Dangote Sugar Increases Dividend by 36.4% As Pre-tax Profit Rises

Esan Bolaji
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Dangote Sugar Increases Dividend by 36.4% As Pre-tax Profit Rises

Dangote Sugar Refinery shareholders to earn N1.50 final dividend.

The Dangote Sugar Refineries Plc in its published Full Year report for the period ended 31 December 2020 has proposed a final dividend of N1.50 to its shareholders. This is subject to approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
The Group reported a turnover of N214.298 billion, up by 33.03% from N161.086 billion reported in 2019.
Profit after tax for the period under review was N29.775 billion, up by 33.16% from the post-tax profit of N22.361 billion reported in 2019.
Earnings per share (EPS) increased to N2.45 from the EPS of N1.84 which translates to 33.16% growth year on year.

At the share price of N17.85, the P.E ratio of Dangote Sugar stands at 7.28x with an earnings yield of 13.73%.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc: Revenue expansion strengthens in Q3

DKT International Breaks Records in 2020 Results for Global Impact on Family Planning

Esan Bolaji
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DKT International Breaks Records in 2020 Results for Global Impact on Family Planning

Despite COVID-19 challenges, a leading provider of family planning products and services provides 48.6 million Couple Years Protection (CYPs) in 90 countries

DKT International, one of the largest providers of family planning products and services in the developing world, is proud to announce its record-breaking growth in 2020, having served 48.6 million Couple Years Protection (CYPs), which is the estimated protection provided by contraceptive methods during a one-year period based off total contraceptive sales.

DKT International Breaks Records in 2020 Results for Global Impact on Family Planning

“As one of the largest providers of family planning products and services around the globe, in over 90 countries, DKT continues to deliver contraception and safe abortion products, services, and technology with the support of public health institutions and NGOs”

Chris Purdy, CEO of DKT International, shared,

“As one of the largest providers of family planning products and services around the globe, in over 90 countries, DKT continues to deliver contraception and safe abortion products, services, and technology with the support of public health institutions and NGOs,” 

“Despite facing many challenges associated with a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, including contraceptive supply chain disruptions, reduced capacity of health care providers, and consumer behaviour change, DKT continued its commitment to protecting sexual and reproductive health initiatives and providing men, women, and youths with essential access to family planning.”

According to the MSI Health Impact Calculator, a tool developed to measure the impact of reproductive health programs, DKT’s products and services averted an estimated 11.3 million pregnancies, 49,000 maternal deaths, and 12.8 million unsafe abortions.

Highlights from DKT’s Impact by Country report reveals that DKT Indonesia averted over 1.9 million unintended pregnancies and DKT Nigeria averted over 17,000 child deaths.

In 2020, DKT sold or provided:

  • 824 million condoms
  • 103.4 million oral contraceptive cycles
  • 15.8 emergency contraception doses
  • 13 million 3-month injectable contraceptives
  • 3.6 million 1-month injectable contraceptives
  • 4 million IUDs
  • 2.5 million hormonal implants
  • 3.1 million contraceptive suppositories
  • 5 million medical abortion combination packs
  • 19 million misoprostol pills
  • 251,000 manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) kits
  • 1.5 million MVA cannulae
  • 52,000 tubal ligations and vasectomies
  • 3.3 million oral rehydration salt (ORS) packs
  • 1.4 million pregnancy test kits
  • 3.5 million lubricant sachets/tubes
  • 55,000 HIV test kits

“During one of the most challenging years for global health, DKT was not only able to maintain access to family planning products and services, but also increase that access in some areas of the world.

We thank the many employees, donors, and partners who have supported DKT during this past year. These results and impact would not have been possible without you,” adds Purdy.

Since 1989, DKT International’s core mission has been to provide safe and affordable options for family planning and HIV prevention through social marketing in underserved countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Zenith Bank…Strong Top And Bottom Lines, Boosted By Growth In Non-interest Revenue

WSTC Research
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Zenith Bank…Strong Top And Bottom Lines, Boosted By Growth In Non-interest Revenue

Zenith Bank Plc posted a 5% topline growth in its recently released full-year 2020 result. Net interest income grew YoY by 12% due to a steep decline in interest expense. Non-interest revenue increased YoY by 12% due to FX revaluation gains.

The group’s total operating cost rose YoY by 10% due to exchange rate and inflationary pressures during the period. Profit before tax (PBT) grew by 5%, and profit after tax (PAT) increased by 10% due to a lower effective tax rate.

The group posted an EPS of N7.34k in FY 2020 (FY 2019: N6.65k) and declared a final dividend of N2.70k (FY 2020 dividend: N3.00k; FY 2019 dividend: N2.80k). The dividend qualification date is March 8, 2021, and the payment date is March 16, 2021.

