Serious X

ECONOMY | LENDING | MANUFACTURING

State of the Union - Prof

I Don’t Like to Pay in Full

- UARian

I Like the Way You Move!

- Tomiwa

We never do dedications at Serious, but I think there's a first time for everything.

Also this is Serious X and it just feels like a shout out is well deserved!!

I'm dedicating this edition to my friend, a man of many colours. I use him as a cover for everyone who despite going through life with its many spanners and lemons, remains kind, hopeful and dedicated to living a life they can be proud of. Nigeria is difficult, humans are difficult but we have the capacity beyond our imagination to excel and thrive in chaotic situations.

As I thought about how to greet you, Wizkid's voice ran through my head, “Man, I'm feeling blessed!” It's interesting because that's what you guys are—a blessing for staying through the years and reading.

In this edition, we bring you some bleak news about the economy and show you ways to manoeuvre for survival. We prophesy that Nord and Innoson will become Benz. Amen? Amen.

Lastly, credit is one of the ways to survive this economy. Get familiar, take risks and succeed.

Welcome again. I hope this edition leaves you blessed.

Strëët

Bed rest, no school for 14 days, Doctor! I think I may have Covid!!

..and video games pls!

Hmm...?!?

STATE OF THE UNION 01

State of the Union

- Prof

House of Sapa

(so more money for the federal government). However, since our refineries are not ready, we don't expect fuel pump prices to go down.

With our government still paying subsidies, we are still buying our own oil (GIGO).

There is a silver lining as always, guys; there are strawberries in Jos and against all odds; Chelsea are the champions of Europe!!!!

"This is Nigeria, anything your eye see, take am like that.”

~Random Twitter User

Amaka Igwe was one of the greatest filmmakers in Nigerian history. It is even more outstanding that she shattered the glass ceiling for women when the industry was male-dominated. One of her most exceptional works features a large family in a certain house—a poignant reflection of society. Living with a large family is not the easiest, but we know the only way to succeed in commotion is through unity.

Unity is even more crucial in this era of sapa; everything don cost.

Inflation is doing gengen and we would like to thank everyone involved for the tremendous work done. Everything is going up and everyone is feeling it, even the 1%. If you have more than 5K in your account, coman cut soap biko. Although Nigeria has officially exited the recession, it hasn't reflected in our day-to-day activities; ask Chicken Republic; refuel is no more fueling.

Things Fall Apart

"Chinua Achebe never see anything when he said things fall apart.”

~the Bro from Twitter corner

It's been over a month now since The Great Dip. While there's now some stability, we are reminded of how unstable digital currencies can be, especially as a store of value. Despite the China ban and Elon Musk tweeting concerns about carbon emissions, investors are not relenting, and the CBN isn't backing down either in its efforts to defend the naira. As the planting season continues, we hope the security situation improves so that our people in the various food belts can at least engage in farming activities.

The government has actually responded in its own way. The finance bill reduced personal income tax and exempted small businesses from paying tax. Still, as with most policies in Nigeria, our problem is implementation. We have also seen Uncle Godwin help businesses by offering 12-month repayment extensions to several companies for loans worth over ₦7.1 billion. Our FX battle seems to be a lost cause anyway, so we know we have no option but to buy Nigerian.

With the second dose of vaccines currently being administered in most parts of Nigeria, it's about to be a derry December in July. In case you haven't got your vaccine; biko, fix up. For the first time in over 100 years, we hear that Europe has generated more renewable energy than fossil energy. More organisations are beginning to commit to greener investments—you know what that means for the largest oil producer in Africa. There are whispers that fuel pump price might be moving to the realm of no return; omo Naija, be strong!

It is not just what we buy that is going up; thankfully, we have seen oil prices maintain average pricing of $70 against the $40 that we planned

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While it is not mainstream news, the US also witnessed a 4.2% inflation exceeding the 2% target as consumer prices moved up and prices of secondhand cars went up by 10%.

