Whenever l tell my grandchildren that Leventis Stores and Kingsway Stores were the pride of Nigeria, they laugh, making look me look like a circus clown, says Mr. Ademola Williams, a 71 year old retired civil servant.
Williams says he doesn’t blame for not catching his gist because their generation is familiar with Shoprite and Spar, but he hasn’t given up telling the story.
“Kingsway Ebute Metta was fun those days, and as kids we saved and went to the store to buy meat pie, burglar, and sausages, but how these brands withered away still remain a mystery.
Established in 1948, Kingsway stores was the first department store Nigeria, where kids and parents could get the refreshment they needed, and workers could grab snacks during lunch period.
It was established by United Africa Company (UAC), to mimic the American shopping culture. Following the success of the Lagos stores, the company established outlets in Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Warri, Ikeja, as well as Apapa.
Aside from snacks, the stores had the best toys and clothes, which were the delight of mothers and children.
Like Kingsway, another brand that fizzled way is A.G Leventis, a company founded in 1937 by Cypriot Merchant, Anastasios G. Leventis.
Following the success it enjoyed in these periods, it opened other brands like Leventis Motors Limited and Leventis Techbical Limited.
Leventis Stores met the needs of Nigerians, and its products were in their homes.
It owned one the most successful football clubs in Africa, Leventis United.Leventis United paraded the best players across West Africa, one of them was the Ghanaian born goal keeper, Edward Ansa.
Also in the lists of department stores that reigned pre and post-independence were UTC Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of Union Trading Company, Basel, Switzerland, and Domino Stores respectively. Both companies established in 1932 and 1964 respectively, made life interesting for citizens that cut across the middle and upper class of society.
The buildings that once housed some department stores are moribund, overgrown with weeds, while some of them have become a rendezvous where marijuana smokers fellowship.
How things fell apart
The collapse of crude oil price of 1980 and a deteriorating economy combined with bad policies took a toll on consumer spending, as unemployment rate started to spiral.
Consequently, companies started folding up while the ones that survived left the country because they couldn’t cope with harsh operating environment.
Epileptic power supply, bad roads, huge levies, administrative bottlenecks, and poor regulations make it difficult for business to thrive.
Nigeria has always ranked low in ease of doing business, while multinational firms bemoaned corruptions by public civil servant who demand bribe from them.
But the plight the consumer goods firms have not ameliorated, instead their conditions have been increasingly deteriorating since 2015, when the President Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressibe Congress ended the 16 year rule of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The refusal of the central bank governor to let the Naira float, the restriction of foreign exchange restriction on 41 items, and President Muhammadu Buhari’s lack of policy direction compounded the woes of consumer goods firms as a severe dollar scarcity hindered them from importing raw materials and equipment to meet production.
In 2016, the country slipped into its recession in 25 years after two negative growths, as companies continue to leave for Ghana.
That same year, about 272 firms had been forced out of business, 50 of which are manufacturing companies, according to the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN); South Africa retailer, Woodworths, pulled out Nigeria over high rental costs, duties and complex supply chain.
So far, economic numbers have been discouragingly disappointing, while investors have dumped Naira assets in pursuit of safe haven assets across the globe.
The economy grew at a slower pace of 1.94 percent in the second quarter of 2019 (Q2) 2019, according to a recent report by the NBS; that compares with a growth rate of 2.10 percent in the first quarter.
More worrying, manufacturing sector contracted by 0.13 percent from the 0.81 percent expansion in first quarter (Q1)2019. The contraction contradicts evidence from manufacturing PMI data published by the Central of Bank Nigeria (CBN) in the period which suggested that activities continued to expand, albeit at a weaker pace.
The cumulative bet revenue of the largest consumer goods firms that have released half year results showed combined revenue dip by 1.13 percent to N839 billion from N849.55 billion as at June 2019; Five out of the total number recorded a sharp drop in revenue, the first in 3 years.
These firms are also spending less to produce each unit of currency as combined net profit margins reduced to 4.17 percent in the period under review as against 6.33 percent the previous year. Combined net profit dipped by 26.55 percent to N47.18 billion as at June 2019.
Dangote Sugar, the largest producer of the sweetener, said in a conference call last month that recurring menace of smuggled sugar remains a severe concern for the growth prospects of the producer of the sweetener. In addition, the Apapa gridlock continues to impact distribution network thus increasing the lead time for product deliveries.
Dangote Flour Mills has continued to record recurring losses, while Olam International Limited, a leading food and agri-business company with operations in 70 different countries, intends to buy the Nigerian miller for N120 billion.
Experts say President Muhammadu Buhari has less than 3 years to formulate transformation policies that will help propel economic growth, as over 50 percent of a population of 200 million live on less than $1.29 a day.
Unemployment rate is at an all-time high of 23 percent, as the country dethroned India to become the poverty capital of the world.
BALA AUGIE
