Economy
Expert Highlights Benefits of Business Process Services
**Tasks Nigerian Firms to Embrace System
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerian companies have been advised to see the urgent need to embrace the Business Process Services (BPS) because they are well positioned to enjoy the benefits of this system.
One of the top shots at Accenture FMCG, Mr Ololade Raji, noted that Nigerian firms can plug directly into the delivery machine of an experienced business process services provider to enable businesses to leapfrog competitors and drive business value – rather than being a back-office function.
Mr Raji said there’s a golden opportunity for Nigerian companies – one that turns their delay in investing in outsourcing and shared services into a unique strength.
According to him, the world of business process outsourcing (BPO), broadly defined, has undergone multiple incarnations. Pure facilities management preceded data and infrastructure outsourcing; thereafter came application support.
He said the business world was now in a new era, the business process support (BPS), which allows an external partner to manage everything from finance, to HR, sales support, credit and collections, as well as digital marketing.
Mr Raji argued that local companies have been reluctant to rely on third-party delivery of key services – in many cases due to fears around loss of control, where there is a legacy thinking of ownership equalling control.
That said, Nigeria has not been left untouched by traditional BPO – the application and IT areas have matured more rapidly over the past five years, nonetheless only one conglomerate has taken a bold BPO step in Nigeria, he said.
“Going forward, however, as we begin to see major moves towards drivers such as As-a-Service, increased automation and artificial intelligence, for forward-thinking Nigerian companies, leapfrogging competitors is going to be all about taking advantage of those next-generation capabilities today,” the business expert said.
A fundamental shift from BPO to BPS
Once, outsourcing meant taking as many people as possible and setting them up in a delivery centre. That is changing. A combination of the on-tap liquid workforce, robotics, access to industry expertise, cloud technology and artificial intelligence – that’s where the sphere is headed. Fixed costs are declining steeply; you now buy services as required. Digital is remaking outsourcing – ‘outsourcing’ as a term in fact is no longer accurate. It’s all about business process services and the way BPS enables more effective, intelligent decision making.
There are more exciting changes. Whereas cost reduction once lay at the core, the key driver is now business outcomes – selling more products, improving account usage and increasing revenue. Another relates to a mindset shift.
A service such as finance or procurement – when managed by an external partner – is now no longer simply a back-office process.
Analytics function becomes capable of shaping how a business thinks about itself. Utilizing an expert service provider means that those in both middle and upper management are free to think more strategically, Mr Raji noted.
He emphasised that, “Given the benefits, it’s hard to understand what’s been preventing companies in Nigeria from taking the plunge, although lingering fears around the ownership-control continuum may continue to play a key role.
“At first blush, it appears to some that loss of ownership of a function means loss of control over it. In fact, the converse is often true – particularly in the sense that a more arm’s-length relationship often results in better decision making.
“Interestingly, utilizing an expert provider like Accenture can give you greater control through deep expertise and a commercial arrangement giving committed performance and business outcomes.”
The value of going direct
Mr Raji further stressed that “companies in Nigeria will no doubt begin to increasingly realise the value and gains business process services enable – fixed costs decline as services are bought as needed; migration into cloud platforms powers both scalability and ease of access.
“The liquid workforce means high skill at reduced, flexible cost. Moreover, there are the benefits made possible not only by automation, but increasingly, by cognitive computing and artificial intelligence. The list goes on.”
He averred that as the drive around efficiency, flexibility and reactivity reshape the global business landscape, successful companies will need to realise operational efficiencies and access the strategic insights made possible by expert partners. It just so happens that Nigerian companies may be uniquely well positioned to do so.
Crucially, having largely side-stepped the shared services model, Nigerian companies are now better positioned to take a ‘long-jump’ approach to BPS: moving straight from in-housed disparate functions to plugging directly into an expert partner’s value delivery machine.
Many businesses in developed economies will, by contrast, have undergone a longer, ‘triple-jump’ process, having worked on a shared services basis in between, and endured the associated restructuring and upheaval.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian maritime sector may soon witness the inflow of $600 million in investment from APM Terminals.
