Market Diges Nigeria

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NIGERIA VOL 3. No 2

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Why millennials might reject

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Reader, Hello and welcome to “The Millennail Issue”, Millennials are apparently taking over Nigeria. Now that the Baby Boomer population is getting older, the Millennial population is, too. Millennials hold the nation’s largest living population, at over 75.4 million in 2017. And in just four short years from now, Millennials will comprise more than 50 percent of Nigeria’s workforce, and 75 percent of it by 2030. In other words, for your business to survive and thrive, for your environmental causes to remain relevant, and for outdoor recreation to continue to grow, we all need to pay very close attention to this massive group of hard-to-pigeonhole people. They are our audience, our customers, our future leaders, and the soon-to-be stewards of everything we hold dear.

Millennials are not “lazy Nigerian youths”! Whoever said that a Nigerian youth is lazy obviously hasn’t met this motivated group of millennials. These individuals represent some of the best and brightest that our nation has to offer in young, innovative and creative talent. Their hardworking mentalities, dynamic talents and ambitious attitudes are tenaciously taking them to the top of their chosen fields. In this issue, we’ll be bringing you content that we hope will help you better understand, reach, and engage the Millennial market.

We’ll be digging into the data around what they care about, what they like to do, and what they spend their money on. We profiled some young business owners and perused the future of their businesses.

I couldn’t agree more; with the drive and passion of the various millennial entrepreneurs in this issue. While I may be a little biased because I, myself, am I Millennial, I still believe that we’re changing the philanthropic landscape.

We’re bringing in new ideas. We’re bringing in passion. We’re bringing in human connection. We are bringing in digital innovation. I’m proud to be a Millennial, but not just a Millennial; I’m proud to be here, in the media space, covering all of the great things each young entrepreneur is passionately pursuing and I often consider myself lucky that I have the chance to pursue my passions like my colleagues in this issue. The awesomeness of that is not lost on me. As I put together this issue, it hit me how all of our profiles also have the good fortune of living out our passion every day.

It was not easy choosing which young professionals to feature, here in Lagos; we’re fortunate to have a profuse pool of talented wunderkinds. Without further ado, it is our sincere pleasure to introduce to our readers the Market Digest Nigeria’s Millennials issue. As always, I welcome your questions, ideas and feedback. So please let me know what you think at odion.walter @marketdigestng.com We hope you find this issue a rewarding read.

With warmest thanks

Esele Walter Odion

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Esele Walter Odion MANAGING EDITOR Ailsa Callum FINANCE MANAGER Muhammad Asoloko CREATIVE DIRECTOR MDN Graphics ADVERTISING MANAGER Ade Kayode BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Amanda Akah DISTRIBUTION Tunde Balogun

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CONTENT REGULARS

Editors Letter 9 Business News 14

Events 36

LUXURY LIVING

China hits the market with one of the fastest EV’s in the world 49 One Palm project by Omniyat 80

FEATURES

The Harvard Undergrad changing Finance 41 How a software engineer is feeding Nigeria’s poor with an app 43 Meet Angel Adelaja, the woman who grows vegetables in shipping containers 45 Meet the Nigerian woman leading the anti-bribery department at one of the largest US banks 47 Nigeria’s Purple Epidemic? 56 Tech Strategies Banks and Credit Unions Must Implement Immediately 65 Millennials bear the brunt of Generation Y’s economic mismanagement 69 Top Young Performers 84

FINANCE

Cryptocurrencies have a mysterious allure – but are they just a fad? 52 The sharp shift in exchange rates destabilizes developing economies like Nigeria 53 African Fintech Startups Are Revolutionizing Banking 54 The future of Nigerian banking: Reappraising core capabilities after the Recession 74 Financial Inclusion: Who gets us to the Promised Land 86 Where to get collateral-free loans online in Nigeria 89 Business Accounting Tasks to Perform Every Month 90

COVER STORY Why Millennials Might Reject Buhari 62

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The Millenial Issue

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BUSINESS NEWS Six banks invest N155.45 billion into the AMCON Sinking Fund in 3 years

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ix commercial banks have made payments totalling N155.45 billion into the sinking fund of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) within three years. Access Bank, GTBank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fidelity Bank, FCMB Group and Sterling Bank made the payments between 2015 and 2017. Data obtained from the banks’ annual reports showed that Access Bank paid the highest amount of N39.59 billion: N12.06 billion in 2015, N12.06 billion in 2016 and N15.47 billion in 2017. This is followed by GTBank, which paid a total of N35.09 billion: N10.63 billion in 2015, N11.39 billion in 2016 and N13.07 billion in 2017. UBA contributed N34.85 billion: N11.08 billion in 2015, N11.08 billion in 2016 and N12.69 billion in 2017. Fidelity Bank paid a total of N18.60 billion: N5.94 billion in 2015, N6.16 billion in 2016 and N6.50 billion in 2017. FCMB Group accounted for N16.94 billion: N5.66 billion in 2015, N5.62 billion in 2016 and N5.66 billion in 2017, while Sterling Bank contributed N12.38 billion: N4.13 billion in 2015, N4.04 billion in 2016 and N4.21 billion in 2017.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on January 1, 2011, had signed an agreement with banks operating in the country to establish the AMCON sinking fund. The agreement required the CBN to contribute N50 billion and the banks an equivalent of 0.3 percent of their total assets as at the date of their audited financial statements, annually for ten years. However, the contribution, a non-refundable levy on all banks in Nigeria, was increased to 0.5 percent in 2013, NAN reported. The fund does not represent any ownership interest; neither does it confer any rights or obligations (save to pay the levy) on the contributor. The money from the fund is used to purchase Federal Government securities and the returns from the investment are redistributed among the contributing banks. The sinking fund has, however, attracted opposition from shareholders of many banks who have called on the Federal Government to scrap it to enhance shareholders return. Specifically, Mr Boniface Okezie, National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to wind down AMCON. Okezie said that shareholders had been short-changed by the corporation, and that the contributions to the sinking fund would have translated to huge dividend to banks’ shareholders. “If government dares us and elongates the lifespan of the corporation, we will go to court to challenge the decision when the time comes,” he said.

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Also, Mr Moses Igbrude, Publicity Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said AMCON was an emergency toxic vehicle established by the government through the CBN and stakeholders to save the situation at hand. Igbrude said that the government need to evaluate the performance of AMCON to ascertain if it met the expected set goals. He noted that the corporation’s objective was to buy banks’ toxic assets to stabilize and to avoid the collapse of the financial sector. According to him, the corporation should now focus on how to evaluate and give account of what it has done and wind down and not to seek extension. “They should give account of the 0.05 percent of the assets of banks they have been collecting. If you compute the total of that contribution, it is running into over one trillion naira now,” Igbrude said.

“This is what shareholders are paying to AMCON, not minding all the assets they bought very cheap from the banks. What have they done with the money?” Igbrude asked.

Ahmed Kuru, AMCON’s Chief Executive, had, recently, said that with the recession, the rate at which banks’ assets were growing had reduced, affecting their contributions to the sinking fund. Kuru said that if banks’ debt to the CBN were not fully repaid before 2023 when the corporation is expected to wind down, they would continue to pay into the fund which will then be transferred to the CBN. AMCON’s chief noted that banks’ contributions to the sinking fund in recent years had been low, hence AMCON has not been able to pay its own contribution out of its debt nor to pay the interest. He said that the contribution was based-of a growth rate projection of 20 percent, whereas the growth rate of commercial banks’ total assets in recent years had fallen below 10 percent year-on-year. “In 2016 there was a gap of about N180 million, while in 2017 there was a gap of almost N202 billion,” Kuru said. “We collect an average of N120 billion to N130 billion which is not enough to service 50 percent of our interest on the debt because our interest obligation is around N259 billion every year.” He is, however, optimistic that AMCON would wound down by 2023 or 2024.

Photos: (Top) todaysnews

NEWS

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Zenith, GTBank, 3 Other Nigerian Banks Listed Among Top 1000 Global Banks

ive Nigerian banks which includes Zenith Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), FirstBank Nigeria Limited, Access Bank Plc and the United Bank for Africa Plc, were ranked among The Banker Magazine’s 2018 1000 Global Banks. According to the ranking, Zenith Bank was placed first in Nigeria and 402nd bank in the world, showing that the financial institution moved 28 places up, compared with the 430th position it was placed last year. In Nigeria, Zenith Bank was closely followed by GTBank as the second largest bank in Nigeria and 576th in the world. Also, FirstBank was ranked the third in Nigeria and 592nd in the world. Access Bank occupied the fourth position and was ranked 630th bank in the world, while UBA was placed fifth in Nigeria and 856th in the global ranking.

According to The Banker, Africa’s

economic fortunes improved over the 2017 review period following a difficult couple of years in which lower commodity prices hit the performance of the continent’s largest markets. “This slowly improving economic climate was reflected by the growth trajectory of Africa’s banks which have, across the board, posted relatively strong numbers in the 2018 Top 1000 World Banks ranking,” it stated.Among the top 10 African banks by Tier 1 capital, South Africa’s Standard Bank once again scooped the top spot with $10 billion. This, it stated, was a significant jump from the $8.6 billion in Tier 1 capital the bank recorded in the 2017 ranking. Accordingly, its position in the global table has climbed from 149th to 145th. Other South African lenders also performed well. FirstRand maintained

second position in the Africa table while growing its Tier 1 capital position, while Nedbank also posted an increase to its Tier 1 capital despite surrendering third spot in the table to the ABSA Group.

European Investment Bank and African Development Bank to support private sector investment in Nigeria with Development Bank of Nigeria backing

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he European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank have agreed to support the creation of the new Development Bank of Nigeria to strengthen lending for business and agriculture investment in the country. The European Investment Bank has finalized a US $20-million equity stake in the new financing institution, alongside US $50-million equity participation from the African Development Bank. The Development Bank of Nigeria has been created by the Federal Government of Nigeria to address financing challenges hindering private sector investment in the country. The Bank is called to play an important and catalytic role in providing funding and risk sharing facilities to micro, small and medium enterprises as well as small corporates.

“The Development Bank of Nigeria will overcome the funding gap in the micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises space and help businesses unlock opportunities across Nigeria. DBN’s ambition is strengthened by the financial and technical support of international partners, including the European Investment Bank and African Development Bank. The new institution builds on international experience and uses a business model that has demonstrated proven success to enhance private-sector investment across Africa and around the world where other financing options are inadequate or absent,” said Tony Okpanachi, Managing Director of the Development Bank of Nigeria. “Private sector businesses are critical to the development of the Nigerian economy as they possess huge potential for employment generation and output diversification. Nevertheless, there has been under-performance of these businesses and this has undermined their contribution to economic growth. Among the issues affecting their performance, the shortage of finance, particularly investment finance, occupies a very central position. The Development Bank of Nigeria is expected to contribute to mobilizing significant long-term financing to an important yet underserved sector with high development potential,” said Stefan Nalletamby,

Director of the Financial Sector Development Department at the African Development Bank. “New private sector investment is crucial to create jobs and enable business to expand and limited access to long-term financing holds back economic growth.

The European Investment Bank is pleased to support the new Development Bank of Nigeria to strengthen private-sector investment in Africa’s largest economy. We look forward to continued close cooperation with Nigerian and international partners to ensure that once fully operational the new Development Bank of Nigeria can help harness the country’s economic potential,” said Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Photos: (Top) ftb. (Bottom) Todayng.com

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Korea is a model for Africa’s industrialization, says President Adesina

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he 53rd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank opened in Busan, Korea, last mont with a call on African Governments to create the right environment for the private sector to lead the continent’s industrial revolution.

Participants also advocated for a balance between the role of the State and the private sector. Korea was presented as a good model for industrialization, which African countries can learn from. “Korea’s example is incredible. Korea was as poor as any African country in the 1960s with a low per capital income. Today, thanks to the determination of its people and its commitment to industrialization, Korea is the 11th biggest economy in the world, an example Africa should learn from,” said African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina at a media breakfast.

Discussions around the media breakfast table focused on the theme of the 2018 Annual Meetings, “Accelerating Africa’s Industrialization,” and the need to tell the great stories of Africa the story of a resurgent continent ready to take its rightful place in the industrial world. “If you look at countries that have industrialized China, South Korea, Singapore and many others the role of the State was clear. One of the things that I think we need to take out of this conversation is that the State has a great role to play in Africa’s industrial revolution, particularly in terms of industrial policy, providing direction, support for infrastructure, and directing capital to particular industries,” he stressed. “Ethiopia is a very good example.” Adesina explained that industrialization was selected as the theme of the 2018 Annual Meetings to further showcase what Africa can learn from a country like Korea. “There is nowhere better than Korea to address this theme. Korea’s incredible success over the last 60 years provides a perfect model to the African Development Bank to redouble its efforts towards Africa’s economic development.

Africa is a tremendously blessed continent, but it needs to industrialize, create lots of jobs, and be more competitive in the global market.”

“We cannot say we have leadership when we still have 65 percent of the land in Africa uncultivated. We must develop solutions to agriculture and ensure that the sector can grow to a US $1-trillion business,” Adesina said.

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Participants in the Leadership4Agriculture session included Ministers and key partners involved in the development of agricultural industrialization of the continent. They emphasized the need to enhance the competitiveness of Africa’s agriculture sector and to develop industrial value chains required to power the growth of the sector to a world-class industry. Mima Nedelcovych, President and Chief Executive, Initiative for Global Development, said the African agriculture sector required efforts to improve its competitiveness and called for reforms to ensure that low-interest rate lending is available to the agriculture sector. “We have to take action as well as talk. Talk is important, but we also want to take people to task,” said Jennifer Blanke, the Bank’s Vice-President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, on moving past discussing agricultural challenges to executing solutions for them. How to leverage the continent’s youth to accelerate economic prosperity through industrialization was the focus of a session on “Bridging innovation and industry: African youth solving continental challenges.”

Badr Idrissi, a young Moroccan industrialist, co-founded ATLAN Space, a start-up that uses artificial intelligence and drone technology to solve some socio-economic problems. The innovation has helped Morocco to effectively fight illegal fishing. “They say that artificial intelligence is not meant for Africa. We are here to prove that wrong,” Idrissi said.

Idrissi used his 12-year international

work experience at Microsoft and Nokia to develop and provide tech solutions, which have created employment for several young Moroccans. In Kenya, a young banker, Lorna Rutto, quit her job to co-found EcoPost, a social enterprise that has created thousands of sustainable jobs for people in marginalized communities, in addition to conserving the environment. “I was inspired by what I thought was going wrong in my community.

Trees were being cut down and plastic waste was all over the place,” Rutto told the session. “It was very scary for me to resign a good bank job, but I had to fulfil my ambition as an entrepreneur. That was when I developed the idea that waste was a resource and not a thing to throw away.” EcoPost has so far transformed over 3 million kilograms of plastic waste into plastic lumber, saved over 500 acres of forest and helped mitigate climate change in Kenya. Adesina commended the young entrepreneurs for converting challenges into opportunities and urged them to continue representing the industrialization of Africa. “Young people are not just the future of Africa, they are the present,” said Adesina. “They represent entrepreneurship and energy. This must be nurtured, harnessed and scaled up to propel Africa’s industrial revolution and the Bank is here to harness that.”

Photos: (Top) APO News

NEWS

Nigeria’s GDP Per Head to fall For 8 Straight Years – IMF

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igerians will see their real income per head fall every year until at least 2023, according to forecasts by the IMF, a potentially painful squeeze for a country with per capita gross domestic product of just $1,994. If realized, Africa’s most-populous country is projected to have almost 400m people by 2050, behind only India and China and will suffer at least eight straight years of declining income per capita “If the IMF is right that would obviously be awful, a very depressing result,” said John Ashbourne, Africa economist at Capital Economics, a consultancy. “They have a very rapidly growing population. If they are not able to diversify their economy faster than they have before, a huge number of these people will end up being trapped either in agriculture or low-skilled service jobs.” The IMF Fund is now calling for urgent action to stem falling living standards and to tackle poverty now, rather than later.

CBN Boosts Foreign Exchange Market with $318.73m as Naira Exchanges for N360/$1

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ustomers in the retail segment of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market received a $318.73m boost from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the month of June, 2018. Information obtained from the CBN indicates that the deals in the retail window represent requests from the various sectors in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), thereby providing a boost to the respective sectors.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the forex sales, explained that $318.73m sold was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industries. It will be recalled that last Tuesday, June 26, 2018, the CBN had intervened to the tune of $210 million to cater for requests in the wholesale segment of the forex market.

Speaking further, Okorafor said the CBN remained very committed to ensuring that all the sectors continue to enjoy access to the foreign exchange required for their business concerns.

Importers, Traders who Tender Invoices in Renminbi To Enjoy Incentives – CBN

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ollowing the $2.5 billion bilateral currency swap agreement signed last month between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the CBN has said it will incentivize importers and traders who tender their invoices in Renminbi (RMB).

This was revealed at the Bankers’ Committee meeting in July. The CBN also announced plans to start bi-weekly auctions of the Chinese currency.

Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting in Lagos, the Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Demola Sogunle, pointed out that the central bank recently issued regulations for transactions in Renminbi. He added: “As we speak now, China is the biggest trading partner with Nigeria and on the back of the currency swap; Nigeria has access to RMB 15 billion in terms of facilitation of trade. “So, what has come out of the Bankers’ Committee meeting is that importers of Chinese equipment, machinery, goods are being encouraged to get invoices in RMB. “The CBN is willing to incentivize

importers so that instead of bringing invoices in dollars they should bring invoices in RMB. “To the extent of that bilateral currency swap is in place and Nigeria is able to tap into about RMB 15 billion, we should be able to use that to facilitate trade and this should speak directly to encouraging small and medium scale enterprises playing in the Nigerian-Chinese trade corridor.” Throwing more light on the benefit of the call by the CBN for traders to tender their invoices in the Chinese currency, Sogunle said it means an importer would actually take lesser naira to the banks. He noted that the move was to encourage importers to receive invoices in RMB instead of US dollars. He explained: “One of the incentives would be that a percentage spread would be given to any importer that is giving RMB invoice for settlement instead of bringing a dollar invoice. “So, when you look at the overall cost of the naira, if you bring a RMB invoice, it is going to be cheaper for the importer coming to CBN to get currency.”

Also commenting on how the bilateral currency agreement would support the

country’s external reserves accretion, the Stanbic IBTC boss said: “We have got almost $48 billion in our reserves and because we trade a lot with China, if we are able as a country to continue to bring in machinery and equipment without depleting our dollar reserves, then the external reserve would not be under threat. “So, with the RMB 15 billion in place, we are in a very good position.

That is why it is important to encourage importers to bring invoices in RMB instead of dollars.”

Photos: (Top) NAN. (Bottom) CHINABANK. 17

African Agri-Tech Ecosystems Grows 110% In Last Two Years

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he African agri-tech space is booming, with the number of startups operating in the market growing 110% over the past two years, and over US$19 million invested into the sector in that period. The Agrinnovating for Africa: Exploring the African Agri-Tech Startup Ecosystem Report 2018, released earlier this month by Disrupt Africa, records 82 agri-tech startups in operation across Africa by the start of 2018, with 52% of these ventures launched in the past two years. The report tracks annual startup activity in the agri-tech space as early as 2010, but finds this activity remained limited until the end of 2015. The current boom began in 2016, and over the following two years 43 new ventures launched across Africa. The research shows that while Kenya was the early pioneer of the African agri-tech sector, Currently, Kenya and Nigeria tie in first place as the top two agri-tech markets on the continent; while Ghana places third. Together, these three countries account for over 60 per cent of agri-tech startups active in Africa.

Over the course of this period, over

US$19 million has been invested into African agri-tech startups; with annual fundraising figures growing rapidly. The amount of funding raised in 2017 grew by over 121% on the total for 2016. “The scope for innovation in the agricultural sphere is vast – a refreshed take on the sector could unlock huge value for the whole of Africa. That’s why this report is so exciting it shines a light on the extent

to which the continent’s entrepreneurs are already disrupting the agricultural industry. Behind the scenes, there has been formidable acceleration in the agri-tech market recently, and it is one of the most interesting spaces to watch in Africa today,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.

Moody’s Says Nigeria May Keep Multiple Exchange Rates Until 2020

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igeria will probably maintain its system of multiple exchange rates, which the International Monetary Fund has long-urged it to scrap, until at least early 2020, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Merging the naira’s various rates any sooner might force the government to weaken the currency and raise fuel prices, which would accelerate inflation, the ratings company said. Nigerian monetary and fiscal authorities are likely to wait until investments in oil refineries and fertilizer plants reduce Nigeria’s imports of petroleum products. While that may take another two years, it would put the government in a better position to stabilize fuel prices, which it caps at a level based on the central bank’s official naira rate, Moody’s said. If the government merges the exchange rates, “they won’t be able to provide discounted dollars to oil marketers.” Aurelien Mali, a sovereign analyst with Moody’s, said in an interview in Lagos on Wednesday. “ It means that either they have to increase pump prices or give subsidies to marketers, which would impact public finances. Neither option is credible at the moment.” Despite being an OPEC member and Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria imports nearly all its fuel because of the decrepit state of its refineries. It caps the gasoline price at 145 naira per liter ($0.48 at the official rate), which analysts say is below market costs.

Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele introduced the current foreign-exchange system in response to a severe shortage of dollars after the 18

2014 crash in oil prices. While the official exchange rate hasn’t changed from 305 per dollar since a devaluation in mid-2016, a new one for importers, exporters and investors was introduced in April last year, in which the naira was allowed to weaken. Known as the Nafex rate, it’s been steady at around 360 against the greenback, almost 20 percent weaker than the official rate. There’s also the Nifex rate, which the central bank uses as a guide to sell dollars to banks during weekly auctions, and other windows that companies can access depending on the sector they’re in. The IMF has said the existence of multiple exchange rates creates distortions in the economy and discourages foreign investment.

Inflation has slowed to 13.3 percent from a high of almost 20 percent in early 2018, thanks to an improving economy and tight monetary policy. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has been keen to bring it down further before elections scheduled for February, when he plans to run for a second term. He’s loathe to raise gasoline prices, given that many Nigerians see cheap fuel as one of the few benefits they get from the government.

NEWS

Nigeria Stock Slump Continues as Benchmark Falls Most Since 2016

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igerian stocks fell the most in two years as skittish investors shied away from assets they deem too risky. Analysts and money managers said the declines weren’t justified and didn’t reflect positive developments in Africa’s largest oil producer. The Nigeria Stock Exchange All Share Index tumbled 3.4% to 36,816.29 by the close in Lagos on the 1st of July, the biggest decline since May 2016 and the lowest level since November. The benchmark index, the world’s best performing in January, gave up its gains for 2018. “Sentiment globally is less positive than it was on emerging and frontier markets and it is probably floating over to Nigeria,” said Paul Clark, a money manager in Johannesburg at Ashburton Investments, which owns Nigerian stocks including Seplat Petroleum Development Co. “Fundamentally, I don’t see any reason why the Nigerian market should be weak.”

Nigerian stocks surged earlier this year as rising prices for oil, the nation’s biggest export, eased foreign currency shortages and as investors from outside the country were attracted to the market by higher-yielding assets than those in developed markets. Nigeria is striving to achieve economic growth targets before the continent’s most-populous country holds elections in February. The benchmark index in Lagos has fallen for 11 successive days, the longest losing streak since July 2015. The 14-day relative strength indicator on the index has dropped to less than 11, well below the level of 30 that some technical analysts see as a signal that that shares have fallen too far, too quickly.

contributor in July’s decline in terms of index points, falling 7.1%, the most since September 2016. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, which fell 4.6%, and Nigerian Breweries Plc, which fell 4.5% were the next-largest drivers of the drop. General bearish sentiment and a selloff among foreign investors is responsible for the weakness in stocks, said Oyinkansola Fagbulu, an analyst at CardinalStone in Lagos. Pre-election jitters aren’t a significant enough threat to cause investors to exit, she said. “Overall fundamentals and macros are good, the market should go up in the near-term, but not as much as it did in January,” she said. “We expect election spending to spur cement demand, leading to strong results for building-materials manufacturer in the coming quarters.”

Dangote Cement Plc was the biggest

J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Is Still Very, Very Well Paid

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.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon continues to hold the top stop on the highest-paid finance CEO list. The chief of the largest U.S. bank made $28.3 million in 2017, up 4% from a year earlier, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s a pretty remarkable compensation given the fact that the median pay for the 43 banking and financial CEOs in the Journal’s analysis was $12.1 million. Dimon has ranked as the highest-paid among the group of CEOs in three of the past four years. He took over as J.P. Morgan’s chief in 2005, steered the bank through the financial crisis, and recently announced that he plans to remain at the helm for another

five years. Since Dimon took over 13 years ago, J.P. Morgan’s shares have more than doubled.

And the past year has been good to J.P. Morgan shareholders: The stock is up more than 31% in the past 12 months, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s 13.5% gain in that time. J.P. Morgan Chase is the biggest and most profitable American bank by any measure, whether in terms of sales, stock market value, or assets.

CEO Jamie Dimon and his bank look to benefit from the Trump administration as higher interest rates and lower corporate taxes will translate to about $7 billion more in pretax profit in the coming years.

Photos: (Top) Bloom(Bottom) JPM.com

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Nigeria Issuing 70 Million IDs to Boost Financial Access

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igeria plans to issue identity numbers to 70 million citizens by the end of next year, a first step to bringing them into the country’s payments system. The West African nation, which currently holds centralized data for less than 15 percent of its almost 200 million population, will integrate various identity-capturing and verification systems run by other government departments, banks and mobile-phone companies, said Aliyu Aziz, director general of the National Identity Management Commission, or NIMC. “We currently have silos of identity with several agencies,” Aziz said in a May 7 interview in Abuja, the capital. “The NIMC will play the role of the harmonizer and coordinator of the back-end database, while allowing all the other agencies to have touch points and areas of interaction with the citizens.”

Concerned that large segments of its population remained outside of the banking and payments system, Nigeria formed a partnership with Mastercard Inc. to issue identity cards embedded with their payment chips in 2015. There are plans to expand the collaboration by including other

payments companies, with the ultimate target of covering all citizens, he said.

In addition to the facilitation of payments, the identity numbers and the accompanying cards will be used for tax and health insurance administration, voter verification and help keep track of population changes, Aziz said.

Lagos-based Interswitch Ltd., which issues Verve debit and credit cards, is at an advanced stage of linking its payments with the national identity database, while

United Bank for Africa Plc is working on a pilot, according to Aziz. Citizens will be able to make their choice of payment companies during enrollment. Nigeria is still a long way from covering most of the population and is concentrating on integrating existing data, Aziz said. “In the next two or three years we should be able to capture all the data from both the public and private sector,” he said.

Nigeria Conflict Stops Sorghum Farmers’ Bid to Benefit From Trump

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n a report by By Ruth Olurounbi, Chinese importers seeking alternative sources of sorghum as risks of a trade spat with the U.S. linger are finding Nigeria, the world’s second-largest producer, unable to fill the gap as violence in producing regions leave fields idle.

Sorghum is a drought-resistant grain used in the food and brewing industry as well as livestock feed and a staple in parts of the world. “The trade war opens up an opportunity for us to export to China,” Muda Yusuf, head of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a phone interview from the country’s commercial capital. “I don’t think Nigeria is able to take it as our capacity is dwindling because of all the security problems we have in our agricultural belt.”

Nigeria produced 6.5 million metric tons of sorghum in 2017, second only to the U.S. which had output of more than 8 million tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nigeria’s Agriculture Ministry puts annual output at 11 million tons, which it says isn’t enough for local demand of 12.5 million tons, raising questions about the capacity to export. Buyers from China began making inquiries from Nigerian suppliers

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Photos: A worker collects samples from a bag of sorghum grains for testing in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria. Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

even before retaliatory tariffs with the U.S. set in. China imposed a tariff of 179 percent on imports of U.S. sorghum in April after starting an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation in February.

It recently announced it was suspending the measure as the two countries seek to resolve their trade dispute.

The area planted with sorghum in Nigeria will decline 3 percent in 2018 to 5.2 million hectares (12.8 million acres) due to the resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram Islamist militants in major producing areas, according to the USDA. Fighting has

also intensified this year between herders and farmers over grazing land across much of central Nigeria, displacing hundreds of thousands of farmers, many of whom grow sorghum and other grains.

China is the world’s largest sorghum market and the threats of a trade war with the U.S. have provided sorghum-producing countries the opportunity to gain from the dispute between the world’s two biggest economies. China’s monthly sorghum imports stood at 640,000 tons in April, the highest since March 2017.

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NEWS

President Buhari Lists All His Achievement In Office After Three Years

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igeria’s Presidency has released a Factsheet outlining the policy and programme achievements of the Buhari Administration since it assumed office three years ago, on May 29, 2015. The 41-page document highlights successes in the Economy, Security and the fight against Corruption the three priorities of President Buhari’s Change Agenda. It is organized into the following sections: Resetting the Economy; Restoring Growth, Growing What We Eat, Making Business Work, Doing More With Less, Investing In People, New Vision for the Niger Delta, Plugging Leakages and Justice Reforms.

The Factsheet, which will be updated regularly, showcases improving economic indices, rising investment in agriculture and infrastructure, successes in the fight against terrorism, and ongoing efforts to improve security in the North Central. In addition, it lists the several measures taken to promote transparency and accountability in government finances.

Here are some of the highlights of the Factsheet: -Nigeria’s economy is back on the path of growth, after the recession of 2016-17 (1.95% growth in Q1 2018) -The Buhari Administration’s priority Sectors of Agriculture and Solid Minerals maintained consistent growth throughout the recession.

-Inflation has fallen for the fifteenth (15th) consecutive month, from 18.7% in January 2017 to 12.5% as of April 2018.

-External Reserves of US$47.5 billion are the highest in 5 years and double the size as of October 2016.

-Total exports in 2017 were 59.47% higher than for 2016 -The first quarter of 2018 saw the fourth consecutive quarterly increase in capital importation since Q2 2017. The total value of capital imported in the quarter stood at US$6.3 billion, which is a year-on-year increase of 594.03%, and a 17.11% growth over the figure reported in the previous quarter.