Zenith Bank Plc - Resilient Earnings Profile Amid Macroeconomic Headwinds Brandspurng

Competitive assets pricing amid a low yield environment impacted interest income

Interest income grew by 1% YoY from N415.56n to N420.81bn in FY 2020 despite the significant surge in interest yielding assets. Interest-earning assets increased by 29% from N4.96trn in FY 2019 to N6.38trn in FY 2020, but interest income for the period grew at a slower pace. The slow growth in interest income was due to the low-interest-rate environment in 2020.

The group had to reprice its risk assets to 20 stay competitive and invested in risk-free securities at depressed yields. For instance, while the group’s loans and advances spiked YoY by 21% from N2.31trn 12 to N2.78trn in FY 2020, the interest on loans and advances grew by 8% only from 8 N232.95bn to N250.81bn in FY 2020.

Also, while investment in treasury bills surged by 59% from N991mn to N1.58trn in FY 2020, interest on treasury declined by 34% YoY from N81.11bn to N53.80bn in FY 2020. Overall, the low-yield environment and competitive asset pricing dampened interest income growth in 2020.

Rebalancing of funding mix amid low-interest environment improved cost of funds

On the other hand, interest expense declined by 18% YoY from N148.53bn to N121.13bn in FY 2020, driven by the low yield environment. The group seized the opportunity to rebalance its deposit mix to cheaper funds.

Specifically, customers’ deposits on savings and current account spiked YoY by 88% and 50%, respectively, in FY 2020, improving the group’s CASA ratio to 78% in FY 2020 (FY 2019: 68%). As a result, the group’s customers’ deposit increased YoY by 25% from N4.26trn to N5.34trn in FY 2020.

But, interest cost for the period declined. The reduction in interest expenses was due to a 41% and 38% YoY decrease in interest on borrowed funds and lease, as well as time deposits, respectively.

Interest on borrowed funds and lease declined from N67.95bn to N40.07bn in FY 2020, and the interest cost on time deposits decreased from N47.33bn to N29.27bn in FY 2020, as the group paid down on some of these expensive funding sources.

Consequently, the group’s cost of funds improved by 90bps to 2% in FY 2020 (FY 2019: 3%). As a result, net interest income grew by 12% YoY to N299.68bn in FY 2020 (FY 2019: N267.03bn).

However, due to the low-interest-rate environment, which had a more profound impact on assets return, the group’s net interest margin contracted by 30bps to 8% in FY 2020.

FX revaluation gains drove growth in non-interest revenue

Non-interest grew by 12% YoY from N246.69bn to N275.64bn in FY 2020, driven by FX revaluation gains. The group recorded an FX revaluation gain of N43.44bn in FY 2020 (FY 2019: N11.54bn) arising from the translation of its foreign assets following the devaluation of Naira. Also, trading income grew YoY by 3% from

N117.80bn to N121.68bn in FY 2020. However, net fees and commission income declined markedly by 21% from N100.11bn to N79.33bn in FY 2020 due to regulatory induced reduction in banking fees.

Overall, the contribution of non- interest income to the group’s total revenue increased from 37.2% in 2019 to 39.6% in 2020. Thus, improving the diverse revenue base of the group.

Inflationary pressure and heightened regulatory cost bloat total operating cost

Total operating expenses increased YoY by 10% from N231.83bn to N256.03bn in FY 2020. The increase was primarily due to naira devaluation during the period. As a result, the group incurred a higher cost on FX denominated transactions such as the IT cost.

Information technology (IT) cost spiked by 108% from N9.85bn to N20.44bn in FY 2020. Aside from the FX impact, the group increased investment in cybersecurity following the work from home policy induced by the pandemic.

According to management, they wrote off most of the IT cost in 2020 against the usual practice to spread it over three years. Also, fuel and maintenance cost rose YoY by 23% due to energy and FX price adjustment.

On the other hand, NDIC premium and AMCON premium rose by 12% and 8%, to N14.41bn and N30.95bn in FY 2020. Consequently, the group’s cost to income ratio increased from 49% in 2019 to 50% in 2020.

Historical Performance

Zenith Bank…Strong Top And Bottom Lines, Boosted By Growth In Non-interest Revenue brandspurng
Source: Company accounts, WSTC Research

Recommendation

We note the Zenith Bank’s top and bottom-line growth despite the challenging macroeconomic environment exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic. However, the relative impressive performance in 2020 was on the back of FX revaluation gains.

As we advance, however, we do not expect these gains to reoccur in the near term. We expect improved assets yield as interest rates normalise in 2021. We also expect increased transaction volume as the economy recovers.

Overall, we have a forward EPS of N7.45k on the stock with a fair value estimate of N25.54k per share. At the current market price of N25.45k, we believe that the stock is fairly priced.

And thus, we recommend a HOLD.

Nigerian Breweries Plc…Earnings Recovery in Sight

WSTC Research
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In what was a tumultuous year for brewery companies, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Nigerian Breweries Plc demonstrated its resilience and market leadership status.

