2nd March, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
A former presidential candidate and critic, Peter Obi on Saturday lamented that the business environment in Nigeria is worsening by day and affecting production.
Obi, in series of tweets on X said “Yesterday, we were confronted with the worrisome audited report of the multinational firm, Nestle Nigeria, which occupied much of the business media space.
“This morning, again, the media is awash with the unpalatable financial report from another multi-national company, MTN Nigeria Plc, showing a similar huge loss of profit before tax of N177.8 billion, which resulted in a wipe-out of shareholders’ funds.”
Obi said the loss was attributed to operational changes to the Nigerian Foreign exchange market, including the abolishment of the parallel structure announced by CBN in June 2023.
According to him, these business losses, and in some cases, closures and exit of local and foreign businesses were obviously a result of the worsening business environment.
“Following the losses reported by these major multinationals, one can imagine what the small businesses are going through, especially now that they are facing a double whammy from increased costs occasioned by poor fiscal policies, and high interest rates, occasioned by recent monetary policies.
“As a trader, I feel and experience it daily. Most of these losses by smaller businesses may not catch the attention of major media outlets. Many of the affected businesses may have closed down, leading to additional job losses, and many more may follow suit if this harsh business environment is not reversed.
“We must urgently reverse this ugly trend which is seriously discouraging production in our nation and has continued to hinder our movement from consumption to production.
“A New Nigeria is only possible if we can sustain a friendly business environment to keep big and small as well as local and international businesses thriving in our national economy,” he added.