Sit-at-home: South-East micro businesses lose N4.6tn annually –Report

Micro and nano businesses in the South-East part of Nigeria are losing N4.618 trillion ($10.495 billion) annually for observing the sit-at-home order on Mondays.

This is according to an investigation funded by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).

Twenty-two micro and nano businesses in each of the five states of the region were interviewed. They were asked to estimate, based on their previous financial records, how much they earned in revenue every Monday before the sit-at-home exercise began. Total of 110 businesses were interviewed for the report.

Based on their financial records, the report extrapolated the losses of nano and micro businesses in the region using the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN)’s recent report on the number of nano, micro, small and medium businesses in the country.

The report further estimated the losses of nano and micro businesses between the time the sit-at-home order started on August 9, 2021 and when the investigation ended on December 17, 2022, totalling 71 Mondays.

Total losses within this period were estimated at N5.375 trillion ($12.215 billion).

Nano or homestead enterprises have one to two workers and make annual turnover of less than N3 million. Micro businesses, on the other hand, have three to nine staff members and annual turnover of N3 million to N25 million, according to the NBS/SMEDAN.

The report explained that though there were a few places where the sit-at-him order was not observed, there was no certainty as to which Monday was a market day in many parts of the South-East region as disruption could occur at any time.

It noted that in some parts of the region, some business owners were seen hanging around their shop premises beckoning on passersby and customers even though their shops were locked.

Many of the respondents blamed various groups and persons for the situation in the region, including the Indigenous People of Biafra; Finland-based Simon Ekpa’s public comments and social media posts; Muhammadu Buhari’s use of force against IPOB and the killing of several of them in 2016, as well as South-East governors.    

“When you shut down an economy, you will have loss of income, which will result in loss of jobs. This will also affect government revenue negatively,” said the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf.

“There is also a perception factor. People perceive the place as unsafe and it is negative for investment,” he further said.

An international economist at Covenant University, Ogun State, Nigeria, said the sit-at-home order was creating losses for the South-East region.

He cited a case where the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) officials flew in to Enugu on a Sunday for a Monday meeting only to cancel it.

“They had to adjust their flights and paid hotel fees for an additional day,” he said.

He urged the government to listen to the agitations of the people and seek ways of pacifying them.

Secretary of the Association of Leather and Allied Industrialists of Nigeria, Aba, Ken Anyanwu, said one out of 10 businesses in Abia State was nearly dead.

“Some people’s businesses have shut down. One out of 10 businesses in Aba has been severely affected by this. It is hard for you to borrow N100,000 from anybody in Aba today, unlike before when you could easily get it. There is huge suffering in Aba right now. No cash flow, and everybody is complaining,” he said. 

President of the Amalgamated Markets and Traders Association in Imo State, Chief Ezeanoche Emmanuel, lamented that the sit-at-home order had been negatively affecting businesses in the state.

He said the order had also sent many businessmen to the village.

He said, “There are many people who live on daily incomes. Any day they don’t go to the market, they and their respective families would not feed. Many business outfits have also shut down,” he said, noting that this was hurting the South-East economy.

Similarly,  Chairman of Johnson Street, Main Market Onitsha, Emmanuel Okafor, said the sit-at-home order had killed the trade which the region had been known for.  

The respondents called for dialogue with secessionist groups in the region and the immediate release of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

President, Leather Product Manufacturers Association (LEPMAS) covering Ariaria and shoemakers in Aba, Mazi Okechukwu Williams, said dialogue to pacify the agitators was the easiest way to resolving the region’s crisis.

On his part, Chairman of Johnson Street, Main Market, Onitsha, suggested that the release of Kanu would stop the sit-at-home order.

“Once you release Kanu, the exercise will disappear. The courts have ordered his release, why is the Federal Government still keeping him?” he asked.