The impact of the restrictive measures put in place during the second quarter to contain the global pandemic was apparent in the financial performance of two of the major players in the cement industry (Dangote Cement and Lafarge) as Revenue was pressured. Specifically, the industry leader, Dangote Cement recorded a decline of 15% in Sales volume in its Nigerian Operations while Lafarge reported a decline of 10%. Notably, the CBN Manufacturing PMI showed that demand for new orders in the cement subsector slowed to 63.6 points at the end of Q2 from 70 points in Q1.

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In our view, the lockdown in the month of April in three key states across the federation (Lagos, FCT and Ogun) coupled with heavy rainfall in June led to the decline in the industry’s sales volumes during Q2. Furthermore, we think the increased level of government attention on the healthcare sector amidst revenue challenges led to the suspension of most construction projects across the nation. Meanwhile, we highlight that the FG reduced the amount budgeted for capital expenditure by 20% in the revised 2020 budget following the downturn in oil prices which undermined oil revenue. Based on the recent presentation made by the Minister of Finance on budget implementation, the sum of N253.3bn has been spent on CAPEX as at end of May, which pales in comparison to the pro-rated revised budgeted capital spending of N816.70bn and translates to a performance ratio of 31%.

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Looking ahead, our outlook for the cement industry is mixed due to a plethora of factors ranging from subdued private investment in gross fixed capital formation, rising inflationary pressures on essential food items (which could dampen the quest for capital goods such as housing), increased energy costs due to the devaluation in the local cuurency amidst heightened competition in the industry that may limit industry players from hiking prices to preserve margins. Although, we expect pressure on volume growth to persist in the short term until there is a significant pick up in economic activities, we note that the relaxation of lockdown measures and the low interest rate environment are positive factors that will support the earnings of industry players.

CSL Stockbrokers Limited, Lagos (CSLS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc and is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria. CSLS is a member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, leaving citizens of the world a new world order, businesses need to navigate their financial and operational obligations. They are also expected to meet the needs of their greatest assets – customers and suppliers.

The crises may have paved way for uncertainties, but it has also created opportunities for sectors to emerge and grow, while some will fall and vanish if not properly managed and strategized as the companies who will stand firm in this era will be those that implemented risk management as part of their business strategy.

While this crisis is first and foremost a public health issue, which has claimed the lives of thousands of people worldwide and still counting, the economic would no doubt be overwhelming and is likely to create major economic meltdown in both the formal and informal sectors

READ ALSO: Airtel Africa’s profit up 12.9%, customer base reaches 111.5 million

The train must be primed to chug along now! In the new normal, business owners are faced with overwhelming, competing challenges. They are surrounded by treacherous waters now darkly infested with COVID-19 sharks. Still, they must continue to dive into the deep end of the global pandemic.

A business’s success depends in part on the economic systems of the countries where it is located and where it sells its products. A nation’s economic system is the combination of policies, laws, and choices made by its government to establish the systems that determine what goods and services are produced and how they are allocated. The resources of a person, a firm, or a nation are limited. Hence, economics is the study of choices—what people, firms, or nations choose from among the available resources. Every economy is concerned with what types and amounts of goods and services should be produced, how they should be produced, and for whom. These decisions are made by the marketplace, the government, or both. In the United States, the government and the free-market system together guide the economy.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Inflation rate jumps to 12.40%, highest in over 2 years

Business owners therefore should have their priorities clearly mapped out; providing support and being a backbone to their people, customers and suppliers. They must achieve all this, whilst simultaneously addressing supply chain disruptions, maintaining stable profit margins, aligning their businesses with evolving demand and changes and identifying potential pitfalls and new growth trends.

Businesses in the new normal require a new mindset to recover from the crises, thereby identifying, analyzing and addressing effective strategies that would help the business return to normality and grow. This is the time to build organizational relationships with strategic partners for proper execution of effective strategies.

Management personnel and stakeholders are quickly turning their attention to the ‘next’; that moment of unpredictable and probably muted economic recovery with newly identified threats and opportunities. This is a new era defined by fast-changing initiatives to shift the cultural norms, societal beliefs and values, such as renewed brand purpose.

READ MORE: IMF expects Nigeria’s GDP to shrink by 5.4% in 2020

Leaders, corporate and political, are faced with the urgency to reopen their businesses.

To bridge the gap of uncertainty, reopening would require a series of ‘reinventive’ thinking. The pandemic offers a big opportunity to have companies invest in areas they wish they’d paid more attention to before the crisis. Now, to be more digital, data-driven, and in the cloud; to adopt a variable cost structure rather than fixed, to find its root in e-commerce and security are no longer deferrable agendas.

