The spread of the COVID-19 virus has caused governments around the world including Nigeria to impose lockdowns on movement and this has affected most businesses adversely. We did some research to find out the challenges businesses are experiencing at this time and what areas they need help in to adapt to these drastic changes. This presentation contains insights on what businesses can expect to happen in the short, medium and long term while also providing solutions to thrive in the new economy which will be largely digital.

1. The Impact of COVID-19 on Business
and How to Reposition for Success
A guide by Leye Makanjuola
April 2020

2. Content
➔ Impact of COVID-19 on Business
and How We Work
➔ How to position Your Business
for Success
➔ About Leye Makanjuola
➔ About Intense
2

3. Introduction
COVID-19 is having a growing impact on the
Nigerian economy. This document is intended to
provide business leaders like you with a
perspective on the evolving situation and
implications for your company in the short,
medium and long term.
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4. 4
COVID-19:
Where are We Now
and Where are We
Heading?

5. ● Consensus has emerged around the use of
physical distancing to slow transmission
● Countries like Sweden, are pursuing an
alternative “herd immunity” strategy
● The months ahead will probably be quite
volatile and dynamic
● There is the likelihood of a resurgence of
the virus if lockdown restrictions are lifted
and economies reopen without adequate
provision of isolation centres and Intensive
Care Units.
DIagram Source: McKinsey & Company
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6. Continued Spread of the Virus
Tip
As at the time of preparing
this document, new cases are
still on the rise in Nigeria. Not
nearly enough is being done
in terms of providing testing
kits, isolation centres and
stimulus packages for poor
people and businesses.
Hence, people have been
defying the lockdown
causing the virus continue to
spread 6

7. What’s Next Will Always Be
UNCERTAIN Note
Answering ‘what’s next’
for your business means
knowing what’s next for
the world; when will it
happen; and what will it
look like?
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8. 5Health Response
Dynamics to Watch
Note
To be able to predict
what will happen in the
short and medium term,
we have to watch out for
key health response
dynamics by the
Nigerian Federal and
State Governments
8

9. Global Innovation to
produce treatments
and vaccines
3
Rapid increase in
capacity of Public
health facilities for
testing & diagnosis,
disease surveillance
and contact tracing
2
Development of
antibody testing to
understand the
chances of “herd
immunity”
4
Testing for the nature
of Immunity - What
are the chances of
getting reinfected?
Increase in healthcare
facilities to manage
people in critical
condition
9
1
5
If these 5 response dynamics are in place in adequate supply
to take care of the population, you can expect the number of
cases to gradually reduce and for economic activities to
resume sooner than later. An absence of these dynamics
however, will lead to more cases, more deaths and little
economic activity.

10. To predict how ready Nigeria is to restart the economy;
business leaders should monitor the rate of the virus
spread against the adequate provision of public health
care facilities (Isolation centres and Intensive Care Units)
by the Federal and State Governments. The diagram on
the left shows that countries in Stage 1 are the most
ready to restart their economy while countries in stage 4
are the least ready to restart their economy.
Nigeria appears to be at Stage 3 because the total
confirmed cases are still under 2,000 (as at the time of
preparing this document) which is relatively low for a
country of approximately 200 Million people. The public
health system is nowhere near ready for an exponential
increase in new cases as the most advanced state;
Lagos, has only been able to increase isolation capacity
to a little less than 5,000 beds to treat infected people
across a state of approximately 20 million people. It’s
also very possible that Nigeria is at stage 4 due to the fact
that less than 15,000 people have been tested
nationwide. The number of cases could actually be much
higher.
10

11. When Can We Get
Back to Our Normal
Work Lives? Note
If we do not stop the
virus, many people will
die. If attempts to stop
the pandemic cause
severe damage to the
economy, there will be
large-scale suffering and
deaths in the medium
and long term.
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Image source: Jide Alakija

12. MITIGATE THE
NEGATIVE IMPACT ON
CITIZENS
LIVELIHOOD AND THE
ECONOMY
SUPPRESS THE VIRUS
Until then Nigeria must act on both of
these fronts at the same time
Nigeria must rapidly develop public-health
facilities that are adequate enough to detect and
respond to cases while also providing small
businesses and poor people with stimulus
packages before we can slowly restart different
sectors of the economy
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COVID-19 will end only when enough
people are immune to the disease
either from a vaccine or direct exposure.

13. Restarting the Economy: Determining Factors
Strength of Public Health systems in
place for detecting, managing, and
preventing new cases, including
adequate medical capacity,
especially of intensive care units
(ICUs), for those with severe disease
and the ability to perform diagnostic
tests for COVID-19 with a fast
turnaround time (24 hours) will play a
major role in determining if Nigeria is
ready to restart her Economy
Determining readiness to reopen the
economy is based on the number of
new cases in an area. Restarting the
economy when there are a significant
number of new cases will only lead to
more transmission. Hospitalizations
need to be low enough for a health
system to manage individually rather
than through mass measures.
NUMBER OF NEW CASES STRENGTH OF PUBLIC HEALTH
SYSTEM
1 2
The combination of 1 and 2 will determine
Nigeria’s readiness to restart economic activity.
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14. The diagram on the left shows how a City can
move through the different stages of readiness to
restart the economy. Cities in Stage 4 are the least
ready to restart the economy while cities in Stage
1 are the most ready to restart the Economy.
A region like Lagos is at Stage 4 and needs to
maintain mandatory lockdown to slow the spread
of the virus while expanding her healthcare
capacity.
DIagram Source: McKinsey & Company
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15. 15
As at that time of this report, these are the steps the
Government should take to restart the economy:
1. Portions of the population who are at higher risk of
getting infected (senior citizens over 60 and people
with diseases such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension
etc) must stay at home
2. Other portions of the population should also be
required to stay at home in mandatory isolation
3. Government should ensure management of supply
chains for essential sectors of the economy in
partnership with the private sector
4. Other sectors of the economy which are not deemed
essential should not be allowed to operate except for
those that can operate on an online basis
5. Movement within a state should be limited to
exceptional cases while movement between states
should not be allowed
6. There should be no public gatherings. Events should
be limited to household members and caregivers if
required in private spaces
DIagram Source: McKinsey & Company

