21102019 - BORDER CLOSURE:‘How neighbouring countries worked against Nigeria’

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FINANCIAL VANGUARD Pity Nigerian labour and ASUU on minimum wage “I dey laugh O! - Fmr President Olusegun Obasanjo“ The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU have my sympathies – even as they amuse me. When the President signed the new Minimum Wage Bill passed by the 8th National Assembly, NASS, into law during the last days of the assembly, he also ordered “immediate implementation”. NLC and ASUU officials were ecstatic. Soon, the gatemen and messengers will be receiving minimum of N30,000 per month and all will be well. I laughed. But, more than that, I told them that there would be no “immediate implementation” of the bill. It would require a few months and a lot of negotiations before anybody will lay their hands on the wage increase promised.“To be quite candid, if one was not aware that President Buhari did not take into account how the Nigerian Presidential system works, his orders would have been taken differently.“After Buhari made his unscheduled departure from office in August 1985, he went into political and social hibernation. Nobody can recollect his participation in any discussion, workshop, seminar or retreat on issues affecting the Nigerian State. To the best of my knowledge he contributed nothing to the changes which took place – especially the transformation from military to civilian rule. Despite his ambition to return to office as Head of State, it is doubtful if he ever assembled a group of experts to develop a blueprint for governance. All the major national and global phenomena – climate change, the gradual but steady decline of crude oil prices, global terrorism, the rise of nationalism and xenophobia, immigration, unemployment, gender issues etc - which modern world leaders had to grapple with are now probably strange to him.“He probably cannot deliver an address extempore on the impact of climate change in Nigeria; let alone offer his own ideas about how to solve them. That explains why his campaign focused only on corruption and security – as if nations like USA, China and Japan, are automatically free of the other problems. To a great extent, Buhari, cannot be blamed for the fact that Nigeria in the new millennium has leaders who are intellectually unable to function in the world today and who will increasingly be a mortal danger to us in the future. Just Google the credentials of the other major leaders – including African leaders – and the differences will be clear.““An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.”“Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882.“The Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, is the elongated shadow of Buhari and will be for three years and seven months more. For those with sinecure appointments in the FG or well-connected for contracts, that is a welcome development. For the vast majority of Nigerians, it is prospect which should scare us greatly. We have leaders, who unlike their counterparts worldwide do not understand the basic principles of Economics. All his decisions are based on sentiments and possibly good intentions. Unfortunately for the country, FINANCIAL VANGUARD By Princewill Ekwujuru Procter & Gamble Nigeria, in partnership with Ministry of Industry Trade & Investment (FMITI) and the Bank of Industry (BoI), has initiated a Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Academy program to select small and medium scale businesses in the country for growth. The program, which, in Ibadan Oyo State, is a followup to the agreement made with the Federal Government earlier in the year to leverage the FMITI to ensure the growth of, and increase in capabilities for SMEs across the country. The goal of the SME Academy is to find sustainable solutions to unlock the efficiency and performance of these “The road to hell is paved with good intentions of leaders whose thinking is not quantitative.“The mess which has been made of the Minimum Wage negotiations and attempts at implementation started with the obvious fact that Buhari signed into law a bill which entails essentially an investment decision. Nigerian workers had exercised their constitutional rights to request for a comprehensive, not just minimum, wage review. The first step was to determine how much increase will result from the negotiations, threats, posturing etc. The second step, is to establish if the same percentage increase will be enjoyed by all the workers or will the percentage increases vary? Either way, the agreed raise for each staff will have to be computed in order to establish how much the government will be paying for wages alone.“Even then the work is not completed. Certain allowances vary directly with the basic wage. Pension is one example. Those would have to be figured out separately before government can have an idea of how much the agreed new wage will cost. Finally, the big and most important question becomes: can government afford it? Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, who was once reported to have declared that Ekiti will pay, on October 14, 2019 was reported to have made a U- Turn when he said that “governments cannot pay money they don’t have.” Truth has never been told so bluntly.“However, Fayemi must agree that Buhari created the problem. Even now, the FG has no idea how much the new wages will cost and whether or not it will be affordable. That is a mistake no modern Head of Government will ever make. They complete their homework before making categorical statements. Buhari did not. The consequences are now starring us in the For the vast majority of Nigerians, it is prospect which should scare us greatly because we have a President, who unlike his counterparts worldwide does not understand the basic principles of Economics Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019-- 29 face.