We are restructuring after FG’s delayed digitisation policy affected our investment

Raymond Dokpesi Jr is the president of DAAR Communications Plc. In this interview, helium talks astir the ongoing restructuring successful the institution and however the concern situation has impacted the lone listed media steadfast successful the country. 

It’s been much than a twelvemonth since the passing of the laminitis of DAAR Communications; has this affected the organisation’s show successful immoderate way?
The laminitis was a juggernaut. We cannot disregard oregon destruct the beingness of our laminitis successful our operations. Just having entree to his guidance, advice, wisdom, experiences, and web of relationships has been a crippled changer. His exit has affected us. But we are besides assured that helium has fixed america the close value, knowledge, and expertise required to woody with the issues concerning the manufacture and the organisation itself.

 
 His exit was a precise achy nonaccomplishment and we cannot underscore it. But we person to determination connected and instrumentality cognisance that we person to marque the champion of what is near and nary longer clasp connected to things that we erstwhile had.

Can you supply an overview of the developments and changes that person occurred since his death?
There person not been immoderate developments oregon changes since helium passed away. Before helium passed away, we were precise eager, enthusiastic, and keen astir the diversification of the Africa Independent Television (AIT) marque into a chiseled quality marque and wide entity brand, which is what we person arsenic our nationalist web broadcast licence.
  
So, we had a batch of plans for what we had hoped to achieve. Of course, the modulation sends a batch of these things backmost and decidedly successful presumption of going forward, we person to recognise a caller bid oregon however to determination things forward. Everything that was determination from the time helium passed distant is inactive determination today. The stories of AIT, Raypower, and DAAR Communications and their contributions to the broadcasting scenery some successful Nigeria and Africa are well-documented. We are the pioneer backstage broadcast organisation successful Nigeria.
  
We are the archetypal 24-hour web operation. We person exceeded and been done galore captious stages and phases of our nationalist improvement arsenic a nation, playing the relation of the media organisation astatine the forefront of the 4th property of the realm. Our publication to the media industry, policy, and social-political maturation and improvement successful Nigeria cannot beryllium contested. Since my begetter passed away, the questions for america arsenic an organisation person been about: Where does our imaginativeness instrumentality us? Where are we going?  What are we doing? and however bash we get there?
  
The vision, drive, motivation, and vigor that came down DAAR Communications astatine the precise onset were to supply an alternate worldview to what was being provided and positioned by planetary Western media organisations similar BBC, CNN, and subsequently, Al Jazeera. Ours was to beryllium the African dependable and the pridefulness of Africa connected the continent.
   
It is important to recognise that archetypal and foremost, erstwhile we were trying to push, grow, and beforehand pan-African versions and realities of media astatine that time, the modern media was precise successful tune with importing overseas euphony and civilization and that mightiness person been a effect of the closed quality of our media manufacture owed to the subject authorities astatine that time. Since then, we person seen Nigeria and Africa clasp African civilization and amusement arsenic the superior source.

 So, we are unfastened to embracing caller approaches, positioning ourselves, and taking our rightful spot successful the Nigerian media manufacture and amusement landscape.

DAAR Communications, which is the lone listed media institution connected the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), has been reporting losses for respective years. What led to this and what steps are you taking to reverse this trend?
We haven’t declared nett since listing; the consequent losses person eroded shareholders’ capital. And turning this astir is simply a multifaceted communicative and approach. There is nary uncertainty that erstwhile we were listed connected the NGX, determination was a precise wide digitisation argumentation by the government. This argumentation has not taken effect adjacent up till today. So, a batch of the investments that went into instrumentality to presumption america to beryllium astatine the precise forefront of that digitisation frontier successful essence has been wasted due to the fact that we person not been capable to capitalise returns connected those investments. So, we person been seeing consequent losses arsenic a reflection of the depreciation worth of the instrumentality that has been invested implicit the years arsenic good arsenic our nonaccomplishment to seizure the marketplace of digitisation, which up till contiguous is inactive hanging.

However, I judge the regularisation of broadcasting needs to beryllium looked astatine by the regulators, and I’m precise overmuch successful interaction with the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission and engaging connected however we deliberation broadcast should make more. Beyond that, arsenic acold arsenic exertion is concerned, determination is simply a unification of exertion today.
   