The Company’s revenue grew by 4% YoY, from N323.01bn in FY’2019 to N337.05bn in FY’2020. During the first half of the financial year, revenue dipped by 11% YoY from N170.19bn to N151.81bn, on the back of lockdown directives and other movement restrictions by the national authorities to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The restrictions implied the closure of bars and other major sale points. The coronavirus pandemic also induced a supply chain disruption, which resulted in lower production activities.

Insider Dealing: Heineken Brouwerijen B.V Purchases 274,542 Shares in Nigerian Breweries

However, the Company recorded a 22% YoY revenue growth in the second half of the year from N152.73bn to N185.24bn. The growth drivers in H2’2020 were a combination of price and volume growth. On volume, the economy reopening supported the growth during the period.

The Company embarked on product innovation by producing variants and different flavours of major brands, to meet consumer preferences and taste. In addition, the strategic decision of the Company to focus more on the premium brands yielded positively on topline growth.

Furthermore, the Company’s improved distribution and route-to-market strategy drove increased sales during the period.

The Company raised the prices of its products during the year, amid rising raw material costs. In addition, the combined effect of an exchange rate devaluation and higher VAT left the Company with no option but to reflect the higher costs in the form of higher prices.

In FY’2020, the cost of sales rose by 14% YoY from N191.76bn to N218.36bn, therefore, resulting in a 600 basis points increase in cost margin from 59% in FY’2019 to 65% in FY’2020. The 4% YoY revenue growth in FY’2020, relative to the 14% YoY cost increase, suggests that the Company did not totally pass on the cost burden to consumers.

As a result, margins shrank. In our view, the inability to pass on the cost burden stems from the sensitivity of the consumers to prices of the Company’s products, amid declining household income and intense industry competition.

Operating Efficiency Achieved, But not enough.

Operating expense (OpEx) margin lowered from 30% in FY’2019 to 27% in FY’2020, reflecting a 7% YoY decline in OpEx, from N97.05bn in FY’2019 to N89.91bn in FY’2020. A 9% decline in marketing and distribution expense (which contributes c.80% of total operating expenses) drove the overall OpEx decline.

We attribute the marketing expenses decline to the inability of the Company to execute some marketing and promotional activities due to social distancing.

Currency Devaluation Worsen Bottomline

Operating profit, nonetheless, declined by 16% YoY from N35.21bn to N29.61bn. The material decline in gross margin (from 41% in FY’2019 to 35% in FY’2020) due to high input costs, impacted negatively on the bottom line. Net finance cost spiked by 52% YoY from N11.85bn to N18.03bn, driven by a N4.77bn net foreign exchange loss.

Also, interest expense on lease liabilities rose from N19.70mn in FY’2019 to N4.17bn in FY’2020. As a result, the Company’s profit recorded a steep decline.

Profit before tax nosedived by 50% YoY, from N23.35bn in FY’2019 to N11.58bn in FY’2020. Owing to a higher effective tax rate, from 31% in FY’2019 to 36% in FY’2020, profit after tax declined 54% YoY from N16.11bn in FY’2019 to N7.37bn in FY’2020.

In line with the Company’s 100% dividend payout trend, the Company declared a N0.94 total dividend (interim dividend: N0.25; final dividend: N0.69) for FY’2020.

Having declared and paid a N0.25 interim dividend during the financial year, a N0.69 final dividend will be paid on April 23, 2021. The final dividend qualification date is on March 10, 2021.

Delayed Payments to Creditors Drive Strong Cash Flow Generation

Operating cash flow spiked by 114% YoY, from N38.89bn in FY’2019 to N83.27bn in FY’2020. The significant increase in operating cash flows resulted from a N50.30bn delayed payables to creditors. According to the management, most of the payables were owed to the Company’s parent company, Heineken. In our view, we posit that the Company benefitted from favourable credit terms from its parent company as support to prop up liquidity, amid the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on operations.

Historical Income Statement

Nigerian Breweries Plc...Earnings Recovery in Sight brandspurng
Source: Company Accounts, WSTC Research

Outlook

We expect the Company to drive growth via an increased focus on the premium segment of its brands, and product innovation. The management guided that amid the macroeconomic challenges that have constrained household income and demand, the focus will be more on the market where consumers are willing to pay more for value (i.e., the premium segment).

Some initiatives to drive value in the premium segment include the rebranding of products in sleek cans and the introduction of new products.

We also expect to see increased product offerings and variations in the near to medium term, as the Company aims to meet consumer preferences. In December 2020, the Company launched a new product ‘Desperados’, a tequila-flavoured beer into the market. Nonetheless, we believe that cost pressures will persist, thereby limiting the topline gains.

Valuation

We estimate a N439.59bn (value per share: N54.97) for Nigerian Breweries Plc, using a blend of Discounted Cash Flow, Discounted Dividend Model, Residual Income Model valuation methodologies.

Our valuation considerations include:

  • Possibility of higher prices in the near to medium term.
  • Increased market share resulting from product innovation and higher product-mix.
  • Macroeconomic challenges leading to increased cost pressures.

