Despite being the largest economy in Africa and a population of over 200 million people, Nigeria has recently seen a significant departure of global corporations.
Since January 2023, no fewer than seven multinational corporations have either left or stated their intention to leave the country by December.
Many of these companies have been conducting business in Nigeria for decades, while others are closing their doors just three years after announcing their entry.
Prior to 2023, some of the obstacles faced by local and global manufacturers in Nigeria included a power crisis, frequent devaluation of the Naira, forex availability, and other stringent government policies.
However, many things altered after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023, including widespread inflation. In his inaugural speech, the President ordered the withdrawal of gasoline subsidies, which has now affected Nigerians from all social strata, and directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commence monetary policy reforms.
Following that, Angela Sere-Ejembi, the CBN’s director in charge of financial markets, stated in a press statement that the apex bank announced immediate adjustments to operations in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) market.
The central bank merged its formerly several exchange rate windows into the business-based Investors and Exporters (I&E) window. However, notwithstanding the CBN’s devaluation and foreign exchange unification, there is still a scarcity of Forex.
This, undoubtedly, impacted multinational corporations whose operations were heavily reliant on currency availability, as well as Nigerians whose purchasing power had been substantially eroded by soaring inflation.
However, one of the companies featured in this article announced its exit before the end of May.
While the President has repeatedly urged investors to examine the country’s many economic opportunities, the evacuation or divestment of multinational corporations in Nigeria continues to send contradictory messages to prospective investors.
Multinational companies leaving Nigeria in 2023:
Unilever
Unilever announced the withdrawal of its home care and skin cleansing products from Nigeria in March.
According to the manufacturer of well-known brands like as Omo, Sunlight, and Lux, changes in the company’s business led to the decision to discontinue operations in the country.
GSK Plc
Only four months later, in July 2023, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s second-largest medication producer and British pharmaceutical company, announced the termination of manufacturing activities in Nigeria.
While no reason was given for the company’s departure from Nigeria, GSK Plc, headquartered in the United Kingdom, stated that its prescription medications and vaccines will be distributed in the country through third-party distributors.
Sanofi-Aventi Nigeria
Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company, has indicated its intention to leave Nigeria, similar to GSK Plc.
In a November release, this company stated its intention to appoint a third-party distributor for its commercial portfolio of medications beginning in February 2024.
Bolt Food
Bolt meal, the ride-hailing firm Bolt’s online meal-ordering branch, provides food delivery in 16 countries and 33 locations worldwide. However, two years after launching Bolt meal in Nigeria, the firm announced the painful choice to end meal delivery operations in the country.
The corporation blamed the decision on the need to “streamline its resources and maximize overall efficiency,” according to a statement.
Aside from the company’s justification, Bolt Food’s leave may be related to recent operating losses due to a variety of variables familiar to the Nigerian market.
In 2022, driving services accounted for approximately 80% of Bolt’s sales revenue, followed by 10% from rentals, and only 9% from food deliveries.
Jumia Food
Another meal-ordering platform, like Bolt meal, has announced the closure of its food delivery operations, leaving other rivals in the Nigerian market.
According to TechPoint, Jumia Food will now concentrate on its core physical goods business and the Jumia Pay platform in 11 countries.
“The more we focus on our physical goods business, the more we realise that there is huge potential for Jumia to grow, with a path to profitability. We must take the right decision and fully focus our management, our teams and our capital resources to go after this opportunity. In the current context, it means leaving a business line, which we believe does not offer the same upside potential – food delivery,” said Francis Dufay, Chief Executive Officer of Jumia.
Equinor
Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), a Norwegian energy business with a 53.85 percent holding in oil mining lease (OML) 128, including a 20.21 percent stake in Chevron’s Agbami field, announced the sale of its Nigerian operations in November.
This includes the corporation’s share in the Agbami oil field, which was sold to Chappal Energies, a Nigerian-owned company.
Equinor’s three-decade history in the Nigerian energy market comes to an end with this acquisition.
Procter & Gamble (P&G)
Last Tuesday, the US consumer goods behemoth Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced its decision to discontinue manufacturing in Nigeria.
The manufacturer of iconic brands such as Pampers, Gillette, Ariel, Always, and Oral-B, which has been operating in the country for 30 years and has two manufacturing plants in Ibadan, Oyo State, and Agbara, Ogun State, has announced its intention to shift to import-only operations, citing Nigeria and Argentina as problematic markets.
“So when you think about places like Nigeria, when you think about places like Argentina, it’s very difficult for us as a U.S. dollar-denominated company to create value,” Andre Schulten, the chief financial officer, said at Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference in New York.
However, in response to P&G’s and the huge migration of multinational corporations, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, the director-general of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), indicated that more may go because manufacturers operate in a difficult climate.
“Obviously, we received it (P&G exit) with sadness but it is not totally unexpected and more may happen because there is no doubt that we operate in an environment that is challenged,” Ajayi-Kadir said this while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
According to him, the exit of multinationals should teach the government a lesson on giving priority to local manufacturers, saying “So, what this means is that if you have a challenged local manufacturer, he is not likely to go anywhere.”