 The recent removal of fuel subsidy and subsequent price hike has continued to spark concerns among various segments of the society. One particularly affected group is a small and medium enterprises, SMEs, which plays a vital role in the country's economy. SMEs, from the backbone of Nigeria's economy, contribute to employment generation, economic diversification and poverty reduction. We often operate on a tight budget and are highly sensitive to changes in the cost of going business. The removal of fuel subsidy has led to an immediate and noticeable increase in operational costs for the SMEs, impacting their ability to remain in business. On the show today, we will keep our eye on the impact of the subsidy removal on small businesses in the wake of the President's move to give 12 million poor households 8,000 in a month as part of it. Welcome to Business Insights and Plus TV Africa. I am Justin Acadone. Before we get into the business of the day here is a roundup of major business headlines. To begin with the autogas policy, there are over 9,000 licensed filling stations across the country that are feed for the co-location of facilities that dispense autogas fuel the federal government has disclosed this. It disclosed this in a communique issued by the Niger Institute of Transport Technology at the end of the stakeholders engagement forum on the provision of technical manpower and facility for the development and promotion of the autogas as transportation fuel in Nigeria. The conference with the theme autogas as an alternative fuel for transportation in Nigeria showed that there was a need for alternative options for transportation's fuels such as liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas known as autogas, which should become widely used and accepted as an alternative automotive fuel. Moving on now, active subscriptions for the internet across mobile fixed and VOIP networks in Nigeria rose to 159.5 million in May this year. According to the latest industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission, this represents an 8.6% growth when compared with the 158.2 million recorded in April. The NCC's data reveals that the mobile network operators MTN, Airtel, GlobalCom and NamMobile maintained the dominance of the internet market with 159 million subscriptions. Now despite recent criticisms of plans to increase the price of service charges, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria has said current economic conditions have not prompted point of sale operators to reconcede their plans to implement the new framework starting from Monday. This was as it indicated plans to extend the implementation of the new price range to the federal capital, territory and other states. On June 30, the PRO of Amban Lagos Chapter Steven Adeoye in an interview said the Association had come up with a new price list for POS agents operating in the state. Now the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inua, says Nigeria's economy can gain $53 billion from the digitization of micro, small and medium enterprises. Inua said this while delivering an event in Lagos, which was jointly funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The NCCG acknowledged that there were challenges that needed to be addressed to realize the potential of digital transformation in SMEs. And that business roundup will take a quick break and return with more. Do join us again. Welcome from the business roundup. SMEs heavily rely on transportation services to move goods and services both for procurement and distribution. With increased fuel prices, transportation costs have surged, resulting in higher expenses for businesses. This burden is often transferred to the consumers through increased prices of goods and services, further affecting their purchasing power. Joining me right now is the CEO, Edu Panere, NG Mastermind, believe Iboi. Many thanks for joining us on Business Insight and Plus TV Africa, believe. Good morning. All right. OK, so it's been over almost two months since the fuel subsidy removal was announced by President Ambola Ahmed Tunibu. In that time, many Nigerians are filling the brunt. Transportation costs have increased. And of course, the cost of doing business has also increased. So if you want to analyze, how much would you really say it has affected small business? Sincerely, the increase in fuel prices has greatly affected practically every sector, especially business owners. So like we know that as a country, we depend heavily on fuel and the source of power for households, for businesses, offices, and then immediately for transportation. So as a result of this, the increase in fuel has basically increased everything. Now, when the cost of transportation is high, yes, the business owner will have to add extra cost to the cost of items. Then because of the shift, you know that business and production costs will go high beyond reasonable doubt. So it's crazy the way it is right now. Everything is getting more and more and more expensive. And that's what we must do, whatever it is, don't move on, you're getting into it. Because the business is already like a buyable buyable right now. So it's not just an experience of people which I don't want to have going forward. And I think that we should only do the right thing by putting a structure in place to reflect and to regulate. And the argument has been that when you start to remove the consumer revolution, I think that is not true. It's going to see how the power and the resources to see some private revolution to ensure that there's a level playground for every area within the oil and gas sector. So you're talking about government and playing an active role in price