Page 11 - Learn Africa 2021 Annual Report

Learn Africa Plc
Chairman’s Statement

Distinguished Shareholders,
Board Members,
Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our 48th
Annual General Meeting and the presentation of our Annual
Report and the Audited Financial Statements for the year
ended 31 March 2021. This year’s Annual General Meeting is
particularly unique because it marks the 60th anniversary of our
great company. This milestone has been achieved by our highly
resourceful employees, competent management, visionary Board and
ever supportive shareholders. We feel confident that, with the added cooperation of our business
partners, we will continue to sustain our legacy of excellence in the provision of first-rate learning
resources for all ages and interests in the years ahead.
I would like to briefly review the environment in which our Company operated in the last one year.

Review of the operating environment
During the period under review, business organisations in Nigeria had to cope with the recurring
challenges of insecurity, paucity of foreign exchange, deplorable road networks, epileptic power
supply and multiplicity of taxes and levies. All these were further compounded by COVID-19 global
pandemic that strained healthcare facilities, disrupted school activities, and paralysed the entire
national economy. Moreover, the measures instituted by the federal government to mitigate the spread
of the virus caused a steep fall in global demand leading to a crash in prices of commodities. These
measures had a disproportional negative impact on the education sector, as the federal government
ordered the closure of all schools across the country to minimise the spread of the virus. Although, the
COVID-19 restrictions were partially lifted during the latter part of 2020, the educational ecosystem,
as we knew it, had been irreparably disrupted, leaving many businesses in palpable fear of a resurgence
of the pandemic.

Apart from the effects of the pandemic on our operations, you may recall that we promised in my
last report, to drastically scale down on credit transactions. That promise was kept! The credit
transactional model that we inherited and that had formed the bedrock of our trading policy over the
years was nothing but a colossal failure. This had led to grave inefficiencies in our operations and
was subject to gross abuse. We will continue to sustain this new and obviously healthier cash policy
in all our future trading cycles.

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