Saturday, September 12, 2020

AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITORS...........

Stay ahead of your competitors with these tips

You will only achieve success if you run your business on your own terms, and not fall prey to chasing after rivals in your industry.

Stay ahead of your competitors with these tips

The old adage, “If you’re not first, you’re last,” couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to business success. Being first-to-market may have its advantages, but long-term success is not a race – it’s how you make a product or service better than that of your competitors. And “Better” can mean anything from the product or service itself to customer service, pricing, or marketing strategy.

“Without a robust and resilient innovation strategy, no company can survive,” says Phil McKinney, CEO of CableLabs. In just about every industry and just about every career, the creator of the Purple Cow enjoys the profits, the accolades, and the feeling of omniscience that comes with a success. So how do you stay ahead of your competitors and ensure that you are successful?

Stop trying to copy the business model of your rivals

You will only achieve success if you run your business on your own terms, and not fall prey to chasing after rivals in your industry. As soon as you stop following your own path and start copying your competitors, you could find yourself even further behind than when you started. You have your own unique strategies, resources, and capabilities so you need to stay true to your business model that optimizes them in the best possible way.

Stay ahead of your competitors with these tips

Make innovation your best friend

Being a small business owner means always finding novel ways to enhance your business. The companies that fail are the ones that become stagnant, relying on methods that can become outdated. Eventually, as their competition becomes more efficient, they leave these businesses behind. Don’t let that happen to you. Use the tips in this article to ensure that you remain ahead of your competitors.

Expand your offers – a market that’s already crowded has less scope for expansion. It is essential to offer something unique to your customers in order to build your own niche and minimize the existing competition.

Be the best employer

Skilled, motivated employees underpin vibrant, growing businesses. Attracting them means more than paying a competitive wage. People are often more impressed by a good working atmosphere, and benefits such as flexible working and structured career development.

Identify and solve the pain points of your customers

Ask open-ended questions to find exactly what your customers want while using your products or services. The key here is to provide solutions to the prospects and supply them what they need as opposed to selling them what you want to sell. You only need to fulfil the need, not "sell" anything. Your product or service will automatically start to sell more the moment you fill the void that your competitors are lacking.

Get the pricing correct

Perfect pricing strategy revolves around marketing psychology. Before you set your own pricing strategy, it is essential to know the competition. You must identify who is offering the best value for money. The price you set should be standard and must have a competitive advantage. A great pricing strategy does not always mean lowering the prices of existing products in order to win more customers. Every market is divided into three segments – the lower, middle and upper class. The first step is to identify the class you are targeting. Once you get an answer to that, it will be much easier to set a price that your audiences will love to pay.

Stay ahead of your competitors with these tips

Improve your customer service

People love businesses that provide exceptional customer service. If you delight your customers with great service, you will make loyal customers who will refer your business to their family and friends. Hire staff who have a good understanding of your products or services. Ensure that they remain patient and provide satisfying answers to every customer query. Your staff should greet customers with a pleasing smile and must show gratitude. Your customer care team should always remain courteous and respectful.

They must always be responsive to customer queries. They should have a problem-solving approach and always ask for customer feedback. Customer-centric companies are powered by dependable staff who raise the level of customer satisfaction. You can also consider offering freebies that competitors don’t.

Target new customers

Retaining your customer will help you build a loyal consumer base. However, if you want to grow your business, you’ll need to attract new customers. In this rapidly changing economy, you may wake up one day only to find that your so-called loyal consumer base is busy shopping elsewhere. There is no guarantee that they will keep coming back for more forever. A steady flow of customers will keep your business healthy.

More favourable opening hours

Whether you go 24/7 or just open Saturdays when your rivals are shut, making a customer’s life more convenient and shaping your business around their lifestyle is guaranteed to bring them through the doors, and this is a vital part of building competitive strategy.

Show your personality

There is true value that comes from turning the customer experience into a personal one. When people are able to put a face to the business, it naturally leads them to form an emotional connection that simply doesn’t happen when they walk into a big retail store. Share your business story. Discuss why you got into the business in the first place. Talk about why your service is unique. In short, reinforce the emotional side of things and you’ll see how your customers will begin to feel a real connection to your business.

