Feature/OPED
Succession Planning: Big News for Family Businesses and SMEs
By Timi Olubiyi, PhD
It is no longer a secret that family businesses world over can struggle with governance, leadership transitions, and even survival or business continuity.
From context observation, the majority of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria are family-owned businesses. More so, over 60 per cent of all firms in most nations are classified as family businesses, according to an Irish report.
Family businesses are common in Nigeria especially in Lagos State, which is the economic nerve of the country. The importance of this form of business cannot be overemphasised. They are expected to contribute to the economy in these three key areas: creating jobs, improving Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and improving the standard of living or reducing the poverty level.
However, the failure rate of family business especially in Nigeria is high.
According to data, 95 per cent of family-owned businesses in Nigeria do not survive the third generation of ownership. This should be a huge concern to the government, policymakers, family business owners and future entrepreneurs.
Apart from the known challenges such as decrepit infrastructure, inconsistent government policies, double taxation among many others, which are contributory to business failures in Nigeria, the lack of succession plan is a serious issue militating against the survival and continuity of these family businesses.
Succession planning is the process of identifying and preparing suitable family members or employees through mentoring, training and job rotation, to replace key players within the family business as those key players leave their positions for whatever reasons such as retirement, advancement and attrition are usually missing.
With succession planning as a very important aspect of a business, overwhelming evidence from a survey and finding from a study indicate that 94.2 per cent of entrepreneurs and business owners in Nigeria lack succession plan or a poor succession plan exist in their business organisation. This portends a concern for the multigenerational growth of SMEs especially family businesses and is also a threat to business continuity in Nigeria.
Succession planning is one of the most demanding and necessary phases in business transition but this is usually left unattended or left till is too late amongst business founders and leaders in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, many of the companies do not even prioritize succession planning, choosing only to focus on how to grow their business profits rather than consider it along with sustaining the next generation business leaders or having multigenerational business growth in mind.
The purpose of adequate succession planning for family businesses is that it will minimize the gap and risk in the operations of organizations when key leaders or management staff suddenly leave the business.
Remember in our country, most especially in Lagos State, some prominent family businesses sprang up in the 1980s and the late 90s, however, these businesses were founded by then business mogul but if you look around, the businesses are no longer in existence with significant examples such as Late Bashorun M.K.O Abiola (Concord Group, Abiola Bookshop and Abiola farms); Late Alhaji Ahmadu Chachangi (Chanchangi Airline); IRS Group of companies founded by the late Chief Isiaka Rabiu Ayodele; Sunrise Group of companies founded by the late Chief Ajibade Falodu, Balogun Group of companies founded by the late Alhaji Lai Balogun; Sanusi Brothers Group of companies owned by the late Ayodele Sanusi, and late Chief Augustine Ilodibe, group of Companies are just some of the failed businesses.
These businesses thrived while their founders were alive, but folded up few years after their demise. The lack of succession planning has been identified as one of the major reasons why many of these first-generation family businesses do not survive their founders.
A significant number of these family businesses do not go beyond the first generation. Many of these companies failed not because of economic reasons or hostile business environment but because of poor management, lack of clear policies and strategy for continuity.
Ordinarily, succession planning would have effectively taken care of the issues if it was considered in good time.
However, the case is different in climes where the importance of adequate succession planning is recognised. The growing role of family businesses is evident even after the exit of the founder in these countries.
Largely, the continuity of these businesses is supported by a good corporate culture of succession planning. Some of these companies are Walmart owned by the Walton family (USA), Ford Motor Company founded by Henry Ford in 1903 and now owned by the Ford family (USA), Tata and Son Ltd owned by the Tata family (India), LG Electronics owned by Koo family (South Korea).
Nigerian family businesses can also build appropriate structures and culture to guarantee this form of business continuity and multigenerational growth.
Succession planning can help achieve this, by considering a deliberate effort of developing competencies into the leadership positions of your business.
Therefore, succession planning can be introduced into Nigerian businesses as an important tool to create this multigenerational growth, coupled with having a formal corporate governance structure and adopting strong internal control measures in the businesses.
Please note that by making succession plan arrangements early enough, business founders and owners can help make a smooth transition and minimize any negative effects of their departure from the company.
Because succession planning is an essential part of doing business, no matter how certain the future of the company currently appears, if it is disregarded it can threaten the business continuity.
Consequently, from a specialist perspective, the key assurance of multigenerational growth is to establish the right conditions as it concerns your corporate culture, governance, accountability, record keeping and information management so that the survival and multigenerational growth of your family business can be assured.
The starting point of this whole awareness is to consider and allude to whether the business will continue to operate after the departure or exit of the founder from the business.
Some business owners or founder choose to simply liquidate the assets and close the business with the exit of the founders or when they are no longer involved, while others wish for the company to continue.
