• Login
  • Register
Nairametrics
  • Home
  • Exclusives
    • Financial Analysis
    • Corporate Stories
    • Interviews
    • Investigations
    • Metrics
    • Economy
    • Nairalytics
  • Markets
    • Currencies
    • Cryptos
    • Commodities
    • Equities
      • Company Results
      • Dividends
      • Stock Market
    • Fixed Income
    • Market Views
    • Securities
  • Sectors
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Company News
    • Consumer Goods
    • Corporate Updates
    • Corporate deals
    • Corporate Press Releases
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Health
    • Hospitality & Travel
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate and Construction
    • Renewables & Sustainability
    • Tech News
  • Business News
    • Budget
    • Public Debt
    • Funds Management
    • Tax
  • Financial Literacy
    • Career tips
    • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Billionaire Watch
    • Profiles
  • Opinions
    • Blurb
    • Op-Eds
    • Research Analysis
  • Recapitalization
    • Access Holdings Offer
    • Fidelity Bank Offer
    • GTCO Offer
    • Zenith Bank Offer
  • Home
  • Exclusives
    • Financial Analysis
    • Corporate Stories
    • Interviews
    • Investigations
    • Metrics
    • Economy
    • Nairalytics
  • Markets
    • Currencies
    • Cryptos
    • Commodities
    • Equities
      • Company Results
      • Dividends
      • Stock Market
    • Fixed Income
    • Market Views
    • Securities
  • Sectors
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Company News
    • Consumer Goods
    • Corporate Updates
    • Corporate deals
    • Corporate Press Releases
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Health
    • Hospitality & Travel
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate and Construction
    • Renewables & Sustainability
    • Tech News
  • Business News
    • Budget
    • Public Debt
    • Funds Management
    • Tax
  • Financial Literacy
    • Career tips
    • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Billionaire Watch
    • Profiles
  • Opinions
    • Blurb
    • Op-Eds
    • Research Analysis
  • Recapitalization
    • Access Holdings Offer
    • Fidelity Bank Offer
    • GTCO Offer
    • Zenith Bank Offer
Nairametrics
No Result
View All Result
Home Markets Currencies

Here’s how manufacturing SMEs are adapting, one month after ‘naira scarcity’

William Ukpe by William Ukpe
April 16, 2023
in Currencies, Exclusives, Manufacturing, Markets, Sectors, Spotlight
Here's how manufacturing SMEs are adapting a month after 'naira scarcity'
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

Key highlights

  • Food processing SMEs saw over 50% production drop due to cash scarcity. 
  • Issues they faced included paying nearly 40% charges to access cash for payments to workers and farmers. 
  • To prevent production lapses, they have sorted bank accounts for farmers they work with, and reached deeper partnerships with farming cooperatives to ensure supply. 

It has been over a month since Nigeria’s Supreme Court ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should remain in circulation till December 31, 2023. 

The apex court also nullified the naira redesign policy introduced by the Federal Government, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution.

Recall that the naira scarcity challenge had caused multi problems for many sectors of the Nigerian economy. One of the sectors that were specifically affected is the manufacturing sector.

RelatedStories

Strengthening the SMEs: Insights from the new SME Corporate Governance Guidelines 2023

Strengthening the SMEs: Insights from the new SME Corporate Governance Guidelines 2023

July 10, 2024
IWD: Partnerships, collaborations crucial for SME profitability and expansion-Entrepreneurs 

IWD: Partnerships, collaborations crucial for SME profitability and expansion-Entrepreneurs 

March 8, 2024

How manufacturing SMEs are coping one month after

Recently, Nairametrics spoke to two founders who are into food processing. The founders are Ngozi Rowland of Sem Food and Spices Ltd and Ene Adah, founder of Just Nature’s Limited.

They shared their first-hand ‘horror’ experiences with the cash scarcity challenge. 

According to the food processing entrepreneurs, the cash scarcity affected the availability of raw materials due to difficulties sourcing supplies and also made it impossible to pay workers on time. They also revealed plans on how to mitigate for the future. 

More on the challenges faced by food entrepreneurs

Ngozi of Sem Food and Spices said the lack of bank accounts among the majority of our bulk suppliers, who are farmers, had an impact on the availability of raw materials. He said:

  • “It affected the availability of raw materials, as most of the farmers that give us our bulk supply do not operate bank accounts. For us to buy with cash, we had to buy our money with money. At some point, we were paying charges of N4000 for every N10,000. 
  • “This reduced the number of raw materials we could purchase and made us increase our product prices.” 

Ene Adah, whose company processes coconut oil for multiple uses, said the Naira scarcity reduced her company’s production capacity by 60%. She added: 

  • “Though we did not have many problems with our suppliers, due to the fact that most of our transactions have always been through internet banking. 
  • “Our major problems were with our workers, workers could not access cash for transportation, so they couldn’t come to work and this affected our production drastically.
  • “Also, some of our staff who do not have bank accounts before this time found it difficult to collect their take-home pay, and some of our raw materials that were locally accessed from the market were also affected as there was no cash at hand.”