-The new FX Window introduced by the CBN in April 2017, now sees an average of US$1 billion in weekly turnover, and has attracted about US$25 billion in inflows in its first year (and a total turnover of $47.14 billion) – signaling rising investor confidence in Nigeria.

-Nigeria’s Stock Market ended 2017 as one of the best performing in the world, with returns in excess of 40%.

-Five (5) million new taxpayers added to the Tax Base since 2016, as part of efforts to diversify Government revenues.

-Tax Revenue increased to N1.17 Trillion in Q1 2018, a 51% increase on the Q1 2017 figure.

-N2.7 Trillion spent on Infrastructure in 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, an unprecedented allocation in Nigeria’s recent history.

-Fourteen (14) moribund Blending Plants revitalized so far under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI); with a total capacity of 2.3 million MT of NPK fertilizer -In May 2018, the Federal Government launched the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), under the

management of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority.

The PIDF is kicking off with seed funding of US$1.3 billion.

-Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in March 2018 invested US$10m to establish a world-class Cancer Treatment Centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and US$5m each in the Aminu Kano University Teaching Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, to establish modern Diagnostic Centres. These Centres should be completed before the end of 2018.

-The Buhari Administration issued a N100 billion Sukuk Bond in 2017, Nigeria’s first sovereign Sukuk Bond. Proceeds from that Bond are funding 25 major road projects across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

Photos: govthouse

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Foreign debt: Nigeria, other debtor countries, at risk, IMF warns

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igeria and other debtor countries have been warned by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of risk associated with debt repayment following growing global debt levels. This is even as the IMF has warned that voters’ disillusionment raises the threat of political developments that could destabilize a range of economic policies in the future, reaching beyond trade policy. Nigeria’s next general elections hold on February 2019.

According to tradingeconomics, External Debt in Nigeria increased to 18913.44 USD Million in the fourth quarter of 2017 from 15352.13 USD Million in the third quarter of 2017. External Debt in Nigeria averaged 7806.46 USD Million from 2008 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 18913.44 USD Million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and a record low of 3627.50 USD Million in the first quarter of 2009.

Economic Counsellor and Director of Research at the IMF, Maurice Obstfeld, told journalists during a presentation at the World

Economic Outlook, at the 2018 Spring Meetings in Washington DC, that “looking past the next few quarters, there are notable risks to the outlook as… global debt levels – private and public – are very high, threatening repayment problems as monetary policies normalize in an environment where many economies face lower medium-term growth rates.”

According to the IMF, “emerging and developing economies present a diverse picture, and among those that are not commodity exporters, some can expect longer-term growth rates comparable to pre-crisis rates.” However he warned that Nigeria and other commod-

ities dependent economies may not be so lucky despite improvement in the outlook for commodity prices. “Those countries will need to diversify their economies to boost future growth and resilience.” Going forward, the IMF advised, “each national government can do much on its own to promote stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive growth.”

Nigeria’s economic growth slows for first time since end of recession

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igeria’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2018 for the first time since the country pulled out of recession last year as the non-oil sector struggled, the National Bureau of Statistics has said. The economy grew by 1.95 percent in the first quarter lifted by the oil sector. That was a slight dip from 2.11 percent year-on-year in the final quarter of 2017. The economy shrank 0.91 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the bureau said. Growth rates had been bouncing back since the third quarter of 2016, when the recession, its first in 25 years, bottomed out. Nigeria exited that contraction last year largely due to higher oil prices, with the country relying on crude sales for around two-thirds of government revenue. Earlier this month the parliament passed a record 9.12 trillion naira ($29.8 billion) budget for 2018 aimed at boosting growth in west Africa’s biggest economy nine months before the country’s next presidential election.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been trying to diversify the economy away 22

from oil by boosting the non-oil sector but those efforts are struggling. The oil sector grew 14.77 percent in the period, higher than the non-oil sector, which rose 0.76 percent between January to March, the NBS said. Oil production stood at 2 million barrels per day in the quarter, up from 1.95 million in the previous quarter. The GDP data comes a day before the central bank announces its decision on interest rates, with recent economic data showing that there’s scope

for a rate cut as inflation dropped to a more than two year low in April of 12.48 percent. The bank has kept its rate at 14 percent since July 2016 to support the naira and curb inflation.

NEWS

Ex-CBN Chief Calls For ‘Women’s Bank’

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former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has called for the establishment of a “Bank for Women” to boost women enterprise in the country. Moghalu made the call at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) 2018 Annual Lecture in Lagos. The theme of the lecture was: “Of Banks and Bankers: Finance and the Challenge of Economic Development in Nigeria”. He said that 46.6% of Nigerian women lacked access to financial services, despite the fact that they were highly productive. Moghalu urged the banking sector to do whatever it could to establish the bank, to facilitate wealth creation by women. The ex-CBN chief described Nigerian women as enterprising, better borrowers and loan payers than men. He also argued that that over exposure to the oil and gas sector had aided non-performing loans when the value of the oil and gas sector dropped.

Moghalu said that reforms by the CBN to buy non-performing loans and aid financial stability had proved unsuccessful.

“So out of the little credit left, over 77% was concentrated in Lagos, sidelining, women in rural communities. “No economy can sustain inclusive growth under such circumstance and this would lead to infrastructural epilepsy,” he said.

The President of the CIBN, Mr Uche Oluwu, noted that Nigeria currently faced

serious economic challenges. According to him, there are still notable gaps in the country’s development, despite exiting economic recession in 2017 after five consecutive contractions. “These gaps, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ report on macro-economic indicator, revealed that unemployment rose steadily to 18.8 per cent in third the quarter of 2017 from 13.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2016. “Infrastructural deficits and alarming low literacy rates, are pointers to deep deficient human

capacity development among others, plaguing the great nation.”

He charged the banks, through their wealth creation, to play significant roles in allocating resources for infrastructural development. Olowu applauded banks for their support for Micro, Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).

“However, I plead with our banks to be resolute in supporting MSMEs across various productive sectors of the economy and the adjoining value chains.”

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Issues a Warning to Nigerians Against Cryptocurrency Transactions

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igeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has warned Nigerians against the use of Cryptocurrency since the Central Bank in Nigeria has not recognized the digital currency as a legal currency. Nigeria based government agencies have also issued the same warning to the Nigerians in the past.

Those involved in cryptocurrency transactions are at the risk since NDIC has not insured the digital currency since it is not legitimate in Nigeria. According to the NDIC Research Department Executive, Mr. Adikwu Igoche, the physical commodities including Silver, Gold or any other valuable stone do not support the digital currency in Nigeria. He further said the citizens of Nigeria should only use the NDIC insured financial institutions. The financial institutions bearing the NDIC sticker along with inscription (Insured by NDIC) are valid for conducting financial transactions. In the

recent past, many countries from across the world are issuing warnings to their nationals against investing Initial Coin Offerings or Cryptocurrencies. Central Bank of Nigeria Issues a Warning to The Citizens to Desist from Investments in Cryptocurrency The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned the financial institutions and the general public as well against investments involving cryptocurrency in a circular issued. The CBN has reiterated that it has

not regulated or licensed the exchanges including NairaEx and cryptocurrencies including Monero, Ripple, Bitcoin, Onecoin, Dogecoin, and Litecoin etc. Those involved in cryptocurrency transactions of any nature are not protected by the law in Nigeria. The exchanges that facilitate the trading of virtual currencies are unregulated worldwide and poses a significant loss in the event of sudden wind up Photos: (Top) CBNNWA. of such exchanges.

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Microsoft, First Bank Sign MoU For SME Empowerment

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icrosoft and First Bank of Nigeria Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to empower and create enabling environment for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria by providing them business support services such as access to premium content, business networks, capacity building initiatives and innovative offers of banking and technology services. The partnership is also expected to enable SMEs thrive and find more creative ways to solve their business growth challenges. At the MoU signing ceremony in Lagos, Deputy Managing Director, First Bank, Gbenga Shobo, expressed the bank’s unwavering commitment to the business success of SMEs in the country with its array of products and bespoke solutions, specially designed to help grow and sustain them. “We are committed to the development of SMEs and ensuring their sustained business growth.” as well as providing the necessary tools to support that growth and Nigeria’s economy at large,” he stated.

In his remark, General Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, Akin Banuso, stated: “Our approach at Microsoft has been one of empowerment and collaboration. Initially, our work with SMEs was strongly focused on bringing them online to boost their productivity and competitiveness.

Over the years, as we have worked with

and learned from SMEs, our focus has evolved to provide them with a more holistic and game-changing offering, which is: Access to technology, markets, finance, information, skills, and services.” Banuso recalled that Microsoft’s commitments under the 4Afrika banner are focused on playing an active role in Africa’s economic development.

UBA Launches Leo in Five African Countries

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nited Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc’s flagship Chat Banking personality, Leo, is set to further facilitate Africa’s banking services by changing the face of e-banking across Key African markets following its launch in Cameroon, Zambia, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, and Congo.

Already Leo, which has been very active in Africa’s biggest market, Nigeria, has brought ease to the customers, as it has aided them with numerous transactions since the beginning of the year when it was officially launched in Lagos. With this launch, customers and non-customers of the bank will be able to make use of their social media accounts to carry out numerous banking transactions from the comfort of their devices – mobile phones, laptops, tablets, palmtops and the likes. Interestingly, Leo, while delivering lifestyle and quality banking through the Facebook Messenger chat platform, has come into these markets with some new and additional features.

For instance, users can derive vital information from the chatbot as he can provide the names of global personalities around key markets. Another new feature of Leo is that when asked, he can provide the current time in any city and the weather conditions making it easy for customers and non-customers who seek 24

to navigate between cities to do so with ease.

This is in addition to the other key features of the artificial intelligence personality, which include addressing any type of banking concerns raised by customers. “They will be able to open new accounts, receive instant transaction notifications, check their balances on the go, transfer funds and airtime top up. They will also be able to confirm cheques, pay bills; apply for loans, freeze accounts, request for mini statements, amongst other things.

Customers can easily lodge their complaints through the platform and can also view complaint tickets.” a statement from the bank noted. UBA remains the first financial institution in Africa to come up with this manner of solution to simplify the way customers transact. Something that has become necessary in today’s fastpaced world with demands for quick-

time transactions and response.

Kennedy Uzoka, the group managing director, UBA, said that the launch of Leo is part of initiatives aimed at putting the bank’s customers first with UBA continuously developing strategies aimed at easing transactions for the bank’s numerous users, while ensuring utmost safety of their transactions.

Photos: (Top) NAN. (Bottom) Businestdy

NEWS

CBN Extends Tenure of Skye Bank Board

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has renewed the mandate of the board of directors of Skye Bank Plc for an additional two-year term. With this, the tenure of the bank’s board and directors will now end of June 30, 2020. The bank disclosed this in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, which was signed by its Company Secretary/ General Counsel, Babatunde Osibodu. The CBN had on July 4, 2016, intervened in the management of the bank by reconstituting its board of directors to pave the way for a new team that took charge of the affairs of the bank and resolved issues that were hindering the performance of the institution.

Accordingly, the central bank gave the

board a clear mandate with focus areas to turn the institution around positively.

“In the two years of the board’s mandate, the team has stabilised the institution, entrenched sound corporate governance and risk management practices, and restored depositors’ confidence. In recognition of the stellar performance of the board, the CBN has renewed the board’s mandate for an additional two-year term till 30th June, 2020. “We wish to assure the bank’s shareholders and all stakeholders of the commitment of its board and management, working with the CBN and other regulators, to conclude various resolution initiatives to achieve a positive turn around for the bank and deliver value to its stakeholders,” it added.

NNPC to fund key projects through stock market for the first time ever

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igeria’s state oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is set to raise fund from the Capital market to fund its new projects.

The projects include the NNPC/NAOC JV Idu-Redevelopment, South Gas Project, North Gas Project and Central Gas Project. Maikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director of the corporation, dropped the hint at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Strategic Conference and Exhibition (2018 NOG) in Abuja. With the theme: “Driving Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry Towards Sustained Economic Development and Growth”, Dr Baru explained that funds from the Capital market would also be used to develop the NNPC/ TEPNG JV’s Ikike Project, NNPC/SPDC

JV Southern Swamp and Associated Gas Solution Step 2 Project, among others.

“We intend to sanction the Multibillion dollars Bonga South West/Aparo (BSWA) project as soon as we conclude an agreement on the Heads of Terms with SNEPCO on the various pending PSC Arbitration disputes. This will jump start the resolution of all the other PSC Arbitration Disputes,” he said. Last month, the NNPC GMD outlined plans to attract private investments, ensure sustainable development and spur growth in the nation’s oil and gas industry. He made this known at the sideline of the 7th International Seminar of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria. He said investment in

the oil industry had become imperative in the wake of recent turbulence experienced in oil price cycle, the supply-driven glut in the oil market, world economic growth, uncertainties regarding oil’s future, as well as the fiscal imbalance experienced by OPEC member nations.

MTN Nigeria IPO Set for Issuance in August

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TN Nigeria’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been set for August as part of MTN’s plans to restructure debts and fund local investments in Nigeria with its local currency. Also, MTN Nigeria’s bid to be listed on the Nigerian stock exchange has been approved to go ahead after weeks of delay by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

MTN Nigeria will be worth between 3.2 trillion Naira and 3.9 trillion Naira on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. MTN hopes to raise $400 million from the IPO to pay preference shareholders. The telecoms company will issue about 402 million shares, with one share split into 50 units to create 20 billion shares. MTN had originally planned to list its Nigerian

office on the country’s stock exchange last year but delayed the decision due to unfavorable market conditions. MTN also plans to pay off some of its debts through the IPO. MTN Nigeria is Nigeria’s biggest telecommunications provider with more than 50 million subscribers. In 2015, it was slapped with a $1 billion fine by Nigeria’s communications regulation body for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers on its network before a general deadline. The fine was later reduced to 330 billion Naira by Nigeria’s Minister for Communication Adebayo Shittu.

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Dangote Refinery sets 2020 for petrol, fertilizer export begins this year

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he Dangote refinery plans to start selling petrol, diesel and aviation fuel by early 2020, but the fertilizer plant, will start producing urea this year, Edwin Devakumar, the group executive director has said. The $10 billion refinery, set to be one of the world’s largest and which can process 650,000 barrels of crude a day, should be near full capacity by mid-2020, Devakumar said in the interview, People still have difficulty believing we can do it on time and within those costs,” Devakumar, 61, said. “But we believe we can. It’s something of the size that’s rarely been done before. It’s huge.” Aliko Dangote, worth $12.4 billion, has said the refinery can transform Nigeria by weaning it off fuel imports and generating foreign exchange through exports. Mr. Devakumar Edwin of Dangote GROUP: says urea export will begin this year, while production of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel will gebin early 2020 Dangote’s facility will probably produce about 50 million litres (13.2 million gallons) a day of gasoline and 15 million liters of diesel, though output can be changed according to the demand for each product, Devakumar said.

Dangote can export surpluses, Devakumar said. “Once we start producing, we’ll be able to meet all local demand and we’ll also be able to start exporting,” he said.

The company has been in talks with oil traders including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Vitol Group and Trafigura Group Pte about them supplying crude and buying

refined products, according to Devakumar. “We are establishing a rapport with them, but there’s been nothing specific so far,” he said. The plant is designed to process light and medium grades of crude and produce fuels that meet European standards so that Dangote can sell them globally. “We’re flexible in terms of our feedstock,” Devakumar said. “We’ll be able to use all the African crudes, American crudes and Middle Eastern crudes.

We don’t want to be dependent on Nigerian crude. We won’t be able to process heavy, dirty crudes. It doesn’t make sense in today’s environment.” Trafigura confirmed discussions had taken place.

Upstream Investment Dangote will start producing its own

oil, partly to supply the refinery, within a few months. It aims to pump around 20,000 barrels a day from two shallow-water blocks, known as OML 71 and 72, located in the Niger Delta. “We will continue to invest in upstream,” Devakumar said. “We may look for more blocks to produce up

to 250,000 barrels a day. It’s where the majority of our cash flow from the refinery will go to. We’ll focus on that after we start the refinery.” A fertilizer plant, located near the refinery, should produce its first batches of urea by the end of this year, Devakumar said. Costing around $2.5 billion and with a capacity of 3 million metric tons a year, it’s set to be one of the biggest globally. “We can export a lot of fertilizer too,” he said. “It can meet the demand for most of Africa.”

While Dangote took on a $3.3 billion syndicated loan, which Standard Chartered Plc arranged, most of the refinery and fertilizer projects are self-funded.

Nigeria approves framework that will see a new price for data

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he Nigerian government has approved new framework that would give telecommunication companies the opportunity to participate in spectrum sharing. With the new framework, telecommunication companies can transfer, lease and share spectrum. Spectrum trading permits transfer of spectrum license rights and obligations from one party to another in various forms in a commercial transaction duly approved by NCC. It is a secondary mechanism of assigning Spectrum with the capability of unlocking the potential of new technologies and reducing barriers to new entrants in the industry.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), disclosed this last week during his induction as a Fellow

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of the Nigeria Academy of Engineering (NAE). He said the NCC is looking to release a new price for data, following the new framework. Danbatta, who was inducted along with 11 others at the investiture of Prof. Fola Lasisi as the 10th President of the academy said the recognition by NAE would spur the commission to double efforts in boosting the Nigerian economy. “With the new framework, you can transfer, lease and share your spectrum.” “These recent achievements of the commission will ensure optimum utilization of spectrum,” the NCC Boss said according to New Agency of Nigeria.

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NEWS

Facebook’s #Shemeansbusiness To Help Women In Business In Nigeria

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acebook has unveiled the initiative #SheMeansBusiness for the numerous Nigerian women interested in entrepreneurship. This initiative, which is in collaboration with She Leads Africa, is designed to inspire and train female entrepreneurs across the country to build, grow and start their own businesses.

“We know that when women do better, economies do better,” Facebook Public Policy Director, Africa, Ebele Okobi said.

“The study conducted by Development Economics further highlights this, with research suggesting that an estimated seven million new businesses could be set up by women in Nigeria by 2021– placing a greater importance on the role of women’s entrepreneurial ambitions for overall economic and social development in the country,” she explains. The Development Economics Study, which was conducted for Facebook, also estimates that businesses set up by women in Nigeria over the next five years (by 2022), hold the key to unlocking N19.7 billion for the economy, with the opportunity of creating a further 8.9 million additional jobs. This means that for any economic growth plan to be successful, strategies and policies that would enable more women to participate fully in various economic activities in the country is important. . One of the ways to get more women in involved in business is through equip-

ping them with digital skills. With digital skills and access to the internet, people can indulge their creativity to create products and services for a wider market.

And in a bid to close a little of this gap, #SheMeansBusiness initiative in Nigeria, the first of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa, aims to bring together thousands of female entrepreneurs in a series of day workshops and training sessions across six cities in Nigeria, including Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Aba. As part of the launch, a dedicated #SheMeansBusiness website has been created. It features communities women can belong to and inspiring stories from

female trailblazers who are following their dreams. There are free digital tools and resources to support and give practical advice needed to grow a business in the digital age. Afua Osei, the Co-Founder of She Leads Africa, also expressed the need for such partnership with Facebook.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with Facebook to expand access to the digital skills necessary to move African businesses forward. We know that with the right tools and support, African women can compete on a global level and we look forward to taking these critical digital tools to entrepreneurs all across Nigeria.”

Kellogg’s acquire $420 million stake in Nigeria’s Tolaram Africa Foods

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ellogg’s has exercised an option to acquire a stake in packaged food manufacturer Tolaram Africa Foods (TAF), a subsidiary of Tolaram Group, for $420 million, as the company seeks to expand its presence in the African market. Kellogg’s formed a joint venture agreement with Singapore-based Tolaram in 2015, which saw both companies take a 50% stake in distributor Multipro, and part of the deal stated that Kellogg had the option to acquire a stake in TAF in the future, which it has now exercised. TAF is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of noodle products in both Ghana and Nigeria, and its products are distributed by Multipro. Both Kellogg’s and Tolaram also created the joint venture company Kellogg Tolaram Nigeria Limited (KTNL) in January 2016, which markets and distributes breakfast cereals and snacks in the West African market.

Kellogg’s revealed details of this acquisition in its first-quarter financial results, and a statement said that the increased stake will “cement the company’s position in this overall business, enabling the pursuit of further growth opportunities.” Steve Cahillane, Kellogg’s chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Expansion in emerging markets is an important element of our growth strategy. “Africa offers

incredible growth opportunities, and our experience partnering with Tolaram over the past couple of years have confirmed that we have a strong relationship, attractive brands, local expertise, and a proven business model. “Our additional investment is a statement of confidence in this venture, and the consolidation of Multipro’s results means that investors will now have visibility into its strong growth.”

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Nigeria’s Lidya raises $6.9m to expand loan book for MSMEs

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idya, Nigeria-based digital financial services platform focused on improving access to credit for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa, last month announced that it has raised $6.9 million in a Series A investment round, one of the largest in Nigerian tech history. The funds raised in the round would allow Lidya expand its loan book, scale in Nigeria, enter new markets in Africa, and bring in more skilled professionals, particularly data scientists and engineers. Omidyar Network, the Silicon Valley impact investment firm established by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, led the funding. New investors, Alitheia Capital (via the Umunthu Fund), Bamboo Capital Partners, and Tekton Ventures, also joined the round, which included existing investors Accion Venture Lab and Newid Capital.

“Lidya was founded on a simple, yet fundamental idea: technology can unleash and empower a generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs throughout Africa by revolutionizing how risk is

assessed, credit is underwritten, and customers are banked,” said Tunde Kehinde, co-founder of Lidya. “We are excited by the overwhelming support from the investor community, which signals a great confidence in our business model and team,” added Ercin Eksin, co-founder of Lidya. The company noted that globally, MSMEs are one of the strongest drivers of economic development, innovation, and employment, and yet access to fi-

nance is frequently identified as a critical barrier to growth for these businesses.

It added that 40% of MSMEs in emerging markets are underserved when it comes to access to credit representing an estimated $5.2 trillion credit gap and that in Nigeria, where Lidya is based, the IFC estimates that there is an MSME credit gap of at least $25 billion.

Africa’s fintech industry has scored another big-ticket investment win

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he streak of big-ticket investment in African fintech companies shows no signs of stopping. Cellulant, the digital payments solutions company operating in 11 African countries has raised $47.5 million in its Series C round—one of the largest for a solely Africa-focused venture-funded company. The round was led

by The Rise Fund, an impact investment fund run by TPG Growth, the US-based private equity group, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Satya Capital, Velocity Capital & Progression Africa.

First founded in Nigeria and Kenya in 2004, Cellulant has since expanded to nine other African countries and around 12% of Africa’s mobile consumers can make payments using its solutions.

Its reach is down to partnerships with over 90 banks and several mobile payments platforms across the continent.

The company says it will be expanding to two more countries following the investment. The deal marks Rise Fund’s first investment in Africa since raising $2 billion last October. The fund’s backers include Andra AP-fonden, the Swedish pension fund and the Washington State Investment Board. It also lists music star

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Bono and billionaire Richard Branson on its board.

The investment in Cellulant is the latest endorsement of the key role African fintech companies are playing in bridging the crucial payments and financial inclusion gaps on the continent. Over the past three years, the sector has garnered momentum and has become the most attractive for investors on the continent.

Almost a third of funding raised by African startups in 2017 was in the fintech sector as investors bet on consumers turning to more formal financial services in a region where just 17% of the population have banking accounts. Venture

funding for African startups jumped by 51% to $195 million in 2017. Fintech was the biggest attraction for investors with 45 startups raising one-third of total funding. Since 2015, fintech startups in Africa have raised more than $100 million in investment. Last August, Flutterwave, a Lagos-based payments processing and infrastructure company, raised $10 million in its Series A round—one of the largest Series A rounds by an African startup. Fintech has also become a focus area for founders: of the over 300 fintech startups currently operational in Africa, more than half were founded between 2015 or 2016.

NEWS

Buhari’s Leadership is Out Of Tune With Nigeria’s Reality – presidential candidate Donald Duke

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ormer governor of Cross River state, Donald Duke declared his intention to run for the number one job in the country come 2019 in June this year.

Although he explained that he had not chosen the platform he will be contesting on, he said was convinced that it was time to make a move towards addressing Nigeria’s clear and present danger. He has been linked to a movement backed by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who has fiercely criticized Nigeria’s incumbent Muhammadu Buhari. Obasanjo said in January that Buhari, whose fitness to govern has been questioned after he spent months in London last year being treated for an undisclosed illness, needed a “deserved rest”. At 56, Duke is so far one of the youngest declared candidate, just behind the outgoing Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose, also of the PDP. Duke said: “It’s ridiculous to have a leadership with people of 75 or above in a country where the age average is 21 or 22 years old. “They can’t be in touch with the people and their reality.”

While speaking during an interview with Deutsche Welle Africa, Donald Duke, described President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime as a government of many failings, which is disconnected from reality. The influential politician said the Buhari administration was not ready for leadership and that was why it took the President nearly six months to appoint ministers.

When asked why he thought he would be a better President than Buhari, he said, “Because I see such obvious failings. I see a leadership that is steeped in the past; that has refused to evolve with a nation that is predominantly a nation of young aspiring people and still doing things the way they were done many years ago and did not work. “I think our leadership in the country today is totally out of tune with the current reality of our nation.

There is disconnect somewhere so when you have a leadership that blames its young people for instance of not striving enough or of being lazy, there is a disconnect because the tools to make them achieve their aspiration have not been provided.”

The presidential aspirant said the standard of education had continued to worsen under the current administration, adding that the health sector was in crisis adding, “The President, himself, receives treatment abroad. That is a sad

state of affairs.” Duke, who became governor at 37, said the President had not excelled in the area of security and fighting corruption, adding that the Federal Government was concentrating on fighting persons perceived to be corrupt instead of building a system that could automatically prevent corruption. When asked to state Buhari’s worst problem, he said, “They were not prepared for leadership. For example, it took six months to set up a cabinet. Where do you hear such? President Buhari came into office to fight corruption and insecurity. “Let us look at the scorecard. Corruption is not dead. Prosecuting corruption is addressing the symptom and not the problem. The real problem is you have got to create jobs for people; you have got to strengthen institutions that make it almost impossible to engage in such an activity.”

Duke also faulted the government’s claim that Boko Haram had been defeated. He said suicide bombings, kidnappings were still occurring mainly in the North-East.

“They have announced that the war is over and Bokom Haram has been defeated. We know it hasn’t been defeated.

There are still bombings and kidnappings in the North-East. If you visit the IDPs, you will see that we are breeding the next generation of very disgruntled people,” the ex-governor said. The presidential aspirant added, “You can’t grow your economy with the type of banking system we run where the interest rate is in the upper 20s. You need to have affordable credit which will enable small and medium scale businessmen to borrow and expand their businesses.

“Nigeria grew faster when we had regulation on interest rates; when the interest rates were in single digits. Secondly, we have to grow the economy at 15 percent for 10 years to recalibrate the system.

Nigeria ought to be a $2.5tn economy and not a $400bn economy.” “I could

reduce Nigeria’s problem to one word: consequences, and the lack of it. People get away with anything, and so it’s not picking a few largely in the opposition and name and shame them in the press then thereafter nothing happens and they have found a way of now declaring for the party in government and everything peters down. That’s one. Despite his opposition of the president, Duke supports his administration’s ban on rice importation, noting that it doesn’t benefit Nigerians in any way. He said, “We shouldn’t import what we can easily provide. We’re developing the economy, we need to create jobs and importing rice is just creating jobs overseas at the expense of our people.”

Photos: (Top) Grace Osagede

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African Mona Lisa’ smashes estimates at London auction

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long-lost portrait of a Nigerian princess dubbed the “African Mona Lisa” sold at auction in London for £1.2 million (1.4 million euros, $1.7 million), exceeding estimates and setting a record for the artist. The 1974 painting of Adetutu “Tutu” Ademiluyi, by Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu, was expected to fetch up to £300,000 (339,000 euros, $414,000) when it went under the hammer at Bonhams auction house. It described the painting of an Ife royal princess, which recently turned up, in a London flat after not being seen in decades as “rare and remarkable”. “The portrait of Tutu is a national icon in Nigeria, and of huge cultural significance,” said Giles Peppiatt, Bonham’s director of modern african art.

He uncovered the work after a family in north London contacted him following lucrative recent sales of Nigerian artworks at auction. Peppiatt added the family were “pretty astounded” to learn it was “a missing masterpiece”. “It is very exciting to have played a part in the discovery and sale of this remarkable work,” he said.

Mythical status Booker Prize-winning novelist Ben Okri said earlier this month that the painting had taken on almost mythical status in his native Nigeria where it was thought of as “the African Mona Lisa”. “It has been a legendary painting for 40 years, everybody keeps talking about Tutu, saying ‘where is Tutu?’” he said after a viewing at Bonhams. “He wasn’t just painting the girl, he was painting the whole tradition. It’s a symbol of hope and regeneration to Nigeria, it’s a symbol of the phoenix rising,” Okri added.

The painter Enwonwu, who died in 1994, is considered the father of Nigerian modernism. He made three paintings of “Tutu”, the locations of all of which had been a mystery until the recent discovery.

The works became symbols of peace following the clash of ethnic groups in the Nige-

rian-Biafran conflict of the late 1960s. Enwonwu’s work “Negritude”, also painted in the 1970s, sold for £100,000 (113,000 euros $138,000) in the same sale.

The auction was broadcast live to a Bonhams site in Lagos, where bidders were able to participate in real time.

Africa’s dominant TV provider is terrified by the rise of Netflix

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hrough DStv, MultiChoice has been the dominant player on African television screens in the last decade, available in 48 African countries. Yet, last month, the Naspers-owned media giant has been appealing to South African regulators, trying to make a case for why it could not survive any regulation in the face of streaming. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is looking into the lack of competitiveness in South Africa’s PayTV market and the influence. In its more than 600-page submission to the hearings, MultiChoice said it has lost a significant number of subscriptions in just the last five years. Along with Netflix and Amazon Prime’s entry into Africa in 2016, DStv was already struggling to compete against online content via Google, Youtube and Facebook. DStv is now also unable to maintain the exclusivity of its premium international content, despite airing programs within hours of their American debuts. MultiChoice also cited the entry of local competitors like iROKOtv and Kwese. Any further regulations, it argued, would irrevocably

30

affect its profits.

