CC™ VideoSpective
Showing posts with label Nigeria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigeria. Show all posts
Saturday
Nigeria’s government budgets for SUVs and president’s wife while millions struggle to make ends meet
By Chinedu Asadu
Nigeria’s lawmakers on Thursday approved the new government’s first supplemental budget, which includes huge allocations for SUVs and houses for the president, his wife and other public officials, sparking anger and criticism from citizens in one of the world’s poorest countries.
In the budget presented to lawmakers to supplement the country’s expenditures for 2023, the government had allocated about $38 million for the presidential air fleet, vehicles and for renovation of residential quarters for the office of the president, the vice-president and the president’s wife — even though her office is not recognized by the country’s constitution.
Before the budget was approved, and facing increasing criticism, lawmakers eliminated $6.1 million earlier budgeted for a “presidential yacht” and moved it to “student loans.”
A Nigerian presidential spokesman said President Bola Tinubu had not given approval for the yacht, whose allocation was provided under the Nigerian Navy’s budget.
The country’s National Assembly recently confirmed that more than 460 federal lawmakers will each get SUVs — reportedly worth more than $150,000 each — which, they said, would enable them to do their work better. Local media reported that the lawmakers have started receiving the vehicles.
“All of this speaks to the gross insensitivity of the Nigerian political class and the growing level of impunity we have in the country,” said Oluseun Onigbinde, who founded Nigerian fiscal transparency group BudgIT.
The allocations reminded many Nigerians of the economic inequality in a country where politicians earn huge salaries while essential workers like doctors and academics often go on strike to protest meager wages.
Consultants, who are among the best-paid doctors in Nigeria, earn around $500 a month. After several strikes this year, civil servants got the government to raise their minimum wage to $67 a month, or four cents an hour.
Such steep expenditure on cars in a country where surging public debt is eating up much of the government’s dwindling revenues show its “lack of priorities” and raises questions about the lack of scrutiny in the government’s budget process and spending, said Kalu Aja, a Nigerian financial analyst.
Kingsley Ujam, a trader working at the popular Area 1 market in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, said he struggles to feed his family and has lost hope in the government to provide for their needs.
“They (elected officials) are only there for their pockets,” said Ujam.
It is not the first time Nigerian officials are being accused of wasting public funds.
That tradition must stop, beginning with the president “making sacrifices for the nation, especially as vulnerable people in the country are struggling to make ends meet,” said Hamzat Lawal, who leads the Connected Development group advocating for public accountability in Nigeria.
He added that Nigeria must strengthen anti-corruption measures and improve governance structures for the country to grow and for citizens to live a better life. “We must also make public offices less attractive so people do not believe it is an avenue to get rich,” he said.
While Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer, chronic corruption and government mismanagement have left the country heavily reliant on foreign loans and aid, while at least 60% of its citizens live in poverty.
Austerity measures introduced by the newly elected president have drastically cut incomes and caused more hardship for millions already struggling with record inflation.
Friday
Nigerian naira hits record black market low - abokiFx
CC™ VideoSpective
Reuters
ABUJA, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Nigeria's naira hit a record low of 1,300 per dollar on the black market on Thursday, online platform abokiFX showed, driven by thin trading volumes on the parallel market and dollar shortages on the official market.
The naira has been in free fall on the unofficial market, where it trades freely, after currency restrictions were lifted on the official market.
Last month, the currency slid past 1,000 naira per dollar on the black market and has continued to weaken.
On Monday, central bank governor Yemi Cardoso said the naira will adjust once rules for market participants are made clear.
Finance Minister Wale Edun also said on Monday that Nigeria was expecting $10 billion in foreign currency inflows in the next few weeks to improve foreign exchange market liquidity.
He said, without elaborating, that the inflows would come from the issuance of instruments in dollars, oil sales and foreign investments.
On the official market, the naira recovered to 775 to the dollar from a record low of 999 it touched last week.
The prospect of foreign exchange inflows has slowed naira's depreciation on the official market, one trader said. It kept losing ground, however, on the black market due to thin trading.
Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha Editing by Tomasz Janowski
Wednesday
Nigeria wins bid to overturn $11 bln damages for collapsed gas deal
By Sam Tobin
Nigeria on Monday hailed a landmark victory after it won its bid to overturn an $11 billion damages bill for a collapsed gas project, in a case a judge at London's High Court said exemplified the ravages of greed and corruption.
