It is apposite at this point to emphasise that IR is a
branch of PR (Public Relations); the objective and methodology remains the
same.
The objective is to convince the investment community of the
economic wisdom of investing in Nigeria and the method is engagement.
But before engagement, IR would do well to identify
stakeholders in the investment community. The common tool used for such
identification is the stakeholder map/analysis.
Stakeholder
mapping “is the process of identifying the individuals or groups that are
likely to affect or be affected by a proposed action, and sorting them
according to their impact on the action and the impact the action will have on
them.”
To paraphrase a section on Wikipedia on stakeholder
analysis: information gleaned from stakeholder maps are used to assess how the
interests of identified stakeholders should be addressed in an IR plan/project.
“Stakeholder analysis is a key part of stakeholder management. A stakeholder analysis
of an issue consists of weighing and balancing all of the competing demands on
a firm by each of those who have a claim on it, in order to arrive at the
firm's obligation in a particular case.”
In this context, a
stakeholder map for Nigeria could include, local and international investors,
media (local and foreign), stock
brokers, foreign governments, global investment banks, venture capitalists,
hedge fund managers, mutual fund managers, angel investors, financial
regulators (Local and international) etc.
The list is by no means exhaustive; it can be adapted to
suit the need of the IR pro at a point in time and circumstance.
Once this is achieved, a blitzkrieg of continuous, open and
targeted dialogue can commence using all available communication tools in the
form of financial reports, analysts' meetings, road shows and conferences,
conference calls.
The list should also include use of WebPages, direct mail,
e-mail and social media especially in an Omni channel world.
What should IR be saying to the international investment
community about Nigeria? We have highlighted a few of the generic messages
above, which could be adapted to particular company’s needs. We would now turn
to the more nuanced message that could be sent across.
IR could highlight that macroeconomic dislocations in
Nigeria is systemic and that most of the emerging and frontier world economies
are facing identical challenges.
Most of the source of the economic problem can be traced to
oil price dip in the last several weeks. Russia for instance risk been booted out of Barclay’s Global
Aggregate Index for similar reasons as Nigeria is suffering save for Western
sanctions imposed in the wake of its Ukraine encroachment.
Russia’s economy is tipping into recession, while central
bank reserves have fallen by more than $100 billion.
Norway, a historically prudent country and Brazil are more
examples of countries facing shake ups from oil price slump.
Such troughs (downturns) in economies are natural; all
economies follow what is called a boom burst cycle. They go up and they go
down.
So in making
reference to the global slump, IR should make it clear that such times are the
best of times to take a position in an economy in order to reap when assets
begin to appreciate. That appreciation is only a matter of time.
References
http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/132768/what-should-investors-learn-from-russia.aspx
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