On the sidelines of the ongoing Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, the Regional President of APM Terminals for Africa-Europe, Mr Igor van den Essen, informed President Bola Tinubu that his company was interested in deepening its investment in Nigeria.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President of Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the investment would be deployed in Apapa port modernisation, logistics infrastructure, and long-term private-sector investment in Nigeria’s maritime sector.
President Tinubu welcomed the investments, emphasising that Nigeria is repositioning itself for greater competitiveness through ongoing economic reforms and infrastructure modernisation.
He said the country is determined to move beyond structural bottlenecks and outdated systems, stressing the need for advanced technology, faster cargo processing, and improved operational efficiency across the nation’s ports.
He emphasised that Nigeria possesses the market scale, talent base, and economic potential to support globally competitive maritime and logistics infrastructure investments and called on other investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s reform outcomes.
Earlier, Mr Igor van den Essen lauded President Tinubu’s reform agenda and policy direction, which had strengthened investor confidence and created renewed momentum for long-term infrastructure investments.
He described Nigeria as a strategic stronghold within its African operations, referencing over 20 years of collaboration and substantial existing investments in the country’s port ecosystem.
He reaffirmed his company’s commitment to expanding investments in Nigeria and disclosed plans to support the development of world-class terminal infrastructure and technology-driven port operations.
He also commended Mr Tinubu for establishing the National Single Window (NSW), which has streamlined trade procedures, improved Customs coordination, and reduced delays in cargo clearance.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has filed a new lawsuit against the federal government over the fuel import licences issued to marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
Last week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) issued licences to six marketers for the importation of 720,000 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit, known as petrol.
The marketers are NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle, and Bono. The development comes amid claims by the NMDPRA that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery now supplies over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption.
Dangote said in the filing that the licences issued undermine its operations and contravene the law, which it argues allows imports only when domestic supply falls short.
Named in the suit against the country is the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi. The federal government can only be sued via his office.
The case signals renewed tensions almost a year after Dangote withdrew an earlier lawsuit challenging similar licences. That case sought to nullify import permits issued to the NNPC and several traders.
The new filing asks the Federal High Court in Lagos to set aside import permits issued or renewed by the NMDPRA, arguing they breach an earlier order to maintain the status quo.
Dangote ended the earlier lawsuit in July 2025 without explanation, leaving unresolved questions over competition and supply in one of Africa’s largest fuel markets.
Nigeria has long relied on petrol imports due to underperforming state refineries. However, Dangote’s 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery was touted to end that dependence.
Despite the presence of the facility, imports have continued to cover supply gaps as the refinery ramps up output.
The NMDPRA did not issue a single import licence in the first quarter of 2026 because the Dangote refinery had the capacity to meet Nigeria’s petrol demand.
Business Post gathered that only upon intervention by President Bola Tinubu were the licenses granted for the second quarter by the NMDPRA.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate in April 2026 rose to 15.69 per cent, beating analysts’ expectations of 15.95 per cent, as the fallout from the Iran war continued to affect the global economy.
The statistical office on Friday showed the headline inflation rate for April on a month-on-month basis was 2.13 per cent, while the food inflation rate in the review month was 16.06 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
The rise in prices comes as an energy price shock stemming from the continued conflict in the Middle East, which stoked food prices and affected relative exchange rate stability.
According to the NBS, “this can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Millet whole grain, yam flour, ginger (Fresh), beef, garri, tam tuber, pepper (Fresh), cray fish, cassava tuber, Beans, Irish Potatoes, tomatoes (fresh), wheat grain (Sold loose), soya beans, guinea corn, plantain, carrots (Fresh) etc.”
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending April 2026, relative to the previous twelve-month average, was 17.55%, which was 17.05% points lower than the average annual rate of change recorded in April 2025 (34.60%),” the NBS said.
Analysts at Coronation Research had earlier projected that the inflation rate in Nigeria would be at 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis in April 2026. It added that the expected inflation rate signals a return toward the underlying disinflation trajectory and could be a pivotal data point in shaping Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) deliberations at the next policy meeting.
It also expects food inflation to further ease, as food and non-alcoholic beverages remain the dominant contributor to headline CPI, accounting for about 40 per cent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket.
The MPC of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will meet this month, the first since the Iran War started in late February, to review core monetary policies and possibly make adjustments.
The committee reduced the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points from 27.0 per cent to 26.5 per cent at its 304th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in February.
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