magazine. But a school of thought would actually say that it is better for the economy when the forces of demand and supply actually regulate prices. How do you reason that? Well, it's a big deal because right now for all to say that demand and supply can regulate this. So we know that the private market in the markets has acquired and the many other oil markets in the agencies, they are like a group of people that are highly organized. So as a team, you can test different times. Every time there's a price increment, it goes almost at the same day, 24 hours across body. So it is a system that really is organized but it is in the case of a particular operation. It's very difficult for price and demand and supply to take control. So that's why it is important that the high authority, which is the government, can give to that play a role in regulating the state in line with the private. So it's going, like, thinking about the time I saw a secular where some people were like, how much you should sell past it? Because they have a particular price range, it's not as much as the past high range. Now, I think that was done by the better market as the union or something like that. But I'm not going to tell you that, okay, yes, you wouldn't know you are the one important history to the country. They know the cost of all of those things. But then there's a profit margin that, okay, you cannot do beyond social value. That is when it becomes a little bit easy and easy for people to not buy at the past high range. Anything beyond that, it will be very difficult for demand and supply to control the cost between the average cost. Because they are organized for the different policing, they are faced with the market of the fewest children out of the oil and gas sector. All right, but I still want to prove for the concerning of the parts or the parts government can actually play in all of this. Because if, for instance, the marketers are importing at a particular price, they would actually have to factor in the profit margin before they can actually make some sort of profit. So if the government is actually telling them what to pay or what to target for, wouldn't it be to their own detriment? No, of course not. If there is a car, profit, I'm not saying I'm going to say any words. That has no limitation to lower their profit for few to be brought into the country. As a businessman, I decided to set my few at any era to make nine era profits. That might be a very, very big part of it. But if the audience is setting up a three era, don't you guys want to make a two era profit? Now naturally, it's as good as the person who said that nine era would make more profit. But in the case of, a lot of people don't buy from that person, they might not say much in terms of the volume of sales. But I don't get you saying this. That's where people are saying that the cost of demand and supply should take its cost. But we know that there is an organized body, the independent marketer and the other three other bodies that are money, data, health, marketer, the role of those things. So they have the price range already that they are using. The profit margin is there. So it's already the function of how much and how many volumes of fuel are used at a time. So that's why it's very difficult for me to say that the price of demand and supply should regulate. It will be very, it will be possible because they will not allow it to happen. Do we want to determine the price? And you look at all the fields, you are wondering why the difference can still run around to the right. You see this one saying that it's 493, 495, 496, 497 or whatever. So you notice that that is what they can do. And that is what they need to do. So if you want that price to go a little bit lower, because government knows what these guys are making, then it is easy for them to now put a benchmark that you cannot do beyond this, you know? And it's just like a guideline that has to be as it were, that has to achieve what I'm talking about right now. All right, still talking about the fuel subsidy removal. Do you really think the government actually was biting off more than it can chew by removing subsidy and also floating the mirror all at the same time? Well, in the moment we're not biting beyond this capacity. I am the first president who you were very aware of. I was very aware of that. I am very proud of that. During this campaign, you removed the capital B and all the presidents, I think all the presidential candidates actually said they were going to remove the fuel subsidy. And they were preparing for it. However, it was the approach or the method that was used to remove the fuel subsidy is what is causing these issues to happen right now. So in private, what they can approach is they must take approach from the hope that the better are used, instead of making an arrangement, all prepared, all rehearsed and everything. So now they, you know, they are proven that was adopted to remove it. That's the problem right now, not the removal. I say, everyone, right from 2015 now, the people that came out aware of the fuel subsidy issue, everybody has said they should remove it. Even though in those days, to remove the removal and once the removal, in the first instance, but now that you became the president and they sold you meat for you to remove, the better you do, the more proper systematic approach to remove the fuel subsidy, instead of the way it was done. And that was the problem, the violent problem right now, in which it was removed, not the subsidy itself. All right, just a few days ago, the president, and that's Ambella Amedetinobu, announced, declared a state of emergency on food security in the country. And