Why Do We Need a National Reward Program?

Gbolahan Olojede

It is generally acknowledged that the Nigerian economy is in a challenging phase. At the last count, consumer inflation has gone up to 29.90 per cent, with the cost of living spiralling every day. The situation in the country today requires all hands, including corporations and individuals, to be on deck to get the country working again, since the government cannot do it alone.

I had the opportunity of an interview on the network service of the Nigerian Television Authority on January 29, 2024 to talk about my understanding of the National Reward Program, a public-private partnership initiative between the Federal Government and  CashToken Reward Africa aimed at incentivizing consumption for wealth re-distribution. I believe this is an example of a private sector contribution that could go a long way in putting cash directly in the hands of Nigerians through rewards.

It is common practice in Nigeria for service providers – telecoms and banking industries – as well as fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers to organise programs that reward customer loyalty. Such programs encourage consumers to buy products or patronize services for points and sometimes cashback benefits. We have never heard of a reward program that gives instant cash rewards for regular, day-to-day purchases made. That is why the proposed national reward program deserves more than a passing interest.

This unique program is designed to contribute to economic development with  a step further to better the personal economies of Nigerians by putting more money in the hands of consumers not only through instant cash rewards for the routine purchases they make but also through an opportunity to participate in a weekly draw in which they stand a chance to win any where  between  N5,000 to N100 million. It redefines customer reward, beyond the standard the-more-you-buy-the-more-you-win programs that collect money from the majority to give a few as prizes, and still leave something substantial as “profit” for the organizers.

For owners of small businesses, the benefits of the reward program are two-fold, for them as individuals and for their companies. It is an opportunity to transform and grow small businesses. Imagine a situation where a shop owner, a barber, a salon operator, a trader in the open market, a commercial motorcycle or tricycle operator, a recharge card seller, a mobile food vendor or fruit seller by the roadside makes a routine purchase of an item which could be a product in a retail store or airtime worth N1,000 for calls, gets a CashToken as a reward and by extension receives N6 instant cash and a ticket into the weekly consumer draw and then goes ahead to win a substantial amount of money they can only dream of –  an amount that could change their lives forever, not only as individuals, but also as businesses owners. He has a chance to grow his business in an unprecedented turn of events.

An exciting aspect of this program – one that makes it stand out – is the fact that it is not lottery neither is it  gambling in any form, as it puts some money back in the pocket of a consumer the moment he meets the threshold for the National reward.

The National Reward Program offers a new way of guaranteeing customer loyalty. If a customer gets a national reward for buying a particular product, the probability is quite high that he would want to increase his patronage of the product. A widespread increase in patronage of the product would likely lead to increase in production by the manufacturer to meet growing demand. Let us think of what increase in production across the manufacturing industry, and across the service industry, could do for the economy at this critical period. The impact on the economy in terms of stimulation of growth, availability of goods and services, as well as employment generation, can only be imagined.

The potential of the program to bring more money into government coffers in the form of tax is worthy of mention.  At the moment, the government’s sources of income are well known and clearly defined, namely, oil revenue, the numerous taxes that individuals and corporate organisations pay, customs duties, etc.

Nobody has considered the possibility of the government earning income from an entirely new source – through increased consumption and production – Value Added Tax from consumers and company tax from manufacturers and service providers. The organisers of the program say it is capable of generating a projected revenue of between N500 billion and N1.2 trillion for the government.

A question of transparency of the proposed reward program was posed. This question is necessary considering that customer reward programs have in some cases been engulfed in controversy that border on transparency. The assurance of transparency of the program lies in the fact that when a consumer receives a national reward at the point of purchase, the customer receives an sms notification notifying him of the NaijaCashToken quantity and by consequence the guaranteed instant cash which is deposited in his universal  wallet  created for that purpose. Also, the number of entries for the weekly National consumer draw.

Can the National Reward Program be sustained? We might as well ask if a time would come when Nigerians would stop making purchases of goods or stop patronizing services. No matter how bad the economy is, we would continue to make purchases, because we must survive. And as long as we continue to make purchases, manufacturers will continue to produce, and service providers would continue to render their services. It appears that the reward program’s sustainability is as certain as the day following the night.

*Olojede is a financial analyst and public affairs commentator