Nigerian Businesses Worst Hit By Covid–19, Inflation – Firm

An indigenous grocery retailer, Sundry Markets Limited, has said businesses in Nigeria were worst hit during the period of Covid-19 and inflation as well as the naira’s instability.

The chief executive officer of Sundry Markets, Ebere Enunwa, stated this at the weekend during a gala night to mark the firm’s 10th anniversary in Port Harcourt.

Enunwa, however, stated that while inflation had begun taking parallel since last year, the naira, although still over N1,000 to the United States dollar, is getting stronger.

“We have gone through periods of intense turbulence. Inflation has been growing on an alarming rate but it just started to take parallel since last year. The consumers have been beating silly and their pockets have been bleeding a bit high.

“Covid-19 happened; it is something that no one ever imagined. I don’t know but in my life time, I have not experienced anything like that.

Nobody knew what it was and what to do. That was significant.

“The currency, you know has suffered significantly; we were at N200 or N300 at some point but we are at above N1000 now. Yes, it is getting better, we pray it continues to get better. The currency is strengthening and that is a good thing. Those are all of those difficult things that we had experienced”, he said.

Describing Sundry Markets, owners of ‘Market Square’ as the Nigeria’s largest indigenous grocery retailer, Enunwa said with 40 stores across the country, the firm plans to have its presence in every corner of the country in the next two decades.

He said: “Where we will like to be in the next two decades is to take our product to every corner of Nigeria, to make sure that every Nigerian can access our services and experience what others are experiencing. That is what we are trying to achieve over the next two decades.”

Also speaking, chairman of the board of Sundry Markets Limited, Engr. Charles Odita, expressed happiness that their grocery retail outlet, which started in 2015 at a modest store in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has grown and spread across the state.

“We are to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of our company. We started from a modest one branch at Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and today, we have grown, spread across the country,” Odita said.