At the current market value (N415.84bn), we believe that the stock offers a 10% total return (price return: 6%; dividend yield: 4%).

Hence, we recommend a HOLD.

GTBank: Macro-Economic and Banking Sector Themes for 2021

Esan Bolaji
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GTBank: Macro-Economic and Banking Sector Themes for 2021

Review Of 2020

Celebrating Life

The ‘Haka’ is a ceremonial dance of the Maori tribe of New Zealand usually performed in a group. It is characterized by energetic body movement, fierce facial expressions, and rhythmic loud chants. Maori mythology suggests that the Haka is a dance about the celebration of life.

GTBank Brandspurng Macro-Economic and Banking Sector Themes for 2021

The most famous of many versions of the Haka is the Ka Mate which symbolizes the celebration of life triumphing over death and is performed by the New Zealand national rugby team, the All Blacks, before every match. When Covid-19 is long gone, may we gather in groups with our families and friends to dance the Ka Mate with all its passion and vigour?

As of the time of writing, Covid-19 had spread to over 220 countries, infecting about 103 million people with over 2.2 million fatalities. The pandemic inspired changes in the way we live and made 2020 a difficult year to forget.

Asides from the pandemic, 2020 was also a ‘year of fire’ as uncontrollable wildfires in Australia, Siberia, the Amazon and the West Coast of the US, reminded the world of the raging danger of climate change. Scientists argued that climate change also played a part in the worst locust plague in over 2 decades that swept through parts of East Africa and South Asia destroying crops and causing marked environmental and health challenges.

Moving to global politics, with Joe Biden sworn-in as the 46th President of the US, we are keen to see former President Trump’s next move as his alleged part in inciting an insurrection of the Capitol Hill earned him an impeachment making him the first American president to be impeached twice. Biden’s presidency is expected to represent, for many, a reassuring reset for an America significantly divided by the politics of President Trump.

Riding on the surge of bitcoin in 2020, China is set on making its currency, the Yuan, a dominant global currency with the launching of the world’s first e-currency, the e-yuan.

In a related development, most central banks are finalizing plans to launch their digital currencies to mitigate the raging threat of cryptocurrencies on fiat currencies and offer alternatives that could see people withdraw money from their bank accounts into their government-backed digital wallet.

In the UK, the political weight of fishing came to bear as an entire section and several annexes were dedicated to fisheries in the Brexit trade deal agreed on Christmas Eve came to effect on January 1st, 2021. The Beirut port explosion resulting from the accidental ignition of over 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, coupled with the political instability and reeling effect of the covid-19 pandemic exacerbated an already dire economic condition in Lebanon.

The death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for almost 10 minutes, triggered massive protests against systemic racism and police brutality in the US; cascading into similar protests against injustice and corruption by government officials in several countries including Thailand, Bulgaria, Nigeria, etc.

The sports world was thrown into mourning by the deaths of US basketball legend Kobe Bryant and Argentine football legend Diego Maradona; events that opened and closed the year. Health workers all over the world earned the super-hero title as they, not only worked round the clock to save lives and bring the pandemic under control but also battled to stay alive being endangered themselves.

Economically, the pandemic-induced lockdowns and movement restrictions disrupted international trade and impacted investment and human capital. This led to a collapse of global economic activity and drove many economies into a recession.

The World Bank estimates that the global economy would have contracted by 4.3% in 2020 but opines a 4.1% expansion in 2021 predicated on proper pandemic management, accelerated and effective vaccination and improved monetary policies.

In Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) where it is estimated that a minimum of 10-year gains in per capita income had been eroded in 2020, the World Bank projects an expansion of about 5% in 2021 on the back of improved external demands, curtailed pandemic spread and better-than-expected recovery in China. Excluding China, projected growth is expected to slow to 3.4% as most EMDEs went into recession in 2020.

The spread of the virus in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been lower-than-expected despite the region’s relatively weaker healthcare systems and huge informal sector players. The lower number of cases relative to prediction has been ascribed to the region’s pre-dominantly young population who seem less vulnerable to the pandemic.

There are however concerns that the true impact of the pandemic might be understated owing to inadequate testing capabilities and inaccurate monitoring of Covid-19 related illnesses and fatalities.

The World Bank expects that the region shrunk by 3.7% in 2020 but projects a 2.7% growth in 2021 predicated on improved economic activity in the region’s largest economies (Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, etc), resumption of tourism activity in some countries, higher international prices for agricultural exports, acceleration in investment (especially foreign direct investment) and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

The region-specific downside risks to this projection include lower-than-expected growth in the region’s key trading economies, lingering adverse effects of the pandemic, delayed distribution of the vaccines, additional lockdowns, muted investments and further delay in implementing AfCFTA.

Generally, the worst-hit countries will include those with a heavy reliance on services and tourism, relatively large domestic outbreaks of the covid-19 pandemic as well as those dependent on industrial commodity exports that suffered a sharp decline in demand. A related concern is the growing debt crisis arising from rising financial deficits occasioned by the increased government borrowings amidst plummeting revenues.