directed them on matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability and essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council. Just how far do you think that can go? At the time, it's not the president's the other right to declare things. But if you have declared the emergency in the food area, in our culture, when the major challenge in agriculture is the transmission of food items from the rural areas to the cities, when the president and a few friends are at an all-time high, we're telling you to be a lower cost for transportation of agri-produce and be to a couple of northern states and look at great businesses trying to train and farm a lot of the same. And I say that in the law, for instance, I have a lot of agri-produce for you to remove a cheaper route of food produce from the top to the league of culture in part of the southwest states. It's going to be a lot of distance. And that means a lot of distance and a lot of food is going to be bought from that. So how do you declare the emergency when the cost of fuel is high? Do you know about the new fertilizers that are now in the middle of the area at an all-time high cost? Again, it is a good directive. But at the end, we all need to look at implementation of our strategies. And then, at the time, we need to look at how this needs to be implemented. You see that, if someone does declare it, there are factors that makes things to work. And if you don't put these factors to play, you cannot get the results you want. And the million is sincere about that. You need to put certain factors in place, try to continue to be regulated. I'm not saying that you pay anybody to do that. You just put the cap around it. But every sector has rules that guide it. So, and since we do that, point-by-point is the years of major bull and revenue and the sorts of line-up that a lot of factors go ahead and say it, because go ahead and be easy with the people. But anything that says that people already take ownership of that process. So, it's still clear that the radius of the growth sector is good, but how possible is it? Okay, so. How possible is it? I think that's the question we should ask. Okay, so let's look at another angle right now, because a lot of people have actually posited different angles to return them, different suggestions. For instance, they talked about, instant advising and maybe small businesses and people who actually do business in terms of, instead of regulating the price of the petrol, they could also maybe give some sort of tax holiday on some aspect or sectors of the economy. How far do you really think that can go? Yes, it will go away. But if you give me tax policy right now, what if you do me one thing? It means that I, as a business person, I will make more money. If you don't expect me to pay a millionaire for the rest of your life, it's three hundred thousand dollars per annum on the past last tax policy, a tax or a P.E. or those things, you give tax policy. What that means that I, as a business owner, I now have tax money with me. But you know this, just as much as you fund us, I'm not buying, I'm still buying to see you at high cost, so as much as I have a commercial cost is high. It just means that I am making, for everyone that comes to me, it's always not the case, nothing. One, two, it doesn't mean that the person we're going to buy, it doesn't mean that we're going to buy less. It doesn't mean that we're going to buy less. So I think for us to have a proper way, it might not be ideal, of course, but that happens in human dynamics. Because no approach can appeal well to everybody. So that's why we need to know what people say. Unless, yes, I agree that you give business owners very low in the performance sector, tax on holiday days, it's very good. But then, it will not really change anything much. It really helps the person who's a business owner to make it a bit more money by themselves. And then you cannot put up with it. It's just two of you, then, you have other costs in form of pressures. Okay, so just a few days ago, towards the end of last week, the president made a request to the National Assembly to approve about $500 million. So they can give 8,000 naira monthly to about 12 million households for the next six months. Because overtime label, and the president had a meeting, or the president had a meeting, and they had like an eight week to resolve the issue of impalates and to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal. In your opinion, how far do you really think that there's 8,000 naira for 12 million households in six months can go to cushion the effect on small business and, of course, on households? And then, when they listen to a lot of these people that they don't need to pressure them to go down, who's advising people to do these things? Now, by calculations, I saw that that means that a lot of people get between the range of eight hours and months. And then, do you know who is a father? Yes, 8,000 naira for about six months, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So what can you buy with that? If you transport from your house to relatively an typical equation, and then at most times, like, you know, you stay like that because you don't have that set of things like that. So if you don't go to this morning, like, give it to people in the corner, because they are assumed to be less relaxed in a lot of these things. But let's look at other states. In the middle of the month, the cost of transport is high, not in buying fuel in the lower high, in the higher private levels. I see from these are people who do not want to buy fuel at a high rate of 6,000, because fuel can be chocolate with that. So if 8,000 