Consequent to the pandemic, organizations globally are experiencing an unfamiliar change in their workflow processes and harnessing their workforces optimally. Companies are yet to fully understand and determine how working remote working will help achieve corporate objectives beyond the survival hump. Profitability and business models are being cautiously reviewed. Teams and workforces try to function and perform in line with expected deliverables whilst struggling to cope with even more sombre personal and existential challenges in the new normal.

Organizations, teams and workforces need new and bespoke fitting plans today. They need to formulate strategies and drive policies that can position them advantageously to work out and around the emerging challenges as the state of global health and economic unfolds. All stakeholders have critical roles to play in developing and establishing systematic approaches that promote shared workforce resilience, flexibility and intelligence.

Similarly, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has changed customers, employees, citizens and humans’ experiences, attitudes and behavior forever. The norms of behavioral consumer psychology are deviating from the expected curves. Results, though displaying expected changes, are creating sweaty anxiety for boardroom decisions. The crisis has caused a fundamental change in human-human interactions and behavior. In the new world order, companies would necessarily need to review and redesign operational flow and operating models. These changes would impact greatly on design, communication, running expenses, remunerations, investments etc. The definitions of that people need and want has been reshaped and businesses need to blend into the new, emerging ecosystem so they can properly reposition for sustainability and profitability. The global pandemic has created uncertainties and forced companies to reevaluate and reinvent how business operations units are leveraged. It has redefined how digital platforms can be used in supporting and ensuring continuity in the business through and beyond the crisis.

The state of the economy affects both people and businesses. How you spend your money (or save it) is a personal economic decision. Whether you continue in school and whether you work part-time are also economic decisions. Every business also operates within the economy. Based on their economic expectations, businesses decide what products to produce, how to price them, how many people to employ, how much to pay these employees, how much to expand the business, and so on.

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The crisis has fundamentally changed supply chain management economics and dynamics; we are in uncharted waters. Routes to market are evolving which would inevitably kick some companies off the market and make some others tether on balance. In response to the pandemic, leaders have been mandated to increase their adoption of value chain transformation to help outrun uncertainty. For those who are able to successfully navigate to the other side of this new normal, it becomes imperative to establish strategies for greater resilience and apply lessons learnt to create systems and models that would better prepare companies and stakeholders for further future disruptions.

News reports say the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Niyi Adebayo on Tuesday inaugurated a 10-man steering committee to drive the implementation of the various support schemes for small businesses especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. The Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment, Mariam Katagum is the Chairman of the committee while the Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Plc,
Ibukun Awosika is the Vice-Chairman.

In a bid to support the growth of MSMEs, the federal government has established a number of schemes geared towards providing finance at low-interest rates. These include a special intervention fund managed by the Bank of Industry (BOI) to provide subsidized loans to MSMEs at a rate of 9% per annum. Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) is another intervention funding scheme anchored by the CBN
specifically for enhancing agricultural businesses of MSMEs. The latest of this move is the MSMEs Guaranteed Offtake Simulation Scheme which is aimed at providing bridge financing in supporting the payroll costs of MSMEs that are currently grappling with severe cash flow problems due to the disruptions induced by the global pandemic.

The vulnerable Nigerian MSME sector has been one of the sectors that have been badly hit by the current economic weakness brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several businesses have been affected by supply chain disruptions and low demand for their products and services due to the weakened consumer purchasing power, leading to substantial loss in revenue. In a survey carried out by FATE Foundation in conjunction with BudgiT, of the 1943 MSMEs surveyed, 94.3% reported being negatively impacted by the pandemic particularly in the areas of Cashflow (72.1%), Sales (67.7%) and Revenue (59.2%).

Despite the negative impacts of the pandemic, 47.1% of respondents were positive that their businesses will survive the pandemic with 22.8% being unsure while 30% indicated that their businesses will not survive the pandemic. Most of the businesses reported needing support with Cashflow (72.1%) and Sales (67.7%) and will like the Government to provide support in the area of funding (89.4%) and access to markets (33.8%).

Globally, MSMEs are considered the critical engines of economic growth due to their potential to create jobs, boost economic output, generate income, and reduce poverty. In Nigeria, MSMEs have always struggled to play these essential roles given tough challenges in the business environment. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, many MSMEs were still reeling under the impact of the recent recession and were still struggling to get back on their feet. With the onset of the pandemic, the situation appears to have worsened for many. Given the importance of these MSMEs to the country’s economic recovery post-pandemic, an effective support scheme should be a top priority. That said, it is essential that efforts should be deepened in improving accessibility and timely disbursement of such funds.

CSL Stockbrokers Limited, Lagos (CSLS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc and is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria. CSLS is a member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.