Nigeria

Aside from the devastating impact of the covid-19 pandemic which triggered the health and economic challenges, the aftermath of the peaceful #ENDSARS protests across the country by youths lending their voices against brutality and high-handedness of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) cast a dark shadow on the year 2020. Relatedly, the deteriorating security situation amplified calls for a change of guard of security chiefs in the country.

In his 2021 New Year message, whilst reassuring the youths of his administration’s commitment to fulfilling their 5for5 demands and reforming the NPF, President Buhari also revealed plans to re-energize and reorganize the security apparatus and personnel of the security agencies to enhance their capacity to subdue criminal and extremist groups in the country. In line with his promise, President Buhari replaced the service chiefs, in January 2021.

Savvy Publishes Its First Impact Report Since Launch

Esan Bolaji
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0
Savvy Publishes Its First Impact Report Since Launch

The non-profit organization, Savvy, has today, published its first impact report since its launch. On February 24, 2021, it published a post on Facebook and other social media platforms that read: “Feb. 4, made it 6 months since we launched the Savvy Fellowship program, and it seems like yesterday. How time flies.“

On a mission to train at least 10,000 passionate individuals to build successful impact-driven businesses, the organization has decided to measure and publish its progress for the last 6 months, to see whether or not it’s making an impact or falling behind.

Savvy Publishes Its First Impact Report Since Launch

From August 4, 2020, to February 4, 2021, Savvy received 39,958 applications from individuals interested in the Savvy program. It accepted 3,298 of them, which is an 8.25% acceptance rate. 1,121 being female, and 2,177 being male.

These 3,298 participants (often referred to as Savvy Fellows) come from 122 countries. 2,181 of the Fellows have completed the Savvy program—generating 1,278 business ideas and kickstarting 587 businesses during and after the program. In the nearest future, Savvy plans to get more mentors for the Savvy program, train 7,000 more individuals through the program, and provide Internet allowance for some of the Fellows who need it to participate in the program.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many have lost their jobs and are now living in an uncertain world. I and 131 entrepreneurs from 36 countries came together to start Savvy, a global Fellowship program equipping these recently unemployed individuals with the necessary knowledge and skill that they need to start their own impact-driven business and succeed as entrepreneurs,” says Chidi Nwaogu, Head of Fellowship Program at Savvy.

For 12 weeks, no matter what stage their venture is, the Savvy program helps selected Fellows answer all the relevant questions that they need to kickstart their amazing impact venture, gain early traction, achieve product-market fit, scale into new markets, create jobs, and improve the economy of their nations.

e-Commerce: Call to rescue SMEs’ Data Genocide

Esan Bolaji
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1
e-Commerce: Call to rescue SMEs’ Data Genocide

Many billions of data sets are entangled and suffocated in SMEs’ business value chain. This scenario is creating an enormous problem to leveraging e-Commerce for economic development, provision of jobs and creation of wealth.

Post COVID-19 pandemic issues have disclosed that ‘unless we consciously promote and empower e-Commerce in Nigeria, the consequences may result in the annihilation of SMEs’! Indeed, without a well-structured and resilience SME segment, there may be no viable trade and commerce platform for constructive intervention to attain our sustainable development goals.

e-Commerce brandspurng Call to rescue SMEs’ Data Genocide

Gains from e-Commerce can write the cheque to significantly assist in reviving our dying SMEs and reduce youth employment in Nigeria.

This is possible if we can intelligently provide the framework to secure and analyse related data sets that gets missing in action by policymakers each day. The phenomenal data genocide observed in our trade-ecosystem, if rescued, can create millions of jobs; as well as value chains of wealth for the country. It will also renew lost hope for the disillusioned youths, their families and indeed contribute positively to the GDP. This calls for a proactive National e-Commerce policy and devoted strategies to energize indigenous business empires.

Unarguably, the biggest problem we face in Nigeria/Africa is leveraging evidence-based data for accelerated development and economic advancement. For want of an equitable expression, with respect to e-Commerce analytics; it appears we are annihilating data required for the growth and security of life. In other words, our concern should now be focused on exploring if we are not facing an e-Commerce data genocide in Africa?

It is significant to note that data genocide contributes to catastrophic e-Commerce poverty in Nigeria/Africa. This is against the background of the energy status in the production and development processes of the wealth creation value-chain. For example, reliable data informs that the total energy consumption required for the advancement of education, shelter, trade and security in Africa is equal to the total power generation and consumption volume in the Republic of Spain!

Therefore, this is the right time to empower mega e-Commerce companies in Nigeria.

To achieve this, the smart economic approach is to urgently start trade recovery investment to rescue millions of small-scale SMEs currently on life support and dying out there.

In the United States, for example, over 480,000 small-scale enterprises have gone under! SMEs represent the economic backbone of mega enterprises and sustainable mechanism for effective governance and national security-of-things.

