Economy
e-Commerce Boosts Local Restaurants’ Sales
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The food industry may after all see the COVID-19 pandemic as a blessing because the virus gave players in the sector other ways of reaching their customers.
During the lockdown imposed in Nigeria, some local restaurants relied on e-commerce and online food delivery platforms like the Jumia Food to reach their customers.
Online food delivery gained momentum during this period and e-commerce platforms became the major connection between numerous buyers and sellers.
Nigeria, with an estimated population of over 200 million people, representing 2.5 per cent of the global population, is a readymade market for food and beverage related business.
Buttressing this is the popular Nigerian saying that ‘you can’t do food business and run at loss, especially in commercial nerve cities like Lagos and Port Harcourt.
In the Nigerian food and beverage market, the food segment was the market’s most lucrative, with total revenues of $33.7 billion, equivalent to 75 per cent of the market’s overall value.
With this huge opportunity, it was not surprising that players in the sector quickly looked for alternative to meet the demands of customers and one of them was Jumia Food.
“Our partnership with Jumia has consistently provided us with an opportunity to expand our existing customer base, attend to the dining needs of our customers at their convenience and in an efficient manner and reward our customers for continually trusting us,” said Ufuoma Ogeleka, Head of Marketing, The Place Restaurant while speaking on the benefit of Jumia partnership with the restaurant.
Other restaurants such as Chicken Republic, Sweet Sensation, Kilimanjaro, Drumstick, Sooyah Bistro to mention a few, have also embraced the ecommerce platforms like Jumia to reach more customers.
According to a pop singer and CEO of Sooyah Bistro, Mr Bankole Wellington, otherwise known as Banky W, online platforms such as Jumia were crucial to food business survival connecting with their customers during the lockdown.
“Sales dropped drastically, companies shut down, and a lot of people lost their jobs. We’re grateful that Jumia kept their operation going; it was reassuring to customers, helped give them options for food at a very uncertain and difficult time, and for vendors like us, it was a huge help to still be able to keep sales going during that period. The sales we got through Jumia helped greatly in keeping our employees paid, and our operation running,” the singer said.
It is expected that the online food delivery trend will become a common lifestyle among the emerging middle class population, with many relying on having their hot meals and groceries delivered at their doorsteps, as against going out to offline retail stores to purchase.
“In the coming years, we expect the internet will still have a very strong influence on overall customer decision making, an increase of self-serving order taking portals within the restaurants for walk-in and dine-in customers to become widely adopted and voice ordering integration to most mobile applications,” Ogeleka added.
The online marketplace is no doubt boosting local food sales for restaurants, as new generations of Nigerian middle-class consumers are spending more money on food and grocery products, thereby helping to fuel growth in the market. With proper support, the apparent boom in the sector will rub off positively on the agricultural sector with creation of more jobs and massive food production.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange made a marginal 0.01 per cent rise on Tuesday, April 29, pushing the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) up by 0.29 points to 3,282.42 points from the previous session’s 3,282.42 points.
Also, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased slightly by N170 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.922 trillion.
At the trading session, the bourse ended with two price gainers led by Geo-Fluids Plc, which chalked up 15 Kobo to sell at N2.13 per unit compared with the previous day’s N1.98 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc grew by 13 Kobo to settle at N1.29 per share compared with the N1.17 per share it was traded a day earlier.
However, Afriland Properties Plc lost N1.71 to close at N16.07 per unit versus the preceding day’s price of N17.78 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc crumbled by 65 Kobo to finish at N37.50 per share, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N38.15 per share.
The volume of securities traded in the session went up by 223.6 per cent to 2.2 million units from the 692,885 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 70.8 per cent to N38.6 million from N22.6 million, while the number of deals fell by 18.4 per cent to 31 deals from 38 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.
The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was Okitipupa Plc with a turnover of 153.6 million worth N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 14.7 million units for N566.9 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc 533.9 million units valued at N520.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally appreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 11.
Data obtained by Business Post from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the exchange rate closed at N1,601.04/$1 during the trading session compared with the previous day’s value of N1,601.38/$1, indicating that the Nigerian currency improved its value by 0.08 per cent or 34 Kobo against the greenback.
Also, against the Pound Sterling, the local currency appreciated yesterday by N5.57 to sell for N2,145.85/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N2,186.65/£1 but against the Euro, it lost N5.00 to trade at N1,823.82/€1, in contrast to the N1,818.82/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar on Tuesday, remaining unchanged at N1,610/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market turned bearish yesterday after a wave of economic data suggests the US economic activity is slowing down due to the tariffs policies unleashed by the administration of President Donald Trump.
Consumer confidence, according to a survey by the Conference Board, is currently at its lowest level since May 2020, a period when the world was on lockdown.
However, there are evidence that negotiation of trade deals with other countries, could offer support.
Dogecoin (DOGE) depleted by 3.3 per cent to sell at $0.1740, Ripple (XRP) lost 2.6 per cent to quote at $2.22, Cardano slumped by 2.4 per cent to trade at $0.6955, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.9 per cent to finish at $84.89, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 1.4 per cent depreciation to close at $146.55.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 1.3 per cent to end at $1,779.01, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 1.2 per cent to settle at $603.30, and Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.2 per cent to trade at $94,682.75, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
An additional N11.49 billion has been recovered by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts from some oil companies operating in Nigeria.
A statement signed by the spokesman of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, Mr Akin Rotimi, said the total amount recovered from these energy firms is now N61.5 billion.
He stated that the recovered funds were from oil and gas companies with outstanding obligations to the federal government.
It was revealed that $182,057.44 (N291.29 million) was recovered from Platform Petroleum Limited, $730,889.37 (N1.17 billion) was from Midwestern Oil and Gas, N1.58 billion from Seplat Energy, $3.9 million (N6.1 billion) from Aradel Holdings, $500,000 (N775 million)
From Network Exploration & Production, and $1 million (N1.55 billion) from Shoreline Resources Limited.
According to the statement, the committee’s intensified efforts are anchored on findings from the Auditor-General’s reports and data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
These have informed sustained engagements with oil firms to ensure accountability for unremitted funds and outstanding liabilities.
The legislative arm of government also warned some organisations ignoring invitations to desist from such.
It said these defaulting firms collectively owe over $384 million and N325.7 million to the federal government, listing them as Neconde Energy Ltd – $110.5 million and N325.7 million, Heirs Holdings – $137.7 million, AITEO Ltd – $34.8 million, Continental Oil & Gas Ltd – $31 million, General Hydrocarbon – $28.4 million, Energia Ltd – $19.5 million, Waltersmith OML 16 – $8.7 million, Bilton – $5 million, Pillar Oil Ltd – $4.6 million, Millennium Oil and Gas Ltd – $2.067 million, Conoil Producing Ltd – $1.1 million, and Frontier OML 13 – $952,216.51.
“This Committee will not tolerate attempts by corporate entities to evade their responsibility to the Nigerian people.
“These companies are withholding billions of Naira owed to the federal government, and we will not allow them to disregard the authority of parliament.
“If these companies believe they are too big to be held accountable, they must understand that their licenses are at risk.
“We are prepared to recommend immediate revocation for any company that shows contempt for this Committee and the laws of the nation,” the chairman of the panel, Mr Bamidele Salam, fumed.
“No company is above the law. The funds being withheld are critical to the country’s growth and must not be hoarded while Nigeria suffers. Every company operating in Nigeria must settle its obligations promptly, as required by law,” he declared.
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