Chief executive Calvo Mawela claimed DStv has lost 100,000 subscribers since the introduction of streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. The regulator challenged MultiChoice to prove it, but in a back-andforth MultiChoice said ICASA is about 16 years too late on this topic.

Netflix, in particular, seems to have spooked DStv. A helicopter allegedly hovered above MultiChoice’s headquarters in Johannesburg, flying a Netflix a banner, Mawela told MoneyWeb (he didn’t say when), adding that Netflix had also put up billboards around the city. “So they are here, they are challenging us in our business on a day-to-day basis, and yet they do not have to comply with any of the regulations the country has made,” he

said. Trying to illustrate the company’s value to the authority, Mawela said that while Netflix only employs around 4,000 around the world, MulitChoice employs twice as many in South Africa. Trying to pit his company as the underdog, he added that the US-based “global giants” didn’t have to deal with South Africa’s post-apartheid regulations, like Black Economic Empowerment.

Photos: (Top) LuxuryWorld. (Bottom) CNN

NEWS

The private jets and Rolls Royce of Gambia’s ex-dictator are being sold to pay the debt he left

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wenty-two years of dictatorship and economic mismanagement by ex-president Yahya Jammeh has left The Gambia crippling in debt. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country’s debt stock is about 130% of GDP as at the end of 2017 and more than half of that is owed to international lenders. The numbers could be much worse when the books of state-owned enterprises are opened, says the IMF. To offset the country’s debt, the government of Adama Barrow, Jammeh’s successor, is selling off the fleet of luxury cars, three private jets and mansions that the deposed dictator couldn’t carry away with him on a plane when he was forced into exile in January 2017. They include a fleet of Rolls Royce that was left at the airport by Jammeh only because the cargo plane carrying his belongings was full. Jammeh was renown for his ostentatious lifestyle, particularly when it came to his flowing white robes, expensive cars and jets, as it stood out in a country with very high levels of poverty.

Fearing military action from West African neighbors after he refused to relinquish power post-election, Jammeh found refuge in Equatorial Guinea, another tiny African country ruled by the continent’s longest-running president.

On his way out, he reportedly took along

large amounts of cash from the treasury and 13 expensive cars including two Rolls Royce. The new government estimated the loot at $50 million. The Gambia, with a population of 2 million inhabitants, is heavily dependent on tourism, rain-fed agriculture and remittances, which alone constitute 20% of the country’s GDP

Why Sierra Leone appointed a 31-year old MIT PhD as its first chief innovation officer

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or years, particularly over the last decade, African countries have championed the idea of solving the continent’s myriad of problems with innovation and innovative thinkers. Many governments have done this through the traditional approach of recruiting scientists and academics within government departments of “science and technology” or “ICT & innovation”. While those approaches have had some successes depending on the country, few have walked the walk and tried to put innovation and innovative philosophy front and center of their government. One such government has been Rwanda which hosted this year’s Next Einstein Forum of scientists and mathematicians and launched an innovation fund of $100 million, with 30% of funding coming from the African Development Bank. S Sierra Leone is appointing its first chief innovation officer to head the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation, which has been newly created by the recently elected president Julius Maada Bio, 54. What makes Moinina David Sengeh’s appointment markedly different is that he will be operating within the Office of the President, unlike like the others on the continent, which are locked into

the traditional governance structure and slow-moving bureaucracy of government ministries. “The directorate will facilitate and support a vibrant national innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem for both public and private sectors,” says a statement from the president’s office.

Its perhaps the most ambitious attempt by one of the continent’s beleaguered nations to jumpstart its economy by elevating the role of innovation in its day to day dealings.

Sengeh, 31, studied at Harvard and MIT for his PhD where his thesis was about improving prosthetic comfort for amputees, a beneficial area of study as a citizen of a country where years of war left about 27,000 people disabled. At the time of his appointment, he was working with IBM Research Lab in Nairobi focusing on “the design and deployment of healthcare

technologies in Africa. He has also been involved with Innovate Salone, a social action project to nurture creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit among Sierra Leonean youths.

Sierra Leone is one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking 179th on the UN’s Human Development Index. The Ebola outbreak of 2014 and 2016 set back the marginal progress that had been made after the war and his expertise will be handy as the country rebuilds especially its health system. So, while this will not transform Sierra Leone into an innovation fortress overnight, it is a crucial step forward, which others should emulate.

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Morgan Stanley is using robots to scour its clients’ social media profiles

— to better convince customers to not panic when the market goes haywire.

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n a report byfrank chaparro, Morgan Stanley is using artificial intelligence to write emails to its wealthy clients when the markets go haywire. Gleaning information from social media and other sources, the emails will include personal information to make them appear like a human wrote them. During major market sell-offs, financial advisers have to grind to make sure their clients remain calm and don’t sell their stocks in a panic.

It often requires hours on the phone with clients and blast emails aimed at quelling their anxieties about how a downturn could impact their overall financial picture. As technology continues to transform Wall Street, this handholding has been viewed as one of the safest from automation. At Morgan Stanley, however, robots are being used to support human advisers with these types of tasks, said Andy Saperstein, co-head of the New York-based bank’s wealth management unit.

Saperstein, speaking at the Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services conference on, said Morgan Stanley is leveraging artificial intelligence to generate customized emails for its 16,000 financial advisers to send to clients when the markets go berserk.

In addition to giving the firm’s perspec-

Image: utogrill Executive Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos interacts with the Pepper the robot during the 2017 New Yorker TechFest at Cedar Lake in New York City. Brian Ach/Getty

tive of the market, those emails will show how a major event, like Brexit, might impact a client’s overall portfolio. “It solves a big problem when clients call up really worried,” Saperstein said. The technology is intended to take over tasks from financial advisers and free them up to focus on more sophisticated client needs. What’s striking, however, is that the robots will add their own personal touch to the financial advisers’ emails.

Gleaning information from a client’s

Researchers find that owning an

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iPhone or iPad is the

number-one way to guess if you’re rich

new paper from University of Chicago economists attempts to infer demographics based on people’s consumer behavior or media consumption.

The researchers found that “no individual brand is as predictive of being high-income as owning an Apple iPhone” based on 2017 data. If you have an Apple iPhone or iPad, it’s a strong sign that you make a lot of money. That’s one of the takeaways from a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper from University of Chicago economists Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica. The iPhone is a luxury product that is usually priced higher than competing smartphones. While some low-end Android phones retail for as little as $100 or less, Apple recently raised the price of its highest-end iPhone to $999 or more.

The researchers used data from Mediamark Research Intelligence, which had a sample size of 6,394.

The data includes bi-annual questionnaires as well as 32

social media and other public sources, emails would also be tailored to include personal details to make them appear more human-like. “It could say something like “I just noticed that you joined the board of Safe Horizon, wonderful organization, congratulations on that,’” Saperstein said. “And it appears that the FA took the time to research the effect that day had on every client in their book specifically, because in essence they did, aided by technology.”

or not

information like household income from a face-to-face interview. The paper is a look at how different groups such as rich and poor, black and white, men and women have had their preferences diverge over time. The economists used a machine-learning algorithm to conclude that “human differences,” or how common brands and experiences are across groups, aren’t getting larger over time.

Image: GloryBlog

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

70,000

questions a year, satellite imagery, and dismantling electric cars: How

trying to change the face of

financial research

UBS

is

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n a report by Will Martin, UBS employs experts in fields like hydrology, climate science and data analytics to gain an edge on its competition. Last year, analysts and a team of engineers dismantled an electric car to work out how much it was actually worth. The bank gathers between 60,000 and 70,000 questions per year from clients. These range from the macro such as “how will a trade war impact the global economy?” all the way to minutely detailed questions about the price of components in computers and cars. Questions are then put into a database, which the bank’s staff can look to when trying to analyse the state of the thousands companies it covers. UBS has coverage on between 85% and 88% of stocks on the MSCI World Index. “Some of those questions are actively being thought about by the investors, some of those are in anticipation of what the markets should be thinking about in the near term,” Barry Hurewitz, global chief operating officer of UBS Group Research said. One thing that links all the questions, Juan Luis Perez, UBS’ global head of research said is that they “matter.” Question gathering is part of UBS’ long-term plan to differentiate its research capability from that of other banks by taking an approach that is heavily focused on data, and applies the principles of scientific research to the world of high finance.

“A big part” of UBS’ research, Hurewitz is that scientific approach. “[We have] a research methodology that is somewhat aligned with the scientific method,” he said.

“We want the analysts to really start with ‘What are the uncertainties and questions that are on minds of our investors?’” The question bank, however, is “just a starting point,” Hurewitz says.

Once there’s a question in mind, UBS looks to find an answer, often using its Evidence Lab— a specialist research facility that employs experts in particular fields to identify trends and provide evidence for the questions clients and analysts are asking.

“The goal is to gather evidence and to conduct analysis that will make you feel more confident that what you know is different from the market, and is more likely to be right.” UBS wants to exploit data to find opportunities for investors that other financial institutions are not seeing. Traditionally this was the job of the analyst alone, but the huge increases in the amount of available data means that they are now hard pressed to cope with it all. “The amount of data that was available 15 years ago is dramatically different to today,” Hurewitz said.

“To think that an analyst with Excel, two associates, and a CFA is going to be able cope with all that data, that’s not realistic.” Not only is the amount of data available to banks drastically different to just a few years ago, so to are the tools available to explore and exploit that data.

“There are tools you have today that didn’t exist before,” Perez said. With these tools you have three choices. You can ignore, you can train analysts [in using them], or

you can do what we did, which is build a second research department.

That’s the Evidence Lab.” As a result, UBS employs specialists in a whole range of subjects from hydrology the science of water to experts in shipping, all the way to climatologists. In Hurewitz’s words, the aim of the Evidence Lab is to create a team “that’s organised around specialists who know how to use specific types of data very well, as well as unique types of analysis.”

“The whole idea is to turn the analyst’s view into a hypothesis,” and to “validate” their ideas. The evidence suggests UBS’ data-heavy approach is working. The bank was recently voted as the number three bank in the world for its overall research by Institutional Investor magazine, and came top of the pile in the equity research category. There’s also evidence that other institutions are following their lead, with Barclays recently hiring a data scientist to bolster its research department.

Stripping down a car to prove a point Last year analysts at the bank bought a Chevrolet Bolt the US auto giant’s mass-market electric car. UBS’ Evidence then teamed up with a group of engineers to dismantle the car, with the aim of working out exactly how much it costs General Motors Chevrolet’s parent company to manufacture the Bolt. This, in turn, formed the basis of a paper by the bank looking at how electric vehicles like the Bolt could disrupt the automotive industry in the future. The answer to that question was, as it turns out, quite a lot.

During the takedown, UBS found that the Bolt has a total of just 35 parts that are either moving or are subject to wear and tear during every day use. By comparison, a standard, every day car UBS used the example of a Volkswagen Golf has around 150 moving or wearable parts.

The difference is particularly striking in the engine. A regular car has more than 110 moving parts in its engine, a Bolt, just three. The Bolt’s lack of moving parts means that it requires very little maintenance. Car dealerships make a significant proportion of their profit from charging customers for repairs and general maintenance, so the fact electric cars tend not to need much maintenance poses a problem for their profitability. “On our analysis, the after-sales revenue pool could drop by ~60% or >$400 per vehicle per year. This should pose a major challenge for dealerships, which typically generate >40% of their gross profit pool in service and maintenance,” said UBS. The teardown also found, among other things that the car is $4,600 cheaper per unit to produce than had been expected, which led UBS’ analysts to reevaluate the profit margins on electric vehicles.

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Elon Musk’s

$15 million contest

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is working with XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis to find a way to make education accessible to children living in extreme poverty.

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lon Musk has set aside $15 million for an XPRIZE contest for entrepreneurs who can find the most effective way to use software to teach illiterate children living in extreme poverty.

Peter Diamandis is the founder of XPRIZE, which is built on the idea that inspiring business competition is one of the most effective ways to fuel societal progress. Diamandis believes that rapid technological progress will benefit everyone over the next few decades, not just the top of the upper class. One of the greatest insights Peter Diamandis ever had was that one of the best ways to inspire people to create societal progress is through a contest with a cash prize. Peter Diamandis believes that competition among entrepreneurs is one of the most efficient ways to solve society’s biggest challenges.

The XPRIZE Foundation has had seven successful contests and eight current ones, inspiring several businesses to tackle “moonshots” that companies would otherwise find too risky to be worth the attempt. SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been funding one of the current contests, the $15 million Global Learning XPRIZE, since 2014, and its winner will be announced in April 2019. Diamandis explained that it is an ideal example of how the private sector can tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges, like the prize’s goal of finding an elegantly simple and cost-effective way of wiping out illiteracy, a condition that Musk called “the wellspring of poverty.”

In 2014, 700 teams submitted their plans for developing Android applications for tablets that could provide children living in extreme poverty with clear lessons on how to read, write, and do basic math. The XPRIZE team selected five semifinalists and

Facebook boss

“So when I speak about this, I talk about, we’re going from a world of have and have-nots, to a world of haves — and yes, there’ll be super-haves,” Diamandis said. “But I believe we’re heading toward a world where every man, woman, and child will have access to the best education, the best healthcare, water, food, energy.

Zuckerberg now world’s third richest

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acebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now the third richest man in the world, overtaking Warren Buffett on Bloomberg’s list of the world’s richest people. Zuckerberg passed Buffettas Facebook shares rose 2.4 percent. Above Zuckerberg were Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, in the No. 1 spot, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Zuckerberg is now worth $81.6 billion, nearly $400 million more than Buffett, chairman of the Berkshire Hathaway investment group, rankings show. Zuckerberg’s California-based social network business has more than 2 billion active monthly users. The company’s stock has reached a record high despite ongoing scrutiny over its Cambridge Analytica data breach that leaked personal information of up to 87 million people.

Zuckerberg has pledged to give away 99 percent of his Facebook stock away in his lifetime, his Bloomberg profile shows.

Further, Zuckerberg has given $3.58 billion in stock sales away this year alone to a charity initiative he set up with his wife, Priscilla Chan, in 2015. Buffett has donated about 290 million of his shares in Berkshire Hathaway to charities an equivalent of about $50 billion.

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gave them each $1 million to pursue their plan and test it in communities in Tanzania. Google provided 800 tablets for the initiative. The winner will win $10 million to scale its program, and all semifinalists will be open sourced, available to any developers who want to build off them. XPRIZE has stated that it intends to help the winner reach 250 million children around the world with its winning software.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Shell CEO calls for

2040 ban on new petrol car sales to be bought forward

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hell, one of the world’s largest oil companies, has supported calls for the UK to bring forward its 2040 ban on new petrol and diesel cars and accelerate the move to greener energy.

CEO Ben Van Beurden said such a move would create clarity, change consumer attitudes and make it easier for Shell to make investment decisions going forward. “If you would bring it forward, obviously that would be welcome. I think the UK will have to go at a much higher speed than the speed the rest of the world can go,” Van Beurden said.

The Chief Executive said that while Africa and Asia would out of necessity have a slower transition away from fossil fuel vehicles, the UK could accelerate its plans in a move that would be welcomed by Shell. “The world will work at different speeds,” he said. The anticipated transition to electric vehicles would not only reduce demand for petrol and diesel products of energy firms, but would diminish their pet-

rol station business as well. In response, Shell and others are buying electric car charging infrastructure, with BP buying the UK’s largest charging network for £130 million. But electric cars still make up just 2% of new UK car sales. The UK needs to do a lot of work to reduce transport emissions, which have overtaken the energy sector in carbon emissions, Van Beurden said.

Swiss stock exchange is launching its own

cryptocurrency exchange SIX, the company that owns and operates the Swiss stock exchange, has announced plans to launch a fully regulated cryptocurrency exchange, showing continued institutional interest in the space despite declining prices. The new SIX Digital Exchange will be overseen by the Swiss national bank and Swiss regulator FINMA, the company said.

Switzerland has been one of the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions in Europe, with regulators offering clear guidance on how they expect crypto companies to operate. SIX’s decision to launch a crypto exchange comes despite a collapse in the value of cryptocurrencies and declining volumes since the start of the year.

Bitcoin, the largest crypto asset by market value, collapsed from around $20,000 per token at the start of the year to just over $6,600 last month.

“This is the beginning of a new era for capital markets infrastructures,” Jos Dijsselhof, the CEO of SIX said in a statement. “For us, it is abundantly clear that much of what is going on in the digital space is here to stay and will define the future of our industry.” Investors and entrepreneurs in the space say that insti-

tutional investors are preparing the infrastructure needed to enter the space, setting up trading accounts and custody solution behind closed doors. One described the flurry of activity they are seeing as “preparing for September” to BI referring to a month typically associated with high post-summer trading volumes in the investment world.

SIX’s new platform, set to launch in the first half of next year, will offer end-to-end trading, settlement, and custody service for digital assets such as bitcoin and ICO tokens. Thomas Zeeb, head of securities & exchanges at SIX, said in a statement: “The digital space currently faces a number of key challenges. These include the absence of regulation that ensures official safety, security, stability, transparency and accountability all of which contribute to a lack of trust.” Zeeb highlighted digital asset custody who looks after your tokens as a key issue in the space and said SIX would solve this issue through its role as “a recognized and regulated infrastructure provider who provides all steps of the chain in an integrated and secure model.”

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The African Development Bank and the Global Green Growth Institute partner to fast-track Green Growth in Africa

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he African Development Bank and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Group’s Annual Meetings in Busan, to promote programs, projects, joint studies and research activities to accelerate green growth options for African countries.

The African Development Bank and the Global Green Growth Institute will cooperate in several areas, including conducting a joint study on green growth readiness in Africa and exploring ways to align both organizations’ activities with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Further, the two organizations will work together to generate synergies in areas, such as the Global Green Growth Institute’s cities programs and the African Development Bank’s initiatives on clean energy, sustainable landscapes, green cities and water and sanitation, with the ultimate goal of strengthening climate resilience in Africa.

The MoU was signed by Amadou Hott, Vice-President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, African Development Bank, and Hyoeun Jenny Kim, Deputy Director General and Head of Green Growth Planning and Implementation, Global Green Growth Institute.

“The African Development Bank believes in building strong partnerships to accelerate Africa’s development. This MoU with the Global Green Growth Institute strengthens our cooperation for effective delivery of the High 5s agenda in a manner that transitions African countries towards green growth. We very much look forward to this collaboration with GGGI,” said Vice-President Amadou Hott. Deputy Director General Hyoeun Jenny Kim said, “The MoU we sign today will also support the sharing of green growth knowledge and best practices from GGGI’s Member and partner countries.

Image:Turner Rice/ADB

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EVENTS

Korea ready to share its technological and industrial revolution experience with Africa, says President Moon Jae-in

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he Chairman of the African Union Paul Kagame noted that holding the Annual Meetings in Busan presents a unique opportunity to enforce the growth cooperation between Africa and the Republic of Korea. Korean President Moon Jae-in has committed to sharing Korea’s technological and industrial experience with Africa and to help it compete in the 4th Industrial Revolution. His message came at the opening ceremony of the 53rd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank. “Africa is no longer the sleeping lion. Korea is happy to share its industrial experience with the continent.

The theme of the Annual Meetings is appropriate for the industrial transformation of the continent, and in facilitating the sharing of experiences with Korea and other partners.” African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina thanked the Government of Korea for hosting the Bank’s Annual Meetings. He recalled Korea’s transformation from a poor nation 60 years ago to the 11th largest economy in the world, noting the contribution of industrialization to its transformation. “Today, Samsung and LG television and phones dominate globally, while Korean cars are everywhere. Korea was deliberate and consistent in its industrial drive like China and Japan. Africa must learn from Korea’s industrialization and the equally remarkable experiences of China, Japan, and other parts of the world.”

“Africa must fast-track industrialization.

That is why the African Development Bank plans to invest US $35 billion over the next 10 years in its focus on industrialization. The Bank’s industrialization strategy hopes to help Africa raise its industrial GDP from a little over US $700 billion today to over US $1.72 trillion by 2030. This will allow Africa’s GDP to rise to over US $5.6 trillion, while moving GDP per capita to over US $3,350. “The formula for the wealth of nations is clear: rich nations add value to all they produce; poor nations simply export raw materials. Africa needs to industrialize and add value to everything that it produces – from agriculture, to minerals, to oil, gas and metals. Africa needs to move from the bottom to the top of the global

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Terrestrial fibre still mother of all bottlenecks in Africa say experts at Africa Panel Session The Africa Panel session at ITW was sponsored by MainOne for the 7th year in a row and continues to provide a platform for players to share perspectives on the opportunities and challenges across the region with a global audience

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xperts at the Africa Session of the International Telecoms Week conference in Chicago have described terrestrial fibre constraints as the mother of all bottlenecks hindering increased Internet penetration on the continent. During his presentation on the theme “Enabling Content on the African Continent”, Chief Executive Officer of research firm, Xalam Analytics, Guy Zibi analyzed the African digital journey, highlighting dramatic changes that have altered the dynamics of the digital transformation of the continent. According to him, the international capacity challenge has been solved, with most coastal countries exhibiting an oversupply of subsea cables serving the continent. However, he noted that the reach of such capacity was still limited due to limitations in the availability of terrestrial open-access fibre, which remains extremely low in most markets especially Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Tanzania among others. These limitations have translated into retail connectivity prices as a proportion of income being 2X more expensive in Africa compared to Latin America and the Caribbean and 3X when compared to Asia.

Zibi highlighted the dangers of deepening the continent’s digital divide with services limited to narrow addressable markets and Africa’s inability to fully partake in the fourth industrial revolution. He reiterated the need for more aggressive deployment of terrestrial infrastructure, especially in metropolitan and local networks to reach the end users and enhance affordability. A panel that included high-level representation from Orange, MTN GlobalConnect, MainOne and Kwese challenged African policy makers to proffer incentives to encourage the deployment of broadband infrastructure of scale to support the rollout of much needed infrastructure to rural areas. The Africa Panel session at ITW was sponsored by MainOne for the 7th year in a row and continues to provide a platform for players to share perspectives on the opportunities and challenges across the region with a global audience.

The discussions focused on infrastructure 38

L-R: Executive Vice President, Kwese, Ryan Solovei; Senior Vice President, Orange, Jean Luc Vuillemin; Chief Executive Officer, MTN GlobalConnect, Frederic Schepens; Chief Executive Officer, MainOne, Funke Opeke and Managing Director, Xalam Analytics, Guy Xibi during the Africa Panel Session at the International Telecoms Week held in Chicago recently

L-R: Executive Vice President, Kwese, Ryan Solovei; Senior Vice President, Orange, Jean Luc Vuillemin; Chief Executive Officer, MTN GlobalConnect, Frederic Schepens; Chief Executive Officer, MainOne, Funke Opeke and Managing Director, Xalam Analytics, Guy Xibi during the Africa Panel Session at the International Telecoms Week held in Chicago recently

challenges as well as regulatory and economic constraints that impede increased Internet access and proliferation of broadband across the continent.

Image: APO News

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EVENTS

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International Consortium Signs Interim Phase Agreement with Federal Government of Nigeria for Rail Concession

ollowing its award of preferred bidder status by the Federal Government of Nigeria in May 2017, an International Consortium in Washington D.C, signed an agreement to proceed with the Interim Phase of the Nigerian narrow-gauge railway concession.

Initiated by General Electric, the world’s premier digital industrial company, the Consortium is comprised of SinoHydro, a leading infrastructure construction services corporation, Transnet, a leader in transportation and logistics infrastructure management and APM Terminals, a global port, terminal and intermodal inland services provider. In the interim phase of the rail concession, Remedial Works will be carried out on part of the narrow-gauge rail line system to make it technically and economically operable.

Additionally, a joint operation will be established between the Consortium and the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) with an initial supply of 10 locomotives and 200 wagons to augment the existing rolling stock in Nigeria. This program is expected to deliver an increase in the number of available locomotives, thus increasing the frequency of passenger and freight rail services. In addition, freight haulage capacity by the end of the first 12 months of the interim phase is expected to increase roughly ten-fold, from its current less than 50,000 metric tonnes per annum to about 500,000 metric tonnes per annum.

Speaking on the occasion, Lazarus Angbazo, CEO of GE Nigeria said “GE is committed to the sustainable development of Nigeria and as such we are delighted to have reached this crucial stage of the project to revamp and revitalize the country’s legacy rail infrastructure system. The Consortium looks forward to commencing execution of this Interim Phase with the continued support of the Federal Government and the Ministry of Transportation. As operations begin, our strong partners, such as Transnet and SinoHydro, will bring their strong operating and development skills to the forefront.”

ess Image: Kehinde Ade/TODAYS NEWS

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GE Partners Lagos State, Others to Host Technology Conference for Nigerian Start-ups in the US

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n line with its commitment to skills development and the empowerment of entrepreneurs in Nigeria, GE the world’s premier digital industrial company, has partnered with the Lagos State Government and others to host a technology conference for Nigerian startups in the US. The conference, which was a result of collaborative efforts between the Lagos State Government, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Microsoft and GE, was held in Washington DC, with over 15 leading Nigerian tech entrepreneurs and startups in attendance.

A key highlight of the conference was a training workshop facilitated by GE Ventures, the venture capital subsidiary of General Electric, which shared valuable insights on how to position a startup to win with investors. There was also a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders around the theme: ‘Harnessing technology to catalyze Africa’s future.’ Jay Ireland, CEO & President, GE Africa said that the conference was a continuation of the ongoing partnership between GE and the Lagos State government aimed at developing the skills of young entrepreneurs in the state. “GE remains committed to supporting skills development in Nigeria, and across Africa.

We see ourselves as partners in building a sustainable future for Africa, and we believe that fora such as create a platform for necessary conversations and learning. Lagos is a major economic hub in Africa populated by thousands of young people who when equipped with the right skills, can create positive change.” Ireland said.

GE’s most visible commitment to skills development in Nigeria is the Lagos Garage, a hub launched in 2016, for advanced manufacturing-based innovation, strategy development, idea generation and collaboration. Co-located with the

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L-R: Government Affairs & Policy Leader, GE Africa, Phillipe Dongier , President & CEO, GE Africa, Jay Ireland and Governor of Lagos State, H.E Akinwunmi Ambode at a meeting in the GE office in Washington D.C, to discuss continued areas of collaboration in Power, Healthcare & Skills Development through the GE Lagos Garage Training Program

L-R: President & CEO, GE Africa, Jay Ireland, Governor of Lagos State, H.E Akinwunmi Ambode and Commissioner for Environment, Lagos State, Hon. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti at a meeting in the GE office in Washington D.C, to discuss continued areas of collaboration in Power, Healthcare & Skills Development through the GE Lagos Garage Training Program

GE Lagos offices in Victoria Island, the Lagos Garage offers year-round series of skills training programs focused on building the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs. Till date, 229 entrepreneurs have graduated the program having been trained to use the latest in advanced manufacturing technologies; 3D printers, CNC mills, and laser cutters as well as in business development. Last year, the company

partnered with Lagos State Ministry of Employment and Wealth Creation to train 20 final year students and 5 instructors from the five Government Technical Colleges in Lagos state in an intensive one-week training on advanced manufacturing at a pop up Garage set up at the Lagos State Vocational and Educational Board (LASTVEB) HQ Image: LSGovt

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BUSINESS

The Harvard Undergrad changing Finance

By Ivan Levingston & Claire Suddath After noticing an absence of black employees at the investment banks, Harvard student Angel Onuoha of Nigerian descent decided to take matters into his own hands. ‘Onuoha’ whose name translates to “Mouth of the people” his native Igbo tribe in Nigeria, is living up to the true definition of his name. Collaborating with a friend and fellow student, Drew Tucker, started an investment fund called BLK Capital, that gives black students experience and ensures banks have no excuse for not hiring a diverse mix of graduates and interns. The hedge fund now has almost 100 members and has attracted funding from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, among others.

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nuoha favors button-down shirts and has a broad, inviting smile. He was born in Colorado and raised with two brothers and an adopted sister by his mother, Tina, who’d immigrated from Nigeria.

Tina worked as a procurement manager, among other roles, for Hewlett-Packard Co. Money was tight.

At one point, the five of them lived in a two-bedroom apartment in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. Onuoha attended private school there thanks to financial aid. “My friends would always be going to the movies or going bowling, and I wouldn’t be able to partake in any of those activities because we didn’t have the money,” he says.

Back then, Onuoha didn’t know much about money, but he knew he wanted to make some. As a sophomore, he and a friend pooled $200 to start a sneaker-flipping business. On Saturdays, Onuoha would wake up early to scour online marketplaces for Air Jordans or Yeezys, which they’d then resell at a steep markup. With his profits, Onuoha increased his personal collection to 15 pairs worth about $3,000—that is, until the day his mom strode into his bedroom and chucked the shoes, declaring them frivolous.

“Thousands of dollars down the drain,” he says. “It still doesn’t make sense.” Onuoha moved on from sneakers, but he remained industrious. He applied to five Ivy League schools and was accepted to all of them. He wakes at 8 a.m. most days, the crack of dawn for an undergrad, to swim laps in Harvard’s pool. There are no posters on his dorm room walls because he doesn’t see the point—it’s only temporary housing, so why spend the money? Earlier this spring, he deleted social media apps from his phone so he’d have more time to read the Wall Street Journal.

One morning last June, Angel Onuoha took a train from Connecticut, where he was staying with a friend, to New York City. His summer internship at C.L. King & Associates Inc., a small investment bank, was his first real taste of the finance world outside the student financial clubs he’d joined as a Harvard freshman. It was also a reality check. After a month on the job, he says, he had yet to meet another black employee. Onuoha knew that Wall Street lacked diversity, but on the train that morning he decided to do something about it. He remembered that his friend and fellow freshman Drew Tucker, whom he’d met through a campus organization for black men, was also interested in Wall Street—and that the two had discussed how the clubs did a poor job recruit-

Photo: Angel Onuoha. PHOTOGRAPHER: MOLLY CRANNA FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

ing black students. So Onuoha texted Tucker with an idea: What if they started an investment fund that would give students hands-on experience and provide banks with a pool of talented black students to pull from?