Stay ahead of your competitors with these tips

Conclusion

Healthy competition is always good as it keeps pushing you to do better. Therefore, you should not shy away from competing. Nevertheless, you should arm yourself with the best of tools that can help you in staying ahead. Business is a never-ending battle that makes you learn new things each day. You must be ready to face any challenges or situations.

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE: FROM ZERO TO HERO!

Customer Service: 9 ways to go from zero to hero in no time

While you may want to continue bringing in new customers, your success is greatly determined by your ability to increase your repeat customers.

Customer, business, Polarization: How, attract, right, customers, ‘’wrong’,’ ones, out, A guide to identifying your profitable customers and improving your sales (1), customers, Customer Service: 9 ways to go from zero to hero in no time, How to implement customer feedback that will skyrocket your business growth

Quick facts

  • Most customers aren’t loyal.
  • Majority of first-time customers are in the process of fulfilling particular needs and are not interested in long-term engaging relationships with a brand.
  • Returning customers are far more profitable than newly acquired customers.
  • It is easier and more cost-effective to sell to an existing customer than to find a new one.
  • Marketing Metrics explains that you are 50% more likely to sell to an existing customer than a new one. In fact, marketing to a new customer is nearly seven times as expensive as maintaining an existing customer.

What these tell us is that while you may want to continue bringing in new customers, your success is greatly determined by your ability to increase your repeat customers. On average, your loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. Long-term, profitable customer relationships do not happen overnight which is why it is important to continue nurturing the relationship after the initial win. By investing in customer retention from the start, you can dramatically grow your bottom line while transforming one-time buyers into committed brand enthusiasts. Your customers should not feel the need to move away to your competitor because they found your customer care operators to be inefficient or your support mechanism to be weak.

Must-have customer service skills that every business needs, How your business can provide superior customer support during the holiday season (Part 1), How your business can provide superior customer support during the holiday season (Part 1)

What tactics do you then employ to engage your customers and drive them back to your product/services after every purchase?

Your Social Media Channels

Social media is one of the best tools you can use to communicate and engage with your customers and loyal advocates. How do you ensure that you drive customer retention via social media?

Post-user-generated content: Your social media followers do not want to see your perfectly staged product photos all the time—they want to see your products being used in real-life. One of the best ways to remind customers how great your products are, is by encouraging everyone who buys from you to share photos of themselves using your products on your social media pages.

Hire the right person

The fact is, some people are better at customer-facing roles than others. They are born with a talent with which they naturally communicate well with customers. You can train, you can practice, you can instil culture, but some people just have it in them. Look for it during the hiring process, and continue nurturing it through every moment that employee spends in your organization.

Communicate Effectively

Loopholes in the customer service arena are based on the fundamental ability to communicate effectively. Investing in training here is a no-brainer, but that applies to all staff working who deal with customers directly, and not just CSMs. Effective communication implies sharpening verbal communication and listening skills. Let us have a look at the three core principles:

  • Make it simple: Don’t utilize solutions that are long-winded and unnecessarily complex.
  • Make it effective: It’s not good enough just trying to help; you need to provide the solutions that truly help.
  • Make it honest: Stick to the core organizational values at all times.

Keep refining your product or service

The awesome thing about customer service is that it also serves as your research and development arm. By interacting with your customers, you learn exactly what people are looking for and what concerns them. This should not be taken for granted. Diligently take note of the concerns of the customers and improve your product or service based on the customers’ pain points. Ensure you also give your customers a call back if any of their product concerns have been resolved. This will make them feel that you care.

Include data-driven recommendations in transactional emails

Transactional emails are triggered by a specific action, like completing a purchase, registering for an event, or signing up for a free trial. In this case, we’re recommending that you include data-driven product recommendations in the email you send to confirm a customer’s order. Say your customer ordered a pair of earrings. By including three top-selling pairs of earrings at the bottom of their order confirmation, you nudge them to make another purchase right away.

Encourage upsell and cross-sell with personalized product recommendations

Product recommendation emails differ from transactional emails in that they’re sent proactively. That is, instead of waiting for the customer to browse your website, you nudge them to buy by sending a carefully curated selection of products straight to their inboxes. Basing these recommendations on their purchase history will increase your chance of making the sale.

