IN SHORT: A list of companies that have supposedly left Nigeria since Bola Tinubu became president has gone viral on Facebook. But not all the companies on the list have exited the country.
Social media users in Nigeria have posted a list of eight companies that have allegedly left the country since Bola Tinubu became president in May 2023.
One post dated 7 May 2024 reads, in part: “Since Tinubu became president, these companies have all left Nigeria due to ‘bad business conditions’ in 1 year!”
The post then lists the companies:PZ Cussons, GSK, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi, Equinor, Binance, Microsoft and Bolt.
The list has also been posted here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
Trumpet has previously found no evidence to support claims that tech giant Microsoft is leaving Nigeria. Temitope Ajayi, Tinubu’s media aide, said Microsoft was neither leaving the country nor closing its Africa Development Centre in Lagos, but “realigning roles” where a few would “certainly be affected”.
The centre opened in 2022 as part of Microsoft’s effort to train and hire engineering talent in Nigeria and West Africa.
So have the other companies listed leave Nigeria after Tinubu became president? We checked.
Nothing but the facts
Get a weekly dose of facts delivered straight to your inbox.
PZ Cussons
PZ Cussons is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in the UK. It sells a wide range of home and personal care, food and baby products.
In April 2024, there were media reports that PZ Cussons was considering leaving Africa following a slump in sales in Nigeria.
The company told the media that it was reviewing its investments in Africa due to the impact of the devaluation of the naira and falling profits.
However, we have found no confirmation on the company’s website or credible news outlets that it has left or is leaving Nigeria.
GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline, also known as GSK Plc, is a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, also with headquarters in the UK. In August 2023, it announced that it would cease operations in Nigeria.
However, some of its products, such as Macleans toothpaste and pain reliever Panadol, are still on the market in Nigeria because the company using third-party distributors. As a result, the price of these could cost more.
The company left Nigeria in August, a few months after Tinubu became president, but its products are still in the Nigerian market.
Procter & Gamble
Like GSK, Procter & Gamble, also known as P&G, shut down its operations in Nigeria in December. P&G is a leading multinational consumer goods company headquartered in the US.
The company announced that it would end its manufacturing operations in Nigeria and use an import model to bring its products into the country. P&G cited the challenges of operating as a dollar-denominated organisation in Nigeria.
Sanofi
In November, Sanofi-Aventis, a French pharmaceutical company, announced that it would use a third-party model to distribute its products in Nigeria.
This was announced as the company was exiting the country.
Equinor
Also in November, Equinor sold its Nigerian business and stake in the Agbami oil field to Chappal Energies, a Nigerian-owned energy firm.
In a statement, the company said it would exit Nigeria once the transaction is completed.
Bolt
Bolt offers ride-hailing, micro-mobility rental, food and grocery delivery, and car-sharing services.
In a statement seen by media company Techpoint Africa, the company announced that Bolt Food would leave Nigeria on 7 December. Bolt expanded its service to include food delivery in 2021. The exit means the service only operated in Nigeria for two years.
Bolt’s food delivery service was shut down in Nigeria in late 2023, but the parent company is still operational. The public can still make use of other services offered by the company.
Binance
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission opened a money laundering case against cryptocurrency company Binance in April 2024.
Two of the company’s executives, Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, were charged by the Nigerian government with four counts of tax evasion and laundering over US$35 million. Gambaryan appeared in an Abuja court to face tax evasion and money laundering charges, while Anjarwalla escaped from custody. The charges against the two executives were later dropped.
According to Reuters, Binance stopped all transactions and trading in Nigeria’s local currency in March 2024 due to a nationwide crackdown on crypto exchanges.
It’s not true that all eight companies left Nigeria after Tinubu became president. Some are still operating in the country, if in a limited capacity.