Africa's most populous country had previously been ordered to pay the sum – representing around a third of its foreign exchange reserves – to Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), a company based in the British Virgin Islands.
But Judge Robin Knowles found that P&ID had paid bribes to a Nigerian oil ministry official in connection with the gas contract signed in 2010, and had failed to disclose this when it later took Nigeria to arbitration over the collapse of the deal.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu described the judgment as a blow against economic malpractice and the exploitation of Africa.
"Nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials," he said in a statement.
The ruling is a major boost for Africa's biggest economy, which is saddled with mounting debt, high inflation and unemployment.
"The economic prospects of an entire country have been held hostage by a tainted arbitral award that was built on bribes and lies," said campaign group Spotlight on Corruption.
In 2017, an arbitration tribunal had awarded P&ID $6.6 billion for lost profit after its 20-year contract to construct and operate a gas processing plant in southern Nigeria had fallen apart.
The sum had since swelled with interest to over $11 billion, representing 10 times the country's 2019 health budget.
"DRIVEN BY GREED"
However, Nigeria's lawyers went to court to overturn the award, saying P&ID had bribed senior officials to obtain the contract and corrupted the country's lawyers to obtain confidential documents during the arbitration. P&ID denied this and accused Nigeria of institutional incompetence.
But Knowles allowed Nigeria's challenge, writing that the case showed what some people would do for money, "driven by greed and prepared to use corruption; giving no thought to what their enrichment would mean in terms of harm for others".
The judge said a further hearing would take place to decide whether to send the case back to arbitration or ditch the $11 billion award without further delay.
Lawyers representing P&ID said the firm was disappointed and considering steps available to it.
In a rare rebuke, the judge said two British lawyers who stood to receive astronomical sums had Nigeria been forced to pay the $11 billion-plus bill had misconducted themselves out of greed.
Trevor Burke, an eminent criminal barrister and a nephew of P&ID's co-founder, would have received $850 million while Seamus Andrew, who represented P&ID during the arbitration, would have received up to $3 billion.
Both received confidential Nigerian documents during the arbitration that they knew they were not entitled to see, the judge found. Their decision to say nothing and not to return the documents was "indefensible", he wrote.
They did so "because of the money they hoped to make" and gave untruthful evidence about it, Knowles added, referring his ruling to legal standards regulators.
Burke and Andrew said in separate statements they did not accept the judge's criticisms and believed they would be exonerated by the regulators.
Top 5 Inventions By Nigerians
By Oghenerume Progress
The people from this great African nation are also known to excel when exposed to the right environment and have made great impact in the world through art and music.
Nigerians have also made great strides in the field of innovation and inventions that have made the world a slightly better place. Here are five top inventions made by Nigerians;
1) Philip Emeagwali - Program for world's fastest computer
 Dr-Philip-Emeagwali (Credit: How Africa News) |
Born in Nigeria, Philip Emeagwali grew up to become a computer scientist who gained global recognition for his groundbreaking invention. Emeagwali is credited with the invention of the Connection Machine (CM).
This machine uses computational fluid dynamics for oil-reservoir modelling. It utilises 65,000 computer processors linked in parallel to form what is recognised as the fastest computer on Earth - performing 3.1 billion calculations per second, which is faster than the theoretical top speed of the Cray Supercomputer.
2) Seyi Oyesola - Hospital in a box
 Seyi Oyesola (Credit: Glazia) Seyi Oyesola is a Nigerian medical doctor who co-invented what is popularly known as “Hospital in a Box” or CompactOR. As the name implies, Hospital in a box is a mini hospital that is a solar-powered life-saving operating room which can be transported to remote areas of Africa and set up within minutes. The renowned medical doctor gained his inspiration from shortage of power in rural places in Africa. 3) Emeka Nelson - Urine-Powered Generator
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Thursday
From gas to solar, bringing meaningful change to Nigeria’s energy systems
CC™ Energy News
MIT Energy Initiative
Growing up, Awele Uwagwu’s view of energy was deeply influenced by the oil and gas industry. He was born and raised in Port Harcourt, a city on the southern coast of Nigeria, and his hometown shaped his initial interest in understanding the role of energy in our lives.