Reliable estimates indicate that if an e-Commerce outfit such as Konga in the Zinox Group and others are empowered to create a physical market distribution presence in the 36 States; the stimulant intervention will energise the creation of 20,000 new small-scale enterprises with capabilities to create over five million jobs and related activities in the trade, commerce and logistics industries.

In a span of 24 calendar months; e-Commerce enabled solar energy to millions of homes will produce three million employment avenues for Nigeria.

Post-pandemic reality has now cleared the air that the world can now anticipate a 276.9% increase in worldwide eCommerce sales over the most-recently tracked period (cumulative data).

However, many business owners and investors are vigorously scratching their heads and strategizing on how to participate and scale into that magic number adding up to $4.7 trillion; where e-Commerce has a sizeable chunk in the market playbook. How can Nigeria’s e-Commerce domain benefit from the emerging market?

Today, the term going global has become almost meaningless. The irony is that all nations, business and everything in-between is dreaming of going global. Whereas, this is an illusion because the world is intertwined and already gone global.

The new challenge is that some geographical spheres are dreaming of rebuilding traditional trade fences – domestically! Nevertheless, the Harvard Business Review recently informed that: “Business leaders are scrambling to adjust to a world few imagined possible just a year ago.

The myth of a borderless world has come crashing down. Traditional pillars of open markets — the United States and the UK — are wobbling, and China is positioning itself as globalization’s staunchest defender.”

Currently, the majority of the world’s entrepreneurs/CEOs recognize that Big-Data holds the key to discovering and recovering the abundant wealth in Africa. But without evidence-based predictive analysis, the e-Commerce benefits will perhaps remain a pipe dream. Now, how can we propel African e-Commerce to the next level and at the same time limiting the risks?

Historically, Africa had been a mega trading continent. And to date, Africa remains a trading destination continent – reminding us about Mansa Musa of the old Mali Empire and the gold riches. The recorded fame of Musa I. (c. 1280 – c. 1337), or Mansa Musa, apart from his kingship background, was entirely due to his ingenuity in trade and commerce.

Little wonder he has been described as the wealthiest individual in all human history. But today the continent has been inundated with several challenges – limiting her trade development potential and innovation.

Visibly noticed as central to Africa’s development challenges are technology and related trade and commerce infrastructure. The good news today is, the same technology phenomena infested by digital transformation is igniting Africa with the e-Commerce revolution.

It is evident that this revolution is happening at the speed of thought while Africa’s data rate of response to digital commerce is better described as unacceptable snail speed that leads to nothingness. Ironically, the continent still harbours a major chunk of global wealth.

The resilience to conquer those challenges lies on the capability and mastery of e-Commerce delivery and services. What constitutes the beneficial substances of re-imagining the Nigerian trade and commerce model?

Numbers speak. According to WTO, ‘‘Africa is undergoing a remarkable energy transformation. But African governments and their international partners must accelerate that transformation if we are to achieve our collective ambitions. Access to clean modern energy, especially in Africa, where 620 million people have no electricity, is critical to the success of global efforts to tackle poverty.’’

One critical factor stands out, and that is, digital infrastructure to promote e-Commerce and energize multi-sectoral market segments.

The telecoms infrastructure support to e-commerce logistics and service delivery remains a strategic imperative. The INFRACO initiative targeted at the telecoms section holds a great promise if the investment assurances are strategically put into action as a post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan.

This is critical, especially if channelled in partnership with experienced and trustworthy development groups. Again, a good example of such dynamic groups in Nigeria is the Zinox Group where Konga qualifies and fulfils the expectations of showcasing reasonable equity to eliminate financing gaps. This can be achieved by concentrating such investment into digital innovation solutions.

In the long term, as demonstrated by InfraCo Africa, Infraco model investment championed by proactive Government financing reduces identifiable risks and costs of implementation. Not only that, it goes a long way to ensure project reliability and standards that fulfils the expectations of sustainable development Goals (SDGs). 

Looking at 2050, what will become of our post-COVID-19 economic outlook, without a dynamic and health e-Commerce ecosystem? A very lucid question indeed! Will the digital evolution validate the known adage that; “when the poor have nothing more to eat, they will consume the rich”?

This is the time to act. We must not allow the looming digital tsunami to consume our trade and commerce missions. There will be great consequences if that is allowed to happen. We must avoid travelling back in time from the digital divide to the invisible traps of emerging digital poverty!  

Let there be action. The nation is at war with the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccines are knocking at the door. Now, the central concern is how to empower the youth to engage and own the emerging digital knowledge ecosystem. This can be done by instituting a special national cluster for Nigeria’s Digital Transformation Innovation Readiness for Nigeria.

The first line of action is creating and reconstructing a digital transformation movement mindset and political will to defeat consumerism, corruption and enthrone bold philosophies of prioritizing merit for advancement in science and technology-enabled manufacturing. Nigeria must lead this complex mission in the combat of global digital knowledge acquisition to drive trade and commerce and succeed. 