naira per month per household is the only basis for the land one, so if you give the money to the people that is generated for, where by the person who is producing? Where? So who is going to receive it for the first time? So if you are unable to create these empowers, but 8,000 naira you will need, if you have not received it in the first month, it's part of it. 8,000 naira is part of it. Okay. But what is your use of it? Should you take it to have to do with empowerment? Empowerment. Empowerment in terms of how? What kind of importance do you talk about? That's our business. And I want to say in terms of empowerment, people need to not be used to it. I need to know how to make faith. I need to know how to create faiths. I need to know how to make faiths. So if you are part of people to be self-employed, I will give the money to the empowers that build this. Empowers that build this is. And it is everywhere, generally, so the government doesn't need this complex. So I can give it to the people who want to buy. And that's what you need to be able to also produce it. And then you also have to look at labor unions who are not looking for six-fold increase on their salaries, which doesn't make any sense anyway. Because if you increase salary for the labor union, which has been made by the people in the government sectors, who are not looking to copy the labor unions. But you need to know, however, that the same formula cannot apply to the difference tractors of this department and reference it is very, very poor. Who have put those out back accounts and all of those things? The people who are able to create more faith for themselves that make up the common sense that I tried to encourage. Now those ones that we said earlier on cannot have tax breaks, cannot have some basic reform. Grants, not these rules, but grants given to them to be made. But the government taking additional actions to reduce the price of shoes, I don't think it will reduce to regulate the price of shoes. That's how you get the company, the customer who's in it. And then, so you don't need that. At every level of the standard of reference humans, it's going to require a different approach. So for the business perspective, that is one progressive war. But in terms of quality, I mean I don't have a quality, I don't want to say I don't have a quality that anywhere in the world. But I have, in terms of business, that is how it should work. So at every niche, or if you're going to use what niche, and referring to every strata of the quality model that you focus on, you have specific solutions. Not this one-room-feet-all approach that has been adopted. All right, Omar Sir, very big thank you to you, believe-you-boy, for finding time to share all of this useful input with us on business insight. We do appreciate your time. Thank you so much. All right. As we go on the show, the newly inaugurated president of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria Iksen, Fumi Ekudayo, has promised to promote good corporate governance. She spoke during her investiture at Lagos, which was attended by high-profile people from the nation's public and private sectors. I'll leave you with details of that. I am Justin Akadoni. I'll see you again next time. Gathered in this hall are friends and families of the 29th President of the Institute of Chartered Secretary and Administrators, Iksen, Fumi Ekudayo. They felicitate with her as she emerges the forced female president of the body after 57 years. During her acceptance speech, Ekudayo acknowledges the contributions of the founding fathers of the Institute and pledges to take the professional body to greater heights. I have no other duty or responsibility from this moment and onward, but to lead and live Iksen stronger, greater and more prosperous than we met it. In a keynote address, the Managing Director of Lotus mentioned back, Kafilat Araweye, speaks on diversity, inclusiveness and corporate governance as tools for sustainable development. If the board does well, institutions get stronger among productive, leading to long-term sustainable development. It is important, however, in all this, not to compromise competence. I get out where people say, oh, you got a chance because you covered a quota system, no. It still must be married living, even in a bid to achieve diversity and inclusiveness. Equal opportunity for all is all we're saying. Special advisor to the President on Monetary Policy, Adebayo Olawale Edum, and other dignitaries charge Iksen to contribute more towards national economic growth and development. Mrs. Fumi Akundayo, one of the most diligent, one of the most enterprising people that you can find. You have pioneered a novel occurrence in the history of the Institute, which is highly applaudable. Araweye posited that in Nigeria, the quota system originally designed to promote diversity and fair representation has on occasions led its promoters to compromise incompetence. Thoughts, corporate organizations must be mindful of such mistake. The 29th President of Iksen speaks more. At Iksen, it is also built in such a way that subsequent governments build on existing legacies, which we plan to do, and there are a lot of other areas of focus that we also have as an administration. One of those areas is to actually continue to strengthen the capacity of our members, to continue to deliver value to different ecosystems and different value chains across the spectrum of private and public environments, particularly at this critical stage that we are as a nation, when we are trying to rebuild, we are trying to, you know, reset. Akundayo has shows of Iksen's commitment to promoting good corporate governance in the country at all times.