COVID 19: Automobile business not spared ― Issa Adebayo

The Chief Executive Officer of Still Autos Limited and Adebayo Group of Companies, Issa Adebayo has highlighted the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the automobile business in Nigeria, painting a bigger picture of the economy with the attendant effect of the dwindling global oil price.

As the world adjusts to a new order, Adebayo said fortunes of the automobile industry dwindled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which he said affected sales a little.

According to Adebayo, the exchange rate of dollar to naira increased astronomically, making car purchase difficult as the prices in Nigeria surged.

Speaking in an interview with Tribune Online, Adebayo observed that the automobile sector of the economy does not operate in isolation, adding that the biggest dip in Nigeria’s economic fortune has been occasioned by the downward spiral of oil prices across the globe.

According to Adebayo, “As you know, we are an oil-dependent economy and the recent unprecedented crash in the oil prices in the global market, indicates that government will slow down on their spending, which will have a snowballing effect on the automobile market, spiralling down to inspection rate by customers. Another catalyst in the past for the automobile market growth in Nigeria has been funded from the Diaspora and most of these developed economies that warehouse these funds are already in recession, hence we can foresee the ripple effect it would have on Nigerians wanting to repatriate funds, to buy choice automobiles.”

Speaking further, lamented that since Coronavirus became a global catastrophe, human lives and all that concerns humankind were never the way they used to be, adding that “many lives have been lost, businesses have been shut down and there’s seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel as the world continues to grapple with the deadly virus and its devastating effects.”

“Automobile business has not been spared by the ravage of the virus. The naira is at an all-time high and that has greatly affected our business. Anything that affects the spending power of the people affects our business,” he added.
Apart from dealing in automobiles, the Adebayo Group of Companies has interests in farming, import and export of goods from many different countries of the world.

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