Tucker, it turned out, had been pondering something similar. Within days the two began work on what would become BLK Capital Management Corp., a hedge fund that now has about 85 student members. They don’t manage a lot of money—so far, just $92,000—and they haven’t made any investments. But they’ve attracted funding from the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as part of an ambitious effort to reverse a dispiriting trend. For all the talk of increasing diversity on Wall Street, finance hasn’t welcomed people like Onuoha. According to a November report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the proportion of black financial managers was a paltry 6.3 percent in 2015, slightly fewer than when the government measured eight years earlier. “The lack of diversity is extraordinary,” says John Rogers, chief executive officer of Ariel Investments LLC, one of the largest black-owned money managers in the U.S. “People have not thought about this problem in creative ways.

That’s why there’s been so little progress.”

“BLK is about breaking down those institutional barriers that were preventing black people from moving into finance,” Tucker said in a phone interview with She Spends. “I don’t think that we invest enough into our public schools,” Onuoha said. “Minorities are much more likely to attend public schools at higher rates than white people.” This then leads to fewer black students accepted at Ivy League schools, which often accept students who attend private schools during their high school years, according to Onuoha. This results in fewer people of color at top financial institutions, making major money decisions, he added. “There are black students out there who are interested in finance but don’t have the same opportunities available to them,” Onuoha said. “We’re giving the students the exposure that they need.”

Traditionally, banks recruit on college campuses to fill internships and 41

entry-level jobs. But the finance clubs that produce top prospects can be exclusionary. For one group, Onuoha had to go through an application process that all but required him to have relevant experience: He had to complete a case study and sit through an interview that included probability analysis. For a lot of kids, those skills are hard to come by.

Only 5,300 U.S. high schools offer an Advanced Placement course in macroeconomics. “That’s a great opportunity that black students tend to miss out on,” he says.

given to BLK.mStill, the money provides the students with a pipeline to recruiters and an in-the-trenches financial education. Aside from a small leadership group, everyone in BLK is an equity analyst focusing on a different sector of the economy. When someone feels confident about a prospective investment, she submits a pitch to the executive board for vetting. Then Onuoha, the CEO, gets final say. Because he wanted the students to learn the fundamentals, he picked a simple long-short investing strategy.

BLK takes a long position on stocks it

BLK Capital Management, BLK, Angel Onuoha, Drew Tucker Alicia McElhaney

BLK would have been founded earlier, but when Onuoha called legal services provider LegalZoom to find out how to start a company, he was told to wait until he was 18. The day after his birthday, on July 5, he started the paperwork process.

To reach students beyond Harvard, he and Tucker brought on another friend, Menelik Graham, a Princeton student Tucker knew through a leadership program for students from low-income backgrounds. (Tucker will be a market specialist intern with Bloomberg LP this summer.) In November, the trio went to the Black Ivy League Business Conference to fill their ranks.

BLK is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), so any earnings are rolled back into the fund.

This means that contributors—in addition to JPMorgan and Goldman, others include Point72 Asset Management, Bank of America, Bridgewater Associates, and Dodge & Cox—can write off the donations as charity. For the inexperienced student investors, $92,000 is a decent amount to handle, but for Wall Street firms their share barely registers as an expense. Earlier this year, Bank of America gave more money to the Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California than all sponsors combined have 42

thinks will appreciate, and short positions on equities it expects to lose value.

BLK plans to invest in smaller firms that analysts cover less and therefore might be under- or overvalued, and returns will be judged using the Russell 2000 Index as a benchmark.

Though founded by two men, BLK also has a special focus on black women who hope to get into the world of hedge funds.

“One of our main points is that we wanted BLK to not only be a strong place for black students, but black female analysts,” Tucker said. As for what’s next for the group? “The biggest thing we’re looking forward to is having a graduated class of alumni,” said Onuoha. “That will help us build our community on Wall Street.”

Once that community exists, Onuoha sees program graduates as future mentors, eventually building up a network of people of color on Wall Street.

BLK got about 450 applicants; they accepted about one-fifth of them. Strangers messaged the co-founders on Instagram and Twitter asking to join. Serious candidates faced an intensive application process that included an interview and a case study that was adjusted for prior experience. BLK pulled heavily from the Ivies but also from schools such as Stanford

and the University of Virginia. Being part of the fund takes commitment: Everyone in BLK is expected to join a two-hour conference call on Sundays. There’s also about five to seven hours of homework a week, which might include practicing, say, a discounted cash flow analysis.

On a mid-April afternoon in a wood-paneled meeting room at Harvard, eight club members gathered to discuss why they’d joined. They wore blazers and cardigans, with one sporting a Harvard Business School vest. (Asked if they normally dressed this nicely, the answer was a resounding no—Onuoha had asked them to do so.) Naomi Vickers, a freshman, said that when she joined one of Harvard’s finance clubs, she realized that out of more than 100 people at an intro meeting, she was the only black woman.

It diminished her confidence: “I was like, OK, this is what I have to do. I’m going to learn finance. It’s OK if it’s a white world.

I’ll get through it. Two weeks in, I’m like, I have no motivation to do this.” Now she’s BLK’s chief operating officer.

Recently, Steven Cohen’s Point72 signed a seven-year partnership with BLK. Point72 wants internship and job candidates “who generally have been historically underrepresented in our industry,” says Jonathan Jones, head of investment talent development. In the past, Point72 recruited almost exclusively from investment banks, which tend to be racially homogeneous. (The firm declined to disclose its employee diversity numbers.)

Point72 invited BLK members to its Manhattan office for an investment pitch competition in late April. Nine groups of students spent three hours trying to sell Point72 representatives on stocks they’d researched, such as Tractor Supply Co. and human resources service provider TriNet Group Inc. Afterward, the students sat quietly as a talent developer offered them feedback. The winners, three Harvard students who’d pitched the health-care cybersecurity company CynergisTek Inc., won new iPads. Onuoha says BLK will consider CynergisTek as a possible first investment, while Point72 will consider the winners for summer internships. That would be a big deal for any college student: Point72 accepts few undergrads for its investing internship every year.

Image: Rice Cappleton/FT.Com

BUSINESS

How a software engineer is feeding Nigeria’s poor with an app Nigerian visionary entrepreneur Oscar Ekponimo who seeks to alleviate the suffering of hungry Nigerians through a software service that redistributes food to people in need and reduces waste was listed as part of the 10 next generation leaders.

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ith the recent announcement of TIME magazine 10 ‘next generation leaders’ which has South African comedian Trevor Noah, Oscar Ekponimo, a Nigerian who seeks to alleviate the suffering of hungry Nigerians through a software service that redistributes food to people in need and reduces waste at the same time, according to Rolex Awards Enterprise was listed as part of the 10 next generation leaders. On his Facebook wall, Ekponimo says “in 1999 I was 12 when I read my first TIME magazine article, fast forward 18 years I find my name in it. Should I cry, jump, run or just be thankful! For God’s grace Honoured to be featured on TIME Magazine’s 2017 list of Ten ‘next generation leaders’ with Trevor Noah. Never give up on your dreams. Anything is possible. Keep believing.”

The Abuja based software engineer started Chowberry, an application that links customers to retailer malls that have food products that would soon expire. The prices of those food products are often sold at discount prices. According to him, as packaged food items get close to the end of their shelf life, the app initiates discounts, which increase the longer the products remain unsold. Local aid groups and other selected nonprofits are alerted about these discounts and also when supermarkets are giving food away for free. Food that would otherwise have gone in the trash is instead distributed to orphanages and needy families. Ekponimo’s application was inspired by the hunger he experienced when growing up. He told said that the app was targeted at reducing food poverty and empowering people to have access to quality nutrition at a very affordable rate. Growing

up Oscar Ekponimo was familiar with hunger. After his father had a partial stroke, he was temporarily ill and unable to work, leaving the family struggling to make ends meet.

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“I remember most times there was little or no food [in the house],” he said. “I had to go to school without food and got by with snacks friends shared with me.” “I always said in the future I would do something to ensure others wouldn’t go through what I went through.” Fast-forward to 2017 and Ekponimo, now a software engineer, is doing exactly that through his web app Chowberry.

Ekponimo says the response to the project has been encouraging and he’s been able to see first hand how it’s transforming lives. “We met one lady who has six children and survives on 400 naira ($1.05) a day,” he said.

“She sells firewood and kunu (a local drink). One day the task force seized her kunu for hawking in the street, and she had nothing. She had to feed her family on what she made. So it’s nice to see the impact of what we’re doing.”

A three-month pilot involving 20 retailers reached about 300 people in Lagos and Abuja, feeding 150 orphans and children at risk. He is hopeful that more national retailers will join the scheme as demand for the service continues to grow in the face of Nigeria’s recession. “We went from about 1,500 daily visits to double that. There have been requests and demand, people tell me we really want this, we’re relying on what you guys are doing because things are expensive.” Hunger and food insecurity are problems still plaguing the continent.

“I remember most times there was little or no food [in the house],” he said. “I had to go to school without food and got by with snacks friends shared with me.” “I always said in the future I would do something to ensure others wouldn’t go through what I went through.”

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 223 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were hungry or undernourished in 2014-2016, the second largest number of hungry people in the world. According to the World Food Programme, Nigeria is a ‘food deficit’ country, meaning that it cannot provide enough food for its population. Widespread poverty, inflation and insecurity have been cited as contributing factors to Nigeria’s hunger problem. Last year, the UN revealed 14 million in the northeast of the country need urgent humanitarian assistance because of the ongoing Boko Haram conflict and warned that 75,000 children could starve to death in months. Last year, Ekponimo won a Rolex Award for Enterprise for his work and has hopes to expand. “It’s been a wonderful journey,” he said. “We’re expanding our work and working on scaling to other parts of the country and to other regions and possibly replicating it in other parts of the world.”

Image: Karl Jesus/CNN 44

BUSINESS

Meet Angel Adelaja, the woman who grows vegetables in shipping containers

For better or worse, our world keeps evolving without our permission – and we keep scrambling to keep up, especially in the area of agriculture. Sure, we’re producing more food than ever before, but our current model is unsustainable, and as the world’s population grows and climate change becomes more unforgiving, we will need a radical transformation to keep up.

This is where innovative new solutions like vertical farming growing food in vertically stacked layers and hydroponics growing plants with no soil and little water come into play. Combining these two innovative solutions, Angel Adelaja has created a revolutionary stackable container farm, using shipping containers, that is the most affordable in the world and just one container can do about an acre and a half of vegetable production. Born out of the need to make urban farming accessible to everyone, Angel co-founded We Farm Africa, and founded Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services, a social enterprise that has pioneered hydroponic agriculture in Nigeria.

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ngel Adelaja is a Nigerian innovator and community and change developer who formulates inclusive growth strategies for governments and organizations. She holds a BSc in Biology from Temple University; trained as an epidemiologist, Michigan State University. Her major focus is women and youth empowerment, utilizing grass roots campaigns, technology, and innovation to assist these groups in solving global issues. Specifically developing good governance strategies to reduce health disparity, poverty, unemployment and boost agricultural and economic development. she is co-founder of We Farm Africa, an agricultural NGO that focuses on collectively ensuring a better future for Africa through sustainable agriculture. She also is the founder of Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services an indigenous agricultural production and processing company that bring together communities and advanced technology to provide grown organic fruits, vegetables and meats and processed end products. Even though she is trained as an Epidemiologist, she has always had a love for agriculture and promoting the opportunities available within the sector in Africa.

As part of the World Economic Forum on Africa last year they recognized six entrepreneurs who demonstrated the positive role women are playing in creating opportunities and preparing the region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Under the criteria of the search, all entrants had to have a business that is less than three years old, with at least one year of revenue and an innovative technology or business model. The winners were invited to the World Economic Forum on Africa last year in Durban, South Africa, to contribute their ideas on boosting entrepreneurialism across Africa. One of the winners was Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja. This young Nigerian, a winner of the World Economic Forum’s Top Women Innovators Award, has turned adversity and a modern city’s hunger for imported vegetables into a thriving business. In this age of Eat Local campaigns, one might be a little alarmed to encounter vegetables called rucola, petite-this and mange-that, on a plate in the Nigerian capital, but fear not, Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja told a briefing at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Africa meetings on Friday, these micro greens are not just grown near Abuja, they are grown within the teeming metropolis.

Her business is growing micro greens in shipping containers in town, allowing her to add “hyper local” to the tag. The founder and chief executive of Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services in Nigeria said her business started with a regular farm, but making a success of that proved so challenging that she was forced to innovate.

The business started with 10 greenhouses on a leased 300-hectare farm. The green houses took up only a small part of the land, with the rest covered with trees.

Beside the cost of clearing, which would have been exorbitant, Angel said, she had a problem with the idea of displacing forest.

Adelaja has also served as Technical Assistant and Research Consultant to the Director General of the Office of Economic Development and Partnership in the Office of the Governor of the State of Osun, Special Assistant to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Poverty Alleviation and National Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Wealth Creation.

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Thinking out the box

As any farmer will confirm, this business is not for the faint-hearted. Angel told the briefing on the last day of the WEF Africa meetings in Durban that small farmers like herself could expect to lose up to 50 percent of their crop before harvest.

Lack of funds compounds problems around a shortage of information and lack of inputs and tools. Access to finance would be a game changer for farmers, but bank loans are usually available only to landowners in Nigeria. “First I need to be rich before I can get a loan,” Angel said.

Transporting often-delicate, perishable goods along bad roads and a lack of storage facilities added to problems, which meant that, she added, another 25 percent of produce could be lost from farm to market. Another challenge that forced a rethink of the business was when the fuel price increased from 87 Naira a litre to above 200 Naira in a short period of time. It was these and other challenges that forced Fresh Direct to innovate and “pivot”, as she described it, and develop their genius plan to grow vegetables in town. The business now grows micro greens in containers stacked five high at two sites in Abuja.

The business started with 10 greenhouses on a leased 300-hectare farm. The green houses took up only a small part of the land, with the rest covered with trees.

Beside the cost of clearing, which would have been exorbitant, Angel said, she had a problem with the idea of displacing forest.

Each 20-foot shipping container would fit a car instead they take 4 000 plants per cycle, with a cycle lasting from seven days to a month. The vegetables are produced using a hydroponic method where plants are grown in nutrient-filled water, rather than soil. The business is moving into aquaponics too, where fish are added to the system to enhance the cycle. This is a long way away from fast food, but the vegetables can be delivered to customers 15 minutes after they are harvested and washed. Fresh Direct’s customers are restaurants, hotels and grocery stores.

“The nice thing with corporate customers is that they are consistent,” Angel said.

An outlet in Lagos will soon be added to the two already operating in Abuja. In Lagos, Angel said she expects to tap into an ever-bigger demand for micro greens, niche foods that are a favourite of modern chefs, foodies and other hipster types.

Fresh Direct currently employs 10 people full-time and another 59 part-time, many of whom would find it hard to secure 46

good jobs elsewhere. Angel told the WEF briefing that not one of her staff had gone to secondary school and just one has previous agricultural experience. She said her staff call themselves “tech farmers” in a country where farming is sometimes looked down on as a less-than-dignified career.

Angel clearly doesn’t look down on traditional farming. In fact, she seemed pleased and relieved to say that doing the fancy vegetables, rather than staple foods, meant she was not competing with traditional rural farmers, rather they are providing vegetables that are otherwise imported.

In an interview Yetunde Oladeinde, when asked what inspired her passion for farming and agro allied products? She said: “Over the past 5 years, I have worked with organizations to develop strategies for economic development and job creation. The most impactful solutions focused on ICT and agricultural sectors.

As a consultant working on large-scale models in agriculture for private sector, it is actually easier, but was a totally different story for small or medium scale local players to do individually. When I decided to invest in agriculture, it was then I realized how difficult it really was to effectively enter a sector that should be so accessible. So, if I could face such challenges, what about other youths? I really was pushed more by a need to make it simpler for others. My passion grew as I started to use science and business to build sustainably within the sector.

I must say also that the ability to create something, to grow something, to build something, is quite rewarding. These are things that fuel my passion”.

When asked, as one of the 30 entrepreneurs selected by the presidency, what it meant for her? “I felt honored to have been selected over the thousands of startups who participated. It’s great to have such accolades for our business and we

hope that government can work to build an enabling environment for indigenous start-ups, indigenous technologies and innovations to compete internationally.

Right now, my company is in a position to get investors to further develop our technology and scale our business not only in Nigeria but Africa, it would be amazing for the Nigerian government to protect that opportunity by preventing a foreign company from coming to compete with more money and influence.

I hope Aso Villa Demo Day would be the first step in not only recognizing local start-ups, but helping to scale and protect them for a competitive advantage”.

Image: CHINENYE PRAISE/WTO

BUSINESS

Meet the Nigerian woman leading the anti-bribery department at one of the largest US banks

Chinwe Esimai is an award-winning lawyer, author, and speaker, who is passionate about inspiring generations of immigrant women leaders. She is the Managing Director and Chief Anti-Bribery Officer at Citigroup, Inc. She is the first to hold this title at Citi.mIn this role, she oversees Citi’s global Anti-Bribery program which develops and maintains an enterprise-wide framework for compliance with anti-bribery laws and regulations set out by the U.S., UK, and over 160 countries where Citi does business. Her role covers all of Citi’s lines of business and over 200,000 employees worldwide.

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romoted from Senior Vice President to Director, and subsequently, Managing Director within three short years at Citi, Chinwe has overseen global enhancements of the bank’s anti-bribery compliance program from its early beginnings to now leading a team of professionals managing anti-bribery controls across the enterprise. Prior to Citi, she spent a combined five years at Goldman Sachs in various regulatory risk management roles, including representing Goldman in regulatory inquiries involving the bank’s options and derivatives businesses and serving as an anti-bribery officer. She was a law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law where she taught Securities Regulation, Law & Finance in Emerging Markets, and Business Associations. She began her career as a corporate associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, LLP, where she worked on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions.

Chinwe obtained her B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from the City College of New York, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Following graduation, she practiced as a corporate associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, LLP, where she worked on mergers and acquisitions and a variety of capital markets transactions. Subsequently, she advised the financial services arms of MetLife, Inc. on compliance with Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules. She served in the Global Compliance Division at GSCO from 2006-2009, as an Axiom secondee in the CEO Certification group and as Vice President of Reg. Audits & Inquiries.

Chinwe serves as a thought leader in her industry and speaks frequently at conferences on women and leadership, trends in anti-bribery enforcement, ethics, African economic development,

and leveraging fintech to promote integrity in the public sector. She has presented three times at the United Nations, discussing Sustainable Development Goals, Africa Agenda 2063, and entrenching good governance in Africa.

Chinwe shares leadership insights on her blog and through other channels such as Forbes. She is an Executive Council member of the Ellevate Network, a global network for professional women, providing opportunities for women to

connect, learn, and invest in themselves.

The Nigerian Lawyers Association named Chinwe Trailblazer of the Year, an award that honors a distinguished attorney whose professional accomplishments and leadership abilities have been recognized in the legal profession (public or private service). She is Chair of the Board of Harambee USA, a non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting education and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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In one of her blog’s articles, she writes about Legacy Thinking:

I can trace the beginning of my personal development journey to The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell. It was the workbook version, and I devoured it. I wrote in the margins and responded to almost all the questions.

I have enjoyed a number of books by Mr. Maxwell, but I can definitively say that this is the book that started it all. It was a turning point for me because after reading the book, I embraced and applied the leadership principles in my life and career. By far, the law that stood out to me the most was the Law of Legacy: a leader’s lasting value is measured by succession. Every person leaves some sort of legacy, and Maxwell urges us to be intentional about what that legacy should be.

I knew Citi would be an important chapter in my professional life when, months after working through The 21 Irrefutable Laws, I interviewed to join Citi. One of my interviewers, who is now my boss (Francisco Rapp) and I discussed leadership, passion, and legacy at great length.

I knew then that he was a remarkable person, and that there was the possibility of doing something remarkable at Citi.

‘‘.. Immigrant women leaders do not come to the United States – indeed, we do not come into this world – to blend in. We are here to shine.’’ — Chinwe

Why Legacy Thinking?

Legacy thinking is important because it compels you to keep things in perspective. By placing ideas in their proper context, you improve on great ideas and weed out time wasters that do not align with your true purpose in this world. As with most leadership tools, you can begin to apply it right where you are, and, as you invest in it, watch it blossom over time.

Four Ways to Apply Legacy Thinking Embrace Legacy Thinking. The first step is to be intentional about your legacy.

Maxwell notes that everyone leaves some sort of legacy—good or bad. To that, I’d add a third option: indifferent. Being intentional about legacy means you have a say and can drive the outcome you desire.

Determine What Your Legacy Will Be. The next step is to consider what you’d like your legacy to be. It doesn’t need to be determined in a day, but evaluate what you truly care about in life and in the long run. It need not be the biggest ideas; little things can be just as impactful. How would you like to be remembered—both at death and in your interactions with others? What impression would you like to leave on others? What would you like your family legacy to be?

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Decide Who You Will Carry on Your Legacy. Maxwell outlines a very people-centered view of legacy. It is legacy thinking that is rooted firmly in the gift of one’s self. He begins the chapter with a discussion of his visit to Calcutta, and what a powerful legacy Mother Theresa left. Consider how you are investing in those closest to you—your family and colleagues. Are you investing in others to help fulfill their unique purpose and potential? What are you passing on?

According to Sandee Parrado, forensic partner at PriceWaterHouseCoopers, “The true measure of a leader is developing others. Organizations do not need only one great person. They need great people, teams of them.”

Let Your Legacy Run Your Days. Evaluate your time spent and prioritize your commitments according to the legacy you’d like to leave. As you go through the day, consider whether the things you spend the most time on are the things you’d like to be remembered for. Again, this includes the little things. Spending quality time and having fun with the kids, for example, is indeed time well spent when viewed from the perspective of legacy.

In the end, legacy is about giving of ourselves. It is about putting our unique mark on the canvas of life and on the hearts and minds of others. Decide what you want it to be, then live it.

She blogs @ chinweesimai.com/blog/

China hits the market with one of the fastest EV’s in the world

‘..the acceleration is completely bonkers!!’

“Supersonic” is how Nicki Shields, presenter of CNN’s Supercharged show, describes the feeling of traveling in one of the world’s fastest electric cars. The NIO EP9 set a new lap record holder at the Nürburgring, Shields got firsthand experience of the supercar’s power during testing at the UK’s Bruntingthorpe Airfield. “The acceleration from 0-100 mph is completely bonkers,” Shields told CNN Sport. “I’ve been in a lot of fast cars before but the EP9 is definitely the fastest.” From a standing start, the EP9 can accelerate to 124 mph (200 kph) in 7.1 seconds and has a top speed of 194 mph (312 kph).

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he EP9 set a time of six minutes 45.90 seconds at the 12.9-mile (20.7-kilometer) Nürburgring circuit, breaking the previous record set by a road-legal car the Radical SR8LM in 2009 and beating the all-time lap record set by a Porsche 956, which has stood for more than three decades. Built for the FIA World Sportscar Championship, the Porsche piloted by Stefan Bellof clocked a time of six minutes 11.13 seconds during the 1983 “1000 km of Nürburgring” endurance race. Costing $1.2 million each to build, NextEV hasn’t put a retail price on the car. The car is really designed to drum up some excitement for NextEV as a company, ahead of the launch of a more consumer-focused electric car. BORN

TO PUSH LIMITS

In many ways, the Nio EP9 was just another impossibly low, wide, electrically powered supercar with mind-boggling acceleration. Until ten minutes past four

on the afternoon of 12 May 2017, that is. At that precise moment, racing driver and Nürburgring specialist Peter Dumbreck embarked upon his fourth and final lap of the day at the Nordschleife, and six minutes and 45 seconds later had marked his and Nio’s place in history with a new lap record for a non-series-production car. ‘The EP9 was Martin Leach’s brainchild: to make the ultimate car,’ says Nio’s head of performance programme, Gerry Hughes. An automotive luminary, Leach was vice-president of NextEV, the company behind the emergent Nio brand, but passed away in November. ‘The EP9 is a no-compromise car, in terms of strengthto-weight and packaging,’ adds Hughes.

Manufacturer

Nio is not a household name, but the Chinese-backed company has four bases around the world: China, Germany, USA and the UK. The UK arm is responsible for the EP9, and for the NextEV Nio Formula E team, which took Nelson Piquet Jr to the inaugural championship.

Founded in 2014 in Shanghai, China, Nio has quickly grown to become a major industry player, establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of electric vehicles and self-driving technology. Boasting over 2,000 employees spread out over 13 locations globally, Nio is known for creations like Eve, a forward-thinking autonomous concept, and the ES8, a seven-passenger high-performance all-electric SUV, as well as its involvement in the Formula E championship with powertrain support for the Nio 003 racecar. However, the start-up is best known for this – the EP9, a high-performance all-electric speed machine aimed squarely at all things quick and internal combustion-propelled.

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LUXURY

Aesthetics

Aesthetically speaking, the Nio EP9 is a futuristic, streamlined speed wedge, with a look that screams modern hypercar with its ultra-low, ultra-wide stance, massively flared fenders, and centrally placed cabin. The word “aggressive” would certainly be appropriate here. The EP9 looks like it was plucked from the screen of some sci-fi blockbuster, like it could outrun the baddies in the climax chase scene thanks its insane power and ability to drive upside down. As you might expect, carbon fiber is used for the exterior panels to keep the machine lightweight. There are also active aerodynamics elements to add extra stick at speed. The most prominent component to the aero is the rear wing, which can adjust into three separate positions for either more downforce or lower drag, as the situation may warrant. These positions are labeled as “Park,” “Low Drag,” and “High Downforce.”

For info purposes, the EP9 incorporates a variety of digital screens, including one in the steering wheel, one behind the steering wheel, one on the center console, and one in front of the passenger seat.

These digital readouts relay a good deal of performance data on the fly, with stuff like top speed, lap time, available battery power, active aero settings, road speed, lateral g forces, and even the driver’s heat beat spread across the various screens While the advanced aerodynamics and carbon tub interior are definitely impressive, it’s the EP9’s powertrain that truly makes it stand out. Providing the juice is a 777-volt powertrain, with four inboard motor generating units, or MGUs, laying down the propulsion. Peak output is rated at a head-spinning 1,341 horsepower, or 1 megawatt. That means that with one electric motor per wheel, each corner creates 335 and a quarter horsepower, or about the same output as a V-6 Camaro. Per corner. While the power levels are nuts, the EP9’s torque is equally out of this world. Total twist comes to 1,480 Nm, or 1,092 pound-feet, at the motors, all of which arrives as soon as you put your foot down. The EP9 also includes four individual gearboxes with a 1:4.283 ratio, enabling a higher top speed alongside the traditional earth-shattering acceleration now considered commonplace amongst high-performance EVs. Properly motivated, the EP9 can hit 62 mph in just 2.7 seconds. The sprint to 124 mph takes 7.1 seconds, and the sprint to 186 mph takes 15.9 seconds. Top speed is rated at 195 mph (313 kph)

Images: NIO.com

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Cryptocurrencies have a mysterious allure – but are they just a fad?

Attempts to reinvent money such as bitcoin often create excitement, but achieve little

The cryptocurrency revolution, which started with bitcoin in 2009, claims to be inventing new kinds of money. There are now nearly 2,000 cryptocurrencies, and they excite millions of people worldwide. What accounts for this enthusiasm, which so far remains undampened by warnings that the revolution is a sham?

Robert Shiller

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ttempts to reinvent money have a long history. As the sociologist Viviana Zelizer points out in her book The Social Meaning of Money: “Despite the commonsense idea that ‘a dollar is a dollar,’ everywhere we look people are constantly creating different kinds of money.” Many of these innovations generate real excitement, at least for a while.

As the medium of exchange throughout the world, money, in its various embodiments, is rich in mystique. We tend to measure people’s value by it. It sums things up like nothing else. And yet it may consist of nothing more than pieces of paper that just go round and round in circles of spending. So its value depends on belief and trust in those pieces of paper. One might call it faith.

Ideas of Money Establishing a new kind of money may be seen as a community’s avowal of faith in an idea, and an effort to inspire its realization. In his book Euro Tragedy: A Drama in Nine Acts, the economist Ashoka Mody argues that the true public justification for creating the European currency in 1992 was a kind of “groupthink,” a faith “embedded in people’s psyches” that “the mere existence of a single currency…would create the impetus for countries to come together in closer political embrace”, New ideas for money seem to go with the territory of revolution, accompanied by a compelling, easily understood narrative. In 1827, Josiah Warner opened the “Cincinnati Time Store”, which sold merchandise in units of hours of work, relying on “labour notes,” which resembled paper money. The new money was seen as a testament to the importance of working people, until he closed the store in 1830. Two years later, 52

Robert Owen, sometimes described as the father of socialism, attempted to establish in London the National Equitable Labour Exchange, relying on labour notes, or “time money”, as currency.

Here, too, using time instead of gold or silver as a standard of value enforced the notion of the primacy of labour. But, like Warner’s time store, Owen’s experiment failed.

Likewise, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels proposed that the central communist premise – “abolition of private property” – would be accompanied by a “communistic abolition of buying and selling”.

Eliminating money, however, was impossible to do, and no communist state ever did so. Instead, as the British Museum’s recent exhibit, The Currency of Communism, showed, they issued paper money with vivid symbols of the working class on it. They had to do something different with money.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, a radical movement, called Technocracy, associated with Columbia University, proposed to replace the goldbacked dollar with a measure of energy, the erg. In their book The A B C of Technocracy, published under the pseudonym Frank Arkright, they advanced the idea that putting the economy “on an energy basis” would overcome the unemployment problem. The Technocracy fad proved to be short-lived, though, after top scientists debunked the idea’s technical pretensions. But the effort to dress up a half-baked idea in advanced science didn’t stop there. Parallel with Technocracy, in 1932 the economist John Pease Norton, addressing the Econometric Society, proposed a dollar backed not by gold but by electricity. But while Norton’s electric dollar received substantial atten-

tion, he had no good reason for choosing electricity over other commodities to back the dollar. At a time when most households in advanced countries had only recently been electrified, and electric devices from radios to refrigerators had entered homes, electricity evoked images of the most glamorous high science. But, like Technocracy, the attempt to co-opt science backfired.