16. How to Restart the
Economy During
COVID-19 Note
Based on Nigeria’s current
situation where public health
systems are inadequate and
new cases are rising it is likely
that the economy will be shut
down for a few months.
Hence Businesses need to
adopt working remotely
combined with an effective
digital strategy
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17. Digital Strategy for
your Business in a
Time of Crisis
NOW IS THE TIME FOR BOLD LEARNING AT SCALE
Right now, in a moment of crisis, is precisely the time to boldly advance your
Business’ digital agenda.
What does it mean to act boldly?
We suggest four areas of focus for your Business
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18. 1New Products and
Service Offerings
Note
In the immediate term, look for
virtual replacements for your
previously physical offerings, or
at least new ways of making
them accessible with minimal
physical contact. The new
offerings that result can often
involve new partnerships or the
need to access new platforms
and digital marketplaces in
which your company has yet to
participate
18

19. 2Reinvent Your
Business Model
Note
Take an end-to-end view of your
business and operating models.
Focusing on areas that touch
more of the core of your
business will give you the best
chance of success, in both the
short and medium term, rather
than making minor
improvements to non-core
areas.
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20. 3Evolve Your
Business Portfolio
Note
Look into mergers and
acquisitions (M&A) to speed up
the implementation of your
strategic decisions. This is
particularly true with digital
strategy, where M&A can help
companies gain talent and build
capabilities, even as it offers
access to new products,
services, and solutions, and to
new market and customer
segments. 20

21. 4Learn at the Pace of
the Crisis
Note
Moving boldly doesn’t mean
moving thoughtlessly, however.
Bold action and the ability to
learn are highly interrelated. The
real-time ability to learn during
a crisis is in fact the one
ingredient that can boost your
ability to scale quickly.
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22. 22
HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Establish daily disinfection
procedures
Promote mandatory health and
hygiene protocols for employees
e.g washing hands, wearing
masks and gloves
REMOTE WORKING
Encourage remote work for the
next 3 to 6 months
Create remote work policies that
offer employees productivity
incentives
PHYSICAL DISTANCING
Ensure a minimum distance of 1.5
meters between two people
Define regulation to establish
maximum capacity in closed places
at your organization
Suspend any in-person events that
congregates more than 25 people
TEMPERATURE AND CONTROL
Monitor your employee’s
temperature daily
Request employees quarantine
when the slightest COVID-19
Symptom shows up
HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Establish daily disinfection
procedures
Promote mandatory health and
hygiene protocols for employees
e.g washing hands, wearing masks
and gloves
REPORTING
Report any case of COVID-19
symptoms to NCDC
Report the chain of contagion to
NCDC
ENFORCEMENT
Perform random checks to ensure
compliance
Impose disciplinary measures in
cases of non compliance

23. Good luck!
I hope you’ll use these tips to go out and
make necessary changes to your business.
Details of my next webinar will be shared with
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To get one on one advisory from me you can
book a paid consultation with me via my
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24. About Leye Makanjuola
Leye is a marketing and technology entrepreneur and consultant. He laid his
foundation in marketing communication from Pan Atlantic University and
also earned marketing and business certifications from University of
Pennsylvania, Wharton and University of Maryland. He has consulted for
brands like Leadway Assurance, ARCA Payments, AXA Mansard, CHI, Total
Nigeria and Multichoice Nigeria.
Leye received the YTECH 100 award in recognition of his contribution to
the Nigerian technology space in 2015. He is the Founder and Chief
Executive Officer of Intense; a marketing and technology agency in Lekki,
Lagos.
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25. About Intense
Every day, customers are actively looking for businesses that
make their lives easier, while businesses like yours are looking for
more customers to sell to. At Intense, we help your business
increase sales by connecting you with your target audience ahead
of your competition. Our skilled team is always up to date on
knowledge to develop custom plans that fit your business and
connect you with potential customers. Customers are more loyal to
companies that create experiences that meet their needs and
make their lives easier. Intense spurs business growth by
producing the best customer experiences, driven by innovative
strategy, marketing, technology, data, communication and design
across multi channels where the customer can be found. We
combine these capabilities to create seamless brand experiences
that build meaningful relationships with users.
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26. 26
www.intense.ng
solutions@intense.ng
08033919051
2nd Floor, King’s Deck, Alternative
Route, Off Chevron Drive, Lekki,
Lagos
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Linkedin.com/company/intenseng
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