If a whole US is experiencing inflation, who are we biko?

A new digital banking experience!

Open an account to transact, save,invest, borrow and earn

Alkebulans Arise!!

"We dey roll dice, but na God dey give Double-Six."

OneBank

~ One man like that in Warri

We hear that the government is contemplating a change of name so get ready to exist in UAR. One of the skills that every Nigerian has developed is adaptability; we find ways to adjust despite the tough times. Save, invest and pray; we go dey alright.

We trust that our government is doing its best to improve the situation.

Like Fuji house, we can come together to improve the condition of our country, and we are at our best when we work together.

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I Don’t Like to Pay in Full

- UARian

Man Proposes, Sapa Disposes

In the beginning, there was sapa.”

~ Adamu

For as long as humankind has existed, there has been some form of trade and exchange. The hunter exchanged bushmeat with the farmer who had yam. An abundance of both meant that through a gentleman's agreement, everybody was okay. As the population grew, it became necessary to store value beyond casual exchanges and boom; we created money. But the problem is that it's not every time there is money on ground; many times, the ground is dry and needs wetting before the rain. So, people started to call in favours to purchase goods and pay for them later, in cash or kind. That's how the credit system was born: a system to correct the unequal distribution of income and produce.

No Credit Today; Come Tomorrow “Credit is for only those who are 95 years old and above, if they come with their grandmother.” ~ Frustrated Iya Wale

The credit system probably worked well until people stopped repaying, despite being known by their creditors. This created a need to design a more structured approach for giving credit, especially for potential borrowers that don't have prior relationships with lenders. It was also crucial for people who had money in excess (tatibiji) to find the best way to give people who did not have enough (sapalonas). The credit system is beyond religious beliefs, skin colour or location—it affects all of us! Today, credit is even more critical as our needs outweigh our income and the inflation continues to go up.

Credit is a major driver for economic growth. In 2020, the year of lesafere, credit applications grew by over 45% as the effect of the pandemic ate in. And this figure only covers registered credit institutions; the number is even higher with informal credit schemes. If not for my grandma that came through with the urgent 2K, who knows how I would have survived this year.

LOAN IN 5 MINUTES

Today, credit goes beyond cash; it is ingrained in all facets of business and financial activities. Telcos, for example, made a huge profit from giving airtime and data credit to their customers in 2020. We heard that the yellow network made around ₦44bn from subscribers who borrowed data or airtime. Although there are some biases against taking credit in Nigeria, don't dull; credit is very importanter. Imagine if the federal government can't borrow money; if the government needs credit to run the economy, biko, who are you?

Five-minute Madness “If you are in Rome, behave like the Romans, but the minute you enter Lagos, shine your eyes.” ~ Uncle Tobunsun from Agege

Because of the demand for credit, we have seen the expansion of the loan shark industry, giving credit at ridiculous rates due to high demand and, as usual, fraudulent activities. We can't vouch for everything you see out there, though we acknowledge that there are good ones. However, there is one that blows our minds; it caters to all aspects of credit that you, our Serians, will ever need. In developed countries, a credit score allows citizens to access credit, per the structured approach we mentioned earlier. Since data collection isn't strong in NIgeria, our friends at Sterling developed a similar system known as Specta Score.

That's not even the best part; it helps you to access credit in less than five minutes through our spectacular product we call Specta. There's more—; PaywithSpecta for people who don't want money, but prefer to purchase goods on credit directly from the comfort of their homes.

It's not rocket science to access credit today; be reliable, have a steady source of income, bad as e bad save consistently and repay on time. And for those who collect loans from different places and run street, there are credit bureaus that make it easy to track you down.

We have technology to thank for the growth in credit disbursement, and at critical times like this, we are glad that there is a solution for us.

So, for people that don't like to pay in full, we gat you!

How to get a Specta Loan

YOU HAVE A MAIL

TO GET STARTED Visit: www.myspecta.com

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03

I Like the Way You Move!