“I basically grew up in a city colored by oil and gas,” says Uwagwu. “Many of the jobs in that area are in the oil sector, and I saw a lot of large companies coming in and creating new buildings and infrastructure. That very much tailored my interest in the energy sector. I kept thinking: What is all of this stuff going on, and what are all these big machines that I see every day? The more sinister side of it was: Why is the water bad? Why is the air bad? And, what can I do about it?”
Uwagwu has shaped much of his educational and professional journey around answering that question: “What can I do about it?” He is now a senior at MIT, majoring in chemical engineering with a minor in energy studies.
After attending high school in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, Uwagwu decided to pursue a degree in chemical engineering and briefly attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. Unfortunately, the impacts of a global crash in oil prices made the situation difficult back in Nigeria, so he returned home and found employment at an oil services company working on a water purification process.
It was during this time that he decided to apply to MIT. “I wanted to go to a really great place,” he says, “and I wanted to take my chances.” After only a few months of working at his new job, he was accepted to MIT.
“At this point in my life I had a much clearer picture of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be in the energy sector and make some sort of impact. But I didn’t quite know how I was going to do that,” he says.
With this in mind, Uwagwu met with Rachel Shulman, the undergraduate academic coordinator at the MIT Energy Initiative, to learn about the different ways that MIT is engaged in energy. He eventually decided to become an energy studies minor and concentrate in energy engineering studies through the 10-ENG: Energy program in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Additionally, he participated in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in the lab of William H. Green, the Hoyt C. Hottel Professor in Chemical Engineering, focusing on understanding the different reaction pathways for the production of soot from the combustion of carbon.
After this engaging experience, he reconnected with Shulman to get involved with another UROP, this time with a strong focus in renewable energy. She pointed him toward Ian Mathews — a postdoc in the Photovoltaic Research Laboratory and founder of Sensai Analytics — to discuss ways he could make a beneficial impact on the energy industry in Nigeria. This conversation led to a second UROP, under the supervision of Mathews. In that project, Uwagwu worked to figure out how cost-effective solar energy would be in Nigeria compared to petrol-powered generators, which are commonly used to supplement the unreliable national grid.
“The idea we had is that these generators are really, really bad for the environment, whereas solar is cheap and better for the environment,” Uwagwu says. “But we needed to know if solar is actually affordable.” After setting up a software model and connecting with Leke Oyefeso, a friend back home, to get data on generators, they concluded that solar was cost-comparable and often cheaper than the generators.
Armed with this information and another completed UROP, Uwagwu thought, “What happens next?” Quickly an idea started forming, so he and Oyefeso went to Venture Mentoring Services at MIT to figure out how to leverage this knowledge to start a company that could deliver a unique and much-needed product to the Nigerian market.
They ran through many different potential business plans and ideas, eventually deciding on creating software to design solar systems that are tailored to Nigeria’s specific needs and context. Having come up with the initial idea, they “chatted with people on the solar scene back home to see if this is even useful or if they even need this.”
Through these discussions and market research, it became increasingly clear to them what sort of novel and pivotal product they could offer to help accelerate Nigeria’s burgeoning solar sector, and their initial idea took on a new shape: solar design software coupled with an online marketplace that connects solar providers to funding sources and energy consumers. In recognition of his unique venture, Uwagwu received a prestigious Legatum Fellowship, a program that offers entrepreneurial MIT students strong mentoring and networking opportunities, educational experiences, and substantial financial support.
Since its founding in the summer of 2020, their startup, Idagba, has been hard at work getting its product ready for market. Starting a company in the midst of Covid-19 has created a set of unique challenges for Uwagwu and his team, especially as they operate on a whole other continent from their target market.
“We wanted to travel to Lagos last summer but were unable to do so,” he says. “We can’t make the software without talking to the people and businesses who are going to use it, so there are a lot of Zoom and phone calls going on.”
In spite of these challenges, Idagba is well on its path to commercialization. “Currently we are developing our minimum viable product,” comments Uwagwu. “The software is going to be very affordable, so there’s very little barrier for entry. We really want to help create this market for solar.”
In some ways, Idagba is drawing lessons from the success of Mo Ibrahim and his mobile phone company, Celtel. In the late 1990s, Celtel was able to quickly and drastically lower the overall price of cell phones across many countries in Africa, allowing for the widespread adoption of mobile communication at a much faster pace than had been anticipated. To Uwagwu, this same idea can be replicated for solar markets. “We want to reduce the financial and technical barriers to entry for solar like he did for telecom.”