E-Commerce has the magic to facilitate the sustainable development of Africa’s youth employment and digital wealth creation. This agenda includes re-imagining national economic development and corporate governance pathways; while fast-tracking government mandatory responsibilities through proactive intervention strategies.

It also includes the conscious responsibility to analyse our environment, communication and digital divide challenges in Africa and prepare for the world of AI, which includes raising a future digital army for national and continental security. 

Refocusing our development from figurative oil-based data to digital commerce transformation information system is the panacea for migrating the nation from an economy that generates an internal revenue of $9 billion as against $39billion import to register $trillion trade export numbers as a meticulous enterprise out of Africa.

Moving forward, there should be no further excuses for Africa with its large population and market to continue failing digital exams repetitively; sitting in the same class of knowledge advancement! The new and profound dream must commence now.

Our entrepreneurial-mind treasure is capable and must advance our success agenda from the euphoria of self-celebration to being celebrated by the world.

Written by: Dr. B. B. Usman

Roku To Acquire Nielsen’s Targeted Ad Business As Part Of Wider Strategic Partnership

Esan Bolaji
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Roku To Acquire Nielsen’s Targeted Ad Business As Part Of Wider Strategic Partnership

Roku to Acquire Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising Business, Accelerating Roku’s Launch of Dynamic Ad Insertion for TV Programmers and Marketers

Nielsen and Roku Will Expand Traditional TV and TV Streaming Coverage Across Roku’s Platform to Help Standardize Cross-Media Measurement

Mar. 1, 2021 – Roku, Inc. and Nielsen today announced a strategic alliance between the two companies that will help shape the future of media measurement and TV advertising in a streaming-first market.

Roku To Acquire Nielsen’s Targeted Ad Business As Part Of Wider Strategic Partnership

Roku has entered into an agreement to acquire Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising (AVA) business, which includes Nielsen’s video automatic content recognition (ACR) and dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technologies. The acquisition will accelerate Roku’s launch of an end-to-end DAI solution with TV programmers.

In addition, Nielsen and Roku will enter into a strategic partnership to integrate complementary Nielsen ad and content measurement products into the Roku platform and further advance Nielsen ONE, the company’s cross-media measurement solution.

“Tens of billions of dollars continue to be spent annually on traditional TV advertising,” said Louqman Parampath, VP of Product Management at Roku.

“Combining Nielsen’s AVA technology with Roku’s innovative ad tech and scale will enable us to deliver the benefits of TV streaming advertising to traditional TV.

Roku will bring the promise of DAI to the market for the first time ever at scale — providing better targeting and measurement for advertisers, creating easy integration and additional revenue opportunities for programmers’ ad sales teams, and improving the TV experience for viewers.

We’re also excited to become a key strategic partner for Nielsen in their new cross-media measurement products, and jointly drive toward greater transparency and accuracy in TV streaming measurement.”

This announcement builds on years of close collaboration between Roku and Nielsen. The two companies will enter into a long-term commercial agreement to leverage Total Ad Ratings (TAR) on the Roku platform.

Specifically, Roku’s media sales and ad-buying platform, OneView, will natively integrate Nielsen “always-on” Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) for advertisers. Roku will also enable publishers to implement Nielsen Digital Content Ratings (DCR).

“The measurement of ads and content on Roku devices will accelerate the path to a single, deduplicated cross-media currency,” Scott N. Brown, GM, Audience Measurement, Nielsen. “As Roku brings the power of dynamic ad insertion to all forms of TV, we’re excited to help monetize the addressable market by measuring smart TV as a currency, which Nielsen can do at scale.”

The collaboration with Roku will substantially expand the footprint of smart TVs and other devices, nearing 100 million in total, in which Nielsen can enable media sellers and buyers to measure and better monetize addressable advertising.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

Upon closing, Roku looks forward to welcoming Nielsen AVA employees and taking ownership of an extensive portfolio of foundational ACR and DAI patents. Roku TV models, which are powered by the No. 1 selling TV OS in the U.S. in 2020, already include ACR today and will include DAI in the near future.

Resilience of the Labour Markets During COVID-19

Esan Bolaji
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Resilience of the Labour Markets During COVID-19

It is said by some analysts that COVID-19 is responsible for irreversible changes in our economies, including patterns of employment. It was therefore a revelation to read the latest national income dynamics study-coronavirus rapid mobile survey (NIDS-CRAM) from South Africa.

Based upon a sample of 10,000 individuals, wave 3 (the most recent published data) shows that active employment in the country in October was just 0.15 per cent lower than the level in pre-COVID February.

The recovery has been strong. In April, when the domestic lockdown was at its height, employment was 40 per cent lower than in February and in June, when most restrictions had been eased, it was still 20 per cent down. Additionally, the data suggests that the recovery has been in all forms of employment, and not just part-time posts created by employers nervous about future economic prospects.

The three academic authors of the section of the surveys covering the labour market, two based in the US and one in the UK, noted similar trends in other emerging markets (EMs): from the low point in April, the recovery was well underway by June in Brazil and Mexico, and by August in India and Ghana.

