Expediency Of Gaining Insight Into Uche Nworah’s Expertise On Weak Naira And Indigenous Nigerian Brands Anchor
As a journalist that has over the years been covering the consumer and retail industries, my trump card to always stay on top of the game for the most newsworthy and popular releases, has been that of keenly following marketing experts who understand the nitty-gritty of the market.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to say that Dr. Uche Nworah who is an adjunct Professor of Marketing at the Continents States University, U.S.A. unarguably is a marketing expert to follow as his expertise no doubt forms the basis of news coverage, particularly in the area of consumer market.
In fact, not a few people that are not abreast with the dynamics of journalism will find it difficult to come to grip with the foregoing relationship between a Journalist and an expert. For the sake of clarity, it is expedient to opine that active interaction between experts and journalists, whereby the expert generally provides background knowledge and serves as a sparring partner for the journalist in the attempts of the latter to interpret a given event or course of events on the public agenda is worthwhile to both the journalist and his reader.
Given the foregoing, it is germane to opine that there is no better time than now to listen to experts on consumer-related issues as fresh data keeps been churned out from each passing week, and the data has in that order have been showing that consumer prices are increasing at the fastest pace since the last few years, and are moving up more rapidly than many economists, predicted. At the moment, the jump is clearly tied to the rebound from the removal of fuel subsidy. At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “What is less clear?” “When will today’s fast inflation fade, and by how much?”
While awaiting the answers to the foregoing tripled-barreled question, it is expedient to gain an insight from Nworah’s submission that “The fluctuating rate of exchange of the Naira to the dollar and other foreign currencies has pushed up prices of imported products in our local markets. The Naira has been on a free fall for months now, and analysts do not see the trend bucking anytime soon.
He recently wrote, “A visit to any local supermarket leaves one with his heart in his mouth because of the prices of groceries and other goods on display. I was at a local supermarket recently to pick up some groceries and was shocked to see the prices of items on display. These prices are surely above the reaches of millions of families in Nigeria. I noticed that a small plastic bottle of Heinz salad cream was retailing for N6, 300.
“Unlike in the past when supermarkets printed and affixed prices on items on display, prices are now hand-written so that shop owners can flexibly adjust the prices in-line with the rates of dollar increases.
“Using Heinz salad cream as a metaphor, one could see that in the circumstances, consumers will begin to look for economic-value alternatives. Coincidentally, on the same Sunday that I was shopping for salad cream, I saw on the internet that indigenous food manufacturing brand, Don Ebubeogu - led Tiger Foods Limited was collaborating with rising Awka social hub- Obalende Awka, in organizing a tasting event for its newly launched Tiger mayonnaise. This got me thinking. Surely, this is the time for indigenous brands to fight for market share”.
As the way forward, he asserted that to be able to do this successfully and scale up their output, they need the support of the consumers through increased patronage, as well those of critical stakeholders in the manufacturing value-chain to surmount some of the challenges that indigenous manufacturers face in Nigeria. He added that these challenges have been identified as distribution and logistics challenges including poor road conditions, scarce foreign exchange to import spare parts and raw materials, energy challenges, complex tax regimes by both the federal, states and local governments, staff-related issues, competition from imported brands and so on.
He explained that perhaps the distortion in the economy occasioned by rising and fluctuating dollar exchange rate presents good growth opportunities for indigenous Nigerian brands, and ask, “Will they seize the moment and the emerging opportunities?, and concluded, “Time will tell”.
Analyzed from the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to urge both consumers and producers of goods to gain informed insight into Uche Nworah’s expertise on weak Naira and indigenous Nigerian brands while haggling across consumer markets.