This won’t be easy, but Uwagwu is up to the task. He sees his company taking off in three phases. The first is getting the design software online. After that has been accomplished — by mid-2021 — comes the hard part: getting customers and solar businesses connected and using the program. Once they have an existing user base and proven cash flow, the ultimate goal of the company is to create and facilitate an ecosystem of people wanting to push solar energy forward. This will make Idagba, as Uwagwu puts it, “the hub of solar energy in Nigeria.” Idagba has a long way to go before reaching that point, but Uwagwu is confident that the building blocks are in place to ensure its success.
After graduating in June, Uwagwu will be taking up a full-time position at the prestigious consulting firm Bain and Company, where he plans to gain even more experience and connections to help grow his company. This opportunity will provide him with the knowledge and expertise to come back to Idagba and, as he says, “commit my life to this.”
“This idea may seem ambitious and slightly nonsensical right now,” says Uwagwu, “but this venture has the potential to significantly push Nigeria away from unsustainable fossil fuel consumption to a much cleaner path.”
Wednesday
African Union suspends Niger Republic over military coup
CC™ Politico
By AFP Staff
The African Union said Tuesday it had suspended Niger until civilian rule in the country is restored and would assess the implications of any armed intervention in the troubled Sahel nation.
The Peace and Security Council “requests the AU Commission to undertake an assessment of the economic, social and security implications of deploying a standby force in Niger and report back to Council,” the bloc said, following strong differences on the matter.
Army officers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, prompting the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to threaten to use force to reinstate him.
ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States — agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger.
It has said it is ready to act, even as it continues to pursue hopes for a diplomatic solution.
The AU last week held a meeting on the crisis against a backdrop of divergent views within the bloc over any military intervention.
The coup has heightened international worries over the Sahel, which faces growing jihadist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Niger is the fourth nation in West Africa since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
The juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali have said that any military intervention in their neighbour would be considered a “declaration of war” against their countries.
The coup is the fifth in Niger’s history since the impoverished landlocked state gained independence from France in 1960.
Bazoum’s election in 2021 was a landmark, opening the way to the country’s first peaceful transition of power.
He has been held with his family at the president’s official residence since the coup, with growing international concern over his conditions in detention.
AFP NEWS
Saturday
Tuesday
Rema reveals how his father’s death affected him
CC™ Afrobeats
By Rachel Okporu Fadoju
Nigerian singer, Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, has revealed that losing his dad at an early age, shaped his mindset and personality.
Naija News reports that the ‘Calm Down’ crooner made this known while appearing on the Afrobeats podcast hosted by Shopsydoo.
According to the singer, he didn’t take life seriously until his father’s death, compelling him to realise the importance of family.
He said, “It [losing my dad] shaped me, to be honest. It shaped my mindset, my mood, you know.
“There was a point in time I was very colourful, I would say. I was funny, running around and unserious. I never took life seriously until when I lost my dad. And it just shows different sides of people. It just shows the importance of family as well.
“Yeah, as siblings we might have our fights and quarrels but you never know when you will just not see them again; the people you are closest to.
“For my dad, my dad used to call me a soldier”
In related news, Rema, recently walked out of his musical concert in Atlanta, United States.
The artiste refused to perform due to the venue’s terrible condition.
In a disappointing turn of events, the singer was captured in a video saying the concert would not go on, citing safety concerns and ‘disrespect’ for the fans and Afrobeats.
NAIJA NEWS
Monday
Super Falcons advance to 2023 Women's World Cup knock-out stage after draw with Ireland
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| FIFA.COM |
CC™ Sports News
Nigeria’s Super Falcons are through to the round of 16 of the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after playing out to a goalless draw against Ireland on Monday.
The result meant Africa’s most successful national team of all-time finished the group stage unbeaten for the first time ever.
The Super Falcons had held Canada to a goalless draw in their first game before edging Australia 3-2.
It is the third time that the Super Falcons – an ever present at the FIFA Women’s World Cup since its inception in 1991 – will be advancing to the knockout rounds of the Women’s World Cup.
The only other times that Nigeria progressed to the knockout rounds were in 1999 and 2003.
But they will be heading into the round of 16 as Group B’s second-placed team after Australia, who lost to the Super Falcons last Thursday, thrashed Canada 4-0 on Monday.
The Aussies had earlier beaten Ireland 1-0 before losing to the Super Falcons.