Bitcoin And Cryptocurrencies Now we have something new again: bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which have spawned the initial coin offering (ICO). Issuers claim that ICOs are exempt from securities regulation, because they do not involve conventional money or confer ownership of profits. Investing in an ICO is thought of as an entirely new inspiration. Each of these monetary innovations has been coupled with a unique technological story. But, more fundamentally, all are connected with a deep yearning for some kind of revolution in society. The cryptocurrencies are a statement of faith in a new community of entrepreneurial cosmopolitans who hold themselves above national governments, which are viewed as the drivers of a long train of inequality and war.

And, as in the past, the public’s fascination with cryptocurrencies is tied to a sort of mystery, like the mystery of the value of money itself, consisting in the new money’s connection to advanced science. Practically no one, outside of computer science departments, can explain how cryptocurrencies work. That mystery creates an aura of exclusivity, gives the new money glamour, and fills devotees with revolutionary zeal. None of this is new, and, as with past monetary innovations, a compelling story may not

The sharp shift in exchange rates destabilizes developing economies like Nigeria and threatens trade talks Why A Falling Naira Risks Unbalancing Nigeria To The Outside World

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resident Buhari’s government had been in a talk with The World Bank for a loan of at least $1 billion for more than a year and the African Development Bank (AfDB) has $400 million on offer, but discussions have stalled over economic reforms. Nigeria had hoped to use the loans to finance its budget.

Against the above prospect, however, the early problems faced by the present administration towards financing and implementing the ERGP are not reassuring. Nigeria’s falling currency and rising interest rates might threaten its reform program.

This reversal of fortune for the economy reflects broader pressures created by the Naira’s recent depreciation – a process that is set to accelerate, because both monetary policy and growth differentials are not favoring Nigeria. For a while now, the Nigerian central Bank has been well behind other systemically important central banks in normalizing monetary policy – that is, reducing interest rates, improving its gross domestic product, reducing unemployment and starting the multi-year process of shrinking its balance sheet. This was amplified last year by another catalyst of the Naira’s depreciation; a growing, and less favorable, divergence between economic data and expectations from the rest of the world. During most of 2016, the Nigerian market was scrambling to catch up to indications of growth outside to the rest of the world. As the Naira depreciated capital flows into Nigeria dwindled, as investors sought to benefit from other favorable markets, while Nigeria’s stock market suffered both lower yields and the possibility of further investment loss.

In recent months, measures of economic “surprises” have turned negative, as growth momentum has weakened. To cite one dramatic example, declining

economic indicators caused Nigeria’s apex bank through its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in July 2016 to raise its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis points from 12% to 14%.

The bank however retained the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) at 22.50%; the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and the asymmetric window at +2% and -5%. It was expected that the new dispensation would assist in the management of the flexible exchange rate policy by attracting foreign investors and increase inflow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) which hasn’t really materialized, the back end was that it narrowed access to finance by the real sector, slowed down corporate growth and fuelled losses for investors in Nigerian equities.

Now, there is less external capital chasing returns in the Nigeria stock market and some investors in the market are retreating. So economic and financial factors can be expected to continue to fuel the depreciation of the Naira. The only way to ease that downward pressure, and to mitigate spillovers, is with effective policy responses. The good news is that there are sufficient tools to reduce the risk of dislocations. But there is a need for broader implementation within the economy. Some may view Nigeria’s Naira depreciation as consistent with a longer-term rebalancing of its economy.

But, as Nigeria’s situation demonstrates, excessively sharp and sudden depreciation its currency risks unbalancing things everywhere. As the Naira depreciated in international markets, the economy became less competitive and experienced sharp deteriorations in its current-account positions. Actual and potential capital outflows forced the central bank to raise local interest rates, intensifying economic contractionary pressures and undermining the creditworthiness of

the domestic corporate sector. Currency devaluation is not an easy option, either, as it would boost inflation and send the costs of servicing external debts soaring to prohibitively high levels.

Flexible Exchange Rates But it has not all been negative, as Nigeria now has flexible exchange rates, and has brilliantly turned to other currencies like the Chinese Renminbi as well as to domestic sources of borrowing, it has successfully reduced the currency mismatches associated with its liabilities and reduced the pressure by traders for dollars. However, externally driven changes in financial variables is still a source of serious risk, especially since countries, like Nigeria, has a history of economic mismanagement, large current account deficits and a habit of pursuing too many objectives with too few instruments.

Against this background, Nigerian policymakers should be implementing measures that take pressure off the Naira.

This includes, first and foremost, progrowth policies, particularly policies to boost local production and restrict importation, which, despite recent economic gains especially in the area of rice production, faces significant structural headwinds. Nigeria, should focus on maintaining a solid balance sheet, improving its understanding of market dynamics, and safeguarding policy credibility. Country-level measures should be reinforced by better global policy coordination, especially to help avoid or break the vicious cycle. Nigeria should aggressively reduce its recurrent expenditure, so as to better plan and manage its budget and reduce the need for IMF loans. Using this precaution now is obviously preferable to risking a mess that will need to be cleaned up later.

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African Fintech Startups Are Revolutionizing Banking

Africa is a vast continent with diverse economies and a total population of over 1 billion people living in 54 countries spread over 30 million square kilometres. By the end of 2017, there were more than 300 fintech startups across the continent. Disrupt Africa’s Finnovating for Africa: Exploring the African Fintech Startup Ecosystem Report 2017 concludes that African fintech startups’ growth since 2015 has been nothing short of tremendous.

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he record shows over US$100 million in fintech funding has been secured across the continent over the last two years, with South Africa receiving 34.2 percent of the total and Nigeria following closely with 34 percent. South Africa has the most fintech startups with 94, followed by Nigeria with 74 and Kenya 56.

In this report, we identify the factors and the drivers behind the growth.

Payments Made Easy Fintech has made payments and remittances more convenient across the continent. Most traditional banks are located in cities and commercial areas, making them difficult to access from remote areas. Tanzania, for example, has about 50 million people sparsely distributed across an area nearly four times the size of the United Kingdom. In Nigeria, banks used to be packed with customers queueing to pay their utility and cable TV bills, school fees and so on. It could take hours to make a simple transaction.

In 2012, a cashless policy was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria to curb excess handling of cash and reduce the volume of money in circulation. The policy has facilitated many Nigerian fintech startups’ market penetration and expansion. Customer transportation costs, waiting times and the loss risks attached to cash have been eliminated by

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the smartphone-based fintech services provided by these startups. About 100 of Africa’s fintech startups are focused on streamlining money transfers. According to Tayo Oviosu, Founder & CEO of Nigerian mobile payment platform Paga, “Nigerian banks have traditionally not focused on retail. Paga has built the single largest network of financial access points in Nigeria. We are going to leverage that to deliver financial services to the mass market”.

Market Confidence One of the significant drivers of African fintech startups is high confidence in the market. Early fintech startups demonstrated that the market is strong, and the growth trend has continued, attracting Silicon Valley-based accelerators. Fintech startup funding is presently one of the most attractive investments on the continent. In 2017, over 30% of the US$195 million in VC funding raised by Africa

FINANCE

startups went to the fintech sector. Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money service has had a great impact in Kenya, and Nigeria’s Paga, South Africa’s Zoona, Kenya’s BitPesa and others across the continent are garnering increased funding as investors become more confident.

been told by the likes of South African startup Zoona, Nigeria’s Paga and others.

Filling the Vacuum A World Bank report notes that Nigeria, like many countries in sub-Sahara Africa, has a growing population that lacks easy

operate relatively tax-free free and with less government interference, leaving them to chart their courses and develop their products with little regulatory interference. There is also increasing integration from service providers, many of which are partnering with fintech

Influencing the Traditional Banking System Since the inception of fintech, there have been dramatic changes in the continent’s traditional banking system. Banks and financial institutions are under pressure to match the innovative solutions and services being offered by fintech startups, which have reached millions of people who have mobile phones but not bank accounts. Now, banks and financial institutions are introducing a variety of strategies and tactics to invest in, acquire or collaborate with fintech startups. This is a trend that’s expected to continue.

More Africans Connected to the Internet Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya are among the most significant mobile markets in Africa. Although 80 million Nigerians — 47 percent of the population — do not have bank accounts, 142 million Nigerians have mobile network access and 92 million are internet users, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The penetration of mobile phones and the internet has enabled fintech to influence how financial services and products are developed and delivered, as more Africans plug into digital financial services in Nigeria and across the continent.

Kenya’s M-Pesa is being used by more than half of the country’s adult population, and has recorded transactions worth more than half the country’s GDP since its debut. Similar success stories have

access to traditional financial services, and fintech innovators are filling the vacuum by connecting these people.

This differs from the situation in advanced economies with strong financial institutions, where fintech startups are cast instead as disrupting the traditional banking industry. For example, China’s Wechat is a popular messaging app with a wallet feature that enables users to

send and receive money, make payments and so on from within the Wechat app, without connecting to a bank account for many transactions.

Competition and Regulations Among the factors responsible for African fintech startup growth are strong competition and loose regulations.

Presently across the continent, there are few or no strict regulations compared to advanced economies. Startups can

startups to make transactions more convenient for customers. For example, cable TV companies such as DSTV, HiTV, and TSTV have introduced fintech alternatives to their traditional bank payment models. As more banks and financial institutions acquire or partner with fintech startups, the trend is being seen not so much as financial industry competition but as an industry reinvention that has improved financial services companies’ profiles, reach, and products and services; and is beneficial to banks, startups and customers alike. Fintech has thus become one of the most vibrant investment options in the African tech space.

Going Forward In recent years, African fintech startups have been outperforming banks in delivering digital financial services.

Iyin Aboyeji, Chief Executive of digital payment technology startup Flutterwave, describes fintech as a fundamental element that will drive the digital economy in Africa over the coming years. Investors and companies are expected to get even more involved in African fintech markets because the opportunities are tremendous.

Analyst: Oloketuyi Jacob Oladeji| Editor: Robert Tian Michael Sarazen

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Nigeria’s Purple Epidemic The opioid crisis and why Nigeria is cracking down on codeine One of the most talked about issues in the Nigerian health sector today, is the codeine crisis in Nigeria, and the government’s reaction to the issue. According to the World Health Organization, Codeine is the most widely and commonly used opiate in the world. It is usually administered orally and has the reputation as being the safest of all the opioid analgesics. However, this can be misleading since this use of “safe” does not include the numbers of persons that become physically and mentally addicted after extended and repeated use.

History of Codeine pium, coming from the opium poppy plant, was popular in England as early as 1704. In those early days, opium was usually sold in elixirs such as paregoric, which were marketed as “pain soothers”. In 1804, a German pharmacist discovered how to isolate morphine from opium, which gave rise to the discovery in 1832 of codeine by Pierre Robiquet, a French chemist. The name, “codeine” comes from the Greek word that refers to the head of the poppy plant. Chemist and pharmacist continued to be excited about the medicinal properties of opium and many drugs that are still used today were isolated from these early experiments. Codeine is the “least addictive and safest” of all of the opiate drugs prescribed today, which accounts for its being the most widely used drug within this category of analgesics (falling into a group of drugs that most people call “pain-killers”). (It should be remembered that being the least addictive and safest doesn’t mean that Codeine is not addictive or safe… more about this later.) Drug

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manufacturers have had to barter with heroin dealers for the purchase of this raw codeine product. This led chemist to the discovery of a method to synthesize codeine from coal tar, which eliminated the need for having the original blacktar opium and freed the drug companies from having to compete with the illicit drug cartels.

Codeine Use The most common medical use of Codeine is related to its ability to suppress or even end chronic coughing, medically called an antitussive. Almost all cough syrups that require a prescription contain Codeine. All opiate compounds help reduce nausea and/or diarrhea and codeine is used in many of the compounds since it is the weakest opiate that will treat these symptoms without causing as many side effects and a lower probability of physical addiction. Since Codeine is considered the least strong or dangerous of the opiate pain-killers, many physicians and the public have the attitude that it is a very safe drug to take for a cough or diarrhea and because it works so quickly,

many people will pressure their doctors to give them compounds of codeine for common-cold symptoms that could be treated with non-narcotic elixirs that have almost no side effects of problem.

This sense of safety with its use and the prescribing of Codeine has led to many problems that could have been avoided by being more precautious about its use. Codeine is metabolized in the body and become morphine, which everyone knows is a dangerous drug. In fact, many people are labeled as being “ultra-rapid metabolizers”, which means that their bodies breakdown Codeine into morphine much faster than the average. There are many recorded deaths in children that were given small doses of Codeine after surgeries, which led to their suffocation during sleep. It needs to be remembered that the side effects of Codeine are the same as all opiates and even more pronounced in children. Signs of serious side effects include unusual sleepiness, confusion, and difficult and noisy breathing. The advantage that Codeine has in stopping one’s cough can also be seen as its danger since the cough

HEALTH

reflex is there for the purpose of clearing the throat to allow for unrestricted breathing. When this reflex is suppressed through the use of Codeine, one runs the risk of suffocation, especially during times of sleep and when lying down in bed. The short-term effects include euphoria and altered consciousness, but long-term abuse can result in seizures, organ damage, and death.

The alarming Codeine Hazard Codeine is often used by many as a “recreational” drug to get a “buzz” or “high” that is commonly thought of as not being an issue. It is known as “Blunts” on the streets of Lagos. Codeine is often found in cough medicine from local pharmacies, and they drug users then mix it with coke or other soda drinks for sweetness, called “Purple Drank” in American slang. The sweet taste allows the abuser to drink more. High doses codeine can lead to a pleasurable euphoric sensation.

When opiates enter the central nervous system, they activate the reward system of the brain, allowing for excessive release of pleasurable hormones. It is this feeling that codeine addicts crave. The target market in the illicit codeine trade typically consists of teenagers and young adults looking for a cheap high. At a price of around 1,000 naira ($3), codeine is exactly that. Even though it is illegal to sell codeine cough syrups without a doctor’s prescription, the drugs remain widely available. It is common to find them casually consumed, sometimes as part of mixtures, at local bars and parties.

Codeine addiction is no miracle. Like any addiction, codeine use and abuse can lead to devastating health and interpersonal problems. Many individuals who abuse codeine become tolerant to the mild effects of the narcotic and begin to abuse heavier and stronger narcotics to achieve greater highs. In addition, many individuals with codeine addiction begin to use other drugs such as benzodiazepines and alcohol in order to achieve greater highs.

Others may abuse codeine and stimulant drugs in order to reduce the side effects of the stimulants and produce a more mellow high.

Codeine coughs medicine is widely abused and has been responsible for many overdoses and deaths. In many countries throughout the world, Codeine is regulated by narcotic control laws in civilized climes but in Nigeria unlike many countries it can easily be purchased over-the-counter without a prescription, which can more easily lead to abuse and

addiction. It should be remembered that Codeine is an opiate, the same as is morphine and heroin, and the regular use of this drug will cause both physical and emotional or mental addiction. One of the biggest problems with the drug, Codeine, is the perception that it is mild and not a danger like other notorious opiates like heroin. This is only partly true. Regular use of cough syrups or other elixirs that contain Codeine are as dangerous as regular use of Oxicontin or any other opiate drug, with the only difference being that it might take a longer period of continual use to become addicted. But once addicted, the withdrawals and the road back to where one was before they started using Codeine is arduous and painful and to have successful outcomes, it usually requires professional rehabilita-

“…Drug abuse is with us. It’s happening closer to us than we can imagine. It’s wrecking our youths, our future, and our pride.

All hands must be on deck towards solving this problem.” – Pharm.

Chijioke Onyia

tion. As with all drugs, consumers need to be aware of how dangerous these drugs actually are and to not allow friends or doctors to tell you otherwise.

Among the younger generation in Nigeria there has been an alarming rise in drug addiction and drug trafficking.

The growing concern in the country specifically regarding codeine abuse has resulted in a recent directive by the country’s Minister of Health to ban the sale of cough syrups containing codeine without prescription. Every day in the Nigeria more than 1,000 people are treated in emergency departments for not using prescription opioids as directed. In 2016 more than 15,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids.

The opioid crisis (epidemic) began in the 1990s with over-prescription of powerful opioid pain relievers. They quickly become the most prescribed class of medications in the Nigeria, exceeding antibiotics and heart medication. The syrup used for cough medicine is made in Nigeria by more than 20 pharmaceutical companies, whilst the codeine drug itself

is imported. In a recent raid, Nigeria’s drug enforcement agency seized 24,000 bottles of codeine syrup from a single lorry in Katsina. The Nigerian Senate has estimated that approximately three million bottles of codeine syrup are drunk every day in just two states, Kano and Jigawa. According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA 2015 annual report – Nigeria’s North West had the most arrests for drug related offences.

A total of 2,205 persons were arrested in the North West, and 1,785 arrests recorded in the South West.

In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that “patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers.” But the facts are that 20 to 30% of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain will misuse them. About 80%of people who use heroin began by first misusing prescription opioids. Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in Nigeria. There are more drug overdoses deaths in Nigeria every year than deaths due to car accidents combined. Only malaria and death during childbirth supersedes drugs overdose.

The crisis in Nigeria has grown due to the affordability of various drugs of abuse including cannabis, heroin and codeine, with the Guardian describing the situation as “much bigger than we can imagine”. The scale of the epidemic has resulted in a cry for Nigerians to unite in the fight against drug abuse following a recent documentary by the BBC that uncovered the depth of the problem.

Nigeria’s Senate recently announced an addiction epidemic across the north, with an estimated 3 million bottles of codeine consumed across daily in major cities.

In particular, girls in school, women displaced by Boko Haram, or just working women have become addicts, consuming up to ten bottles of cough syrup a day.

Nigeria’s Senate President, Bukola Saraki, announced on Twitter: “I am particularly worried about the drug menace in the Northern part of the country. It is the time that we recognize this problem and address it in a sensible manner. I will be pushing for the National Assembly to review all relevant laws on drug abuse. This will help to curb the widespread misuse of illegal and unsanitary substances. The Senate will engage with all relevant stakeholders as we initiate this process.”

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The problem is more acute in Nigeria’s vast north where millions of young adults are unemployed. Its prevalence is also rooted in cultural nuances: with the sale of alcohol banned across most northern states mainly for religious reasons, young adults and teenagers often turn to cheap opioid-based drugs, especially codeine cough syrups, as an alternative. Those who cannot afford codeine syrups turn to more extreme options including lizard dung and cobwebs. Isa Mohammed, a Kano-based pharmacist attributes the rampant abuse in the north to “access and supply”. Last October, The effects of the access to the cheap opioid on a mostly Muslim youth in the wake of poverty and a lack of employment, Mohammed says, “is disastrous.”

Encounters From interviews conducted by a BattaBox Presenter in the streets of Lagos: “The reason I take codeine is because of the inspiration I take from it – I’m an artist, I get inspiration for my music, I go on a trip and feel on cloud nine,” explains a young Nigerian drug abuser. “I prefer codeine and smoking, I like to be on my own, it makes me feel calm,” says one young Nigerian man, who does not give his name. “The way Nigeria is now, people don’t like drinking beer, because if you drink too much alcohol, you will end up in the gutter. But with codeine, anywhere you take it, you will get to your house,” explains one Nigerian youth who takes codeine.

“I started taking drugs in Nigeria when something went down between me and my old man,” explains the Lagos youth.

“A friend of mine was taking codeine and I asked to have a taste.” “We buy it at the pharmacy, and on the condition of Nigeria like this, nobody asks why you buy it,” says the young Lagos guy. “We never have any issues with any police.”

In a report for Buzzfeed by Monica Mark from Jos, Nigeria, Bolu and his parents sat frozen in the car. Sweat was pouring down Bol2aq2§u’s back, after he had hit rock bottom, he knew it wasn’t just the effects of suddenly coming off the tramadol and the codeine and the booze, all at once. He was on edge at the thought of entering the building looming in front of them. Bolu’s last hope of getting clean after three years of dealing with addiction lay inside a government-run rehab center in the central Nigerian state of Jos that was also home to drug runners and violent gang members, 58

and terrifyingly alien to his comfortable middle-class upbringing. Run by the NDLEA, Nigeria’s equivalent to the Drug Enforcement Agency, it was part rehab and part correctional facility. For the next four months while he embarked on a cold turkey detox program at the facility to treat his addiction to codeine and tramadol. All that mattered now, he told himself, was that maybe he wasn’t actually an addict, like everyone else in there. Maybe he hadn’t really tried his hardest. This time he could quit for good.

disbelief. “It was crazy. I’ve never been in this kind of place in my life.” Bolu’s stepmother finally broke the silence. She was a nurse who every day saw the human cost of drug addiction in Nigeria. Now it had reached her own home. “We have to do this,” she told them, trying not to cry herself. The three of them walked silently into the building.

The first sight that greeted Bolu was a man lying facedown on the concrete floor, his legs tied to a pillar in the middle of the room. “I came in and I saw some-

IMAGE: Bolu in his room in the NDLEA rehab center in Jos. Credit: Emin Ozmen / Magnum Photos for BuzzFeed News

At 22 years old, Bolu, who asked to be identified only by his middle name in order to protect his identity, already had an uncommon wisdom and gentleness.

But on this brisk November morning, he looked and sounded like a lost child.

His father’s professorial air, which had held steady over the chaotic last 24 hours, vanished as they sat before the sagging yellow building. “I just kept thinking, look at this place where [my Dad] wants to come and drop me. Mehn!” he said, using a Nigerian slang exclamation of

one chained. I thought this was just you know, Nigeria, people don’t really have information on drugs rehab is, like, for mad people. Everybody just thinks there’s mad people in here.” “They took my belt because I could use it as a weapon. It was like getting arrested.”

Sleepy-eyed and petite, Bolu was the youngest person in the rehabilitation facility. One by one, his three roommates trooped in and sat on their own beds. One of them was on his fourth

IMAGE: A patient is chained to a pillar in the NDLEA rehab center in Jos.

HEALTH

stay in rehab; another had hallucinations brought on by toxic psychosis. Bolu had barely taken all this in, when he noticed the entrance to the room had a barred metal door. “They locked us in the room.”

Senior military officials have said that stashes of codeine and tramadol recovered from Islamist militants like Boko Haram often outnumber bullets found in their hideouts. Aid workers say it is circulating in refugee camps. College students use it as an aphrodisiac. In the rural north of the country, subsistence farmers say it keeps them going for hours on end, a phrase echoed by sex workers in southern urban centers.

In theory, Bolu was fortunate to fall onto the state’s radar, but studies show that the kind of sudden-withdrawal detox offered by the NDLEA doesn’t work very well to treat addiction and in fact may set people up for tragic outcomes if support isn’t continuous. It takes around two years for the brain to adjust to coming off opioids, but those coming out of detox have a lowered tolerance, meaning relapses are potentially fatal. Instead, the US federal government recommends medication-assisted treatment over detox. In Nigeria, with the state unable to provide a support network, it’s falling on local communities to pick up the pieces. Many people with addiction turn to churches and mosques instead. The country’s few clinics weren’t capable of stemming the tide of addiction. “Codeine affects memory. So [these kids] can’t continue work, they can’t go back to school. And even when they learn some skills, they can’t concentrate, so they give up on contributing to society.

Some of them will die.”

Nashru, a stocky, brooding man in his forties, sat beneath a plastic-covered

wooden shack that served as a storefront, and watched through hooded eyes as a steady stream of customers came to score in Apo Park in Abuja. Amid the scrubs and trash of Apo Park, drug dealers like Nashru had carved out their little territories. The tools of his trade were spread out on the bench in front of him: tins of pills, dozens of bottles of codeine. It is here that Nigeria’s poorest people with addiction come to get their fix. At less than Two hundred Naira, codeine is an escape cheaper than alcohol.

“Codeine Crazy.” And “Dirty Sprite”, “Dirty Sprite” features the astronaut rapping rather consciously about the effects of purple drank. “Pour up a 3 or 4, my Sprite so dirty that drink will kill you.’” Soulja Boy The codeine-inspired “Molly With That Lean” finds Soulja surfing effortlessly over the beat, using his syrupy tone to add new melody to the song. When A$AP Rocky released “Purple Swag” on YouTube in 2011, the video instantly went viral. The Harlem rapper’s trademark trippy flow, largely influenced

IMAGE: Drug dealers in Apo Park in Abuja. Emin Ozmen / Magnum Photos

POP Culture Driving Codeine Craze America There’s a growing backlash in hip-hop against a drug that’s been celebrated in song for many years. In pop culture Codeine is known as lean, sizzurp, purple drank and hi-tech (among other names) the drug-fueled drink of Promethazine Codeine cough syrup mixed with soda or candy has been referenced in over 30% of rap songs that reached the top ten of Americas Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2017 – including Migos “Bad and Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert and Future’s “Mask Off.” Although its lyrical references have now reached a broader population, lean culture can be traced back decades to Houston. Lean burst onto the music scene through the prolific chopped and screwed movement in the ‘80s and ‘90s, pioneered by DJ Screw. It then trickled down to popular radio hits most notably with Lil Wayne.

American artist Future has a lot of songs about lean, His Monster mixtape was loaded with brilliant songs, and among the many standouts were the outro track,

by Houston, quickly drew the attention of millions.

It’s been rumored to have caused several high-profile deaths and continues to be blamed for making regular users extremely sick. Chicago rapper Fredo Santana was trying to kick an addiction to sizzurp in the weeks and months before he tragically died at the age of 27 in January last year. His death came not too long after emo rapper Lil Peep died from drugs and sizzurp in his system. Those high-profile deaths shattered the hip-hop community, but on the flipside, they have also signaled to fans and other artists that it’s time to put down their cups.

Much of the sizzurp backlash goes back to reports of Lil Wayne falling ill from the drink. He’s had three public episodes including seizures and hospital visits over the past six years. His latest episode was early this year. Many rappers, like Wayne, are learning about lean the hard way, through repeated hospital visits and damage done to their organs. Rappers like G Herbo and Boosie have detailed their harrowing plight trying to wean themselves off sizzurp too. South Side Chicago rapper Famous Dex, who has claimed to spend six figures on his lean 59

addiction, also was rushed to the hospital in November. Lean is iconic stuff in the rap community, tearing down the image of it being cool could take a lot of work.

The good thing, though, is that a lot of influential hip-hop artists are taking the first steps to finally do that.

Nigeria Sipping purple drank or lean, has spread across the country and around the world since originating in Houston, Texas.

Culturally, it thrives in hip-hop and it is no surprise that Nigeria arguable the best music industry in Africa has swiftly adopted this culture from their American colleagues. Nigerian musicians and their music have been mentioned with remarkable frequency in the same sentence as codeine and the budding problem of drug abuse. Earlier this year, the lyrics and subject matter of Olamide’s “Science Student” were brought into focus as the indigenous rapper scored yet another wildly popular street hit. While the song built on the shaku-shaku sound, lyrics like “There are no herbs, there are no shrubs; they’ve made “Omi Gutter”, they are science students” had many listeners and commentators confused as to whether Olamide, in his infinite street saviour mercies, was endorsing or decrying drug use. That was why many people were not surprised when the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation banned the song.

For all the conversations that followed, Olamide’s Science Student was not the first song to tether so close to the subject of codeine drug abuse, and it was certainly not the last. After a number of artistes had dropped a slew of street hits leveraging on the popularity of shaku-shaku, Olamide’s brother and disc jockey, DJ Enimoney released his own contribution to the fold, a delightfully danceable posse cut unfortunately titled “(Codeine) Diet”.

Despite rising to the top of charts, the song has been criticized for its blatant appraisal of codeine use. On the hook, Slimcase asks listeners to slow down, spend lavishly and receive money “on a codeine diet” before calling the names of the featured artistes.

As if to drive the point home, in the visuals for the song, DJ Enimoney is seen holding one of the small brown bottles in which codeine-infused cough syrup is often sold. The word “DIET” is written near the top of the bottle, and near the bottom, you may notice, in much smaller fonts, the message “Say No to Drugs”. It’s obvious which one first grabs the viewer’s 60

attention. It’s nearly illegal to hold a party in Lagos or most Nigerian cities for that matter without playing “Diet”. While the nearly everyone (including the NBC) has basically ignored the song’s theme, there was widespread disappointment when Tiwa Savage, an artiste adored by thousands of young girls, chose to perform the song at the recently held 12th edition of Nigeria’s biggest music awards, the Headies.

The problem has also reached into Nigeria’s movie industry, with Nollywood actresses such as Toyin Aimakhu admitting

to drug abuse. “I was losing touch with things that used to work for me because I was involved with negative habits like drugs, smoking, codeine. Codeine is very bad, it’s very bad. All these things were empowering my negative energy,” Toyin Aimakhu, star of “Love is in the Hair”, admitted. Considering the influence that Nigerian musicians enjoy among fans who are often so eager to emulate them, it wouldn’t be out of place to say that Nigerian musicians have played a role in the drug crisis and now more than ever, they need to take responsibility.

HEALTH

Corruption At Major Drug Makers In Sweet Sweet Codeine, an investigative documentary by the BBC, reporters secretly film staff of three major pharmaceutical companies offering to sell thousands of codeine-based cough syrup bottles in illicit deals. The complicity of these companies which produce cough syrups locally helps explain the widespread availability of the drugs despite a government ban on over-the-counter sales.

The documentary is the first for BBC’s Africa Eye, a new TV investigations strand, the latest in BBC’s expansion across Africa. With local pharmaceutical production unregulated by government, cough syrups are being produced on an industrial scale. While drug makers are legally bound to only supply to pharmacies, which in turn sell to patients with prescriptions, corrupt staff are taking advantage of the high demand on the black market and running parallel drug syndicates.

The documentary revealed how BBC’s Ruona Meyer and her team unraveled the underground trade and highlighted how cough syrup was being sold by representatives of three major pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria. One of the representatives with Emzor Pharmaceutical boasted in the documentary that he could sell 1 million cartons of codeine containing cough syrup a week.

This damning revelation quickly had the company distancing itself from the sales executive, who has since been fired.

Meyer’s reason for investigating this issue was hinged partly on her brother’s experience as a codeine addict. This piece of exceptional investigative journalism has stirred up vigorous debate in the country about the codeine crisis, which, although evident for years in some parts of Northern Nigeria, has not received the priority it deserves. The discussion has been particularly virulent on social media, and people did not hold back their feelings about the crisis.