- Tomiwa A Better Time

Throwbacks are sweet; they represent a beautiful collection of memories. We cherish and love them, especially when it comes to lifestyles and how things used to be. That's why we love vintage outfits, music (shoutout to MJ and Oliver de Coque), hairstyles and wine (1980 Calem won't be bad for this weather) — they bring that warm nostalgic feeling.

We also love vintage cars. For members of generation X, they remember that long before the frenzy for a Benz or Bentley, we had a number one citizen—The Peugeot 504. We also had the Volkswagen Passat and my grandpa's favourite, Ijapa — the beetle.

The beauty of these early cars was that they were assembled in Nigeria. Hence, they were super affordable—Nigerians were balling. I recall seeing a random newspaper advert for the classic Volkswagen Beetle 1980 for just ₦3,984 (shawarma and pulpy money). With the economic hardship and struggles of the late 80s and early 90s, it became almost impossible to run our car-assembly factories, and ultimately, cars became a luxury. As Nigerians adapted, we cut our coats according to our cloth, which gave rise to the popularity of second-hand vehicles, popularly called tokunbos.

Tear Rubber

After more than 15 years of decline, President Jonathan introduced the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) in 2013 to boost domestic production and reduce importation. We saw import duties go up to 70% for completely built vehicles and 20% for completely knocked cars. Whether this policy works or not is a story for another day, but it has led to a number of car importers assembling some of their cars in Nigeria.

N3,984

purchasing power. The ever eroding middle class has seen a 40% reduction in capital expenditure, coupled with increased food inflation, ensuring that even when you meet your primary expenses (food, clothing and shelter), you have little left to save and even less for “frivolities” like cars (na person wey no get sapa dey think of car ~ Aristotle 19BC). Since we blame Covid for everything, we can also find a role for Covid here as well.

The tokunbos: majorly the CKDs (Completely Knocked Down) and SKDs (Semi knocked down) make up 70% of imported cars, but with trade restrictions and economic struggles in other parts, we have seen a reduction in the purchase of second-hand cars.

Slo-Mo

The government has tried to balance things out through its policies.

From the NAIDP to the finance bill, which was set to reduce import duty on cars and trucks, we have seen different administrations attempt to improve the car manufacturing industry. Still, maybe we are trying to solve the wrong problems. According to NBS, only about 20 million vehicles are owned meaning that no matter the incentives available to potential buyers, affordability is more important. And since we are in Nigeria, there are very limited vehicle financing options, especially with high interest rates. Don't worry, we gat you covered with Alt Drive

The prices of indigenous cars are also on the high side. This results from the activities of car smugglers, high cost of production and standardisation, which makes it almost impossible for locally manufactured cars to compete with international brands.

At this point, we can all see why cars are expensive, and the solution las las is to start producing our own.

It has also increased the price of imported vehicles and the activities of car smugglers who have taken advantage of Benin Republic's opposite policy to bring in more cars via their port to meet the local demand. So, despite these developments, why are car prices skyrocketing?

This can only be achieved by an enabling environment in terms of policies, sector incentives and infrastructure where local producers can thrive. Producers on their end have to work on delivering products that match international standards and are worth the extra money. We have a long way to go, but steadily, we go reach our bus stop.

Too fast, Too Serious

Between 2013 and 2021, the dollar to naira exchange rate grew by 160%. Since international production is in dollars, we can see why the Honda Civic, priced at ₦3.2 million in 2013, is about ₦9 million today, according to Naijauto.com. As Nigerians, we kuku love imported goods, and cars are no exception. We hear that we spent ₦1.28 trillion (sapa is shaking) importing used cars and motorcycles between Q3 2019 and Q2 2020. Trillion oh! In under a year!! Apart from the FX crisis, the economic woes of Nigeria have significantly affected

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Thank You!

I hope you enjoyed being ‘Serious.’

Always remember, Never share your personal details with anyone. Be safe!

serious@sterling.ng