Friday
Israel Adesanya angry with White South African UFC star for halting their bout
CC™ UFC NEWS
By Jide Adegoke
Nigerian-New Zealand UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was left angry as he had to wait a bit longer for his match against Dricus du Plessis.
Du Plessis, a 29-year-old mixed martial artist from South Africa, had to withdraw from the bout initially scheduled to take place in Australia, due to a foot ailment.
The stage appeared to be set for an intriguing middleweight title fight at Sydney’s UFC 293 on September 10 after Du Plessis’ dramatic first-round victory over Robert Whittaker in their unofficial number-one contender matchup at UFC 290 earlier on July 9.
The anticipation for the forthcoming fight had heightened even before Adesanya entered the Octagon to meet his new opponent in a racially tinged battle.
The relationship between the two competitors had been strained as a result of Du Plessis’ assertions that he was the “real African” in the UFC, which infuriated the Nigerian-born competitor whose family had emigrated to New Zealand when he was a little child.
Adesanya tweeted, “I don’t even know how to start this, but Dricus DuP*ssy, you f**king b*tch.
“Your foot’s sore? My knee was jacked for my last fight. Guess what I did? I showed up because that’s what a f**king champion does. Championship caliber, built differently.”
Although Adesanya vs. Du Plessis has not yet been officially announced by the UFC, it was widely assumed that the fight would serve as the main event for the company’s first Australasian event since 2020.
Du Plessis withdrew from the title fight following Adesanya’s social media outburst on Thursday, which revealed the unfortunate news of the South African’s ailment.
After Du Plessis withdrew from the bout, Adesanya immediately asked for a replacement and issued a challenge to sixth-ranked Sean Strickland to accept the fight.
Thursday
Saudi Pro League (SPL) appoints former Nigerian International and Chelsea Football Director Michael Emenalo as its first Director of Football
The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has chosen former Chelsea’s Sporting Director, Michael Emenalo, as it first director of football, reports theathletic.com.
The SPL has been on a massive drive to sign top players from around the world, as well as top class coaches and managers for the league, which has become the top draw for talents because of the enormous pay to the main actors.
Emenalo occupied a similar role at Chelsea from 2011 to 2017, overseeing a hugely successful period across the men’s, women’s and academy sides at the west London club.
The former Nigeria international left back was also heavily involved in transfer activity, with the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and N’Golo Kante recruited during his Stamford Bridge tenure.
Emenalo went on to spend two years as sporting director for AS Monaco and has since remained active in consultancy capacities.
He is regarded among the best in his field and will be responsible for helping the SPL develop frameworks and applying the kind of principles that are seen in the world’s biggest divisions.
Emenalo is expected to bring a staff with him — tapping into the expertise, experience and connections of people he has worked with before — and add others to bolster the set-up.
It is anticipated the 57-year-old will also keep a close eye on the future by giving opportunities for young Saudis to join his team, learn the industry and enhance their own careers.
Emenalo began his career with Enyimba and also played for Enugu Rangers before moving to the United States, where he attended college at and played for Boston University, from 1985 to 1988.
He played for Molenbeek in Belgium, Eintracht Trier in Germany, and Notts County F.C in England before going back to the US.
He was part of the original allocated players for Major League Soccer and spent two seasons (1996–97) with the San Jose Clash. After that, he played with UE Lleida in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Emenalo won 14 caps for Nigeria between 1984 and 1995. He played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, missing the first game through injury but then, played against Argentina and Greece before Nigeria was knocked out by Italy.
Sunday
Who is Adeola Adeyeye? Ondo State Chef begins 150-hour Cook-A-Thon to Break Guinness World Record
CC™ Global News
By Ngozi Okobi
A chef from Ondo State, Adeola Adeyeye, is aiming to break the world record for the longest individual cooking hours, which is currently held by her fellow Nigerian counterpart, Akwa Ibom chef, Hilda Baci.
Earlier this year on May 15, 2023, Hilda Baci achieved a remarkable feat by surpassing the previous Guinness World Record for the longest cooking time held by Chef Lata Tondon from Rewa, India in 2019.
The Guinness World Records confirmed Hilda Baci's remarkable achievement on June 13, after she broke the record for the longest-cooking marathon by a single individual with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes.
On Friday, June 30, Adeola Adeyeye kicked off her cook-a-thon in the Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State and is expected to continue until July 6, 2023.
