Productivity worries mount among business owners as protests continue

Entrepreneurs are concerned that the August 1 protest could affect productivity and inflict an estimated loss of N400bn on the economy.

Industry stakeholders appear apprehensive of the likely fallout of citizen demonstrations on lives and property, particularly their business holdings.

The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, said the fear of arson from the EndSARS protest still haunts Nigerian business owners who almost lost their factories.

“Our factories were nearly torched and we would have been without businesses,” Kuti-George told The PUNCH, recounting the joint experiences of business owners in the EndSARS protest.

Also referred to as the Hunger Protest, the demonstrations are scheduled for August 1, 2024, and most of the rallying seems to be done on social media platforms, most notably X, formerly known as Twitter.

In addition to the Nigerian political class, which has appealed to the sensibilities of protesters calling for calm and security agencies, which have warned against violence, business stakeholders have stated their desire for peaceful demonstrations.

According to the NASSI Vice President, more Nigerians would restrict their movements on the day of the planned protests, leading to a drop in foot traffic, which means a slower business day.

“People will want to be cautious. They will be reluctant to come out on that day,” Kuti-George remarked, reckoning that some employers may ask their staff to work from home.

Also, a development economist, Rotimi Oyelere, pointed out that there is a loss of output and income when protests force workers to stop working.

Oyelere said protests of a nationwide magnitude could have a multiplier effect on daily wage earners.

“There will be a micro impact in immediate income loss for households, and businesses, then a macro impact that will affect general output and on a national aspect.

“It could get out of control and lead to indirect loss if there is a need to restore any destroyed property, he added.

The economist recommended more transparency between the people and the state, noting that a deterioration of trust helped ignite the brewing social unrest in the country.

An earlier analysis from the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise predicted that the proposed nationwide protests pose “grave dangers for an economy that is already in a very fragile state”.

In a statement, the CPPE claimed that if the protests are not properly managed, they could affect earnings and incur an estimated daily loss of N400bn.

The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, suggested that the protesters consider that over 90 per cent of employed Nigerians are in the informal sector.

“Employees in this space (informal sector) depend on daily income and any disruption to their economic activities beyond 24 hours could snowball into major social unrest. This underlines the country’s vulnerability to prolonged protests.

He recommended, among other things, that the duration of the protests possibly be a single day, as “experience has shown that the chances of protests degenerating into chaos and anarchy increase with the duration of the protests,” Yusuf declared.