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Employers worried as at least 15 multinationals exit Nigeria in 3 years

Published

11 months ago

January 10, 2024

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), the umbrella organisation for employers in Nigeria, asserts that in the past three years, at least fifteen multinational corporations have either divested or partially closed their operations in the nation.

Adewale Oyerinde, the organization’s Director-General, issued a warning, stating, among other things, that the effects of the significant job losses across sectors would continue to pose challenges related to insecurity and a rise in the prevalence of child labour.

“It is worrisome to note that in the last three years, over 15 organisations with a combined value-chain staff strength of over 20,000 employees have either divested or partially closed operations.

“This has dire consequences not only for organised businesses but also for labour, government revenue and the households,” he noted.

The group also voiced worries about the nation’s growing unemployment rate as a result of local closures and corporate divestitures abroad.

Oyerinde cautioned, “The consequences of these massive job losses across sectors will continue to create insecurity challenges, increase the occurrence of child labour (as children will be forced to become breadwinners), adversely affect the disposable income of families, erode the purchasing power of individuals and drastically reduce economy’s output.”

He said that the association was concerned about the knock-on effects to the larger business ecosystem when it looked into the departures of well-known companies like GSK, Sanofi, Procter & Gamble, Nampak, and others that had been operating in Nigeria for decades and were significant employers of labour.

Unilever Nigeria announced its exit from the home care and skin cleansing markets in Nigeria in November, saying it did so “to find a more sustainable and profitable business model”.

Nigeria’s inadequate infrastructure is impeding the country’s ability to experience widespread economic growth. Foreign companies have been leaving the country lately, and manufacturers are already complaining about the new year.

Related Topics:Employment Featured Nigeria

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

4 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.