Enthusiastic fans have been eagerly watching Adeola’s 150-hour cook-a-thon through a live video stream, curious to see if she can endure cooking for six days without breaking down.
However, this news has generated mixed reactions, with many internet users criticizing the Ondo chef for attempting to break the record so soon after Hilda was certified earlier this month.
Despite the controversy surrounding her pursuit, Adeyeye remains resolute in her goal to surpass the current record. She asserts that she has diligently prepared for the cook-a-thon and is determined to succeed.
Recently, another Nigerian, Ekiti State Chef, Damilola Adeparusi, better known as Chef Dammy, also hit the spotlight after embarking on a 120-hour cook-a-thon which kicked off on Friday, June 9, and ended on Wednesday, June 14.
Saturday
Flashback: True American exceptionalism: Strength in real diversity as U.S. Embassy in Nigeria lauds Nigerian-born medical doctor key in development of COVID-19 vaccine
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| Dr. Onyema Ogbuagu, MBBCh, FACP |
By Editorial Team
The United States Embassy in Nigeria has lauded a Nigerian-born medical doctor, Onyema Ogbuagu, MBBCh, FACP, for his role in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in America.
Earlier in the month, U.S. drug manufacturing firm, Pfizer announced that the vaccine has an efficacy rate (almost well within the standard 95% statistical confidence interval) of 94.5 percent, marking a major breakthrough in the fight against the pandemic.
“Nigerians contribute to the world in so many ways,” the U.S. Mission in Nigeria tweeted on its handle on Monday. “Our hats off to Dr. Onyema Ogbuagbu at Yale who helped develop a COVID-19 vaccine!”
Dr. Ogbuagu is an Associate Professor of medicine at Yale University. He is one of those leading the research at Pfizer for a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.
In a series of Tweets on his official handle, Monday, the medical expert dispelled some misconceptions about the vaccine, explaining that misinformation about the pandemic may lead to loss of lives.
Friday
Monday
Bola Ahmed Tinubu Sworn In As Nigeria’s 7th Democratically Elected President
CC™ Breaking News
By Deji Komolafe - Deputy Editor
The next president of Africa's largest democracy, Nigeria, has been sworn in at a ceremony in the capital, Abuja. Bola Tinubu, 71, won February's election with a promise to renew hope - but he faces tough economic and security challenges.
The ceremony took place amid extremely tight security and in front of world leaders and dignitaries, such as President Kagame of Rwanda and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa at the 5,000 capacity Eagle Square venue in the capital Abuja.
Tinubu becomes just the 7th democratically elected president of Nigeria, and the 16th overall.
He inherits a country beset by serious economic and security challenges after eight years of rudderless leadership by the outgoing administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu also inherits a nation deeply divided along ethno-religious lines, a consequence of the acerbically divisive rule of former President Buhari, who will go down as probably the most polarizing leader in the history of Nigeria.
Tinubu’s inauguration is the culmination of a life-long ambition to rule Nigeria and he is probably the most prepared to do so, in the history of the country.
Saturday
Tinubu inherits negative growth, non-performing sectors
CC™ Africa News
As President Muhammadu Buhari hands over the reins of the economy to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the scorecard seems overwhelmingly negative.
Key macroeconomic indicators are all in the red, with most of them far weaker than what was handed over to the outgoing regime in 2015.
From inflation figures to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and exchange rates; from the money market performance through the entire financial markets and the real sector, the story is gory.
Headline inflation rose to 22.2 per cent in April 2023, the highest in 18 years. Buhari inherited a single digit inflation rate at 9.0 percent in June 2015, and he is set to hand over to Tinubu a second tier double digit inflation which is still trending up as at the time of this report.
This reflects the steady rise in prices of goods and services under Buhari occasioned by a number of wrong-headed or badly implemented policies including foreign exchange restriction on 43 items, border closure, farmers/herders clash, post-COVID supply chain bottlenecks as well as the most recent Naira redesign debacle, among others.
Consequently, the average headline inflation in the eight years of Buhari tenure rose to 14.77 per cent, up by 447 basis points from 10.3 per cent in the previous eight years, 2007 to 2014.
Of course this escalated the misery index across larger section of the citizens.
The GDP numbers through the previous eight years before Buhari took over in the second quarter of 2015 had averaged 4.8 percent.