If the owners/founders decide the business should continue, one of the most important decisions is to have the business succession plan. It will help identify, train and mentor the business successors.
So, to ensure a high survival rate of family businesses, succession planning must be put into the family businesses strategic plan.
Even though some SMEs adopt the informal approach, this usually ends up ineffective and undesirable for multigenerational business growth. If you want your children to carry on your business, you have to groom them and make sure they are competent to take over from you the founder.
For a business succession plan to work, successors must have been adequately groomed through mentorship and training for them to have adequate capability and knowledge to carry on the family business.
The succession plan should also be reviewed annually if it is in place to ensure up-to-date managers’ suitability and competency for the key positions and to also ensure that all aspects of the business management have been accounted for.
Please note that the risk of the absence of a succession plan to your business is detrimental to the continuity of your family business.
I, therefore recommend you hire a specialist to achieve or streamline this very important aspect of multigenerational business growth. If it is currently missing or unstructured, you need to address it before it is too late. Good luck!
How may you obtain advice or further information on the article?
Dr Timi Olubiyi, an entrepreneurship and 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 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered capital market operator. He can be reached on the Twitter handle @drtimiolubiyi and via email: [email protected], for any questions, reactions, and comments.
Nigeria’s financial services industry stands at a decisive crossroads as technology leaders prepare for the January 1, 2027, data residency deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The regulatory mandate requiring all payment transaction records, customer personally identifiable information (PII), and account ledgers to reside within domestic data centres is forcing a structural re-evaluation of banking IT architectures. For executive teams across the country, navigating this transition without interrupting daily banking operations is becoming the ultimate test of leadership.
For years, the industry’s reliance on foreign hyperscale providers delivered quick elasticity and global tools. However, transferring entire production stacks – encompassing real-time transaction processing, API gateways, and fraud scoring engines – back to local infrastructure requires significant engineering effort. With the country handling billions of electronic transactions annually, CIOs are seeking to preserve system uptime while severing deep operational dependencies on foreign data centres.
Experts have opined that the core challenge confronting financial technology teams is the lack of empirical, vendor-neutral benchmarks for domestic cloud platforms. Evaluating whether local data centres can sustain mission-critical financial traffic requires rigorous stress testing rather than relying on theoretical SLAs. The risk of potential downtime during a live migration makes vendor vetting the most crucial phase of the compliance roadmap.
To mitigate these operational risks, infrastructure partners like MTN are mobilising domestic capacity and technical insights tailored for the financial sector. By offering sovereign cloud solutions and collaborative engineering frameworks, MTN is helping CIOs and startups navigate the migration path with minimal disruption. Their localised infrastructure serves as an operational bridge, providing the uptime and data sovereignty assurances that both institutions and regulators require.
Lynda Saint-Nwafor, the Chief Enterprise Business Officer for MTN Nigeria, put it succinctly when she explained the upside of hosting data locally: “Hosting locally means lower latency, faster response times, and compliance with Nigeria’s data regulations. More importantly, it gives Nigerian businesses control, keeping sensitive financial, health, and government data within national borders.”
As the January 2027 benchmark approaches, the metric for success will depend on technical execution and operational discipline across companies.
By Osasikemwen Ighile
For many Nigerian families, the summer holiday is a season of fun, relaxation, and spending quality time together. But with the kids at home, more outings, higher electricity consumption, and extra entertainment costs, it’s also a period when expenses can quietly pile up.
The good news? You don’t have to choose between making memories and managing your finances. With a few smart habits, you can enjoy the holidays while keeping your savings goals on track.
Here are five practical ways to save smarter this summer.
1. Ditch Cash and Spend Smarter
Ever noticed how cash disappears faster than you expected? Whether it’s buying snacks for the kids, paying for transport, or making quick market runs, spending cash can make it difficult to track where your money goes.
Using a debit card can make it easier to track transactions and monitor spending. FairMoney customers can use their debit card for eligible transactions, subject to applicable terms and conditions. You can make payments conveniently at stores, shop online, and easily monitor your transactions. Instead of carrying cash everywhere, you get a clearer picture of your expenses and can avoid unnecessary impulse purchases.
Small changes like this can make a big difference over the course of the holiday.
2. The Kids Are Home—Stay Ahead of Your Utility Bills
School holidays often mean one thing: the TV is almost always on. From cartoons in the morning to football matches in the evening, your cable subscription becomes more important than ever. Add fans, air conditioners, gaming consoles, and other appliances, and it’s easy to see why electricity bills tend to increase during this period.
Rather than waiting until services are disconnected, planning and paying bills on time help households avoid unnecessary late-payment or reconnection charges. FairMoney customers can pay eligible bills and services through the platform, subject to applicable terms and service availability. You can conveniently pay for Cable TV subscriptions, Electricity bills, Internet subscriptions, Airtime and data for the entire family.