Reward customers for desired behaviours

One sure-fire way to build customer loyalty is to reward customers for engaging in behaviours that help grow your business. For example:

  • Making a purchase
  • Following your brand on social media
  • Sharing product pages with friends and family
  • Publishing product reviews
  • Spreading positive word of mouth online

Must-have customer service skills that every business needs

Use customer care emails to build brand affinity

Customer care emails are effective and free ways to build goodwill. Here are a few ideas to stimulate your imagination:

  • Celebrate customer milestones. Has your customer crossed an activity milestone? Have they spent a certain amount of money? Have they repeated buyers for certain periods of time? These are all occasions you should celebrate.
  • Wish customers a happy birthday. Recognising moments that matter to your customers helps you build a relationship with them.
  • Show a bit of gratitude. Saying thank you after every purchase demonstrates that you value their business. This simple two-word message can go a long way in earning your customer’s respect.

Offer refreshments

Invest in a nice water or coffee system. Place it where customers can easily find it and serve themselves while they wait or prepare for their meetings.

These are not hard and fast rules. Ultimately, what you sell has a huge impact on which strategy you should focus on. Stay customer-centric!

 

THE FORMULAR FOR SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMERS SERVICE FOR YOUR BUSINESS.

Here’s the formula for successful customer service for your business

These days, customers are smarter, leaner, price-conscious and hit on more by competitors.

Must-have customer service skills that every business needs, How your business can provide superior customer support during the holiday season (Part 1), How your business can provide superior customer support during the holiday season (Part 1), Here’s the formula for successful customer service for your business

’If you will just be real, be friendly and be WOW, you are halfway up the ladder to customer loyalty and personal success beyond your wildest dreams,’’ Jeffrey Gitomer

Quick facts

  • Customers are the source of your paycheck.
  • Your friendliness and willingness to help is in direct proportion to your success.
  • One of the most powerful aspects of service: being different – it’s all in the first few words.
  • Word-of-mouth advertising is the most powerful form of advertising in the world.
  • ‘’Loyal’’ is the most difficult of customer service goals to achieve.

How your business can provide superior customer support during the holiday season (Part 1)

These days, customers are smarter, leaner, price-conscious and hit on more by competitors. And because of poor service expectations, these customers are also: more demanding, less forgiving, harder to satisfy, less loyal. And so the challenge for the 21st century is not just serving customers – it is:

  • Understanding customers and putting yourself in the customer’s shoes
  • Helping an angry customer immediately
  • Being responsible for your actions when a customer calls
  • Being memorable
  • Striving to keep customers for life
  • Getting unsolicited referrals from customers regularly.

Just because they are satisfied does not mean they are loyal. Satisfied customers will buy from anyone. Satisfaction is no longer the acceptable standard of customer service. The standard and measure of success for the next millennium is loyal customers. Are you measuring up? Would you rate your customer service as something worth talking about? If not, your competition is breathing a sigh of relief.

The Self-evaluation

Customers don’t make up stories about you or your actions – you create them. What stories have you created? How do you think of your customers? Do you realize that they feed you? Do you understand that your degree of service helps determine your wage and your success? How willing are you to help? When a customer calls with a problem, do you try to get rid of it, or are you the person who solves it?

Do you call customers back after the problem to ask if they were served okay and that all is well? How friendly are your company’s first words? How is your company being represented? How well are your staff trained to respond to the need, and ask for the sale? Do you know how much one customer means to your company? Have you ever lost a customer? Did you calculate the cost of the loss?

What are you doing to ensure the competitive advantage of repeat business?

What are you doing to build quality relationships with every customer? Quality relationships are where re-orders come from. If the customer is mistreated or decides to test the competition, that advantage may be permanently lost. These are common-knowledge statistics quoted about dissatisfied customers:

  • 91% will never return
  • 96% won’t tell you the real reason they left
  • It costs 10 times more to replace a customer than it does to keep them.

A customer ready to repeat his purchase is a powerful business advantage

A re-order sale is 100 times easier to get than a sale from an ad, or a sale from a cold call. What strategy do you have in place to stay in front of your customers in times of ‘’non-sale’’ as much as you do in times of ‘’sale’’.