As of the time the Buhari administration took off in the second quarter of 2015, Q2’15, the economy growth rate had slowed down to around 3.57 percent due to the oil price crises that had started a year earlier.
However, the high expectations that the economy is going to be revived quickly vanished when the new administration slumbered in setting up the cabinet and the subsequent economic management team that was expected to steer the ship away from the troubled waters.
Consequently, this lethargy littered the entire spectrum of the subsequent years, bringing the GDP numbers to one of the worst in history recording two recessions and an average of 1.2 percent growth.
Tinubu is inheriting a sluggish economy.
Mirroring the steady rise in inflation under Buhari, the benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, rose by 500 basis points, bpts, to 18 per cent in March 2023, as the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, moved to curb inflation.
Consequently, the maximum interest rate rose by 137 bpts to 28.08 per cent at the end of March 2023, from 26.71 per cent at the end of 2015. The Prime Lending rate, however, dropped by 295 bpts to 13.9 per cent from 16.85 per cent.
Tinubu is inheriting a high cost economic environment.
In the eight years of Buhari, the naira depreciated by 245 per cent and 135 per cent in the parallel market and in the official market respectively.
While the official exchange rate rose to N465.13 per dollar on May 17, 2023, from N198 per dollar on May 31, 2015, the parallel market exchange rate rose to N748 per dollar on May 17, 2023 from N217 per dollar on May 31, 2015.
Consequently, the premium between the two exchange rates widened to N279.87 on May 16, 2023, from N19 on May 31, 2015, the widest in the history of the country’s foreign exchange market.
Notwithstanding the decline in net foreign exchange, the nation’s external reserves rose to $35.19 billion at the end of May 16, 2023 from $28.28 billion at the end of 2015, translating to an increase of 24 per cent during the eight years period.
However, discounted for the $30.97 billion increase in external debt during this period, the external reserves will decline to $4.22 billion, hence a decline of 85 per cent in the eight years of Buhari.
How Buhari’s deficit budgeting hands fiscal albatross to Tinubu
The deficit budgeting strategy of the administration of the out-going President has created a fiscal albatross for the incoming administration.
The Federal Government deficit in 2016 was slightly above N2 trillion, but this has risen to over N12 trillion in the current fiscal year.
This follows a consistent pattern of weak revenue generation at the backdrop of propensity to spend more than earnings.
With poor revenue records and expansionary budget outlays, Buhari has consistently borrowed to fund the government budgets since assumption of office.
The National Assembly has also encouraged the borrowing to fund budget deficit from both domestic and external sources.
By 2015, out of the $65.428 billion public debt of the nation, the Federal Government debt was $44.857 billion or N8. 836 trillion
It consisted of $10.718 billion external debt while domestic debt was N8.836 trillion.
But as of December 2022, the total public debt stock of the nation had risen to $103.110 billion or N46.250 trillion.
Analysis of the detailed debt stock as of last year end shows that the external debt stood at $41.694 billion or N16.703 trillion while states and the Federal Capital Territory external debt stood at $4.456 billion.
At $61.415 billion or N 27.548 trillion, domestic debt accounted for 59.56 percent of the total debt stock. Out of that figure the Federal Government owed $ 49.515 billion or N22.210 trillion while states and the FCT owed $11.900 billion or N5.337 trillion.
Tinubu inherits tottering capital market
Resilience
Elsewhere across the entire financial sector, the story is almost the same, except for some resilience in the capital market.
In the negative principally is the exit of foreign investors in the capital market responding to the adverse macroeconomic and policy environment.
Foreign investors’ participation which hitherto accounted for more than 60 per cent of transactions in the Nigerian stock market went south between May 2015 and 2023.
But the secondary market for equities defied these realities and surged by 52.8 per cent.
The NGX under Buhari administration, is, therefore, marked by significant periods of highs and lows.
When the President took over office in 2015, the market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), formerly the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was N16.88 trillion (equities 69.1% or N11.66trn, bonds and others 30.9%).
By May 16, 2023, the market capitalization had risen to N60.05 trillion comprising equities (N28.523trn), bonds (N22.390trn) and Exchange Traded Fund, ETF (N9.137bn).
Notwithstanding this increase, the ratio of equities market capitalization to GDP remains paltry at about 15 percent, an indication that the capital market is not really integrated with the economy.