Plans to avoid cash issues in the future 

Ngozi stated that she plans to deal with future occurrences through deeper partnerships with farming suppliers and cooperatives, she said: 

  • “This includes more collaboration through partnerships and grants, partnerships with farmers, cooperatives, we can transact with, holding more cash which we don’t do, but we have to adapt, giving a discount for cash purchases.” 

Ene Adah noted that her company now makes sure all workers have access to bank accounts, she said: 

  • “To avoid another cash crisis in the future we made sure every worker has an account where can send all salaries, of course, we can do more than our capacity, as the majority lies in the government to enact the naira redesign policy. 
  • “All we can do is to do our best and hope for a better Nigeria” she added. 

How the incoming administration can help SMEs 

Ngozi said SMEs are the backbone of Nigeria’s business climate, and urged that FG should implement policies that will provide funding opportunities, grants, loans with minimum or zero interest, and also Policies that will open up access to the market both locally and internationally. 

Ene added that the next administration should work on power, as power has remained one of the biggest challenges in running a business in Nigeria, she added: 

  • “We end up spending money running petrol leading to a high increase in cost. Getting our raw materials has drastically increased too due to scarcity of petrol.”

In case you missed it

In February, Black market FX traders expressed their frustration over the naira scarcity which forced many traders to shut down their trading activities.  

The FX market traders, who spoke to Nairametrics, said they have ceased trading FX due to the lack of cash and the efficiencies in other forms of transactions, adding that it crippled liquidity and significantly impacted businesses. 

Economic deceleration 

The Chief executive of Economic Associates, Dr Ayo Teriba, told Nairametrics that the naira crisis will certainly affect Nigeria’s GDP growth in the first quarter, but if normalcy returns, then the situation will just be a problem for the first quarter. 


Follow us for Breaking News and Market Intelligence.
Tags: Naira scarcityNigerian SMEs
William Ukpe

William Ukpe

For further inquiries about this article contact: Email: william.ukpe@nairametrics.com or outreach@nairametrics.com. Twitter: @_sirwilliam_ @nairametrics.

Related Posts

Strengthening the SMEs: Insights from the new SME Corporate Governance Guidelines 2023
Business News

Strengthening the SMEs: Insights from the new SME Corporate Governance Guidelines 2023

July 10, 2024
IWD: Partnerships, collaborations crucial for SME profitability and expansion-Entrepreneurs 
Small Business

IWD: Partnerships, collaborations crucial for SME profitability and expansion-Entrepreneurs 

March 8, 2024
POS operators raise charges by over 50% as Naira scarcity bites harder  
Economy

POS operators raise charges by over 50% as Naira scarcity bites harder  

December 19, 2023
Godwin Emefiele,CBN, DSS
Business

84.51% of Nigerians affected negatively by naira scarcity – Report

May 16, 2023
Naira redesign: Kano state drags FG to Supreme Court, says it violates 1999 constitution
Business

36.96% of Nigerian businesses forced to lay off staff due to naira scarcity – SBM

May 16, 2023
Nigerian banks raked in N96.483 billion from electronic business in Q1 2023
Currencies

Why Nigerians may experience naira scarcity after December —Gabriel Okeowo

April 16, 2023
Next Post
Doctors reject FG’s N25,000 allowance and 25% salary increase.  

Why Nigerian doctors do not support the “Doctors Travel Ban” 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Emple
nlng
first bank
Zenth Bank








DUNS

Recent News

  • Nigeria’s revenue climbs to N6.9 trillion in Q1 2025, Finance Minister attributes growth to transparency and investment drive 
  • Flutterwave powers business growth in Cameroon with fully licensed payment services 
  • Value Hubspot is helping Nigerians tap into online jobs, loans, and business opportunities 

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

Wale Edun pushes finance ministry directors to deliver 7% GDP growth 

Nigeria’s revenue climbs to N6.9 trillion in Q1 2025, Finance Minister attributes growth to transparency and investment drive 

June 23, 2025
Flutterwave powers business growth in Cameroon with fully licensed payment services 

Flutterwave powers business growth in Cameroon with fully licensed payment services 

June 23, 2025
  • iOS App
  • Android App
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Markets
  • Sectors
  • Economy
  • Business News
  • Financial Literacy
  • Disclaimer
  • Ads Disclaimer
  • Copyright Infringement

© 2025 Nairametrics

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Exclusives
    • Financial Analysis
    • Corporate Stories
    • Interviews
    • Investigations
    • Metrics
    • Economy
    • Nairalytics
  • Markets
    • Currencies
    • Cryptos
    • Commodities
    • Equities
      • Company Results
      • Dividends
      • Stock Market
    • Fixed Income
    • Market Views
    • Securities
  • Sectors
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Company News
    • Consumer Goods
    • Corporate Updates
    • Corporate deals
    • Corporate Press Releases
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Health
    • Hospitality & Travel
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate and Construction
    • Renewables & Sustainability
    • Tech News
  • Business News
    • Budget
    • Public Debt
    • Funds Management
    • Tax
  • Financial Literacy
    • Career tips
    • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Billionaire Watch
    • Profiles
  • Opinions
    • Blurb
    • Op-Eds
    • Research Analysis
  • Recapitalization
    • Access Holdings Offer
    • Fidelity Bank Offer
    • GTCO Offer
    • Zenith Bank Offer
  • Login
  • Sign Up

© 2025 Nairametrics