In reaction to the release of the BBC video, the Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole, on May 1, 2018 announced that the Nigerian government had banned the issuance of permits for the importation of codeine. In addition to the ban, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) shortly afterwards announced the shut down of the three pharmaceutical companies indicted in the BBC video for their alleged involvement in codeine syrup black market sales; Emzor Phar-

maceuticals Industry Limited, Peace Standard Pharmaceuticals Limited, and Bioraj Pharmaceuticals Limited. Emzor has since come out on social media to say that NAFDAC has only temporarily sealed one of its production sites, the liquid line. Wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, waded into the conversation after sharing the BBC’s six-minute clip on her Instagram page. She wrote: “I have noted with alarm the exponential rise of drug abuse in our country, especially in the north. As a parent, I am deeply saddened by this fact, it is important that we interrupt the trend and encourage our children to stay drug-free”. I call on all security agencies, lawmakers, judiciary, drug manufacturers, civil society, regulators, teachers, parents, neighbors and YOU to take this as a personal war and halt the menace.”

Government Ban Nigeria’s government made little progress in curbing the problem. A ban on over the counter sales hardly dented the problem as unregulated production and illicit trade ensure that the drug remains available. It’s unlikely that the ban on sales without prescriptions has been implemented at all of the thousands of drug stores across the country. Beyond attempting to stop over the counter sales without prescriptions, the government had been slow to act until the ban on May 1 earlier this year. Indeed a committee was set up in January to look into codeine abuse but its findings and recommendation, initially expected six weeks later, have not been published by the health ministry.

The ban on codeine by the federal government has sparked mixed reactions across the country. While some Nigerians believe the ban is a welcome development, others, however call for a thorough investigation into the “illegal” production as well as distribution of the product. The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has said the ban on importation of codeine, as active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations was not an outright solution to solving the problem of drug abuse in the country.

Dr. Albert Kelong Alkali, National Chairman of the ACPN, who called for a holistic approach in tackling problem of drug abuse, asserted that adopting a multisectorial approach involving the National Agency for Food and Drug

Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other drug control regulators would ensure drug tracking from the manufacturers to the end users.

Reacting to the ban, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Lanre Tejuoso (APC, Ogun Central), stressed the need to address the issue of open drug markets, which is responsible for unwholesome drug distribution. Can you imagine? 3 million bottles of codeine consumed in Kano & Jigawa alone? Major problem,” he tweeted via his official twitter handle. Ben Murray-Bruce was, however, said the federal government should ban bad governance in place of the product. He blamed the government (himself inclusive) of the influence of codeine on Nigerians. “Instead of banning codeine, Nigeria should ban the bad governance that makes young people so desperate that they have nothing to look forward to in life. “We can’t keep insulting them for being uneducated when we don’t build schools or as lazy when we don’t provide jobs for them,” he tweeted.

Adeyemi Oluwatosin, editor-in-chief of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, says the best way to end drug addiction in Nigeria is by finally adopting the national drug distribution guidelines—a policy to regulate the distribution of drugs and eliminate open drug markets as well fake drugs. Five years after it was first proposed however, the policy remains unimplemented. As for Mohammed, Isa Mohammed, a Kano-based pharmacist, an outright ban alone will only be a temporary fix if government does not take on the much tougher problem of regulation. Addicts, he says, will likely turn to abusing other drugs, some with worse effects. “Banning codeine is not the issue, regulation of drugs is what we need,” he says. “If we’re not regulating, then we’re just wasting our time and people will keep dying.”

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the Nigeria Representative of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (NIROPHARM) blamed weak regulatory control and extremely poor funding of regulatory agencies for the ongoing drug abuse crisis in the country. Immediate Past President of PSN and member of the Executive Council of the Society, Olumide Akintayo, said that the nationwide banning of codeine and the shutdown of Emzor and other indicted pharmaceutical companies is not the best solution to the crisis.

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Why Millennials Might Reject Buhari

In Nigeria, pundits remain fixated on traditional party divides, and not on the deeper demographic changes that are underway. Today’s millennial generation, with its members’ future-oriented perspective will soon dominate Nigeria politics, and the country will become increasingly liberal and economically just as a result.

W

hen President Muhammadu Buhari told members of his political party that he will be seeking another term in office, he said something Nigerian millennials are sick and tired of hearing.

“The president said he was responding to the clamor by Nigerians for him to re-contest in 2019”, Garba Shehu, the president’s media aide, said in a brief statement. A feeling of deja vu swept through millenials when they first read Shehu’s statement. No Nigerian president in living memory has become president because he wanted the job so badly. They have always been “forced” or cajoled into running for office.

Throughout Nigeria’s history, military coups foisted the most “unwilling” leaders on the people. From Major General Aguiyi Ironsi to civilian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerians had the feeling that their presidents were never ready for the job until power brokers sitting in lush apartments decided to hand them the job. After a hail of bullets met Murtala Mohammed in 1976, in stepped an unprepared General Olusegun Obasanjo who wasted no time handing over to democratically elected Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Shagari was kicked out by another military coup and the ultimate beneficiary was General Muhammadu Buhari who was asked to become presi62

dent by the military elite of the day. Then He wasn’t ready for the job either.

Even with the failed third term agenda of President Olusegun Obasanjo, which is till date the greatest threat to Nigeria’s democratic system by a civilian government. It was still the same story, some of his close associates and inner caucus, Chief Olabode George, the former Deputy National chairman of PDP and one of the major proponents of third term agenda stated “Nigeria is today at a critical point which requires a tested hand and that it would be too risky to put an aircraft on auto – pilot when it had not reached cruising level’ Before this unruly statement the then National chairman of PDP Dr. Ahmadu Ali had in support of the evil plot in an interview argued that “You don’t change a gown when it is not dirty” just as he averred in Asaba that “the third term agenda will ensure the continuity of governance and the improvement in the socio-economic qualities of life in Nigeria”. The key actors within the economic sector particularly the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) probably because of the benefit accruing to them from the economic policies of the administration that has impoverished many Nigerians lent their support and pledged to finance it saying “it was the will of the people”.

Recently, Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje swore that if Buhari refused to seek for a second term, he would be sued. “APC Governors want Mr. President to continue”, Ganduje declared.

“I am happy that it is not the president that said he wants to continue, it is the people that are saying continue. But Mr. President has not made up his mind yet.

Governor Nasir Elrufai of Kaduna spent all of 2017 and 2018 telling anyone who cares to listen that Buhari is the choice of the Governors ahead of another election season in 2019. Who are the people always forcing a president to contest for an election? Is it the masses that feel the pain of bad leadership or a cabal of the same age group and political class?

Key Differences in the politics of the young and old The key political divide in the Nigeria is not between parties or states; it is between generations. The millennial generation (those aged 18-35) is heavily against President Buhari and will form the backbone of resistance to his policies.

Older Nigerians are divided, but Buhari’s base lies among those above the age of 50. On issue after issue, younger voters seem to reject Buhari, viewing him as a politician of the past, not the future. Of course, these are averages, not absolutes.

Yet the numbers confirm the generational

ECONOMY

divide. According to our survey, Buhari received 49% of the votes of those 50 and older, 30% of those 30-44, and just 21% of voters 18-29. In our survey, 31% of millennials identified as liberals, compared with 21% of baby boomers (aged 50-68 in the survey) and only 18% of the silent generation (69 and above). The point is not that today’s young liberals will become tomorrow’s older conservatives. The millennial generation is far more liberal than the baby boomers and silent generation were in their younger years. They are also decidedly less partisan, and will support politicians who address their values and needs, including third-party aspirants.

There are at least three big differences in the politics of the young and old.

First, the young are more socially liberal than the older generations. For them, Nigeria’s growing tribal, religious, and sexual plurality is no big deal. A diverse society of youths, who share the same pain from bad leadership, is the country they’ve always known, not some dramatic change from the past. They accept tribal, religious and gender categories –Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Edo, Efik e.t.c.; Christian or Muslim; as well as lesbian, gay, trans, bi, inter, pan, and others that were essentially taboo for – or unknown to their grandparents’ (Buhari’s) generation.

The rise of social media has brought a lot of acceptance as openly tribal and religious sentiments are frowned upon; gay celebrities and skits done by cross dressers continue to garner followership on social media.

Second, the young are facing the unprecedented economic challenges of the information revolution. They are entering the labor market at a time when market returns are rapidly shifting toward capital (robots, artificial intelligence, and smart machines generally) and away from labor.

There is a yearning by the milllenials for inclusion in government because they feel they are aware and better placed to build policies for the rapidly changing technological world.

Buhari is peddling an increase in corporate taxes and has continued with the trend of the past: an over bloated government, exceptionally high recurrent expenditure, and during the recession and post recession Buhari has continued to borrow and print money squarely to pay salaries and pensions of the older generation as against actionable policies to reduce the rising unemployment among

the millennials. Buhari’s policies would further benefit the elderly rich (who are amply represented in his cabinet), at the expense of larger budget deficits that further burden the young. Indeed, the young need the opposite policy: lower taxes on the wealth of SME’s, cut in recurrent expenditures and a resultant increase in capital expenditures in order to finance post-secondary education, job training, energy infrastructure, and other investments in Nigeria’s future.

Third, compared to their parents and grandparents, the young are much more aware of the dangers of corruption.

While Buhari is enticing Nigerians with his fight against corruption, Nigerians are yet to see any “A-list” looter go to jail especially from the ruling party. He is also arguably guilty of the same practices

he condemned from previous governments like an unnecessarily high budgetary allocation to the presidential Villa, insecurity by herdsmen, fuel subsidy and a poor handling of the economy. There have also been several cases of corruption within his cabinet, which was brought to the knowledge of Buhari but he reportedly turned a blind eye.

The young will have none of this; they seek better economic practices and will fight against the destruction of the economy that they and their own children will inherit. Part of the generational divide over corruption is due to the sheer ignorance of many older Nigerians, about corruption itself and its causes.

Older Nigerians didn’t feel the results of corruption nor learn about it in school.

That is why they are ready to put their own short-term financial interests ahead of the dire threats to their grandchildren’s

generation.

Buhari’s economic policies are geared to this older born Nigerians. He favors aggressive borrowing, which would burden the young with higher debt. He is indifferent to the $18.9 billion overhang of debt. The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, defended the country’s current N21.7 trillion debt profile, saying the federal government was borrowing to build key national assets for economic growth.

Mrs. Adeosun said in Abuja: the Muhammadu Buhari administration was not worried with the high debt stock contrary to criticisms and insinuations that the borrowings may lead the country back into another debt trap. On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, the Director General of the Debt Management Offices (DMO), Patience Oniha, put latest figures of the

country’s public debt as at December 31, 2017 at N21.7 trillion. Mrs. Oniha said the figure was composed of External Debt stock of 26.64 percent, up from 20.04 percent in 2016.

He is also reprising the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative of the African Union (AU) debate over free trade, rather than facing the far more important twenty-first-century jobs challenge posed by EV Vehicles, power, robotics and diversification. And like previous presidents he is obsessed with squeezing a few more years of profit out of Nigeria’s oil, and gas reserves at the cost of a future economic catastrophe.

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Is Age A Factor?

One might attribute Buhari’s mindset to his age. At 75, Buhari is one of the oldest people ever to become president. In his now famous “Special Press Statement,” former President Obasanjo in what has now become a perennial withdrawal of support laid out a case for why he thought President Buhari should not seek re-election. The statement was a stinging indictment of the presidents’ handling of the economy; the unending ethnic clashes between herdsmen and farmers, and allegations of nepotism among other things. But as with most people calling for Buhari not to seek re-election, the former President appeared to tie the performance or lack thereof to his age and ailment for which he sought treatment.

He appealed to the president to “consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age”.

While there is near unanimous agreement that more youth participation in politics and government would give the nation a much needed “shot in the arm”, the facts call into question the undergirding theory that age adversely affects governance and also the idea that Nigeria’s problems stem from the age of its elected leaders.

On October 1, 1963, following the adoption of the new constitution Sir Tafawa Balewa aged 51, became the first post-independence Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Since then, Nigeria has had 12 heads of state, with two of them serving multiple non-consecutive terms. While they’ve been almost evenly split between democratically elected governments and military regimes, all of them except for the current president their ages are capped at 65 at their time of accession. Consider that the average age of accession for Nigerian leaders is about 49 years old. That number goes up to 58 years if you count only the democratically elected leaders, which you would have to do with other non-democratic nations for equivalence. While that number isn’t exactly the prime of physical activity, it is in line with the averages of the so-called developed world we clamor to emulate. In the United States, the number is about 55 years old including its current president who was sworn in at 70 years.

In the UK, that number is just over 53, including the current Prime Minister who took over at 60. President Xi Jinping of China is 64, Michel Temer of Brazil is 77, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia is 63 and the leader of perhaps 64

the most innovative country in the last 30 years - Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE, is 69 years old and was 56 when he ascended the throne. So the claims that age is the primary culprit for Nigeria’s development struggles are faulty at best. Age is hardly the sole or even the main factor here.

The young are enchanted with Pope Francis, 80, because he puts their concerns whether about poverty, employment difficulties, or sex and marriage related issues within a moral framework, rather than dismissing them with the crass cynicism of Buhari and his ilk. The main issue here is mindset and political orientation, not chronological age. Buhari is utterly out of touch with the real challenges facing the young generation as they grapple with new technologies, shifting labor markets, and crushing debt.

The Recession and several key events have arguably pushed young Nigerians even further. Young people were uniquely punished by the recession and are rightfully angry. They suffered higher unemployment than any other group during the downturn, and their wages fell more than any other group after it concluded. They are revolting, not just because they are disappointed and feel poor, but also because they feel gutted by great expectations. They remember the 1990s economy. They remember the “Hope and Change” stickers of President Buhari. They also recall stalled growth in the 2000s. They feel the embarrassment of a bloated Nigerian exceptionalism.

They rue Buhari’s failed promise to usher in a new age of a corrupt free government, and bemoan the broken social contract around the University, which no

longer functions as an automatic elevator to middle-class comforts.

Tech Strategies Banks and Credit Unions Must Implement Immediately The 2018 Retail Banking Trends and Predictions report provides an excellent analysis of what the industry believes will occur in 2018. But, what do banks and credit unions need to do immediately to benefit from upcoming digital technology trends?

By Jim Marous

T

he Digital Banking Report surveyed a crowdsourced panel of global financial services leaders. The industry panel includes banks, credit unions and solution providers (suppliers) worldwide to determine the prioritization of these trends). By collecting insights from more than 100 global leading influencers, ranking the trends using market data, and including additional insights about the future of banking, we have created the most comprehensive analysis in the industry. We asked the leaders for their thoughts on the trends and predictions affecting retail banks and credit unions. Ten major industry trends rose to the top, with three trends being paramount in the eyes of the research participants. But getting a perspective on the future is only valuable if organizations know what action they need to take. From improving the customer journey, to building a seamless integration of channels and/or using data analytics to know more about each customer or member, the financial impact of any trend is determined by the specific action taken in the marketplace to prepare or react to industry trends. Below are the top trends identified in the Digital Banking Report.

Improve the Consumer Experience An optimal consumer journey makes every step and touch point in the buying cycle streamlined, efficient, consistent and personalized from the consumer perspective. Financial institutions need to re-imagine their core journeys from front to back by addressing key customer pain points and identifying new opportunities to delight customers in differentiated ways. Digital channels and transforming the back office to a digital flow is at the core of improving the customer journey in the future.

Immediate Strategies:Create an account opening process that allows a customer or member to open an account digitally without needing to enter a branch. Build a real-time alert process that goes beyond post-event notifications to include recommendations for future actions. Redesign your mobile and online banking platforms, removing steps that create friction. Rethink back-office process flows and documentation from a ‘digital bank’ perspective.

Expand Uses of Data and Analytics Despite the vast amount of data available and the industry’s formidable resources, most banks and credit unions are still far from realizing big data’s full potential. This gap in capabilities is caused by competing priorities, the complexity of knowing what data to use and how to collect the insight as well as the lack of a coordinated vision. Going forward, the use of AI, machine learning and other advanced analytic tools will provide opportunities for greater personalization and channel optimization.

Data and analytics is at the core of every trend expected in 2018.

Immediate Strategies: Break down the barriers within your organization that perpetuate data silos. Only after silos are elimi65

nated can advanced analytics be the most effective. Establish a data analytics function or partner with an outside organization to provide help in improving the actionability of your data.

Replace timed marketing ‘programs’ with ongoing marketing ‘processes,’ leveraging real-time data to take advantage of immediate opportunities. Test the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) beyond risk and fraud analysis, including offer generation and bundling of services.

Support Multi-Channel Delivery The use of advanced analytics provides an opportunity for an optichannel™ experience, where the best channel is based on the consumer’s needs and preferred channel. So, rather than offering all channels for a specific solution, big data will enable an organization to point the consumer to the channel that will provide the most personalized experience. As multichannel relates to a better experience, the consumer expects to be able to move from channel to channel without a ‘restart’ and does not expect to be ‘forced’ to use a physical channel to complete a process.

Immediate Strategies: Allow customers and members to stop any process (such as new account opening or applications) and restart on another channel without retracing footsteps. Expand traditional marketing to include all digital channels including SEO, social media, influencer and content marketing, videos, SEM, retargeting, mobile banking app, etc. Implement a teaching platform within branches that assists visitors with the use of digital technology.

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Embrace Open Banking With the formal introduction of PSD2 in Europe and greater recognition of the power of open banking, the use of open APIs remains a top priority and trend in 2018. The use of open APIs provides the opportunity for combinations of products and services beyond traditional banking. If executed well, traditional financial services organizations can be at the center of a consumer’s daily life. Otherwise, a traditional banking organization may be relegated to be simply a provider of services for other firms.

Immediate Strategies: Review existing data privacy mandates and potential changes, determining the risk/benefit appetite for new marketplace opportunities. Explore data-sharing possibility with fintech and non-financial services firms to be prepared for imminent changes. Build an API strategy for both third-party data access and potential service offerings outside traditional banking ecosystem.

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Build Fintech Partnerships Continuing a trend that emerged in 2016, legacy organizations will continue to leverage the advantages of scale, stability, trust, experience in navigating regulations and the access to significant capital as they look for viable fintech partners. Conversely, fintech firms will leverage their agility, innovation culture and technological expertise that legacy organizations seek, with the resultant partnerships benefiting the end consumer. With the expansion of data, analytics and open banking, the evidence of new banking + fintech partnerships will expand greatly in 2018.

Immediate Strategies: Foster a top-down culture of innovation, testing and understanding the digital consumer. Investigate partnerships and/or collaboration with fintech firms for products and processes not currently possible within the banking organization. Replace all or a portion of legacy systems, integrating new technologies while embracing an agile IT culture. This action step has been put on the back burner for years, which is hurting many organizations. Consider having an online lender power the organization’s online loan application, to using an online lender’s credit model to better underwrite and service bank loan applications.

Upgrade Digital Payment Capabilities The use of mobile payments continues to be less than expected, illustrating the challenges in changing consumer behavior when merchants and issuers can’t deliver a strong value proposition.

While mobile payments at the POS level may continue to lag in 2018, P2P transactions will continue to skyrocket as new entrants like Zelle and current players like Venmo and Square continue to gain momentum.

Manage Compliance and Regulations The financial services regulatory environment continues to be highly uncertain and often has conflicting regulations. In addition to causing a huge increase in the costs of compliance, they have also impacted many organizations’ business models.

In 2018, it is expected that governmental agencies will continue to greatly lag consumer demands, but that both traditional and fintech organizations will move forward with a ‘beg for forgiveness’, rather than ‘asking for permission’ mentality.

Immediate Strategies: Simplify internal and external processes and procedures. Use AI, digital technology, robotics, etc. to automate monotonous processes, freeing your team to focus on strategy and tasks that demand human intellect and judgment.

Establish a program of internal training and guidance on compliance obligations, strategies and responses. Informing staff of all issues regarding compliance is the optimal first line of defense. Develop an updated and standardized know your customer (KYC) processes for customer onboarding. Embed this process in all bank systems, applying technology across the entire customer life cycle.

Immediate Strategies: Build a payments onboarding and ongoing communications process for the sign-up and usage of digital payments products. The most effective channels for this expansion of relationship is email and SMS texts. Develop a mobile wallet and P2P payments strategy and begin implementation in 2018.

P2P payment products are the new ‘must have’ service that digital consumers demand of their financial institution. Proactively address consumer concern around privacy and security. This includes both communications as well as new functionality such as biometric authentication.

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Explore Advanced Technologies As quickly as past technologies have become the norm, a new wave of emerging technologies will combine digital technologies and the power of data to set new standards. These ‘essential eight’ technologies include: The Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, 3-D Printing, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Drones and Blockchain.

Obviously, the prioritization and investment in each of these technologies will vary based on the industry, business model and strategic goals of each organization. For instance, while the marketplace, as a whole does not foresee investing much in blockchain technology, the financial services industry ranks this as a higher priority.

Tremendous momentum also surrounds the potential of using voice-first digital assistants in the banking industry. This will be exciting in 2018 as more firms allow consumers to perform basic transactions on their Alexa, Siri, Google Home or Apple Pod device.

Immediate Strategies: Develop a rigorous approach to emerging technology that includes a formal framework of listening to those on the bleeding edge, learning the true impact of these technologies, sharing results from pilot projects, and quickly scaling by implementing them throughout the enterprise. Build an IoT plan starting with devices such as wearables and home devices that will impact consumers more and more over the next three to five years. Engage with outside organizations to implement a branded voice-first strategy.

While the beginning point will most likely be the support of voice devices (Alexa, Siri, Google Home), expanded usage options need to be considered.

Compete With New Challengers The term “challenger bank” is widely used to describe a banking organization, started from the ground up and built without relying on another banking firm for back office support. While very common in the UK, this breed of bank has not yet emerged in the US due to regulatory confusion. With the advent of PSD2 and open banking, we expect most of the challenger bank activity to be in Europe, with the impact of larger tech firms (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Tencent and Alibaba) becoming much more of a threat to traditional banking models.

Immediate Strategies: Consider a niche strategy (or strategies) that can leverage internal insights and scale that is not possible with most fintech organizations. Remember that the ‘customer experience’ is the differentiator that many challenger banks are competing on. Develop a buy/collaborate strategy that can help diffuse the challenger bank advantage. Many banking organizations are partnering with innovative players to combine competitive advantages. Downsize bricks and mortar footprint to allow for improved internal economies and to focus more resources on digital capabilities.

Preparing for the Future of Banking Consumer needs and behaviors are pushing financial organizations to rethink their strategies. Consumers expect banks and credit unions to offer more than simple transaction processing, and instead become financial and even technology advisors.

Despite the lack of overwhelming trust in financial institutions, most consumers believe banks and credit unions are secure, and this is a strategic advantage that should not be minimized or taken for granted. While most consumers do not consider bank branches to be an irrelevant delivery channel, they expect them to be more efficient through digital technology that will improve the customer experience.

Consumers expect new innovations that will serve them in a more personalized and efficient manner, and also want a dynamic blend of digital and human service. Contactless payments, P2P and digital wallets are already a trend that will continue in 2018. Biometrics will also play a more important role in the future.

There are definitely a vast array of priorities and ‘moving parts’ as we go into 2018 and beyond. The Digital Banking Report, 2018 Retail Banking Trends and Predictions, illustrates that those organizations that keep their customers happy and secure, and become almost ‘invisible’ from a friction perspective will be the ultimate winners.

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Millennials bear the brunt of Generation Y’s economic mismanagement Nigerian Millennials one of the worst-hit financially Globally

This article aims to bring a whole new meaning to every Baby Boomer’s chastising, “When I was your age...” speech. Earlier this year, #LazyNigerianYouths trended on social media, as a result of the speech made by Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari during the Commonwealth Business Forum in London. Many took to their social media profiles to react but beyond this, millennials’ Money Troubles Are Worse Than You Think. It’s not about Millennials’ culture or work ethic. Millennials aren’t employed at lower rates because they’re lazy or bad at math; they’re the most educated generation ever. But they’re also the first generation to face the new demands for education and skill — and a bad economy, a much higher cliff to climb than previous generations.

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igerian Millennials who were born from the early 1980s until around the turn of the new millennium are perceived as having changed the world’s understanding of Africa, bringing it from a ‘dark continent’ to ‘Africa rising’. They are often thought of as mobile, connected, and tech-savvy and founders of tech startups. But Baby Boomers, during the same life stage as today’s Millennials, owned twice the value of assets and earned a 20% higher salary. Nigerians millennial generation has suffered one of the biggest reversals in fortune than their West African counterparts in most other underdeveloped and developing economies, according to a study. A research report from Resolution foundation paints a gloomy picture for all young adults across the developing world. It highlights how incomes are depressed; jobs scarce and home ownership is slumping for the millennial generation compared with the baby boomers that preceded them. It also reveals that on many measures apart from unemployment Nigerian millennials have suffered a more significant decline than their counterparts. “The scale of the pay squeeze for those aged under 30 is surpassed only by Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Uganda

and Ethiopia which ranks as the poorest countries in 2018 in Africa based on their GDP. Nigeria ranks no 20 on the list.

GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of the standard of living of a given country, as it reflects the average wealth of each person residing in a country. Focus Economics made a list of forecasts for GDP per capita from 2018 to 2022 for 127 countries to get an idea of what countries currently have the poorest economies and which might be making a leap toward becoming wealthier in the coming years. The projections used

in this study are Consensus Forecasts based on the individual forecasts of over 900 world-renowned investment banks, economic think tanks and professional economic forecasting firms.

Nigeria currently ranks as one of the poorest nations in the world where issues such as Democratic-authoritarian regimes, weak financial institutions, inadequate infrastructure and corruption deter foreign investment despite the fact that the country is immensely rich in natural resources and have a young, growing population.

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Misery Index As Steve Hanke, an economists puts it, the human condition inhibits a vast continuum between “happy” and “miserable.” When it comes to economics, misery tends to stem from high inflation and high unemployment. The best way to ensure happiness is to grow economically, but that is not easy with high inflation and unemployment. The misery index is an economic indicator calculated by simply adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. Despite its rather simple calculation, it is useful in determining how the average citizen in a given country is doing, as higher rates of unemployment and inflation are associated with increased socioeconomic issues for a country.

Venezuela is the most miserable economy in 2018. With inflation projected to come in close to 2000% in 2018. Venezuela’s economic woes have plagued them for years now with sluggish oil prices having played a large part in the country’s demise, as crude oil is the country’s only significant export just like Nigeria. DR Congo and Yemen come in as the second and third most miserable countries in 2018, both countries having shot up into the top 3 from 22nd and 18th respectively in 2016. In the DR Congo, inflation remains at multi-year highs and although export earnings are set to increase, GDP growth will remain subdued and economic conditions challenging. The Central Bank warned that if the government decides to ease ongoing austerity measures and loosen monetary conditions, this could cause the Congolese franc to depreciate further, leading inflation to shoot up and increasing economic hardships in the population as a result.

In war torn Yemen the situation is spiraling out of control. The economy has been torn to shreds by the civil war, which has caused agricultural and hydrocarbon production to screech to a halt and fiscal revenues to plummet, while cholera epidemic threatens to spread rapidly. In Argentina monetary authorities continue to attempt to coral the stubbornly high inflation rate, however, with little success.

Nonetheless, it is projected to come down to under 20% in 2018 for the first time in 5 years. Egypt has suffered from high inflation for the last year and change due to a variety of factors including the government’s decision to float the pound in November 2016 to end a foreign exchange shortage, which was crippling business activity a similar problem that led to the devaluation of the Naira in 70

2016, as well as government subsidy cuts for fuel and electricity last summer. However, inflation is beginning to decrease as the effects from the summer’s reforms subside along with tight monetary conditions, which are expected to stay in place for the foreseeable future. The unemployment rate has also fallen substantially over the last 12 months, which is expected to continue. Both economies are moving in the right direction, with Argentina projected to be out of the top 10 come 2019.

Nigeria Five years ago, the provisional report of the 2013 budget Implementation showed that N3.5trillion was federal government’s total revenue from oil, taxes and other sources, while recurrent expenditure bill was N3.6trillion. In plain language, the Nigerian government spent the entire oil and non-oil revenue running government and paying salaries when oil price was above $100 per barrel. What of capital budget? How has it been funded? Borrowing and more borrowing? Nigeria had an actual deficit

of N1.1trillion in 2013, which is 22% of the entire budget. To finance the deficit and fund capital expenditure, a total of N781billion was borrowed from local and international lenders, N223.93billion was borrowed from special accounts (Ecology, Stabilization and Natural Resources Account), and N195billion as federal government share of stabilization accounts. In 2015 Nigeria’s federal government borrowed 473 billion naira to meet up with recurrent expenditure including paying of salaries, which principally shielded the older generations from the economic woes of the Nigerian economy. According to the former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, “We have serious challenges, the borrowed money has been spent to cover overhead, including salaries, the minister said.

Lawmakers in Africa’s biggest economy and oil producer passed a 4.49 trillion naira ($23 billion) budget for 2015, 3.2 percent lower than 2014 spending plans.

“As a result of the 50 percent decline in oil revenues, the country has faced a difficult cash crunch … Out of the 882 billion naira budgetary provision for borrowing,

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the government has borrowed 473 billion naira to meet up with recurrent expenditure,” the finance ministry said.

For Nigeria, the reality of the crisis is that we cannot escape the repercussions of wasting years of boom in the era of high oil prices. Since 1973, Nigeria has experienced six circles oil booms, including 1981, 1990, 2002, 2008 and 2011. The country has been left in shock for these years of wastage without accurate explanation of how the oil booms were managed. Amid another boom, Nigeria’s external reserves stood at about $62.07billion as at September 2008. But the country was scraping to manage $37billion at a time when oil prices hovered above $100 per barrel for 41 consecutive months. In 2014 alone, oil marketers spent over $7 billion of foreign exchange on importation of petroleum products, resulting in the depletion of the country’s external reserves. The Committee said the demand may have been fueled by rent-seeking and subsidies.

Other countries then that understood the volatility of oil and the need to invest revenues from the wasting asset built a cushion in Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF. However, Nigeria managed to build a similar fund with a balance of $1.55billion, considered grossly inadequate, compared to Angola ($5billion), Algeria ($77billion), Saudi Arabia ($763billion), and Qatar ($1trillion).