Also, the main performance indicator of the NGX, the All Share Index (ASI), advanced to 52,419.33 points from 34,310.37 points, representing a 52.8 percent increase.
However, the positive scores in the capital market in the past eight years include few new listings in the exchange.
2019, particularly, saw the listing of blue chip companies. As one of the settlement terms with the Federal Government for infraction, MTN was compelled to list on NGX. The listing encouraged Airtel Africa, another telecoms giant, to also list, thereby shooting up the market capitalization of equities to over N19 trillion. Prior to the listing of the two telecom giants, Notore Chemicals had listed in 2018. Since then, other major companies, including Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO), BUA Cement, BUA Foods and Geregu Power, the first energy company to access the stock market, were listed.
Under the Buhari administration, several elite products were introduced in an effort to deepen the market.
More so, the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) segment of the capital market was revived and the products are now traded on the stock exchange. More Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and recently launched Exchange Traded Derivatives have emerged in the Nigerian capital market. With the rollout of Exchange Traded Derivatives, a critical financial market infrastructure, called Central Counterparty (CCP) for clearing, settlement and delivery, was set up by NGX and the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
In 2015, three new indices were launched, including the Premium Board Index, Pension Index and the Main Board Index.
During the eight years of Buhari, foreign investors’ confidence in the market took a nosedive. When he took office in 2015, foreign investors’ participation at NGX was 54%. But by the end of 2022, their participation, fuelled by foreign exchange (forex) scarcity and capital controls by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had fallen to 17 percent. This has kept many foreign investments trapped in Nigeria.
While there have been a number of new listings, the spate of delisting outweighed the former. While there were a total of seven new companies got listed, not less than 40 companies exited the market either through regulatory or voluntary delisting.
Since the 2008/2009 capital market crash, the primary market for equities has been dormant. Eight years of the Buhari administration failed to revive the primary market for equities. Other than the PO by MTN, there was practically no other equities public offering throughout the eight years of the President’s tenure.
Weak insurance sector
At the inception of the Buhari administration in 2015, the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, the regulatory body for insurance practice in the country, in collaboration with insurance operators, had set out to achieve some targets in the course of the administration.
The set targets include the insurance sector hitting a trillion naira mark in Gross Premium Written, GPW; enforcement of compulsory insurance; eradication of fake insurance; recapitalisation of underwriting firms; passage of the Consolidated Insurance Bill; regular payment of group life premium for civil servants; increase of third party motor insurance premium, etc.
However, the combined effects of adverse macroeconomic environment and rising poverty diminished the results of the efforts by both the sector regulators and operators.
In 2015, total industry Gross Premium Written, GPW, was N289 billion and, according to NAICOM, the GPW is highly inadequate to underwrite huge ticket risks such as oil & gas and aviation. The Commission, therefore, set out modalities to achieve one trillion GPW in the course of the administration.
However, by December 2022, industry GPW stood at N532.7 billion, a far cry from the N1 trillion projection.
NAICOM, in collaboration with industry operators, had put the machinery in place to enforce the compulsory insurances.
Insurance operators worry that insurance penetration will continue to be low if they remain within comfort zones without expanding the business to the nooks and crannies of the country.
Unfortunately, as this administration winds down, enforcement of the compulsory insurance policies is still a far cry from expectation.
According to experts, the insurance sector loses over N60 billion to fake insurance racketeers annually.
Although NAICOM has taken some steps to curb the spread of fake insurance policies, the menace persists albeit on a declining scale.
Before the administration came, the Consolidated Insurance Bill had been awaiting passage in the National Assembly.
In the course of the administration, the Bill continued to gather dust even as the sector made series of efforts to fast-track its passage.
The Bill is aimed to make insurance practice conform to the ideals of contemporary insurance practice as well as align the insurance sector with the powers of other financial regulators in the country.
Unfortunately, the Buhari administration did not do justice to the Bill.
On the positive note, the administration inherited non-payment of premium for compulsory group life for Federal Government workers from the previous administration.
The implication was that many government workers died in active service with no compensation from the group life insurance scheme, except where government decides to pay compensation from its treasury.
The development elicited outcry from insurance stakeholders as they called on government to give more attention to group life insurance scheme, stressing that the scheme remains one of the ways the government can cater for workers’ risk liabilities.
However, the administration resumed payment of group life premium for civil servants.
Accordingly, the administration on annual basis pays premium of N5.4 billion for the group life cover.
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