Economy
Procter & Gamble to Shut Down $300m Factory in Nigeria, Sacks Workers
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Renowned and leading Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company, Procter and Gamble (P&G) is planning to shut down its newly commissioned production plant in Agbara Industrial Estate, Ogun State, Nigeria.
A report by Premium Times said the factory, which gulped about $300 million to complete and was commissioned in June 2017 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had been operating at loss since it started operations.
Frustrated by this, the management has allegedly decided to sell off the plant.
P&G produces popular products like Always sanitary pad, Pampers, Ariel detergent, Oral B toothpaste, Gillete shaving stick, among other products in the Nigerian market.
Quoting a source, Premium Times said about 120 workers are being laid off as part of the shutdown with some of them already receiving their disengagement letters which is to commence next month.
“About 30 staff will be left who may either be outsourced or deployed to our only remaining plant in Nigeria,” a company source informed the newspaper.
It was disclosed in the report that P&G has already sold one of its two plants located in Oluyole Estate in Ibadan, Oyo State as a result of poor earnings.
The company has two production plants in the area, one of which was used to produce Vicks lemon plus and the other Ariel detergent, but the Vicks plant has been sold.
“We had to sell the lemon plus plant in Ibadan. It was not sustainable to continue to run it at a loss,” the source said.
A resident of Oluyole Estate told Premium Times that one of the Ibadan plants, located along Seven-Up Road within Oluyole Estate, is still functioning while the other plant, which has now been confirmed to have been sold, has been moribund for a while.
The P&G source suggested that even the single remaining plant in Ibadan used to produce Ariel detergent is being reviewed.
“We are keeping it open for a while to see if we can sustain it,” the source said.
Insiders familiar with the development told Premium Times that the company is battling with the challenge posed by government policies that regulate importation of raw materials for its production.
A source explained that the cost of importing raw materials was becoming unbearable for the company, which has refused to involve in shady deals in order to cheat the system and ease importation.
“It is so expensive to import these raw materials which are not produced in Nigeria. Other companies take the short cut by manoeuvring the system, but we cannot,” a top official of the troubled firm disclosed.
Similarly, another factor said to be responsible for the shutdown was the unhealthy competition being faced by the company.
“Our competitors invested much less in their factory, can manoeuver their way in the system, and thus produce and sell for much less. We cannot do that.
“Our investment in Agbara is arguably the largest single investment by a non-oil firm in Nigeria. But we just have to shut it. The loss is much,” the source said.
When Premium Times reached out to the corporate communications desk of the company Tuesday morning, a staff of the desk, who declined to make her name known, quickly disconnected the telephone line immediately the questions about the shutdown were put to her.
But in a follow-up call by Premium Times Tuesday afternoon, a customer care attendant of the company told our reporter that no such development had been communicated to the communications team. The staff, who simply identified herself as Peace, said she was not aware of the situation.
“The information about the plant being shut down has not come to our notice. We don’t have the information at hand,” she said.
“So it means the plant is still running. But once we have the information that the plant is shutting down then we can disseminate. But for now we don’t have such information,” she added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has called on state-owned enterprises to increase standards of transparency, ethics, and performance as Nigeria pushes to build a $1 trillion economy.
Speaking at the MOFI Corporate Governance Forum in Abuja, the Minister described the newly introduced MOFI Scorecard as a vital benchmark for institutional health, designed to position state-owned enterprises for investment, growth, and long-term value creation.
According to Mr Edun, this scorecard is not just a document; it’s a test, adding that strong governance attracts capital, builds trust, and delivers real economic returns.
The two-day forum, themed Ensuring Value Creation in State-Owned Enterprises Through Better Corporate Governance, brought together CEOs, regulators, and development partners to examine how better oversight can unlock Nigeria’s public asset potential.
Referencing entities like NNPC Limited, Mr Edun noted that state-owned enterprises must be investor-ready as the government shifts from debt-heavy budgets to equity-based growth.
He also pointed to positive macro signals and falling food and fuel prices as early signs of a stabilising economy.
On his part, MOFI Chairman, Mr Shamsudeen Usman, confirmed that the scorecard will be enforced through independent assessments, including MOFI itself.
“We are not asking others to do what we haven’t already done,” he said.
Backed by the World Bank, the initiative marks a shift in how Nigeria manages public wealth, with governance now central to growth, resilience, and investor confidence.
The introduction of the governance scorecard is a testament to the Federal Government’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s economy. As the country moves forward, one thing is clear: transparency, accountability, and growth will be the guiding principles for state-owned enterprises.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The market capitalisation of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 1.70 per cent or N32.36 billion on Thursday, April 10, closing at N1.925 trillion, in contrast to the N1.892 trillion quoted at the preceding session.
However, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 10.46 points or 0.32 per cent to 3,287.85 points from the 3,277.39 points it ended a day earlier.
The market capitalisation was higher yesterday after admitting additional shares of Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Plc (InfraCredit) to the platform after regulatory approval. The firm joined the NASD Exchange on March 6.
The company, backed by the Nigerian sovereign wealth fund, added 11.166 million units to bring its volume to 26.421 million.
At the trading session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N1.91 to close at N38.50 per unit versus N36.59 per unit, Mixta Real Estate Plc rose by 41 Kobo to N4.55 per share from the previous closing value of N4.14 per share, Lagos Building Infrastructure Company (LBIC) Plc grew by 17 Kobo to N2.63 per unit from N2.80 per unit, and Paintcom Investment Plc improved by 2 Kobo to N10.74 per share from N10.72 per share, while Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 22 Kobo to N2.00 per unit from N2.22 per unit.
The volume of transactions surged by 9,665.9 per cent to 18.1 million units from 185,449 units, the value of transactions soared by 7,174.3 per cent to N192.9 million from N192.9 million, and the number of deals rose by 81.8 per cent to 20 deals from 11 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc ended the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) for trading 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.6 million units sold for N90.2 million.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc also remained as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 14.5 million units valued at N559.2 million, followed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N365.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation of 1.05 per cent or N16.97 against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 10, exchanging at N1,629.94/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,612.99/$1.
In the same official market, the Nigerian currency, however, traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro during the session at N2,085.01/£1 and N1,805.64/€1, respectively.
As for the black market, the domestic currency depreciated against the greenback yesterday by N5 to sell for N1,620/$1, in contrast to the N1,615/$1 it was exchanged at midweek.
The Naira had stabilise on Wednesday in the spot market after President Donald Trump of the United States announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for more than 75 nations, including Nigeria, that did not retaliate to his sweeping duties announced a week ago.
However, China, which recently placed steeped retaliatory tariffs on US goods, did not get any relief, as Mr Trump hiked the total levy on Chinese goods to 125 per cent.
Market analysts raise worries about a secondary effect of a trade war between the US and China, and how it can have effected on other nations’ economies.
Even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued to prop up the local currency, in the last week, the Naira has exchanged between the N1,570 and N1,620 mark.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed on Thursday after exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw outflows even as prices surged after President Trump announced a 90-day pause in tariffs on most countries, excluding China.
The dwindling demand can be attributed to the macroeconomic uncertainty caused by the US-China trade tensions that has led to macro investors selling every asset, including crypto ETFs, for cash.
Litecoin (LTC) gained 1.9 per cent to trade at $75.88, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 1.4 per cent to $0.6321, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.1575, and Solana (SOL) rose by 0.2 per cent to $116.94.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 3.6 per cent to settle at $1,533.42, Bitcoin (BTC) shed 1.2 per cent to end at $81,017.23, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 0.2 per cent to $1.99, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $579.45, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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