Try this – Include relationship-building strategies in every re-order. After you take that order, ask each of the next set of customers ‘’why’’’ they bought from you and what you could do next time that would make ordering easier. Customers always have the best ideas to improve your business.

Measure your ‘’friendly’’ factor

Friendly is at the epicentre of your business. The value of ‘friendly’ is beyond measure – it costs nothing, yet it’s worth a fortune. Survey your staff, survey your customers and vendors – get frequent (anonymous) feedback. Ask questions that get to the truth about happiness. Get the pulse from the heart.

Take customer problems seriously – not their language or tone personally. Help them, solve their problems, get real with them, make them say ‘WOW’.

The Self-Test formula for successful customer service

  • Be friendly first. Customer service starts with a friendly person who offers friendly words. How friendly is your business?
  • Attitude precedes service. What are your thoughts? Positive all the time? How are you guiding them?
  • Serve in terms of the customer. Customers only care about their situation not what your situation is. Are you serving them in terms of them or you?
  • Recognize customers for what they are – your paycheck. How do you treat your paycheck?
  • Listen all the way out. Make sure the customer has told you everything. Don’t interrupt. Ask questions to understand their problem better and to find out what it will take to help them – the way they want to be helped.

Some important tips for companies in view of customer Service Week 2019, Polarization: How to attract the right customers, while keeping the ‘’wrong’’ ones out, 9 hacks to attracting and retaining wealthy customers

Word of mouth advertising is 50 times more powerful than advertising

One person telling another what to do – what to buy, where to shop, what and where to eat, what not to buy, eat, use. You just have to create that memorable customer service. What’s the word in the street about your business? How many people call you out-of-the-blue to place orders? How many people tell you positive stories they ‘’heard’’ about you?

What are the advantages of great service?

  • It builds goodwill: Consistent service creates and builds reputation.
  • It creates memorable experiences that will be retold over time and makes customers salespeople for your business.

Closing words

Service is a feeling. You know what it is when you get it – so give back the same thing or more. The simple secret is – don’t give any feeling to others you wouldn’t want to feel. You know when you’re doing a good job, you can feel it. You also know when you’re doing your best. It is an inside feeling of YES!

 

5 ways to raise funding for your business

Here are a number of ways to raise funds for your business.

One of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face is finding the necessary funds to grow their businesses. Startups have to deal with various costs, while ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. As money does not grow on trees, there are a number of ways to fund your business.

We will love to see your business grow and make huge impacts, which is why we have compiled in this article five concrete ways to raise the money you need for your business.

Bootstrapping

This means financing your company by scraping together any personal funds you can find.

In many cases, using the money you have instead of borrowing or raising is a great approach. In fact, some entrepreneurs continue to bootstrap until their business is profitable. This can be beneficial because it means you won’t have extensive loans and monthly payments that can weigh you down, and investing some of your own money will usually make investors and lenders more willing to partner with you down the line.

Friends and Family

If your funds are not enough, you can turn to the people closest to you. This is often a good first step before considering external funding. Family members and friends can be easier to persuade than anonymous lenders because they are less likely to demand stringent repayment terms or high-interest rates.

Borrowing from friends and family comes with its own set of risks. If the venture fails, or if it takes much longer than anticipated to repay the loan, your relationships can suffer.

Before you ask your friends and family for money, you should have a business plan ready. This way, you can explain to them exactly what you are doing and how you will make money. Also, ensure that you have all terms of the loan written out. That includes how much you are getting, the amount of interest charged, and the terms and deadline of repayment.

Angel Investors

Angel investors are groups or individuals who invest their own money into other people’s businesses. They stand out because they tend to invest in companies at earlier stages of growth and are always on the lookout for the next business to invest in. Many of the biggest tech companies today, including Google and Yahoo, were funded by angel investors. Typically, an angel investor is one who is successful in a particular industry and is looking for new opportunities within that same industry, or other industries. Not only can angel investors offer financing to get your business off the ground, but some may also choose to guide you. They may also leverage their existing contacts within an industry to open doors for your business.

Crowdfunding

Businesses have been using the internet to market and sell things since the 1990s. However, over the last decade, the web has become a new source of financing as well. With this, you can get funding from websites where investors can support your business no matter where they are in the world.