The same situation is set to reoccur in 2018, as Nigeria’s Federal Government will spend huge part of its the appropriated N7.289 trillion revenue to service debts, pay salaries and run the everyday business of governance. This was contained in President Muhammadu Buhari’s budget speech presented to the Senate.

Government plans to spend N1.837 trillion (about 25.2 per cent of the total budget estimate) for debt-servicing and about 66 per cent (amounting to N4.81 trillion) as total recurrent expenditure.

Money needed to build physical infrastructure is put at N2.24 trillion, about 30.7 per cent of the budget estimate. The highest recurrent expenditure allocation of N482.37 billion goes to the Ministry of Interior. On recurrent expenditure, the President said that a significant portion of recurrent expenditure has been provided for payment of salaries and overheads in institutions that provide critical public services. With this, Nigeria will also be paying more on salaries of its over-bloated civil service. A cost which tends to gulp over 50 percent of its annu-

al budget since 1999. This concern was also raised by the President during 2018 budget presentation. “Personnel costs are projected to rise by 12 percent in 2018. Although we have made substantial savings by registering MDAs on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform....Furthermore, I have directed agencies not to embark on any fresh recruitment unless they have obtained all the requisite approvals. Any breach of this directive will be severely sanctioned, “said President Buhari.

One fact that may negate this concern, and establish status quo is the promised increase in number of political appointees by the Federal government. A move that shows the government is not really going to address the issue of over-sized civil service. Since 2015, the country’s budgets have all catered to just payment of salaries with less implementation of the capital components.

‘‘..In plain language, the Nigerian government spent the entire oil and non-oil revenue running government and paying salaries when oil price was above $100 per barrel.’’

If you add the numbers you can already see a problem. The federal government is continuing the trend of spending way more than it generates. If you deduct the expected debt servicing costs and other statutory transfers from the expected revenue, you are left with a number that is significantly less that non-debt recurrent expenditure. Meaning Nigeria is essentially still borrowing to pay salaries in 2018 and most probably going forward.

Unfortunately, there are also other inherent problems, for a couple of years, since about 2014, the revenue expectations in the budget have been very optimistic.

The 2014 budget projected revenues of N6.2tn but actual revenue was N5.5tn.

The 2015 budget projected revenues of N5.6tn but actual revenue was N3.99tn.

The 2016 budget projected revenues of N4.6tn but actual revenue was N2.9tn.

In short, not only have we been planning record deficits, but we have also been overestimating expected revenue, meaning the record deficits were even larger than the record deficits we projected. This is of course, assuming the budgets were

fully implemented.

Bank Data Data from the central bank shines a light on what continues to be a very worrying trend. Between December 2013, and April 2017, claims on the federal government by the central bank have risen from about N678bn to N6.5tn. That is trillion with a ‘T’. These numbers have been driven by overdrafts granted to the federal government by the central bank which stood at N2.76tn as at April and converted bonds which stood at N1.7tn also as at April. The central bank has been effectively financing part of the federal government by fiat. Or to put it bluntly, Nigeria has moved from borrowing money to pay salaries, to effectively printing money to pay salaries.

The Central bank financing of the federal government is rather worrying given the consequences. Credit to the federal government implies an expansion in money supply which theoretically leads to either higher inflation, or higher interest rates, or both which will be felt squarely by the largely unemployed millennials and those seeking loans for business from financial institutions. Given that inflation is still high at around 16.25 percent, and interest rates for the most credit worthy borrowers is approximately 17 percent, you have to wonder how long the central bank can keep up its financing of the federal government before things start to get out of control. Monetary policy is spiraling out of control, as it did in Zimbabwe and is currently doing in Venezuela ranked poorly in the list, if the current trajectory continues then the future is very worrying Nigerian States spending more than 3 times revenue generated on salaries Currently thirty states of the federation generate a cumulative internal revenue just enough to settle one-third of their workers’ salaries and allowances. Analysis of official data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that in 2017, the 30 states reviewed, minus Lagos, generated N515.61 billion internal revenue which is one-third of the N1.479 trillion they spend on workers remuneration annually. This remuneration covers the salaries, pensions and gratuities of workers in the states and local government areas. The precarious financial state of the states has made it very difficult for them to pay workers’ salaries, let alone executing any capital projects. Since 71

December 2013 only Lagos State has generated enough funds to stay afloat without recourse to federal funds. The situation remained unchanged even after a majority of them resorted to securing loans, apart from their IGR, federal allocation, as well as the tranches of bailout approved for them by President Muhammadu Buhari. Despite the states being unable to pay salaries of their workers, the state governors are finding it difficult to downsize the workforce for fear of backlash during elections.

States with highest wage bill Kano, the most populous state in the country, is leading the league of five states with the highest wage bill. It is spending N110.4bn annually to pay 160, 000 workers.

It is followed by the oil-rich Rivers which is spending N100.8bn on its 25, 000 workers every year. Benue State came third by spending N94.8bn annually as salaries for its 44,000 workers. Ogun state’s 40,000 workers take N92.4bn annually as salaries, while Delta state spends N84bn per annum on its 47,203 workers. States with lowest wage bill the five states with the least salary bill include Zamfara which spends N13.2bn annually on its 28,183 workers annually. Others are Kebbi, which spends N18bn every year on salary payment of its 19,133 workers; followed by Sokoto that spends N19.2bn on its 26, 000 workers. Enugu and Plateau spend N20.4bn each on their 50, 000 and 21, 000 workers, respectively.

States with highest workforce Apart from Kano and Lagos with the biggest population in the country and 160,000 and 100,433 workers respectively, most of the other states with huge workforce do not usually have a large population or strong economic base. States whose wage bill above N50bn but below N80bn per annum include Lagos (N72bn, 100,433 workers), Oyo (N63.6bn, 40,000 workers), Bauchi (N62.4bn, 92,000 workers), Cross River (N61.2bn, 22,000 workers), Katsina (N60bn, 39,775 workers), Akwa Ibom (N57.6bn, 50,000 workers), Bayelsa N54bn, 50, 000 workers), and Imo (N50.4bn, 40,000 workers). Those with below N50bn are: Ondo (N46.8bn, 76,000 workers), Jigawa (N43.2bn, 31,000 workers), Osun (N43.2bn, 35,000 workers), Yobe (N39.6bn, 84,000 workers), Adamawa (N32.4bn, 27,000 workers), Ekiti (N31.2bn, 50,000 workers), Kogi (N30bn, 13,080 workers), Nasarawa (N28.8bn, 25,000 workers). Others are Kaduna (N26.4bn, 100,000 workers), 72

Kwara (N28.8bn, 72,583 workers), Abia (N26.4bn, 22,103 workers), Niger (N25.2bn, 30,445 workers), and Taraba (N22.2bn, 16,500 workers).

Huge wage bill, low IGR Further analysis of the NBS data shows that about 22 states generated IGR below N10 billion in 2017, yet they maintain a huge workforce. The states with the least IGR are Ebonyi (N2.34bn), Borno (N2.68bn), Gombe (2.94bn), Ekiti (N2.99bn), Kebbi (N3.13bn), Yobe (N3.24bn), Nasarawa (N3.40bn), Jigawa (N3.54bn), Sokoto (N4.55bn), and Zamfara (N4.78bn). On the other hand, Lagos is the only state with three-digit IGR of N302.42bn, which is more than half of the total revenues generated by the 35 other states. The states with huge internal revenues after Lagos are Rivers (N85.29bn), Ogun (N72.98bn), Delta (N44.06bn), Kano (N30.96bn), Akwa Ibom (N23.27bn), and Edo (N23.04bn).

Other states with two-digit IGR, according to the NBS data, are Oyo (N18.88bn), Kwara (N17.25bn), Kaduna (N17.05bn), Anambra (N16.19bn), Cross River (N14.78bn), Enugu (N14.24bn), and Abia (N12.69bn). States with above N5bn IGR include Kogi (N9.57bn), Benue (N9.5bn), Plateau (N9.19bn), Osun (N8.88bn), Ondo (N8.68bn), Bauchi (N8.68bn), Bayelsa (N7.91bn), Taraba (N5.89bn), Niger (N5.88bn), Imo (N5.87bn), Adamawa (N5.79bn), and Katsina (N5.5bn).

According to BudgIT, a governance advocacy organization, said in its latest report, State of the States 2017. “In effect, only four states could meet their recurrent expenditure obligation without resorting to borrowing or tapping donor funds and other extra-budgetary revenue sources,” it said. The four states, according to the

report are Kano, Katsina, Rivers, and Lagos. The report further stated, “States will need to link future borrowing to sustainable projects, which can pay back the capital cost of its current loans and improve the overall income profile of the state.” The BudgIT report said, “opportunities in aquaculture, agriculture, manufacturing, trade, logistics, and tourism abound across states but it seems states lack the rigor and foresight to explore them.”

Who suffers the effects of the huge debts?

Accountability, probity and transparency in government’s business transactions have become clichés that Nigerian millennials are tired of being regaled with.

Which raises some fundamental questions: Who will pay these huge loans?

And at what interest rates? Will the burden being left by the political class not be too weighty for the shoulders of the jobless millennials?

As of March this year, Nigeria’s total debt had risen by N7.1tn to a mind-boggling N19.16 tn. Besides, many of the commercial banks are not lending to the real sector to boost manufacturing. Sundry consumables including textile materials and electronic equipment, especially from China and other South-East Asian countries are either being imported daily at an astonishing rate, or smugglers are having a field day. All these have no doubt led to an unprecedented unemployment level. The former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi, stated, with emphasis, that if we continued to borrow the way and manner both the federal and state governments were doing, the huge debt profile would place “undue burden on posterity”. He explained that, “We are borrowing more money today at a higher

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interest rate while leaving the heavy burden for our children and grandchildren.”

His position was echoed by the then David Mark-led Senate that warned the state governors against external debts that kept piling by the day.

earned 13% less than those born around 1970 did at the same stage in life. Pay squeeze on Nigerians under 30s is twice as big as the squeeze on those in their 50s – a bigger age divide than in any other West African country.

Education Nigerian millennial undergraduates in public universities spend an average of six years for a four year course before they come out with a degree which compares very poorly to similar degrees from other countries, where education is given the respect it deserve. If you quantify this in terms of monetary costs it is, no doubt, alarming. In other societies, full costing is applied to this type of waste including direct costs and opportunity costs, but we seem not to have reached this stage in Nigerian. Each year about a one million qualified students apply through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for entry into Nigerian universities and only about 200,000 (20%) of them get admitted to all the universities in Nigeria and the remaining 800,000all qualified with adequate number of required WAEC credits- will keep trying in search of JAMB admission for another 2-3 years to get admissions at a time they should have graduated if they were abroad. Again this has huge monetary costs in addition frustration and psychological damage to the millennial; economic and financial loss to the young person; their families and the national economy.

Home ownership rates have also tumbled far faster in Nigeria than elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, although Central African millennials are also finding it increasingly difficult to buy homes. “Generation-on-generation progress has been all but wiped out for millennials whose home ownership rate in their late 20s, at 33%, is half that for the baby boomers at the same age (60%),”. In an extraordinary finding, we find those born in Nigeria in the late 1960s - known as “generation X” – are no better off than those Nigerians who were born in the early 1920s at the same stage in their life. “Median income for older members of generation X in Nigeria [those born in the late 1960s] is

Then the greatest pain is the long wasted years of searching for non-available jobs after graduation. The jobs are simply not there, for a growing economy that is battling to survive yet churning out graduates in hundreds of thousands annually. The government has not been able to cope with the demand and yet to put in place policies that will enhance job creation or a conducive environment that will lead the private sector to create jobs for the teaming youth roaming the streets, hundreds of thousands of them with second degrees but without a job, for upwards of 5-6 years after graduation and national service (NYSC). Put all these wasted years and the psychological impact of such frustration by young persons in Nigeria together and you will understand the enormity of the pain and loss to the Nigerian economy as a whole.

Falling Income & Home Ownership Our research found that in 2018, millennials born in the years around 1980

‘‘....Despite the states being unable to pay salaries of their workers, the state governors are finding it difficult to downsize the workforce for fear of backlash during elections.’’

currently no higher than median income for the youngest members of the greatest generation [those born in the early 1920s] when this group was also aged 45-49,”.

Also the job mobility in Nigeria among young adults has fallen significantly, which may act as a drag on pay, while there has also been a shift towards parttime working among men especially in the city of Lagos. The sort of work that young people do has also been changing since long before the crisis. It is a widespread belief that young adults will be worse off than their parents – with the Southerners the most pessimistic. Only 30% of South- South indigenes think young people will be better off than their parents, while 51% believe they will be worse off.

The young adults living with their parents or renting because buying a house is unaffordable are starting to get restless.

In our new survey in Lagos State 18- to 37-year-olds, 40% of participants said their generation is mostly or much worse off compared with their parents and 54%

said the economic system in Nigeria benefits other generations over theirs. Asked whether capitalism is the best model or if we’d be better off with a “more socialist system,” 54% chose socialism. But we are still miles from reaching the point of millennials giving up on the Nigerian definition of prosperity – owning a home and retiring in comfort. Yet the level of discontent among young adults is striking. Most millennials were raised to think there would be lots of opportunities and jobs for them, According to a Lagos based chief executive: “Very high expectations were set,” he added. “But more and more millennials are entering the workplace and reality is starting to hit.”

An Agenda for Action We clearly need an agenda for action to address these challenges and let me propose some of its possible components.

First, policy makers have a duty to build capable states with the clear purpose of not only expanding economic opportunities but also effectively and efficiently delivering basic services to citizens. This means every Nigerian Naira spent on education, health and other basic services must deliver commensurate value.

Growth is best sustained by creating policy predictability as well as a political and investment climate that encourages investors to make long-term commitments, even across election cycles. Although improving the investment climate is not necessarily youth specific, it can have a significant impact on millennials by creating more and better jobs. A poor investment climate limits the rate at which new businesses start, the rate of growth and the ultimate size of a business. If the rules governing businesses are too onerous, unpredictable, opaque or costly, economic activity and thus employment is constrained.

Another important policy direction is in targeting millennial based sectors for development. (typically agriculture) The process of selecting high-potential industries can begin with a wide review of the leading sectors of the economy. A high level review can identify employment intensity, staff profiles, export earnings, industry growth rates, key drivers, long term enablers, taxation potential and skills levels of workers required, amongst other things.

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The future of Nigerian banking: Reappraising core capabilities after the Recession A Guide For Nigerian Bank Leaders

For all the chaos in Nigerian banking sector since the start of the recession, some things have not changed. The purpose of banking, the needs of customers, and the core capabilities that drive the strategies of the most successful banks have endured.

What has changed is the environment in which banks operate and compete. Today, the level of government regulation in the sector has risen dramatically. The banking value chain has been fractured, particularly the links between banks and their customers, in pursuit of returns that proved unsustainable and must now be reforged. This article is designed to guide bank leaders as they ready their institutions for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

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ost-Recession, the outlook has shifted to what will almost certainly be a prolonged period of low growth in the broader Nigerian economy and the banking sector itself, with important implications for how banks compete and capture value. Pre- recession Nigerian banks lent money to the oil and gas industry and with the fall in oil price the losses started to trickle in.

The top five banks on impairment losses for the period in absolute value showed that FBN Holdings recorded the largest figure at N101.7 billion, followed

by Ecobank Group with N89.3 billion, Zenith Bank N47.053 billion, Diamond Bank N35.503 billion and Stanbic IBTC N20.334 billion. And a year later in 2016 the loan losses worsened. In percentage terms, Wema Bank led the list with 220% increase to N0.256 billion from N0.080 billion in the corresponding period of Q3’16. Followed by Zenith Bank, loan losses was up by 115% to N47.053 billion from N21.858 billion. Ecobank Group occupied the third position with 74% at N89.3 billion up from N51.182 billion, followed by UBA with 42% to N12.9 billion from N9.098 billion and FBN

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Holdings came fifth with 34% increase to N101.731 billion from N75.666 billion in Q3’16.

Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, despite the sustained rise in crude oil prices over the last two years, recorded a 249% increase in non-performing loans linked to the oil and gas sector in 2017. The bank’s total non-performing loans appreciated by 69.82% from N18.675 billion in 2016, to N31.713 billion in 2017.

The Non Performing Loans are mounting because borrowers are yet to recover from the economic crisis. Interest income for most banks is mainly from public sector lending which is at a high interest rate. For 14 banks to suffer such impairment, it means that there is danger looming. However, the growth rate on the bad loans appeared less upsetting at 8% when compared to the net interest income of the 14 banks, which stood at N1.476 trillion, representing a growth of 18% or N222.4 billion from N1.254 trillion recorded in the corresponding Q3’16.

Product, GDP, grew in Q3 2017 by 1.4% (year-on-year) in real terms, the second consecutive positive growth since the recovery of the economy from recession in Q2, 2017. The report from the NBS, however, showed that the nation’s economy is still exposed to the risk of sliding back into recession, as only two out of 10 sectors grew during the quarter. While the oil and gas sector grew by 25.89% despite the unpaid loans from the sector, the non- oil sector contracted by 0.76%.

Industry stakeholders have stated that the Nigerian economy is still operationally in recession as they opined that the negative growth recorded in the non-oil sector in Q3‘17 figures indicates that the economy has not fully exited recession, and businesses are still facing difficulties in their financial performance. Consequently, the 14 banks controlling over 90% of the Nigerian financial market, recorded N368.3 billion impairment losses for the Q4’17, representing an increase of 8.0% from N341.1 billion in corresponding third quarter, Q4’16.

It will be recalled that the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, recently announced that the nation’s Gross Domestic

If banks hope to survive and prosper, their leaders can neither conduct business as usual especially in the area of loan

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disbursement nor adopt temporary fixes and half-measures. They must respond at a more fundamental level, bolstering and creating the essential organizational capabilities for the post-recession era.

Acquisition As The Bankers Bait Oil

The total exposure of the banking system in these asset acquisitions between 2010 and 2015 runs into billions. The slump in oil prices weakened the capacity of the operators to service these debts. The value of the acquisitions in the oil and gas sector was worth about $8.717 billion and the financial involvement of indigenous Banks stood at $7.5 billion.

Over the last five years, the growth of indigenous companies has been underpinned by the acquisition of assets from the International Oil Companies (IOCs).

Obviously the International Oil Companies (IOCs) had an insight of a future fall in Oil price and quickly decided to divest some of their Nigerian assets. Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 2010 opened the floodgates of assets sale by the IOCs when it announced the transfer of its 30% interest in Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 4, 38 and 41 to Seplat Petroleum Development Company. Total with 10% and Eni with 5% subsequently sold their stakes in the three leases to Seplat, thus raising the operator’s equity to 45%, while NNPC retained 55%, which it later transferred to its producing arm, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). In 2011, Neconde Energy paid $585 million to Shell, Total and Eni to acquire their 45% stake in OML. Shoreline Energy Resources paid $850 million to Shell and its partners for their 45% stake in OML 30; Eland Oil paid $154 million for Shell, Total and Eni’s 45% stake in OML 40; ND Western paid $600 million for OML 34; while First Hydrocarbon Nigeria, partly owned by Afren paid $98 million to acquire Shell’s 30% interest in OML 26.

Also First E & P paid $300 million to Shell and partners for 45% stake in OML 71 and 72. Under the latest divestment

by Shell, Total and Agip, Erotron Consortium paid $1.2 billion for 45% stake in OML 18; Pan Ocean paid $900 million for OML 24; while Creststar Consortium paid initial deposit of $100 million of the $500 million bid price for OML 25 before the NNPC came forward to exercise its right of first refusal. The Aiteo-led

consortium paid $2.562 billion to Shell, Total and Agip for OML 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunkline. Chevron, which has 40% stake in the joint venture with the NNPC is not left out in the string of divestments by the IOCs as it also sold its 40% stake in OML 83 and 85 to First E & P for $68 million. The company also sold its 40% stake in OMLs 52, 53 and 55 to Seplat Petroleum; Belemaoil and

“....Nigeria’s energy companies that bought oilfields from majors when oil was selling for more than $100 a barrel were hammered by the crash in prices. And their troubles took a toll on the banking sector.”

Amni Petroleum. However, the bid value for OMLs 52 and 55 was not made public but the entire transaction was said to be worth about $900 million. Seplat paid $259.4 million for OML 53 and an additional $132 million to acquire a 22.5% stake in OML 55 from Belemaoil while Amni acquired OML 52. Brittania-U Nigeria Limited had also paid initial deposit of $250 million, which was raised by some Nigerian banks for these three assets but Chevron is yet to refund the money, as the acquisition is currently the subject of litigation.

Nigeria’s energy companies that bought oilfields from majors when oil was selling for more than $100 a barrel were hammered by the crash in prices. And their troubles took a toll on the banking sector.

In the two years before crude oil prices began falling in mid-2014, Nigerian banks lent an estimated $10bn to local oil and gas companies to buy oil assets.

At the time these loans were celebrated as a milestone for Nigerian finance and a boost to bank portfolios aimed at supporting greater domestic participation in the industry. When the price of Brent crude fell by nearly two-thirds to the mid-$40s, much of that lending has become a liability.

“The banks lent way too much,” said a foreign oil executive who observed the wave of acquisitions in 2012-2014.

“The assumptions made by the local oil companies were inaccurate. The value of the assets was basically zero with the low oil price”, he said speaking on condition of anonymity. Most of the country’s 22 licensed commercial banks were exposed to the industry through large syndicated loans, many of which were not hedged, and some of which were poorly collateralized. In a sign of the times, one of Nigeria’s leading energy firms, Oando, announced in its results statement then that circumstances “lend significant doubt as to the ability of the corporation to meet its obligations as they come due”.

The company bought an oilfield from ConocoPhilips for $1.65bn in July 2014.

Power

Just like the oil sector, in the power sector over $2.6 billion was staked in the acquisition of the assets that once belonged to PHCN by the private investors. The Taleveras Group paid $260.05 million for Afam Power Station and North West Power Consortium emerged preferred bidder for Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company based on reduction of Average Technical Losses, the private investors had raised a total of $2.238 billion to pay for 10 out of 11 distribution companies and five out of seven generation companies. Taleveras Group later paid $260.05 million for Afam; while CMEC/Euafric paid $201 million for Sapele to bring the total figure financed 75

by the banks to $2.699 billion.

For the distribution companies, 4Power Consortium paid $124 million for Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company; while Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company paid $169 million and $59 million for Ibadan Disco and Yola Disco, respectively. Interstate Electrics paid $126 million for Enugu Disco; KANN Consortium paid $164 million for Abuja Disco; KEPCO/NEDC Consortium paid $134.75 million for Ikeja Disco; Sahelian Power SPV Limited paid $137 million for Kano Disco. Others include Vigeo Holdings ($129.5 million) for Benin Disco; West Power and Gas ($135 million) for Eko Disco; and Aura Energy ($81.8 million) for Jos Disco. For the distribution companies, Transcorp paid $300 million for Ughelli Power Station; Amperion paid $132 million for Geregu Power Station; while CMEC/Euafric paid $201 million for Sapele Power Station. Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited paid $257 million for Kainji/ Jebba; North-South Power Company Limited paid $111.654 million for Shiroro; KEPCO/NEDC paid $407 million for Egbin Power Station. Nigerian banks accounted for the funding of these transactions, with UBA Plc alone, for instance, was responsible for $82 million used for the acquisition of Shiroro.

The future of Nigerian banking The recession has triggered dramatic alterations to the Nigerian economy and the financial-services landscape. The banking industry has been accused partly of over exposing itself to the oil and gas sector through given out extremely risky loans spurred by astronomical compensation to the detriment of SME’s, with little regard for the consequences, a typical example is Afren. The United Kingdom-listed, Africa-focused Afren Plc has gone into administration. According to Afren documents, Nigerian banks have at least $185 million principal exposure to Afren. Zenith has $100 million to Oil Mining Lease (OML26), $5 million to Ebok; Access Bank has $50 million to Okwok/OML113 (Aje), $5 million to Ebok; and Stanbic has $25 million to Ebok. Much energy has been expended in debating the responsibility for this upheaval; however it is common knowledge that the recession was largely caused by over dependence on oil and the resultant fall in oil price.

However, Bank leaders must realize that despite the chaos and restructuring 76

experienced by the banking sector, the fundamentals of banking are unchanged.

Bank leaders must continue to fulfill the societal purpose of their institutions while steering them to safe harbor and future success.

To achieve this, senior leaders must recognize three developments that have been set in motion by the financial crisis: The role of government is growing, as witnessed by increased regulation. There is now an urgent need for banks to reintegrate the value chain and regain their traditional closeness to the customer in order to better manage risk and create value and the outlook has shifted to what will almost certainly be a prolonged period of low growth, with important implications for how banks compete and capture value. Although the fundamentals of banking are unchanged, banking leaders cannot respond to these challenges with the kinds of short-term solutions and temporary fixes that are used to weather minor cyclical dips. Instead, they must analyze and adjust their companies’ core capabilities in their continuing quest to outperform the market and their competitors.

The utility-like regulation of banking The magnitude of the government response to the recession will have fundamental and long-lasting effects on banks. In the short term, the government have been (and continue to be) forced to bail out insolvent institutions, supplying liquidity and guaranteeing obligations through AMCON so these banks can survive and, in some cases, taking ownership stakes in exchange. However, a much broader debate with more enduring consequences is occurring around the long-term regulatory framework for the banking sector. It is highly likely that in the aftermath of the recession, the regulatory landscape in banking will more closely resemble that of utilities, such as electric, gas, telephone, and water companies, that provide society with a “public good”: a product or service that is considered so essential that its delivery cannot be left to market forces alone.

Consequently, one of such controls was the emanation of the CBN Credit Risk Management System [CRMS] or Credit Bureau, which is a central database from which consolidated credit information on borrowers could be obtained.

It is not just the footprint of the industry that has changed; its business models and supporting structure are being altered too. The value propositions of seemingly timeless models in loan administration, hedging techniques, insurance, private banking, and even financial advice are being questioned. The independence and relevance of the institutions that support confidence in the entire sector rating agencies, and regulators have been compromised. Sovereign risk has become a component of bank risk registers, since many counterparties are now functioning only with the support of AMCON.

The enabling legislation empowered the CBN to obtain from all banks, returns on all credits with a minimum outstanding balance of N100, 000.00 (now N1.m and above of principal and interest), Presently the CRMS is web-enabled thus allowing banks and other stakeholders to dial directly into the CRMS database for the purpose of rendering the statutory returns or conducting status enquiry on borrowers. Also, the CBN is in the process of integrating the CRMS with other systems operating in the bank to make it more efficient.

Utilities tend to face a high regulatory

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burden, which dictates many elements of their pricing, customer bases, and competitive environment, and which therefore often inhibits their levels of innovation and experimentation. In Nigeria, the regulatory pendulum in banking had swung toward free markets during the previous 30 years. Many banks operated with the littlest of regulation in the quest for greater efficiency, enhanced ability to attract and retain management talent, and greater access to global capital to fund innovation and growth. But now, the following driving forces are causing the pendulum to swing back: The growing perception that banking is a public good: Recent events have reinforced the fundamental truth that a steady flow of credit and a stable banking sector are as important to a productive economy as abundant resources, physical infrastructure, and human capital.

The rising levels of systemic risk: The increasing interconnectedness of the global financial economy has introduced multiple, and often hidden, points of failure. Strategies that make sense at the level of a business unit or a single institution (for example, regarding portfolio choices, loan offerings, or capital allocation) may not optimize outcomes at the level of a large bank, a national economy, or a global financial system.

The realization that “too big to fail” is simply untrue: The consequences of failure among key banking players are causing policymakers to reappraise the need for governmental control over the largest banks.

The broader consequences of misaligned compensation and risk management structures: Existing compensation models, in both the size and the design of their incentives, encouraged outsized risks by bank senior employees. They enjoyed the upside reward, but left shareholders, and ultimately governments, responsible for the downside.

The overall rise in state ownership and regulation has implications for banks’ portfolio choices, product offering & pricing, investment & capital management, and reporting & talent management. Further, if banks do not or cannot fulfill their larger societal purpose, governments will stay involved longer and enact stricter regulations, which could result in a less global, less innovative, and less talented financial sector.

New lens on value in a low-growth environment Low growth in assets and a weak pricing environment in the medium term will require banks to keep a tight lid on costs just to maintain their margins. A rising tide lifts all boats and there were few exceptions to this rule in banking 20 years ago. During this time, many banks took advantage of favorable margins and thin capital buffers to set hurdle rates for return on equity of 20 to 30%. They relied on a simple formula for success: Increase cash earnings by 10 to 12% annually by growing revenues in the high single digits and keeping cost increases in the low single digits; use high dividend payouts to add another few percentage points to shareholder returns; and exploit their own high (and continually rising) price/ earnings ratios to offset the low beta and cost of capital in the banking sector.

Clearly, these equations will no longer work. First, a quick economic rebound is unlikely. The current post recession economy has already cut deeper and will last longer than any recession to hit the Nigerian economy.

Beyond the standard boom and bust cycle, this post recession crisis is underpinned by fundamental structural imbalances that will take years, even decades, to work through, such as the Nigeria’s trade deficit, over reliance on oil, the mismatches in Naira exchange rates, constant Naira devaluation, the size and likely duration of loans and repayment. As a result, asset growth will be significantly subdued and it is likely that the banking sector’s margin expansion will not be sustainable. Second, keeping cost growth low will not be sufficient, and reducing absolute cost levels will not be easy. Low growth in assets and a weak pricing environment in the medium term will require banks to keep a tight lid on costs

just to maintain their margins. However, the need to comply with increasing regulatory demands and to invest in a significant refocusing of capabilities both prerequisites for operating in the post-recession environment will create upward cost pressures. Third, the price/equity ratings of banks will languish. Banks can no longer afford to pay out large amounts of their free cash flow in the form of high dividends to attract investors and bolster their P/E ratings. In addition, their P/E ratings are likely to reflect an expectation of lower risk and return signatures over the medium to long term.

A Managing the rising regulatory burden As banks face the need to be more proactive in dealing with governments, and are required to provide more transparent and relevant information to investors and other stakeholders, they will need to address two sets of questions: Do you have the investor relations and stakeholder management capability necessary to influence the policy decisions and regulations being considered within your bank’s geographic footprint?