We are competing successful spaces that spell and transcend beyond Nigerian boundaries and crossed technologies. So, we request to beryllium capable to adapt, presumption and travel retired of this signifier arsenic “the African voice” arsenic acold arsenic contented coming retired of Africa is concerned. How bash we presumption and signifier for that are the things that we anticipation to enactment successful spot wrong the adjacent fewer months to a year. But certainly, we cannot beryllium doing the aforesaid things that we person been doing since we were listed and anticipation to person amended fiscal results.

How has the country’s pugnacious concern situation affected the broadcasting industry?
Broadcast is 24 hours. And successful 24 hours, we don’t person power; so, we person to find alternate powerfulness solutions. We each cognize what has happened to vigor prices successful Nigeria. Our vulnerability to the cardinal outgo of conscionable broadcasting, excluding programming being connected the airwaves, has quadrupled astatine the precise slightest successful the past mates of months to years. We besides person issues astir the outgo of capital.
  
Unfortunately, Nigeria does not nutrient blase broadcasting equipment. So, everything that we request for our operations is imported. What has been the argumentation of the authorities towards industries babelike connected imports for inputs towards the products oregon services that are produced and sold locally? We don’t get authorities interventions oregon subsidies. The world of the substance is that you person entities similar NTA that are enjoying this and competing with backstage media broadcasters successful the backstage marketplace for advertizing revenues. So, it’s unfair contention connected the 1 manus but, connected the different hand, who are you to kick due to the fact that NTA was present earlier you?
   
So, determination are challenges that we request to respond to; we volition not beryllium capable to bash that based connected the existing structural systems. We are going to beryllium capable to flooded them with innovation, creativity, reasoning extracurricular the box, commitment, and the vigor of radical to beryllium capable to thrust and flooded the challenges because, astatine the extremity of the day, innovation ever comes retired of repression and caller opportunities arise.

Your institution precocious retired 10 apical executives; tin you shed much airy connected this?
We are the lone publically listed media institution connected the banal exchange, and that means we are besides bound by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and the codification of firm governance, which is mandatory for each publically listed companies. So, that means that our responsibilities to our shareholders transcend idiosyncratic choices oregon opinions. It is existent that erstwhile you look astatine the existing tenures of management, galore of them had started from the precise inception of the organisation.

But the codification of firm governance and our interior documents authorities that we should lone bash a maximum of 2 presumption of 5 years. So, their status is agelong overdue.

  
The clip is close astatine this constituent for america to reappraisal wherever we privation to spell going forward. For me, and astir of the members of our board, the determination comes down to whether we privation to proceed with our existing strategy oregon bash thing differently. And doing thing otherwise means that we person to taxable ourselves to abide by the presumption and conditions of existing laws and regulations to springiness the investing nationalist assurance successful our organisation and medication and besides to beryllium capable to pull the kinds of funds and investments that we request to turn and grow beyond our existing programmes.

What tin the authorities bash to code the challenges successful the industry?
The umbrella assemblage of broadcasters precocious had a gathering with the curate of accusation and nationalist orientation. I judge determination has been immoderate level of engagement arsenic to the benignant of enactment the authorities tin springiness the assemblage to insulate it against antithetic economical downturns owed to the pressures of the naira.

Accessible Bank of Industry loans astatine single-digit involvement rates would beryllium cardinal to stabilising the industry. But beyond what the authorities tin oregon should do, the absorption should beryllium connected what we arsenic an organsation tin bash wrong the backstage assemblage to beryllium capable to presumption ourselves.

Certainly, the financials of the organisation amusement that shareholder superior has been eroded for galore years now. We person superior liquidity issues which person besides been flagged and raised successful past numbers of yearly reports. So, we cannot expanse these issues nether the carpet. We person to beryllium capable to proactively code them. We whitethorn person to look astatine what benignant of solutions are disposable to america arsenic an entity listed connected NGX.

We person to find the close kinds of opportunities that beryllium for raising superior either done equity oregon debt. But these are considerations that truly cogwheel america guardant aft we person done the basal restructuring of the organisation and by that, I mean compliance with the champion practices of firm governance and identifying endowment with a way grounds of occurrence to springiness america the assurance that they tin travel successful and acceptable successful with our caller strategy and springiness america the champion changeable astatine success.