You will be required to set up a campaign and name a target amount of money you want to raise, as well as create perks for donors who pledge a certain amount of money, such as early access to products, discounts, and so on. You then raise money for the campaign over a specified time. Some websites you would use for this financing method are Kickstarter, GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Crowdrise, and many others.

Loans

Loans can be gotten from banks or other financial institutions. This method is one of the oldest, although many do not prefer it.

To get loans, you might be required to show that you’ve started gaining traction and making money (and that a loan would help you earn even more). You may also need to present a well-detailed business plan. Your business’ financial projections give lenders the details needed to be sure of the income you would have to repay loans, including interests. Usually, bank loans do have legal regulations, which will have to be followed accordingly.

In conclusion, entrepreneurs must weigh the benefits and downsides of available funding options and determine which one provides the greatest flexibility at the least cost. There are many options for financing your business, so do not get discouraged if one does not work out. By demonstrating due diligence and resourcefulness, you can easily raise the capital you need to move your business to the next level.

 

THE TRENDS!

What To Expect From The Markets This Week

Saturday, September 12, 2020 07:50 AM / Proshare Content

Source:  Cordros Weekly Economic and Market Report - September 11, 2020

Global Economy 

Will wealth managers be caught out by currency markets in 2017?

Chinese inflation slowed in August as a slowdown in the surging price of pork tempered food costs. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) moderated to 2.4% y/y (July: 2.7% y/y), the lowest figure since May. Month-on-Month, CPI was up 0.4% (July: 0.6% m/m). Food inflation eased to 11.2% y/y (July:13.2% y/y) on the back of the moderation in pork price inflation, which slowed last month from a higher base a year ago, after prices began to surge in August 2019 as African swine fever decimated China's pig herds. Pork prices rose 52.6% in August from a year earlier, easing sharply from an 85.7% y/y jump in July. Increased food supply in markets, following the containment the country's flood crisis, also contributed to the slowdown in inflation. Elsewhere, core inflation, rose 0.5% y/y in August, unchanged from July, suggesting domestic demand remained soft. Looking ahead, we opine that headline inflation has further to fall as pork and general food supply continues to recover from the swine fever and flood outbreaks.

The European Central Bank (ECB), in its latest meeting, kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.0%, and its EUR1.35 trillion bond-buying programme in place. The bank noted that it believes in a significant rebound of the Eurozone economy but at the same time, stresses the high level of uncertainty. On inflation, the projections for 2020 remained unchanged at 0.3%, those for 2021 were revised upwards to 1.0%, while those for 2022 remained unchanged at 1.3%, with the ECB President emphasising that 2022 projections masked an upward revision of core inflation. The key moment of the press conference was the ECB President's first mentioning of the euro exchange rate as a factor that the ECB will carefully assess in the coming months. A stronger currency weighs on prices by cutting import costs. It also undermines output by making exports less competitive.  The euro has risen 10.0% against the dollar since March but the ECB faces a dilemma as any overt action to weaken the currency might be interpreted as a violation of a de facto nonaggression pact among the world's largest economic powers.

Global Markets

Global equities were mixed during the week as US tech selloffs continued, while investors elsewhere focused on economic green shoots and COVID-19 vaccine developments. Consequently, US (DJIA: -2.1%; S&P: -2.6%) shares were on track to end the week lower while European (STOXX Europe: +1.7%; FTSE 100: +3.7%) stocks were up WTD. Asian markets were mixed - Japanese (Nikkei 225: +0.9%) stocks recorded a weekly gain as the capital city of Tokyo dropped its coronavirus alert by one notch from the highest level as COVID-19 cases continue to trend down, while Chinese (SSE: -2.8%) stocks posted their biggest weekly drop in eight weeks as Beijing's rift with Washington had investors sticking to safer assets. Emerging market (MSCI EM: -1.3%) stocks were also down on the losses in China, while Frontier market (MSCI FM: -0.3%) were lower as major selloffs in Vietnamese (-1.3%) large-cap stocks ensued.