Banks need to enhance their stakeholder management capability to earn a seat at the table and influence outcomes before, not after, the new regulatory landscape is mapped out. This is especially critical given the wave of negative publicity that is confronting both the banking sector and the policymakers who are perceived to be propping it up. To counter this, banks must be able to proactively engage government officials in the following ways: First, articulating the fundamental social roles of the banking sector and fully explaining the implications positive 77

and negative of increased regulation and intervention. Second, show that they understand the needs and objectives of public officials, particularly the need for systemic stability, and helping to achieve those objectives in a manner that supports rather than undermines the goals and priorities of banking institutions.

Third, demonstrate on an ongoing basis the steps that banks are taking and the progress they have made toward restoring confidence and stability, particularly around loans and risk management.

Does your performance management capability include metrics that reflect your organization’s broader role in society? Are those metrics properly balanced, as well as transparent to stakeholders?

Regardless of the degree of regulation and government ownership that arises from the recession, banks must be prepared to respond to demands for much greater transparency from all of their stakeholders including shareholders, governments, and communities.

No longer can metrics be focused solely on short-term financials, such as profit growth, cost to income performance, and dividend payout ratio; they must expand to include longer-term measures that offer insight into funding durations, loan to deposit ratios, and capital management through the economic cycle. Banks must prepare to report in greater detail on a variety of factors such as capital base, asset quality, compensation, and risk and derivative exposures (by industry and country) that concern the full spectrum of stakeholders, both public and private.

Banks must begin to augment reporting with metrics that demonstrate their contribution to systemic stability as well as strong institutional performance.

B Redesigning value chains for renewed customer ownership In the post-recession era, as the financial market deleverage, banks will have to reevaluate and redesign their value chains. They will return to more vertically integrated management systems, bringing their underlying assets closer so they can better assess risk, safely deploy their balance sheets in an environment of scarcity, and maximize value capture.

This raises three sets of questions about a bank’s capabilities: 78

Does your customer management capability enable you to get close enough to the customer? Are you collecting the right customer information? Are you leveraging this information to greatest effect?

Bankers now realize that their core asset is their customer base, both small and big customers, comprising both individuals and businesses. A well-honed customer management capability is one that enables them to engage, win, and retain customers will enhance both revenue generation and risk management. Those banks that still have product-defined organizations will have to rapidly rethink how they can create a targeted customer-centric orientation. Customer insight is the key to success in this shift. Like most other businesses, banks need to sharpen their capability for capturing customer information in a timely manner for banks, this means analyzing their customers’ product holdings, cash flows, behaviors, and personal circumstances.

Depth of relationship will be more important than breadth. For example, it will be more valuable for a bank to have an 80% wallet share of 1 million customers than a 10% share of 8 million customers. Greater wallet share permits greater insight into buying patterns, credit risk, and churn potential, enabling a stronger, more profitable lifelong customer relationship. Customer and decision analytics, which are too often relegated to credit card departments if they are present at all, will now become a critical capability.

Are your risk management processes optimized for efficiency and effectiveness?

Are you confident in your risk pricing approaches? Does your asset workout group have the right skill set?

As they forge closer connections with customers, banks need to revitalize their risk management and pricing capabilities.

They must ensure that they are pricing accurately for risk and fully leveraging the improved information flow that will result from “natural ownership” of their assets. Both the efficiency and effectiveness of risk processes must be improved.

To enhance efficiency, banks can revisit their credit processes and ensure that they are properly aligned with the organization’s risk objectives. A “triage” approach provides abbreviated or shortform processes for existing customers or for refinancing, leaving full analysis for higher-risk prospects. To enhance effectiveness, banks will need to assess the quality of information being used to feed their risk models, as well as review risk management approaches within the

different parts of their portfolios.

Because of the impact of high unemployment and the poor Nigerian stock market performance, banks will need to account for altered risk profiles in their statistically managed loans; broad-brush approaches such as community-rated pricing will prove less competitive as more sophisticated competitors cherry-pick low-risk customers. At a minimum, banks must augment their statistical risk assessment of consumer loans with more sophisticated use of customer behavior information.

Banks with large portfolios of bad debt will also need to retool their asset workout capability. The “bad bank” model used in Australia and the U.S. during the early 1990s may provide a useful model for isolating bad loans in separate business units instead of offloading them at deep discounts. This grants some measure of protection to the larger organization and enables the “bad bank” to focus on helping borrowers get off life support, restructure their businesses, and repay loans.

C Profiting in a low-growth environment Growing shareholder value in the post-recession banking environment will require a comprehensive and balanced approach to both financial and nonfinancial capabilities. Banking leaders must augment their past focus on revenue and cost with a more sophisticated approach to capital. At the same time, successfully responding to the scope and scale of change will demand that banks revisit their people processes and underlying cultures. The following sets of questions need to be considered, by the CEO and executive team and in more detail by functional leaders: Do your product and offer development capabilities enable you to leverage your brand in developing long-term customer relationships? How will you use your brand to earn the chance to satisfy a broader set of customer needs?

In the post- recession era, customers will increasingly concentrate their business in banks they perceive as stable, secure, and able to provide the products and services they require. Winning these customers and the greater wallet share they represent will require banks to provide the proof points of security and longev-

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ity needed to secure their trust. As the industry consolidates through possible mergers and acquisitions, and banks face the challenge of retaining and strengthening their connections to larger numbers of customers, the ability to create and demonstrate brand value will be key to building this trust, as will the ability to manage and align multiple brands.

Meeting a full range of customer needs will provide a level of return beyond what can be derived solely from deposits and loans. Banks will increasingly offer services such as cash flow management (especially as customers respond to changing personal situations and budgets) and new forms of financial advice, with a likely greater focus on transactional support over the traditional holistic approach. Bank assurance represents another critical opportunity; with the destruction of wealth in the Nigerian stock markets and other investment channels over the last year, banks can expect to see a strong and growing demand for simple wealth creation and protection products such as income protection, life insurance, and savings accounts.

Do your operations and information technology capabilities enable cost reduction and productivity programs that attack structural cost drivers? Are you aligning your business architecture around customer-centric imperatives?

Some banks will need better operational and IT management capabilities to attack the structural drivers of cost and become more customer-centric. This is a major, near-term opportunity for many banks to reinvent their systems architectures at the same time that they replace core mainframes. In parallel, banks can overhaul the associated business models and structures that are inhibiting customer-centric innovation. The cost drivers in most banks are deeply embedded in their legacy process, technology, and product architectures. They are best addressed by fundamentally realigning the structure of the business around customer needs, rather than overlaying new operating models and IT systems on legacy product-based processes and organizational structures. Greater customer-centricity will permit a more sophisticated understanding of the drivers of customer value and their cost. In turn, this will permit banks to deliver “smart customization” streamlining and consolidating delivery of customer “nonnegotiable,” while charging appropriately for extra features that customers actually value.

Do your asset and liability management capabilities enable you to manage your funding mix holistically? How well positioned are you for the coming scramble to attract deposits?

Too often, deposits are treated as a consumer-banking product, and are managed in a fragmented manner across multiple lines of business. Now, however, banks must manage their cash holistically and on a group-wide basis. The recent rise in saving rates represents another major opportunity for banks to shore up a critical gap in their customer offerings while more proactively managing a core element of their funding mix. Capturing these new deposits will require banks to apply a level of sophistication to product innovation and pricing. Banks will need to use increasingly sophisticated customer analytics to understand the drivers of customer value and retention and to analyze elasticity and demand in their efforts to optimize pricing.

Do you have an integrated capital management and portfolio strategy capability?

Are you managing capital as a strategic asset? What alternatives do you have if current funding sources dry up?

To securely fund business growth in the coming era, banks will have to diversify their funding base. For debt, this will mean diversifying duration; like longer-term requirements. For equity, it will mean thinking ahead about alternative sources of capital before they are needed, including strategic investors and sovereign wealth funds. Banks will also need to reset the expectations of equity markets. The low-risk, high-return proposition that the banking sector implicitly promised investors has proven illusory.

Banks can no longer afford high dividend payout ratios or use leverage to generate oversized returns on equity. Shareholders are now presented with a less attractive, although arguably more sustainable, opportunity that can best be summarized as “low risk, low return, but low volatility too.” Banks need to set and manage this expectation proactively.

Nigerian Banks must refocus on those fundamentals that are unchanged by the recession their core purpose, customer needs, and capabilities while recognizing that profound market changes have occurred and will impact how these capabilities need to be delivered. Leaders whose banks can respond to the times and enhance their capabilities will be tomorrow’s winners.

Improved capabilities: The keys to success in banking’s new era Banks are still the heart of the economy.

They pump the funds on which productive human enterprise depends. Banks must perform this role effectively with all the due diligence we would expect of any custodian of such an essential role.

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ONE PALM

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Dubai’s Most Captivating Offshore Development

Dubai’s ‘most expensive apartment, at the One Palm project by Omniyat has sold for Dhs102m ($28M)

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O

NE PALM is a limited collection of 90 ultra-exclusive homes, designed for a life lived in uncompromising abundance. ONE PALM is a completely reimagined approach to elegance and exclusivity. Iconic architecture, sprawling layouts, unbeatable amenities, lush green spaces, and the most sought-after interior features make ONE PALM more than a residence – it is life above it all, and beyond description. Staggered balconies and terraces mark the glass-fronted exterior of this striking high-rise project, giving it one of the most unique silhouettes in Dubai’s majestic skyline, and affording luxuriant seaside and skyline views from indoor and outdoor vantage points. One Palm is designed for exclusivity, with a limited collection of 90 three to seven-bedroom homes that are truly one-of-a-kind. Featuring in-home movie theatres, personal infinity pools and private elevators, these stunning residences have an unparalleled ambiance, further enhanced by a private marina that allows residents convenient mooring and access to their yachts, a fine-dining restaurant, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, BBQ area, cinema and cigar lounge, as well as a luxury spa are just some of the extraordinary facilities available to residents that demand the very best. Each residence will be a statement of personal taste with owners able to choose their bespoke interior and finishes from two of the world’s most esteemed designers to match their individual style: Japanese firm Super Potato, known for its chic, modern fit-outs, or the opulent rich textures of London based luxury design studio, Elicyon – famed for its involvement in the renowned One Hyde Park building in London’s Knightsbridge. The iconic property, is designed by New York architects SOMA. Mahdi Amjad, Executive Chairman and CEO of Omniyat, said: “The One Palm project is a marvel, both inside and out. In order to realize the world’s most luxurious residential building, we have chosen only the finest talent in the disciplines of landscaping, architecture, construction, interior design and amenities to ensure that every last detail is exactly what the most discerning buyers would expect from a development such as this.”

The ONE PALM apartment features modern and sleek design, panoramic views, and grand beach-facing arrival, beachfront view, Dubai skyline view, and Burj Al Arab view, landscaped terraces.

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LUXURY

Sold Apartment A massive penthouse apartment at the One Palm project by Omniyat has sold for Dhs102m, becoming the most expensive apartment in Dubai sold in Dubai, according to the developer. The triplex penthouse apartment at the One Palm, spread across 29,800 square feet, features several living areas, five en-suite bathrooms, and almost 11,500 sq ft of exterior space including several balconies, terraces and a rooftop area. The buyer – whose name has not been disclosed – also customized the apartment to have a 20-metre long private lap pool built on the rooftop. The pool will become one of the highest and most private swimming pools in Dubai upon completion, according to Omniyat. The unit has been designed by London-based luxury design studio Elicyon. Located at the eastern tip of the Palm Jumeirah’s trunk, the luxury One Palm project offers 90 residential units. The 910,000-sq ft project includes three-, four- and five-bedroom residences and three triplex penthouses, with prices starting at around Dhs12.5m. Investors can pick from interiors designed by either Japanese firm Super Potato, or London-based luxury design studio Elicyon. Amenities and facilities include a fine-dining restaurant, three swimming pools, indoor cinema, outdoor cinema and BBQ area, residents lounge, children’s pool and playroom and a luxury spa. A private jetty will also allow residents to dock their yachts.

“Ever since the One Palm was announced, we knew that the penthouse would eventually become Dubai’s most expensive residence. The deal was concluded at a record Dh102 million and we at Omniyat would like to congratulate the new proud owner of this incredible piece of ultra luxury real estate,” Mahdi Amjad, CEO of Omniyat, said. Dubai is no stranger to ultra luxury property sales, with the previous record of the sale of a Dh60 million penthouse being held by a 14,000 square feet full-floor penthouse at Bvlgari Resorts & Residences on Jumeira Bay. This is followed by a penthouse on Fairmont the Palm that sold at Dh42 million in December 2012.

According to LuxHabitat’s data for 2018, Palm Jumeirah and Downtown Dubai are prime locations for luxury penthouses.

A presidential penthouse on the crescent of the Palm by Serenia stands at Dh36 million, while another penthouse on the East Crescent comes in at more than Dh25 million.

Image: Omniyat.com

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YOUNG

An incredible number of young people are moving and shaking the existing Nigerian business environment. They’re doing this by disrupting industries that previously were starting to feel a bit stale to those in those industries or reliant on their products and services. These young entrepreneurs’ passion is all about injecting excitement and enthusiasm into their industries by tackling many of the business- and consumer-focused issues that have yet to be solved. While we’d love to write about the many entrepreneurs we meet in Nigeria who are proving they can change the world and even solve some of its longtime social problems, that list would number into the hundreds. So, instead, we’ve capped the list at 10 extraordinary individuals of all backgrounds (in no particular order) who have stood out to us as likely to put their stamp in Nigeria and the world at large in the future. founded Verdant AgriTech in 2014 when he was just 24. The company supports rural crop farmers, providing them credit facilities, weather information, access to market, and agricultural extension services. All these, they do with the use of mobile phones. Nasir’s entrepreneurial talent has opened doors for him and he has gained much recognition. In 2017, he met Queen Elizabeth of England who bestowed him with the Queen’s Young Leaders Award. Today, he has another honour to his name as one of Forbes’ 2018 young African entrepreneurs.

Nasir Yammama: Founder/CEO of Verdant agriTech Nasir was born in 1990 in a Northern Nigerian village called Yammama, where his father owned a large farm. Growing up as the son of a farmer, Nasir witnessed firsthand how extremely difficult farming can be in Nigeria. This made him resolve to someday do something that would facilitate the farming process. In the years that followed, Nasir completed his primary and secondary education in Nigeria then proceeded to Middlesex University in the United Kingdom where he studied Creative Technology between 2013 and 2015. It was here that his interest in technology became fully developed. He 84

Akwaeke Emezi Born in 1987 (age 31 years) Akwaeke Emezi is a Tamil writer and video artist based in liminal spaces. Her debut autobiographical novel FRESHWATER

(Grove Atlantic, February 2018) is a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and an Indies Introduce Title. It received rave reviews from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and the LA Times, among others, as well as starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. FRESHWATER was also recognized on 2018 best/most anticipated books lists by Esquire, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Bustle, OZY, Electric Lit, and Book Riot, among others. Emezi’s first young adult novel, PET, will be published in 2019. Her short story ‘Who Is Like God’ won the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. She was photographed by Annie Leibovitz and profiled in the February 2018 issue of Vogue Magazine (Modern Families With A Cause), and her video art series THE UNBLINDING recently premiered at Gavin Brown’s enterprise in Harlem.

Born in Umuahia and raised in Aba, Nigeria, Emezi holds two degrees, including an MPA from New York University. In 2017, she was awarded a Global Arts Fund grant for the video art in her project The Unblinding, and a Sozopol Fellowship for Creative Nonfiction.

RANKINGS

Ronke Bamisedun: Founder of BWL Agency Ronke Bamisedun was born in 1987 into an upper-middle-class household in Lagos. She studied for her primary and secondary education here in Nigeria before moving to the United Kingdom for her university education. There, she studied Media, Mass Communication and Public Relations at Birmingham City University between 2009 and 2011. In 2013, she acquired a Public Affairs and Political Communication Diploma (Merit) from CIPR Qualification. Ronke has worked in many establishments. From July 2010 to May 2011, she was an Assistant Client Executive at Grayling. She was the Public Relations Manager at InterContinental Hotels and Resorts for one and a half years between April 2014 and September 2015. She later returned to Grayling as a Senior Account Director between January 2016 and December 2016. She has consulted for different global brands, including Pandora, Moet Hennessy, and Pernod Ricard. She also consulted for Kaizo for about one and a half years. In 2015, she founded BWL Agency, a Lagos-based “strategic brand development and communications company”.

Rimini Makama Recognized by Forbes as one of the 20 Youngest Power Women under 40 in Africa, Rimini is the Head of Corpo-

rate & Governmental Affairs Director at Microsoft Nigeria. She was formerly the Communications Director at Africa Practice; Africa’s foremost strategy and communications consultancy. A Lawyer by profession, Rimini previously worked at (INTERPOL) in Lyon, France where she was instrumental to the drafting of cooperation agreements between the 190 member countries and reviewing notices and individual requests safeguarding international security and safety across borders. Talk about being a ‘Power Woman.’

Etop Ikpe He is the founder of Cars45, Nigeria’s foremost auto auctioning and car buying service. In May last year, Cars45 raised a $5 million Series A round from the Frontier Cars Group. Ikpe is a veteran entrepreneur with experience in transport, automobiles, mobile communications technology, and marketing. Etop was previously the Commercial Director of Konga, one of Nigeria’s largest e-commerce platforms, and formerly the CEO and Co-MD of DealDey, West Africa’s answer to Groupon. Etop is an under-thirty Nigerian entrepreneur who founded the car dealership company Cars45. The company raised $5 million from Frontier Cars Group in 2017. Despite the fact that the company is relatively new (having just been established in 2016), it has already grown to become the preferred car dealer for many Nigerians. Before founding his business, Etop worked at several notable Nigerian companies. He was the Commercial Director at Konga from April to July 2016. Before then, he was the Vice President Operations (2012-2014) and later the Co-MD of DealDey, a leading Nigerian online shop. He studied for his Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science at the University of Lagos.

Harold Okwa Harold Okwa, 30, is the founder of Vestates, a luxury real estate agency based in Abuja. He is also the founder of Jetseta, a company that provides easy and affordable access to private air travel and helicopter shuttle services through a mobile app that seamlessly connects travelers to private aviation providers at attractive fares worldwide, on the go. He grew up mostly in the United Kingdom. He studied there as well, graduating from the University of Bristol with a BSc degree in Economics and Management in 2009.

Between 2015 and 2017, Harold studied for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Cass Business School. Harold worked as an Area Sales Manager at Oando Plc from 2011 to 2014. This was a few years after Harold returned to Nigeria for his NYSC and decided against going back to the UK. In 2014, he founded Vestates Limited

Oluwatobi Ajayi Oluwatobi Ajayi, 30, is a co-founder and CEO of Jetvan Automobiles Limited, the largest authorized dealer of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in Nigeria. He started his career at Mercedes-Benz Nigeria where he became the Head of division (Commercial vans) at 24. In 2015, 85

he pulled together a group of investors and founded Jetvan, which sells more than 500 vehicles every year. He had his secondary school education in Abeokuta at the Nigerian Navy Secondary School, after which he proceeded to the Olabisi Onabanjo University (also in Abeokuta) where he studied Soil Science and Farm Mechanisation between 2004 and 2010.

He is currently studying for his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at the Lagos Business School. Prior to co-founding Jetvan Automobiles Limited in 2015, Oluwatobi worked as a Sales and Marketing Executive (commercial vehicles) at Weststars Associates Limited, a Mercedes Benz subsidiary. The experience he gained working there has proved helpful to him at Jetvan.

Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye

Fierce yet kind at heart, Esther is a leading voice in advocating for the right for women and the girl child. Her NGO, Rubies Ink Initiative for Women and Children, organizes walks and workshops against rape. Her passion to speak about the cruelty of rape led to write her first book, Breaking the Silence. Esther’s work was recognized in 2016 when she won the Young Person of the year award organized by Miss Tourism Nigeria beauty. She is a graduate of Sociology from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria. Several institutions and governmental parastatal have recognized her contributions to the Nigerian society. On 9 July 2016, she was awarded the “Young Person of the Year Award” at the 2016 Miss Tourism Nigeria beauty pageant. She is also a recipient of Wise Women Awards’ “Christian Woman in Media Award” which she won in June 2016. Ijewere-Kalejaiye is married with two children.

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Nichole Onome Yembra Nichole Onome Yembra, 29, is the Chief Financial, Risk and Investment Officer for Venture Garden Group (VCG) and a Managing Partner at GreenHouse Capital, VCG’s investment arm. Venture Garden Group is a holding company of financial technology entities dedicated to innovative and data-driven solutions.

GreenHouse Capital, which launched formally in April 2016, began investments in startups since 2014 under the VGG umbrella. When Nichole joined the VGG and Greenhouse Capital teams, she guided the formal legal structure of the fund and led the investment into 8 new ventures in 2016, raising the group to the 14 companies it has today. Nichole is not only driving the financial strategy of Venture Garden Group through challenging economic times, she is also actively engaged in serving as the local partner for foreign investors eager to transform African technology startups. Through GreenHouse Capital, she takes on fintech enabled portfolio companies looking to transform the education, renewable energy, big data, and fintech ecosystems.

Chika Uwazie Chika is not your regular Human Resource Professional. She carved a niche for herself when she automated HR in Nigeria by starting Talent Base, a Human Resource software for growing enterprises in Nigeria. Talent Base simplifies and automates HR and payroll processes.

Before starting Talentbase, Chika worked at several international organizations including The Whitaker Group, World Bank, and Exxon Mobil. The 29-year old plans to make her company, TalentBase, not only the place to go to for all HR issues – salaries, pensions, taxes, and human capital development in Nigeria but other African countries as well.

Olayinka David-West and Ibukun Taiwo

F

Financial Inclusion: Who gets us to the Promised Land — Banks, Telcos or Independent MMOs?

inancial inclusion is the access to and use of financial services. In Nigeria it hovered around 41.1% as at 2016 (based on aggregate data from EfinA, Intermedia and the World Bank).

The percentage of people using informal financial service providers like Esusu, Alajo, and thrift collectors stood at 10.6% while 48.6% of Nigerian adults use no financial service at all. That’s almost half of the country’s adult population

living without financial services.

In 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria launched a National Financial Inclusion Strategy to reduce exclusion 20% by 2020. That deadline is less than 3 years away and the gap is widening. Due to the impending deadline, industry watchers and experts have posited several solutions, one of which involves the licensing of mobile operators (henceforth telcos) to lead mobile money operations (as done in other markets). The telcos in their capacity as infrastructure providers already participate in the mobile money ecosystem, albeit their independent participation as mobile money operators is forbidden. This arrangement, despite its usefulness, has several setbacks, one of which is that a telco-bank partnership means the division of interchange (transaction) fees by the partners, thereby reducing income opportunities (and

implicitly profitability) even further. If telcos go it alone, profit opportunities are likely to be higher, hence their desire to obtain licenses.

However, the problem most people fail to see is that telco participation is not a magic bullet for financial inclusion.

The integration of mobile operators as mobile money providers, allowing them

to own and lead mobile money service delivery could solve one among a myriad of problems and inhibitors facing the digital financial services ecosystem.

There are several other challenges facing the sector — low awareness of mobile money, lack of economic activity among the unbanked, relatively high cost of transactions, distance to financial service points. In 2017, our research covered the

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financially excluded Nigerian population, drawing up demographic profiles as well as their digital capabilities. We discovered that majority of the excluded are youths and women between the age of 15 – 35 and living mostly in the Northern areas of Nigeria.

Secondly, the success of mobile money is largely determined by the quality of its complementary agent network. That is, mobile money delivery at the last mile, especially in rural and remote areas, cannot succeed without the proper financial and technical investment in the network.

However, Nigeria’s agent network is pretty underdeveloped. In fact, according to the Central Bank, Nigeria’s agent network is less than 11,000 strong. That’s a big deal. In December 2017, at the International Financial Inclusion Conference hosted by Lagos Business School, the number of agents required to effectively serve Nigeria was estimated to be at least 180,000. On the 27th of March, 2017, the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF), an initiative to roll out a 500,000-strong shared agent network over the next few years, was unveiled. The plan is to have banks, MMOs and Super Agents chip in to establish the network.

Rolling out new agents, training and managing them is expensive, not to mention the liquidity requirements if the agent is to remain in business. Also, the agent business is a low profit business; meaning agents must have other sources of income. In the midst of all this talk of extending financial services to the excluded, regulators are also very concerned about security and stability of the ecosystem itself. Which is why the BVN was introduced some years ago.

The BVN helped to streamline account ownership, allowing regulators to determine the exact number of individual account holders. This is vital information.

Compare this to what obtains in the telco industry where we have a hard time determining the accurate level of mobile phone penetration. The NCC reports 146 million subscribers but we have many subscribers with 2-3 lines. Unfortunately, the necessity of having a BVN exacerbated the financial inclusion problem due to the inability of some citizens to satisfy KYC requirements. Believe it or not, some people are identity poor. CBN developed a workaround last year in September, when they removed BVN from the list of requirements for tier-1 mobile money wallets.

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“..Nigeria’s agent network is pretty underdeveloped. In fact, according to the Central Bank, Nigeria’s agent network is less than 11,000 strong.”

Another interesting question posed in the previous Techpoint article was “can mobile operators just automatically sign up all subscribers to the service without any restriction from CBN or NCC?” Even if telcos got the mobile money licenses and managed to sign up every subscriber on their network, it still doesn’t translate to true financial inclusion. After all has been said and done, we still have to present digital money as a better alternative to cash. People will not automatically move to digital money once it’s available. They have to be incentivised.

For example, India had to execute a demonetisation exercise in 2016 where the use of high currency notes (500-rupee notes and 1,000-rupee notes) were banned. The infamous decision which wiped out four-fifths of India’s paper currency, though bodacious, triggered an uptake in the number of mobile money users in the following months. The bottom line is, financial inclusion is a monster facing us a country and requires all hands on deck. Telcos, independents and banks all need to participate if we’re going to successfully reduce exclusion and bring financial services to the poor and unbanked which they need to improve their lives.

Olayinka David-West and Ibukun Taiwo are members of the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services initiative of the Lagos Business School. Through rigorous research, the initiative’s goal is to build an evidence base and sustainable business models for digital financial services to reach the unbanked and underserved.

Where to get collateral-free loans online in Nigeria Yinka Awosanya

Accessing personal loans has taken a different dimension with a couple of service providers giving out collateral-free loans without the need a proof of employment or even a visit to a banking hall for some paperwork. The repayment period for these ranges from 14 days to 6 months, depending on the providers. The maximum amount one can access initially is dependent on the provided information, and requested funds are transferred almost immediately. The growth of online lending in Nigeria started in early 2012. Both lenders and borrowers have benefited from the online lending industry. There are a lot of models and ways that can be used in online lending.

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nline lending companies use Machine learning and Data Analysis of individual credit history to decide whom to give loans. These online lending companies function as intermediaries for loans to customers and businesses. They offer investors a chance to fund the loans, which are usually in the range of N5, 000 to N50, 000,000. The market value for this industry is growing very fast and doubled each year since 2009. It reached an estimated N29 billion in 2017. Describing themselves as “eBay for money”, these marketplace-lending platforms were designed to bring borrowers in need of thousands of Naira for unsecured

Aella Credit

Requirements: Valid bank details and BVN. Platform: Android. Interest rate: 15% to 40%, depending on credit rating. Loan tenure: 15 days to 6 months. Multiple loans at a time: No. Repayment channels: Debit Card, Quickteller and direct transfer.

To access personal loans from Paylater, all you need is an Android device, data connection and valid bank details. Paylater claims that users that repay on-time have access to a higher credit limits. There is a validation charge of N100 on the initial loan.

consumer loans, and up to several hundred millions for secured products – together with investors seeking better returns than they’d get from a bank.

Both individuals and institutions can invest in the online marketplace. Borrowers can repay monthly installments both principle and little interest. Investors can choose in which category they want to invest and reinvest the payments they receive from previous investments. Credit scores below the cutoffs are not typically approved. Below are some of the providers of such personal loans in no particular other.

Requirements: Valid bank details, BVN and employer registration (for in-network loans). Platform: Android. Interest rate: 20% – 27% for out of network loan. Loan tenure: One month. Multiple loans at a time: No. Repayment channel(s): Debit card.

Aella Credit has two options: in-network for users whose company is registered on the platform ,;.and out-of-network, that caters for people whose company is not registered. The in-network option promises higher loan amounts at lower interest rates. Part of the information requested on registration includes details of your next of kin, and there’s a processing fee of N30.

Paylater

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SnapCredit Requirements: Valid bank details. Platform: Web. Interest rate: 7.5% to 58%. Loan Tenure: 1 to 12 months. Multiple loans at a time: No. Repayment channel: Cheques, direct debit/deposit. Part of the process of applying for a loan online on Zedvance includes uploading some supporting documents. Loan tenure can be up to 12 months with interest rate which can be as low as 7.5%.

Requirements: Employer registration, valid bank details. Platform: Web. Interest rate: Function of the amount of loan and its tenure.. Loan tenure: 1 to 12 months.

Multiple loans at a time: Yes. Repayment channel: Monthly loan repayments are deducted from salary SnapCredit serves as a medium for employers who do not want to give direct loans to their employees, by providing employees with instant access to money with no paperwork. One outstanding feature of SnapCredit is that it allows you take another loan even with a running loan. However, you can’t borrow beyond your credit limit.

Zedvance

Branch

Sharp Sharp by Credit Direct Requirements: Guarantor, physical documents, personal bank details. Platform: Web Interest rate: 5% for 1 month to 59.99% for 12 months.

Loan tenure: One month and beyond. Multiple loans at a time: No. Repayment channel: Direct debit Sharp Sharp provides personal loans to both salary earners and entrepreneurs. Loan tenure can be up to 12 months. Aside the documents requested by C24 above, you will need a guarantor to get a Sharp Sharp loan.

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Requirements: A Facebook Account, BVN and valid bank details. Platform: Android. Interest rate: 20%. Loan tenure: One month. Multiple loans at a time: No. Repayment channels: Debit card, auto-debit, mobile banking app.

Branch makes use of some information on your phone to make lending decisions. This includes handset details, SMS logs, call logs and contact list. Loans on Branch are repaid in four weekly installments.

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