Poor reading culture, insecurity and piracy stunt Learn Africa growth

The poor reading culture among Nigerians combined with the security challenges in the north part of the country and intellectual theft called piracy has stunted the growth of book maker, Lean Africa Plc.

Learn Africa, a company that is grappling with the harsh realities of an economy ebbing  to recession as a result of low oil price and President Buhari’s lack of economic direction, posted a loss after tax of N643.39 million in December 2015, from a loss of N20.15 million as at December 2014.

The book marker’s sales fell by 14.90 percent to N1.88 million in December 2015, fuelled by loss of appetite for intellectual development by parents.

Further analysis of Learn Africa’s financial statement showed operating expenses increased by 40.90 percent to N1.55 billion in December 2015.

However, cost of sales reduced by 12.28 percent to N1 billion in the period under review.

The poor reading culture in our country is a big challenge to the publishing industry, according to Hassan Bala, the Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive of Learn Africa Plc. (formerly Longman)

“Books rank very low on the preference list of an average Nigerian and this has made it difficult to generate turnover that is commensurate with our huge population,” Bala said.

“Many people would rather spend their money on electrical appliances, jewellery, clothes and on unnecessary social events than buy prescribed textbooks for their children,” Bala added.

Lean Africa’s faltering accentuates the woes of companies in the book publishing industry where corruption, misplaced priorities on the part of government and a weak economy continues to hold back growth.

Industry experts say parents should cultivate the habits of buying books for their children as such culture will help develop the intellectual development of youths and also bolster the top lines of book makers.

In the past, publishing business was lucrative because the reading culture then was high and the economy was better than what it is today.

The Nigerian economy has slowed to 2.8 percent, the lowest in a decade while inflation spiked to 12.8 percent on the back of high transport costs and rising food stuffs.

The insurgency in the north part of the country has limited the promotional activities and revenue efforts of Lean Africa. The company’s sales and marketing operatives have not been able to move distribute educational materials to the crisis region ridden region.

“Several schools and bookshops have been closed down due to the destruction of facilities, widespread killings and threats to lives of students and their teachers,” said Bala.

The Boko Haram insurgency has deprived more than a million children of a school education, UNICEF reports. The UN children’s agency says lack of education may lead to further radicalization in Nigeria and neighboring countries.

The conflict has forced more than a million children out of school – in addition to 11 million more who lacked education before the conflict erupted, the report added.

Learn Africa is spending more to produce each unit of products as cost of sales ratio increased to 55.19 percent in December 2015 from 51.83 percent as at December 2014.

The company’s share price closed at N0.72 on the floor of the exchange while market capitalization was N555.44 million.

BALA AUGIE