Elevating Nigerian Businesses: An interview with Andrew Uviase, Managing Partner of Ecovis OUC

Intro:

Mr Andrew Uviase is the Managing Partner of Ecovis OUC (Chartered Accountants), a leading consulting firm specializing in tax, accounting, auditing, and compliance services. He holds a Master's Degree in Economics specializing in Money and Banking. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria as well as the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. With his extensive industry experience, Andrew is committed to driving growth and excellence in Nigerian businesses through Ecovis OUC's transformation and integration into the global Ecovis network. In this interview, he sheds light on the significance of the rebranding and the benefits it holds for the business community and clients.

Finally, we delve into Mr. Uviase's assessment of the current administration's economic policies and his recommendations for addressing concerns in the forex market. He also shares his perspective on the implications of fuel subsidy removal and offers valuable insights on overcoming the challenges of development in Nigeria.

Can you explain the significance of Kreston OUC's transformation into Ecovis OUC for the Nigerian business community?

Andrew Uviase (AU): Certainly. This transformation marks a pivotal moment for the Nigerian business landscape. By adopting the name Ecovis OUC, we align ourselves with the global Ecovis network, renowned for its Continental European heritage and exceptional expertise and service delivery. This transition brings together international excellence with local insights, offering Nigerian businesses unparalleled consulting services tailored to their unique needs and challenges.

What benefits can Nigerian businesses expect from this rebranding?

AU: The benefits are manifold. Firstly, our integration into the Ecovis network grants Nigerian businesses access to a wealth of international expertise, while retaining the advantage of local insights. This ensures a seamless navigation of both global and local intricacies. Secondly, our bespoke solutions cater comprehensively to businesses of all sizes, addressing, fiscal, managerial, and administrative concerns. Moreover, the personalized consultation we provide, supported by a network of over 10,000 experts worldwide, ensures clients receive well-rounded solutions for their distinct challenges.

At Ecovis, our strength lies in our ability to truly understand our clients, extend a helping hand, and communicate in a language that resonates with them.

We go beyond the role of mere advisors; we aspire to be genuine business partners. Our aim is not only to assist clients in navigating challenges or finding solutions but to proactively showcase the potential that can drive their success. This proactive approach is embedded in our DNA.

When we speak of partnering with our clients, we also mean that the entire Ecovis network partners with them. This collaboration ensures that wherever their ventures take them, we are there as guides, facilitating well-informed business decisions.

Our commitment to our clients is unwavering. We take the time to truly know them, immersing ourselves in their operations, understanding their organizational intricacies, and meeting their unique demands. Our connection to the extensive Ecovis network across the globe empowers us to cater to their requirements across different jurisdictions whenever the need arises.

How does Ecovis OUC plan to enhance its service offerings?

AU: Delivering exceptional consulting services has always been our forte. With our transition to Ecovis OUC, we commit to expanding and refining our service spectrum. Leveraging our integration into the Ecovis network, we will use technology and human expertise to deliver superior service. As you may be aware, Ecovis is a member of the Forum of Firms which is a grouping of top-rate global accounting Firms that have recognized procedures to execute audits. Ecovis is fully aligned and integrated with a global information network for cross-border tax solutions like Transfer Pricing and Tax treaties, thus enabling us to offer even more specialized solutions finely tailored to the Nigerian business landscape.

Could you shed light on Ecovis OUC's approach to personalized consultation?

AU. In Ecovis, we believe that the best ideas are born through dialogue. That is why we prefer to talk with our clients face to face and partner with them.

In business, be it national or international, success depends on having a partner you can deal with, working at the same level and with an extensive understanding of your concerns and opportunities.

Your personal advisor at Ecovis is himself an experienced business person. Together, you share a common bond on which trust and mutual respect are developed, which allows your business to reach its full potential.

At Ecovis OUC, we recognize that every business is unique. This is why we assign each client a personal advisor—an adept business professional who understands both local intricacies and international trends. These advisors have immediate access to our expansive network of experts, ensuring clients receive holistic solutions finely attuned to their specific requirements. We are always at the deal table with our clients. That is the entrepreneurial approach to consulting. We are Partners with our clients in finding unique solutions to their business challenges

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How does Ecovis OUC's transformation impact businesses on a local level?

