be the entire decision of the business owners. Playing the obvious role of the sole expert in all departments, units, and concerns of the business operations by the owners is never sustainable but damaging; this action has been captured as one of the major causes of the incidence of widespread business failures amongst small -scale businesses in the country.
A good decision can enable a business to thrive and survive long-term, while a poor decision can lead a business into failure. A common behaviour of leaving things to chance when decisive action ought to be taken is also a poor decision, which can bring huge consequences on the business.
This worrying development amongst small-scale business operators has cost many their fortune, particularly with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which has been impacting the economy and businesses negatively. It should be a time for decision-making for businesses and not a time to operate aloof. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world and also signalled a new era for businesses. Therefore, there is a need for business operators to take strategic decisions, most notably in the manufacturing, retail, and service sectors, due to technology disruptions.
Yet business operators in these mentioned sectors disregard this all-important activity. The failure of any business or venture to make good and quality decisions could be a result of many factors, such as inexperience, lack of time, stress, overwork, and pressure from stakeholders, among others. All these can lead to poor decision-making and the eventual failure of any business. The quality of decisions in any business directly impacts its performance and overall business outcomes.
Small business operators should understand that it is healthy for staff to disagree over decisions if the views defer. It only helps to make a proper and effective decision for the business at the end of the day. Leaders should purposefully create a culture where debate and disagreement are welcome.
Remember, decision-making is the action or process of thinking through possible options and uncertain outcomes and selecting the best option concerning the business. This decision-making could bother on marketing, financing, customer satisfaction, investment, and technology usage in the business.
It is often shocking that once-known and thriving businesses can suddenly go under and cease to operate as a result of what most times seem to be poor decision-making and mismanagement. In the case of big and widely known multinational businesses like Kodak, Nokia, Motion Blackberry, and Motorola, the management ignored the shift in technology and failed to be decisive in their decision making particularly on innovations, until it was too late despite the vantage position.
Though Nigeria has a tough operating environment and harsh economic factors, however, many of the small businesses and start-ups in the real estate, retail, manufacturing, corner shops, and service sectors, among others, have lost their relevancies due to poor or lack of prompt decision-making.
For instance, just on Ogudu road via Ojota in Lagos State, businesses that were once the toast of teeming residences and customers, such as Cherries superstore, Terminal 3 restaurant, CCD stores, and The Mr Biggs eatery Ogudu branch have all now remained permanently closed, failed, sold off or shut down to what seems to be poor decision making from the management. This is the fate of so many of the medium-small scale businesses in Lagos State and, indeed, Nigeria. They disappear after a few years of operations and never grow to become intergenerational businesses.
One of the worst things to do in business is to ignore customers’ preferences, revolutionary innovations and also fail to adapt to changes within the business environment as quickly as possible. The high business mortality rate in Nigeria is mainly due to these reasons. Entrepreneurs and operators try to protect what they already have going for them instead of having a decision-making process that can always suggest innovation and ways of doing things better to meet and surpass customers’ expectations.
Many businesses still follow this rigid path, particularly in the manufacturing, services, and retail businesses, lacking the foresight of the advent of online presence, e-commerce, and technological shift occasioned by COVID-19. In my view, businesses need to have a sound decision-making policy that is in tune with the current realities of aggressive social media and internet usage. We have experienced a major cultural shift in customers’ behaviour with COVID-19, and businesses need a decision-making process to review their activities from time to time. This will help to adapt to the economic and environmental changes accordingly.
Multiple studies have suggested that engaging employees in the decision-making process can impact businesses positively, make them more committed to business success, have stronger connections with the businesses, increase engagements and also help produce higher quality results.
Therefore, building a participatory decision-making culture is recommended for businesses, particularly small-scale businesses at this time. This strategy will more than likely improve the competitive position and effectiveness of the management, operators, and business owners. Because making decisions is a critical component of effective leadership, hence involving employees in the process will help businesses make better decisions.
Let the truth be told, inexpensive and reasonable businesses built around clothing, housing, potable water, medical care, education, home essentials, shopping and food items will always have economic demands. Thus, as much as the adequate and proper decision-making process or policy is in place, that should give the needed competitive advantage and make businesses not to ordinarily fail. Good luck!
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Dr Timi Olubiyi is an Entrepreneurship & Business Management expert with a PhD in Business Administration from Babcock University Nigeria. He is a prolific investment coach, seasoned scholar, Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) registered capital market operator. He can be reached on the Twitter handle @drtimiolubiyi and via email: dr***********@***il.com, for any questions, reactions, and comments.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bulls regained control of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday after surrendering power to the bears a day earlier as a result of mild selling pressure.
Yesterday, the Nigerian bourse rebounded by 0.54 per cent, mainly due to the gains recorded by First Holdco and others.
Data harvested by Business Post indicated that the industrial goods and energy sectors were flat, while the banking index chalked up 3.13 per cent. The insurance space expanded by 1.08 per cent, and the consumer goods counter rose by 0.21 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 1,316.52 points to 243,462.13 points from 242,145.61 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N850 billion to N157.057 trillion from N156.207 trillion.
