The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and Subsidiaries, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan has said that economic recession facing the country presently also offers windows of opportunities for investors.
The FirstBank boss said this in a keynote address he delivered at the KPMG Alumni Cocktail held in Lagos recently.
Adeduntan identified the agriculture sector as one of the prime opportunity areas, with the skyrocketing prices of imported food products forcing consumers to turn towards local substitutions.
Adeduntan identified the agriculture sector as one of the prime opportunity areas, with the skyrocketing prices of imported food products forcing consumers to turn towards local substitutions.
“Agriculture is a play with a great future ahead of it,” Adeduntan said. He added: “Food processing are also strong plays. When you consider the advances gained in the north of the country in terms of agriculture production, then you appreciate how much latent value lies untapped in the agriculture value chain.”
The FirstBank chief also spoke about the role of technology start-ups in the economy.
He said: “One obvious route for the technology start-ups in our recession is to look to bridge the convenience and ease of access gaps arising from our massive infrastructure dearth.
He said: “One obvious route for the technology start-ups in our recession is to look to bridge the convenience and ease of access gaps arising from our massive infrastructure dearth.
“In this sense, the most readily available opportunities are those that allow the use of technology, especially mobile applications, to help existing businesses optimise their value chains.”
Also, Adeduntan emphasised that the businesses that would be able to take advantage of these windows of opportunities must “continue to invest in capacity, especially human, as the recession bites”, other wise “they will find themselves unable to maintain or build on market share when the economy recovers”.
Also, Adeduntan emphasised that the businesses that would be able to take advantage of these windows of opportunities must “continue to invest in capacity, especially human, as the recession bites”, other wise “they will find themselves unable to maintain or build on market share when the economy recovers”.
Following Adeduntan’s keynote speech, a panel discussion between three KPMG alumni ensued. They included the Finance and Strategy Director at Cadbury/Kraft Foods West Africa, Yimika Adeboye; the founder and Managing Director of PeoplePrime and PeopleTemp Limited, Nike De Souza and the Managing Director and CEO of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Mr. Uche Orji.
Yimika presented figures that showed Nigerians’ declining demand for Fast-moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), a trend which has hit her company’s bottom-line devastatingly. De Souza spoke about the impact of the recession on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the new funding opportunities that are now available to SMEs. And Orji discussed his work at NSIA, advocating for new ways of doing things.
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