Following the inaccurate reports circulating on several blogs and Nigeria’s social media space, Guinness Nigeria Plc, one of the country’s brewing giants and a part of Diageo, has debunked rumours that plans were underway for it to close operations in Africa’s largest market.
However, the unconfirmed reports were not unconnected with the exodus of multinationals from Nigeria, who specifically linked their decision to exit the country to lack of access to foreign exchange, which exacerbates an already hash operating environment.
Debunking the unfounded rumours in a statement, the foremost brewer said: “The attention of the management of Guinness Nigeria Plc has been drawn to reports published by some blogs and online media platforms that wrongfully claimed the company may be shutting down operations in Nigeria, allegedly due to the impact of some reported forex losses in recent times.
“It is important to clarify that this publication and the sensational headlines being circulated by these blogs and online media platforms are baseless and misleading. Guinness Nigeria has not made any such erroneous communication nor shared any statement that could lead to such inaccurate conclusions.
“The management of Guinness Nigeria Plc. hereby categorically states that Guinness Nigeria has no plans to shut down its operations in Nigeria, contrary to orchestrated false allegations making the rounds. We find these claims misleading and mischievous.”
Explaining further, the company noted that the current forex crunch being experienced in Nigeria is a challenge that Guinness Nigeria, like every other organisation, is facing but courageously surmounting.
“As a company, we remain strong, stable, and will continue to deliver value to our esteemed shareholders, meeting the needs of our dear consumers, while providing opportunities to our valued employees. Guinness Nigeria strongly believes in the resilience of the Nigerian economy, and we look forward to a recovery supported by the measures being taken by both the government and the company, having a positive impact on consumers, communities, and the environment, just as we have done over the past seventy years of operations in Nigeria.
“We urge our employees, stakeholders, and members of the public to ignore any misleading publications that did not originate from Guinness Nigeria PLC.”
It’s also pertinent to state that the widespread unconfirmed reports, which stated that Guinness Nigeria was planning to shut down operations, might have stemmed from a recent Bloomberg report, which stated that the company’s management complained of struggling to obtain dollars to pay back foreign-currency loans.
In that report, Emmanuel Difom, Guinness Nigeria Company’s Finance and Strategy director, said: “We want to pay off the loans but can’t at present owing to dollar shortage. If liquidity improves, our plan is to actually pay off everything we owe on hard currency to reduce our vulnerability. We have sufficient cash in naira to pay off, and all we need is access to hard currency.”
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