AU: The transformation to Ecovis OUC presents Nigerian businesses with a distinct "home advantage." Operating in over 80 countries, including Nigeria, we are poised to offer immediate international and local support.

Whether yours is an established international business dealing with cross-border issues, a family-owned company, the branch of a ?major corporation or a government organization, Ecovis is at your side wherever your business takes you.

With Ecovis, you will always have a home advantage. Being there means less communication hassle and increases our understanding of your special situation.

We aim to work in partnership with businesses to provide the support and accessibility of a small company with the wealth of experience that can be expected from a global organization.

This obliterates communication barriers and bolsters our comprehension of the local business terrain, allowing us to seamlessly provide bespoke solutions aligned with the Nigerian context and International realities.

In what ways will Ecovis OUC contribute to the growth and success of Nigerian businesses?

Our mission is to empower Nigerian businesses to excel on both local and global fronts. By uniting international expertise with local insights, we equip businesses with the tools to surmount challenges and seize opportunities. Whether it's tax consultation, accounting, auditing, or compliance advice, Ecovis OUC is committed to delivering comprehensive solutions that foster growth and success.

ECOVIS appears to be entering the Nigerian economy when there are so many challenges in the economy and for businesses. What is your assessment of the current administration in terms of its handling of economic matters?

Ecovis coming in at this time is part of our little way of joining forces with the current administration to turn things around. Quite frankly 100 days is too short in the life of an administration to be able to correctly access the impact of its policies. However, we can say that so far so good. We must commend the bold steps taken by the current administration thus far in the area of Fuel Subsidy removal, the inauguration of tax reform committee and the foreign exchange liberalization policies. We believe that if the policies are properly managed and implemented, the economy will soon begin an upward swing.

Several economic agents appear to be worried about the forex market especially considering the apparent fallen value of the naira. What do you think is wrong and what can be done.

I think the policy of the current administration is to allow market forces of demand and supply to determine the value of the Naira. Theoretically, market forces are the most suitable mechanism for allocating scarce resources and for correcting distortions in the forex market. However, this position rests on a critical assumption of many economic agents on both the demand and supply side. That is the assumption of perfect competition. Unfortunately, the assumption does not hold for the forex market because whereas there are many people on the demand side, supply is inelastic because of the productive base. Therefore, supply will not increase in response to price. Increases in price, (I mean lowering the value of the naira) in relation to other currencies can only lead to inflation as we are presently witnessing because we do not have the productive base to earn more dollars. This is what we call market failure which is the inability of the market to allocate resources efficiently. I will therefore strongly recommend that the government should revert to a managed float by channelling our scarce forex resources to the productive sectors.

What are the implications of the removal of fuel subsidy on the Nigerian economy?

This is one of the best things that has happened to the economy in recent times. The removal has in the short-term freed resources for the government at various levels to run the country. In the long term, it will also help us to channel resources to the more productive sectors of the Midstream/ Downstream sub-sectors of the Oil and Gas industry. However, it has created inflationary pressures and general difficulties in the country. Sometimes, I tend to believe that it would have been better to address the supply side by fixing the refineries before removing the fuel subsidy. This is so because what we have now is more difficult to manage. We have fuel import exacting pressure on foreign exchange, which puts pressure on fuel price which again increases the cost of import, and the cycle continues. At this rate, it is increasingly becoming more difficult to control the price without some form of government intervention.

Overall, how do you think that the challenges of Development can be overcome in Nigeria.

Personally, I tend to think that the greatest impediment to our development is a lack of discipline. Specifically, we must return to the discipline of planning where there is a deliberate effort to set quantifiable targets over a given period of time. More so, government must be seen as a continuum when an incoming government sees the policies and programmes of its predecessor as national matters that must be driven to a logical conclusion. Historically, we can see that the greatest developments in the Country happened during the period of development plans in the 70’s

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