The market breadth index was bullish during the last trading session of this week, printing 31 appreciating stocks and 23 depreciating stocks, representing strong investor sentiment.
First Holdco led the advancers’ log after it climbed 9.97 per cent to N95.95, Haldane McCall appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.65, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank soared by 9.73 per cent to N3.72, LASACO Assurance jumped by 5.26 per cent to N2.00, and Thomas Wyatt gained 5.10 per cent to quote at N3.09.
On the flip side, Red Star Express declined by 9.50 per cent to N20.00, Omatek slipped by 6.08 per cent to N1.70, C&I Leasing shrank by 5.93 per cent to N5.55, Jaiz Bank crashed by 5.03 per cent to N8.50, and Livestock Feed fell by 3.89 per cent to N8.65.
As for the activity chart, market participants bought and sold 685.9 million equities for N42.7 billion in 44,134 deals on Friday versus the 498.5 million equities worth N34.9 billion traded in 39,484 deals on Thursday, implying a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 37.59 per cent, 22.35 per cent, and 11.78 per cent, respectively.
Investors’ darling for the day was First Holdco, with a turnover of 225.9 billion units valued at N21.0 billion, Guinea Insurance sold 53.4 million units for N45.2 million, Zenith Bank traded 41.5 million units worth N4.7 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 29.1 million units valued at N720.6 million, and UBA exchanged 27.5 million units for N1.2 billion.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has appealed to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to deepen its sensitisation on the newly introduced Green Tax Surcharge Policy.
The chairman of APFFLON, Mr Akeem Ayobiojo, made this plea on behalf of his colleagues on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at the Customs House in Abuja, during a stakeholders’ engagement with the agency.
He also called for improvements in the administration of Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports and Post Clearance Audit and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Mr Ayobiojo stated that freight forwarders were happy to work with the customs, commending the organisation for implementing Chapter 99, describing it as a major relief for manufacturers.
He, however, emphasised that a deeper understanding of the new tax was necessary for his members, saying more predictable procedures would reduce delays and unexpected costs for importers and freight forwarders.
In his remarks, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, assured manufacturers, freight forwarders and other players in the nation’s trade sector that the NCS would continue to engage them on fiscal policies affecting their businesses, saying sustained dialogue remains key to resolving implementation challenges and improving the country’s trading environment.
He also promised them the service’s resolve to enhance and facilitate trade, acknowledging that, “Your feedback is important because it helps us understand what is happening in the field, and where necessary, we will take your concerns to the Federal Ministry of Finance and other relevant government institutions.”
Speaking about Authorised Economic Operator (AEO), Mr Adeniyi further explained that Nigeria would not lower the standards required under the Authorised Economic Operator Programme as the initiative is guided by global benchmarks established by the World Customs Organisation (WCO).
On her part, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs for Tariff and Trade, Ms Caroline Niagwan, clarified that electric vehicles can be imported without payment of duty only by holders of Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
She also urged importers facing classification disputes to take advantage of the Advance Ruling system, noting, “Once an Advance Ruling is issued based on genuine documentation, importers have certainty on classification, valuation or origin before the goods arrive, thereby reducing unnecessary disputes during clearance.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 17, by N1.35 or 0.07 per cent to N1,380.18/$1 from N1,381.53/$1.
It also improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N11.75 to trade at N1,854.42/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,866.17/£1, and gained N5.69 against the Euro to sell at N1,576.99/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,582.68/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira chalked up N1 against the United States currency yesterday at the GTBank forex desk to quote at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,389/$1, but closed flat at the black market at N1,405/$1.
The appreciation of the Nigerian currency on Friday came amid fresh signals that Nigeria is building its external reserves for protection against shocks and excessive currency volatility.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, said the country’s gross reserves had risen above approximately $52 billion by 15 July, while net reserves had increased from about $3 billion when the current CBN leadership took office to more than $40 billion.
Mr Cardoso linked the increase in reserves to reforms that had restored greater confidence in the foreign exchange system. He also pointed to efforts to diversify foreign currency inflows, including policies designed to increase remittances through official channels.
He noted that monthly diaspora remittances had risen above $600 million and the CBN expected them to reach approximately $1 billion by the end of 2026. The target is part of a broader effort to grow reserves through recurring inflows rather than temporary measures.
The improvement, he argued, had strengthened Nigeria’s capacity to respond when unexpected events threatened market stability.
The apex bank has also launched a new digital platform that will track every foreign exchange transaction involving Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, marking a major step in its efforts to improve transparency and strengthen oversight of Nigeria’s retail forex market.
As for the crypto market, prices were up as markets overlooked geopolitical developments and macro forces weighing on the whole market ecosystem rather than anything crypto-specific, with Cardano (ADA) up by 4.6 per cent to $0.1661.
Bitcoin (BTC) jumped by 1.8 per cent to $63,968.32, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.9 per cent to $1,843.88, Dogecoin (DOGE) also rose by 0.9 per cent to $0.0723, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.6 per cent to $74.90, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $1.08, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.1 per cent to $567.32.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.2 per cent to close at $0.3218, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