 

Nigeria

Economy

The Nigerian president, on social media, restated his stance on local food production and asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop issuing foreign exchange for all food and fertiliser imports. This follows a similar order the president issued last year that the apex bank only partly followed, with some food importers still receiving foreign exchange. Food inflation soared to 15.48% in August due to climate change, banditry in the food-producing regions, the border closure and structural problems associated with the agricultural value chain. We also note that local food production in many staples is not sufficient to meet domestic demand. For example, the United States Food and Agricultural Service put Nigeria's annual wheat production at 60,000 metric tonnes (Mt) with domestic consumption at 5.3MMt. We highlight that the country recently borrowed 5,000 metric tonnes of assorted grain from ECOWAS to support the most vulnerable due to severe shortages. For us, we believe the country is putting the cart before the horse, as there is a need to address the impediments to local food production before restricting imports. Consequently, we expect upward pressure on food prices to intensify. 

Faced with the severe impact of COVID-19 on all economic units, the government has grappled with low revenue in the face of increasing expenditure to limit the impact of the pandemic on the economy. Public debt stock statistics from the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that Nigeria's public debt profile grew by NGN2.38 trillion or 8.3% q/q to NGN31.01 trillion in Q2-20. The increase stemmed from (1) the NGN1.21 trillion (USD3.36 billion) budget support loan from the IMF, (2) new domestic borrowing to finance the revised 2020 budget (FGN Bond: NGN666.76 billion and Sukuk: NGN162.56 billion), and (3) promissory notes issued to settle claims of exporters (NGN255.42 billion). With the multilateral loans expected from the World Bank (USD1.5 billion), AfDB (USD211.5 million) and Islamic Development Bank (USD113 million), expected state (c. NGN200.00 billion) borrowing and the balance of domestic (NGN588.9 billion) borrowing, public debt stock is expected to increase by 4.8% to c. NGN32.50 trillion in Q3-20.

Capital Markets

Equities

Nigerian shares were mixed this week as profit-taking in banking stocks for the better part of the week offset bargain buying at the end of the week. Specifically, selloffs of GUARANTY (-5.8%), UBA (-3.9%) and ZENITHBANK (-1.2%) dragged the All Share Index 0.1% lower, w/w, to 25,591.95 points. Consequently, the YTD loss increased to -4.7%. Performance across sectors within our coverage was broadly negative with the Banking (-2.7%), Oil & Gas (-1.3%), Insurance (-0.7%), and Consumer Goods (-0.3%) indices all closing lower. The Industrial Goods (+0.4%) index was the sole gainer.

Our view continues to favour cautious trading as risks remain on the horizon due to a combination of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and weak economic conditions. Thus, we continue to advise investors to seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks.

Fixed Income and Money Market

Money Market

The overnight (OVN) rate increased significantly by 14.25ppts to 16.5%, as outflows from OMO (NGN70.00 billion) and FX auction debits outweighed inflows from OMO maturities (NGN265.00 billion) and FX auction refunds.

With a combined NGN492.09 billion coming into the system from OMO maturities (NGN350.00 billion) and FGN bond coupon payments (NGN142.09 billion) next week, we expect the OVN to trend southwards, barring any CRR debits on banks.

Treasury Bills

The Treasury bills secondary market ended the week bullish, due to the excess liquidity in the interbank market, and as market participants covered for lost bids at Wednesday's NTB PMA at the secondary market. Thus, the average yield across all instruments contracted by 33bps to 2.2%. Across the segments, the average yields contracted by 39bps and 22bps to 2.4% and 1.7% at the OMO and NTB secondary markets, respectively. At the PMA, demand continued to outweigh supply, as there was an oversubscription of 2.0x on NGN128.06 billion worth of bills on offer. The auction closed with the CBN allotting NGN4.41 billion of the 91-day, NGN14.00 billion of the 182-day and NGN109.65 billion of the 364-day - at respective stop rates of 1.10% (previously 1.15%), 1.55% (previously 1.80%), and 3.05% (previously 3.34%). At the OMO auction, the CBN fully allotted NGN70.00 billion worth of bills - NGN10.00 billion of the 75-day, NGN10.00 billion of the 180-day and NGN50.00 billion of the 355-day - at respective stop rates of 4.86% (unchanged), 7.68% (unchanged), and 8.90% (previously 8.94%).

Considering the level of inflows expected in the system, we should continue to see demand for instruments in this space.