Closer to home, we refer to COVID-19 impact monitoring, a series of publications by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in partnership with the World Bank. The narrative is similar to the sixth and latest instalment of this smaller survey, which covers 1,950 households: 87 per cent of respondents were employed in October, compared with 86 per cent at the pre-COVID base (mid-March).

Reflecting the structure of the economy, households are divided between urban and rural. Employment was a little behind March for the former, a little ahead for the latter.

A clear trend is apparent across selected emerging markets. There is a familiar lag in the release of data from academic sources, research foundations and official statistical bodies. Job losses may have picked up again in South Africa due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and the reimposition of some restrictions in late 2020/early 2021.

This does not detract from our broader argument that these economies display resilience in employment terms once controls are eased.

We are not looking for parallels with advanced economies because of a point we have often made in these columns: that they have fiscal and other resources on a scale of which emerging market governments can only dream.

You can close down the economy and pay your employed citizens not to work through a furlough scheme in an advanced economy. You can then reopen the economy and subsidize meals out for the family. In EMs your choices are far more limited. A core tool of the South African government, for example, is its social relief of distress grant, which is received by 35 per cent of all households.

Three other conclusions from the three waves of NIDS-CRAM are worth highlighting.

First, the employment trends are consistent with monthly production data from Statistics South Africa, the local counterpart of the NBS. This is true of mining, manufacturing and retail but not, for obvious reasons, of tourism.

Second and tentatively, there has been an unusual increase in jobs in sales and services.

Thirdly and again cautiously, earnings may have risen slightly between February and October. If we attempt to read across to Nigeria, we do not have the data for the first two conclusions while the fourth instalment of COVID-19 impact monitoring noted that two-thirds of households surveyed reported a fall in earnings.

Written by Gregory Kronsten

Head, Macroeconomic and Fixed Income Research, FBNQuest

FBNQuest: Driving Women Economic Empowerment Initiatives

Kantar Names Adeola Tejumola to lead Middle East and Africa business

Kantar
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Kantar Names Adeola Tejumola to lead Middle East and Africa business

Kantar, the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company, announced the promotion of Adeola Tejumola to lead the insights division of Kantar in the Middle East and Africa region. Mr Tejumola succeeds Charles Foster who, after more than 35 years with Kantar in the region, has announced his retirement.

Adeola Tejumola is now managing director of Kantar’s insights division for the Middle East and Africa region. As a leader of the insights division for West, East, and Central Africa from 2015, Tejumola grew the business to become a key force in the African Market, achieving high levels of expansion and business development.

Kantar Names Adeola Tejumola to lead Middle East and Africa business Brandspurng
Adeola Tejumola | www.wordpress-1516176-5827464.cloudwaysapps.com

This success is driven by his renowned client-centricity and by the powerful partnerships he has cultivated with some of the largest clients and organisations around the world.

Tejumola is a huge believer in talent as a key lever of Kantar’s business and has built a diverse and talented team that drives innovation and excellence throughout the organisation.

Tejumola is particularly proud of the Africa Life initiative, a unique programme designed to help clients understand the fast-changing context of the continent, which has a great impact across sectors and nations.

Prior to his work with the insights division, Tejumola was a passionate market researcher and leader at both RMS and TNS in Africa and Europe. Tejumola is a graduate of the chief executive programme of Lagos Business School and holds a master’s degree in marketing management from the University of Surrey, England.

Commenting on Mr Tejumola’s promotion, Gonzalo Fuentes, EMEA regional president for the insights division at Kantar, said:

“The promotion of Adeola to this leadership role is testament to the skill and success he has displayed in Kantar. It exemplifies Kantar’s commitment to supporting our talented people throughout their career. In Adeola, I am confident that our growth ambitions for the Middle East and Africa are in good hands.”

Kantar celebrates Charles Foster’s career. Foster is one of Kantar’s longest-serving leaders and was instrumental in growing Kantar in the region from a business of around 20 people to well over 1,000 employees spanning Africa and the Middle East.

In celebrating Foster’s career Fuentes added:

“Charles has played such a key role in building what Kantar is today in the region. This includes creating an A-team around him that is now ready to take the region to the next level. I wish Charles all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”

Kantar Names Adeola Tejumola to lead Middle East and Africa business Brandspurng
Charles Foster | www.wordpress-1516176-5827464.cloudwaysapps.com

Foster added:

“In Adeola, I am confident we have a new leader who will drive the business forward, and, as we head into a new era of growth for the region, will be relentless in pursuing Kantar’s promise to ‘understand people and inspire growth’.

It has been a true privilege to represent Kantar and I’ve been lucky to have amazing people around me. What a journey I’ve had, and one I hope that will inspire many others starting on their first rung in the business. Truly anything is possible at Kantar.”

Adeola Tejumola assumes his Middle East and Africa responsibilities immediately. Charles Foster will remain with the business until April to support the transition.

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