In the bid to discuss the corporate organisations for Post-COVID-19 economic recovery, DATAPHYTE on Friday, May 22, organised a webinar.
The webinar, themed; ‘Repositioning corporate Nigeria for Post COVID-19 economic recovery’ had Mr Abiodun Oliyide, MD, Griffin Finance Limited, Mr Opeyemi Agbaje, RTC Advisory Services Limited as panellists, and Dr Tobi Oluwatola, Country Director, Solar Nigeria FTP as host.
The two panellists agreed that the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will have an adverse effect on all aspects of Nigeria’s economy. These include but not limited to small scale businesses. Despite the effect of COVID-19 on businesses, some are fortunate enough to be winning in this pandemic. The big one is the technology industry. The panellists stated that all fundamentals of the business have been shifted in favour of technology and other businesses such as delivery services have also been winning.
Here are a few takeaways from the session:
Opeyemi Agbaje: Before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria, Nigeria has had little ways of promoting FDI investments. In explaining how to encourage investments in Nigeria. Agbaje said, “The biggest change we need in government is a changed mindset because we have a mindset that is anti-investment.”
He further explained that poor infrastructure, the low employment rate, and a poor power sector have been the main factors discouraging FDI investments in Nigeria. To him, Nigeria needs ‘foreign investment at peak level’ in the post-corona era.
Furthermore, Agbaje gave some tips that would be helpful to corporate businesses to strive during this pandemic.
These include:
- Embracing local productions such as mining, agriculture, and processing
- More focus on the winners in this pandemic
- Embracing Information Technology
- Focus on output rather than availability, businesses should watch out carefully for government reform policies because they are likely to change, rethink, or revamp your business model, and leverage technology in your businesses.
Abiodun Oliyide: On the issue of the distribution of palliatives to Nigerians below the poverty line, Mr Oyilide decries the issue of inadequate database systems in Nigeria.
Giving hopes, he explained that Nigeria has a great database it can start with giving that there are 40 million Bank Verification Number (BVN) users, over 150 million registered telephone numbers, 70 million registered permanent voters card, and National Identity card (NIMC). All can be linked to provide a good database.
Oliyide also stressed on the issue of letting the private sector lead in this trying time. He said, “…allowing the private sector take over the economy has been overstressed but still lip service.”
He further warned that if Nigeria does not want to continue the trend of borrowing spree, it should start giving the private sector chance to take over and ‘put our money where our mouth is’. It is no doubt that the oil sector in Nigeria has been gravely affected, and the need to think of other sources of revenue is important.
Opeyemi Agbaje: On the question of ‘Can Nigeria survive without crude oil?’, he explained that ‘we can survive without oil profits’ and NOW is the opportunity for Nigeria to install reforms and policies that would rebuild its economy.
Conclusion
Agbaje posed the need for the right education to the younger generations since the ‘old ones are already gone’.
Oliyide calls for the re-education of young entrepreneurs. He decries the poor structure and modelling of small scale businesses in Nigeria. He explained that small businesses are being modelled in a way that does not and would not attract the right fundings and investments. He, however, advised that young entrepreneurs should go back to the drawing board and learn and be mentored by persons familiar in that aspect.
Tobi raised the point of aligning production with the realities of the economy. He explained corporate bodies need to show more responsibility. On the part of the government, he said they should make their policies more investment-friendly. He also decries the issue of poor data collection, stressing that ‘…as a country, we need to do a better job at collecting data, knowing who we are, and using the data we have lying around to be more productive.
Dataphyte hosts a monthly webinar on socio-political-economic issues around Nigeria and Africa. You can read Joshua Olufemi for partnership and sponsorship of series via [email protected]
NEXT Webinar Series
“The Role of Donor Community in Combating COVID-19 in Nigeria”.
Friday, June 26, 2020, by 11 am Register here: http://bit.ly/DWS2020
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