Bond

The Treasury bonds secondary market ended its bearish run this week, as the market recovered from the sell-offs that dominated most of August, and in the first week of September. We attribute the bullish market sentiment to investors' quest to reinvest the maturities that came in during the week. Thus, average yield dipped by 39bps to 7.7%. Across the curve, investors took a keen interest in short (-99bps) end instruments, as demand was particularly heavy on the MAR-2024 (-185bps), APR-2023 (-163bps) and JAN-2022 (-119bps) bonds. Similarly, the average yield at the mid (-13bps) and long (-19bps) segments also witnessed some demand, following buying interests in the MAR-2027 (-37bps) and MAR-2036 (-39bps) instruments, respectively. 

Next week, we expect demand to remain elevated as investors seek to re-invest the excess liquidity expected next week.

Foreign Exchange

Nigeria's FX reserves recorded another week of accretion, even as the CBN continued to intervene across the various foreign exchange windows. Precisely, reserves grew by USD76.42 million w/w to USD35.78 billion. Across the FX windows, the naira was flat against the US dollar at NGN386.00/USD at the I&E window but weakened by 3.3% to NGN455.00/USD in the parallel market, as the market priced in the capacity of the CBN to meet demand as international flights resume. In the Forwards market, the rates on the 3-month (+0.1% to NGN388.30/USD), 6-month (+0.2% to NGN391.02/USD) and 1-year (+0.5% to NGN400.38/USD) contracts appreciated, while the 1-month (NGN386.74/USD) contract was flat.

Despite the CBN's stronger commitment towards exchange rate unification, we still see legroom for the currency to depreciate further in the medium-to-long term, at least towards its REER derived fair value. Our prognosis is hinged on (1) the widening current account (CA) position, (2) currency mispricing, which could induce speculative attacks on the naira, and (3) the resumption of FX sales to the BDC segment of the market which should place an additional layer of pressure on the reserves.

 

4 SELECTED MAIZE IMPORTERS WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY BUHARI FOREX FOR FOOD BAN.

4 selected Maize importers will not be affected by Buhari forex for food ban

Companies recently given approval to import maize will not be affected by the President’s directive.

4 selected Maize importers will not be affected by Buhari forex for food ban, Nestle partners USAID to improve quality of Nigerian grain 

Nairametrics has gathered that the recent ban of foreign exchange for food and fertilizer importers would not affect the 4 companies approved to import 262,000 tons of maize into Nigeria from August to October. The approved companies are using their own forex sources as the CBN will not be providing forex for the imports. 

On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered that food and fertilizer importers should not be given access to foreign exchange by the CBN, adding that the country would rather empower more local farmers, and use agriculture as a means to solve unemployment among youths. 

“I am restating it that nobody importing food or fertilizer should be given foreign exchange from the Central Bank. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign reserves to import food or fertilizer. We will instead empower local farmers and producers,” the President said. 

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria in July, directed all authorised dealers to immediately discontinue the processing of Forms M for maize/corn importation into the country. The CBN noted that the ban was necessitated in order to protect local production of maize, stimulate rapid economic recovery, safeguard rural livelihoods and increase job creation.

However, Dr. Ikechukwu Kelikume, the Programme Director of the Lagos Business School Agribusiness programme, warned that the policy could further compound the woes of poultry farmers given that maize, which constitutes over 50 per cent of poultry feed content is currently very scarce, and where available, is very expensive, even as the price keeps rising. 

Due to the high cost of poultry production after the ban on maize imports. President Muhammadu Buhari ordered last week that the Federal government will release 30,000 tons of maize from the national reserves to animal feed producers. 

The Nigeria Customs Service also confirmed last week that 4 companies that have been given the CBN emergency approval to import 262,000 tons of maize into Nigeria.  

The companies are Wacot Limited, Chi farms Limited, Crown Flour Mills Limited and Premier Feeds Company Limited.  

Bottom Line:  Nairametrics gathered that the 4 approved companies are some of the biggest Maize traders in the country and will not be affected by the president’s ban on the importation of food items including maize. According to a reliable source from the CBN, the apex bank is not selling FX directly to the 4 companies, as the approved companies would source FX to import the maize directly from their cash reserves. The source added that the CBN picked companies that prioritize Backward Integration in Nigeria’s maize industry. 

 

E.G.F.Wares

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