Though Nigeria’s population of 174 million provides enormous opportunities for growth in organised retail trade, the country’s three percent share still lags significantly behind a number of countries with similar or lower demographic strength, experts say.
They add that this state of affairsa is further undermining the growth of the country’s agriculture, manufacturing and financial markets.
Organised or modern retail speaks of chain stores, all owned or franchised by a central entity, according to the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
“Organised retail will have impact on agriculture, manufacturing, financial markets, government revenue and real estate, among others,” said Haresh Keswani, group managing director, Artee Group, during a retail conference organised in Lagos, by the Retail Council of Nigeria.
According to Keswani, organised retail helps develop the value chain in the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) system, while also developing ancillary units.
Currently, organised trade in the United Kingdom which has a population of 64.1 million, is estimated at 80 percent, while that of Japan with a population of 127.3 million is estimated at 66 percent.
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In Australia, with a population of just 23.13 million, organised retail trade value is put at 78 percent. Similarly, retail trade in India, with a population of 1.252 billion is estimated at 10 percent.
In terms of human capital, organised retail develops entrepreneurship and has the capacity to transform employees into employers.
“Organised retail and tourism are interdependent. In Nigeria, organised retail will develop domestic tourism,” he added.
Bismark Rewane, CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, said Nigeria’s population, which represents 60 percent of the demography of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), workforce of 53.6 million people, large youth population, among others, provides enormous opportunities to grow organised retail in the country.
According to Rewane, some of the policy adjustments that could affect retail trade in Nigeria include current and capital accounts convertibility, as well as trade liberalisation, such as the anticipated acceptance of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), possible single currency and the Common External Tariff (CET).
“We believe that growth in private consumption will continue, but at a slower pace, rising income will boost middle-class growth and trade liberalisation will benefit the retail industry,” he said.
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former president, who himself is in agric retail, said retail is one business that joins all other businesses together, stressing that negligence of the organised retail industry amounts to negligence of the economy.
“Whether you are a food seller, manufacturer or operator of a chain store, retail is something that connects all sectors,” he said.
“I see the critical need of organised retail trade in employment generation. If we have our youth unemployed, we will have problems in our hands. And the retail, which binds all of us together, is one way of creating jobs,” he added.
“Twenty-seven percent of the Global GDP is contributed by organised retail. Across the globe, retail employs 17.1 percent of the workable population and in the US, it accounts for 14 percent. Organised retail supports the development of various sectors across the economic environs of the country and conserves foreign exchange,” he said.
ODINAKA ANUDU