Paying bills on time can help reduce the risk of late payment consequences or applicable reconnection charges. Summer is filled with birthdays, outings, family visits, and spontaneous spending. While these moments are worth enjoying, your savings shouldn’t take a holiday.
3. Enjoy the Holidays—but Don’t Pause Your Savings
A simple strategy is to save first before spending. FairMoney customers can also use eligible savings products, such as FairSave and FairTarget, to set aside money towards specific financial goals, subject to the applicable product terms, conditions and eligibility requirements, even if it’s in small amounts. Already planning for the next school term? FairMoney customers can also use eligible savings products, such as FairSave and FairTarget, to set aside money towards specific financial goals, subject to the applicable product terms, conditions and eligibility requirements. Already planning for the next school term? Consider setting aside money regularly towards your school-fee goal. FairTarget can be used to help you organise savings around specific financial goals, subject to the applicable product terms, conditions and eligibility requirements. By starting early and saving consistently, you can better prepare for school-related expenses when the new term begins.
4. Plan Weekly Family Activities Instead of Daily Spending
The holidays don’t have to be expensive to be memorable. Instead of spending money every day on outings, cinemas, or restaurants, create a simple weekly activity plan. One weekend could be a family movie night at home. Another could be a picnic in a nearby park, a cooking competition, indoor games, or a visit to relatives.
Planning activities ahead helps you control spending while still giving everyone something to look forward to. Sometimes, the best memories cost very little.
5. Buy Household Essentials in Bulk
With everyone at home, groceries seem to disappear twice as fast. Instead of making frequent trips to the store, which often lead to impulse purchases, consider buying regularly used items in bulk.
Depending on the retailer and quantity purchased, some household essentials may offer better value when purchased in bulk.. You’ll spend less on transportation, reduce unplanned shopping, and avoid running out of important items.
Summer should be about creating happy memories not financial headaches. By spending more intentionally, paying your bills on time, planning ahead, and staying committed to your savings goals, you can enjoy everything the season has to offer without putting unnecessary pressure on your finances.
A few smart habits today can make the months ahead much easier. And that’s a win for every household.
Osasikemwen Ighile is the Brand Manager for FairMoney Microfinance Bank
Feature/OPED
Beyond the Screen: How Sports and Entertainment Keep Nigeria’s Economy Moving
When we talk about Nigeria’s economy, the conversation usually centres on oil and gas, banking, agriculture, manufacturing and technology. But there is another industry quietly creating jobs and driving economic activity: entertainment and sports. Most times, we only see the finished product. We watch the show, cheer during the match and move on to the […]
When we talk about Nigeria’s economy, the conversation usually centres on oil and gas, banking, agriculture, manufacturing and technology. But there is another industry quietly creating jobs and driving economic activity: entertainment and sports. Most times, we only see the finished product. We watch the show, cheer during the match and move on to the next thing. What we do not always see is the amount of work that happens before those moments reach our screens.
Take Big Brother Naija
When viewers tune in and see the housemates moving around the Big Brother house, it is easy to forget that the house itself is a product of many people’s work. From the interior designers and set builders who create the spaces to the electricians, carpenters, painters and technicians who bring them to life, an entire team works behind the scenes before the first episode even begins.
Once the cameras start rolling, the list gets even longer. Producers, directors, camera operators, sound engineers, editors, stylists, makeup artists, caterers, production assistants and security personnel all have a role to play. Then there is everything that happens outside the house. Publicists, photographers, videographers, digital teams, content creators and media platforms all contribute to keeping the conversation going. The housemates may be the faces audiences remember, but they are only one part of a much bigger entertainment ecosystem.
Sports have a similar impact
When the Super Falcons play a major game, the focus is naturally on the players and what happens on the pitch. But outside the stadium, the game can mean business for viewing centres, food vendors, restaurants and bars. Sports analysts and commentators have more to cover, content creators have something new to create around and businesses selling jerseys and football merchandise get an opportunity to make sales.
A major sporting event can turn an ordinary evening into a busy one for businesses that have little to do with what happens on the pitch. That is the part of sports and entertainment that is easy to overlook. The value is not only in the stars we see or the content we consume. It is also in the network of people whose skills and businesses keep these industries moving.
And this is where DStv and GOtv become an important part of the picture. They do more than give audiences access to the shows, matches and moments they care about. They connect the people producing this content with millions of viewers who keep the industry going.
Every time someone tunes in to Big Brother Naija, follows the Super Falcons or settles in for a major sporting event, they are engaging with an industry that supports producers, creatives, technicians, businesses and other professionals.
The impact of sports and entertainment, therefore, goes beyond what happens on the screen. By bringing some of the biggest entertainment and sporting moments to Nigerian audiences, DStv and GOtv help keep this ecosystem active, visible and working. Because sometimes, when we sit down to watch, we are not just consuming entertainment. We are also supporting an industry that provides jobs.
