ROUND THREE

Top Insights

It’s still a mixed bag for business owners. Businesses have been reopening, likely due to easing of lockdowns nationally in Nigeria, but customer demand has not returned.

Covering costs is getting harder. Respondents seem just as concerned and are slightly less vulnerable as before, but seem more worried and less prepared to cover their loans. Unemployment appears to have increased from 3% to 8% this round, and the percentage of employers struggling to cover salaries has increased from 39% to 53%, indicating the continuing challenges faced by businesses. We’re also seeing a gradual reduction in rates of personal saving.

Observation by gender. Despite our initial hypotheses about women being more likely to go hungry or to see a negative impact on business than men, we are seeing less variance in the data across gender. However, we are seeing a few differences in payments and loan management. Even though women are more likely to see their loan repayments as a burden (31% of men say it’s a ‘heavy burden’ to 40% of women) and have less confidence in their ability to pay (39% against 49% men), women are less likely to report stopping or reducing loan payments to cope (37% of men to 28% of women).