“Still, Buhari alone does not deserve blame. Labour leaders, including ASUU, were partly responsible for the predicament in which Labour and workers find themselves. The threatened strike might fail to deliver the benefit they envisage because they had been negligent. NLC and ASUU leaders sat around while Buhari, whose government could not settle ASUU and several outstanding entitlements owed to workers, nevertheless, sent four budgets asking for N500bn for 2016- 2018 and N350bn for 2019 to run a give-away programme called Social Intervention Programme, SIP. That was more money than the FG would have needed to clear all outstanding arrears owed to ASUU as well as the staff of teaching hospitals. Certainly, an organisation which has no funds to pay its staff should have no funds to give away to idle Nigerians. But, that was exactly what Buhari’s government did for four years without objection from NLC or ASUU.“The threatened strike amounts to trying to lock the ranch gates after the cows have fled. It might not even yield the results expected. That leads to the logical question: what can the two parties do under the circumstances? The FG and several state governments have countered the Labour threat by issuing one of their own. Massive retrenchments will follow if Labour insists on implementation of the Minimum Wage bill. That has a familiar ring to it. Downsizing has always come up whenever wage increases are demanded by workers. Labour has always vowed to resist job cuts. Oddly enough, despite Labour’s promises to resist, job losses follow the implementation of the agreement. Invariably, some of those who fought for the new wages become the victims of it. Governments simply stop hiring and let staff reduction take place through natural attrition. All the staff going on retirement are not replaced and their work is simply assigned to others. Labour cannot win – especially when the President has secured his second term. He no longer needs their support.“Even a prolonged strike might not make Buhari budge. Labour should consider that before calling the workers out on strike. P&G, FMITI, BoI to catalyze SME sector through skill academy enterprises through advisory and skills development, as these are key constraints to the growth of SMEs in Nigeria. According to the Managing Director of Procter & Gamble Nigeria, Adil Farhat, he said: “The development of SMEs through capability building is a demonstration of Procter & Gamble’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s Entrepreneurship ecosystem. When we decided to impact SMEs in Nigeria with support from the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, we were interested in developing an empowering model that would accommodate as many entities as possible. Our partnership with the Bank of Industry is strategic, as they have the capacity and expertise that would accelerate this vision into sustainable realities; which aligns with our goals for this program”. Speaking on the objectives of the program, the Regional Manager (West) of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Alhaji Kagara Ahmed said: “It is important for SMEs to focus on knowledge acquisition to optimize their people, physical resources, processes, and products/ services in order to guarantee sustainable business profits. BOI is committed to the development of SMEs in Nigeria because we believe that a vibrant SME sector is critical to the transformation of Nigerian industrial sector. The focus of today’s SME Academy is to effectively enhance the management systems of SMEs to ensure that their operational processes from initiation to completion is of quality and sustainable standards.” Among its other objectives ECONOMY for the initiative, Procter & Gamble aims to provide practical guidance designed specifically for highly innovative SMEs with sustainable ambitions that are determined to turn strong, innovation towards total economic activity. The SME sector has become increasingly important to economies around the world, with a World Bank Study estimating their presence to be between 365-445 million in emerging markets. It is also the leading source of employment in NIgeria, amassing over 80 percent of the region’s workforce.
30 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019 (08052201997) In the World Bank’s 2018 report, titled “Nigerians Living abroad sent $22bn home in 2017”, the Bank noted that, the top recipients of Diaspora remittances were India with $69bn, Chile ($64bn), Philippines $33bn, Mexico $31bn, Nigeria $22bn and Egypt $20bn. Notably, however, sub- Sahara Africa, attracts the most expensive average remittance cost at about 9.4 per cent, compared with the global average of 7.1 per cent. The cost of remittance for Nigerian beneficiaries, clearly, exceeds 19 per cent as N305=$1 instead of N360=$1, is ultimately paid to recipients locally. Furthermore, in another article titled “Diaspora Remittances 2015- 2018: Positive indication on human capital development” by Inwalomhe Donald, in The Guardian Newspaper of 18 th June 2019, the author noted that “data from CBN, with regard to Diaspora remittances, had outpaced oil revenue in 2015 as $21.2billion was officially sent home, by Nigerians abroad, compared with $19.6billion oil export proceeds. Similarly, Nigeria’s Diaspora remittances in 2016 and 2017 were $19.7billion and $22billion respectively, compared with oil export revenue of $10.4billion and $13.4billion. The Guardian report also noted that CBN’S ANNUAL ECONOMIC DATA, confirms that “the oil revenue was $18billion while Diaspora remittance was $25.1billion in 2018; this value confirms Nigeria as the number one African country and among the top five countries globally for such remittances!” which CBN indicated “were equal to 5.6% of Nigeria’s GDP in 2017!” PWC, an International Intervention Conglomerate, also reported that 2018 Diaspora remittances, was 14 per cent higher in 2017, and 7 times the total foreign aid of about $3.359bn to Nigeria; the PWC report also confirmed that the 2018 remittances of $25bn represented 6.1 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, and 11 times the value of FINANCIAL VANGUARD Global stock trading platform, Chaka, berths in Nigeria By Nkiruka Nnorom Chaka, a global trading platform that allows investors to invest in stocks listed in both Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and some foreign stock exchanges has been launched in Nigeria. The technology-enabled platform, referred to as a digital “Investment Passport’’, offers investors access to NASDAQ, the New York Stock Exchange and CBN claims $2.6bn, not $26bn as diaspora remittances the NNSE and offers over 4,000 assets and indexes from companies such as Apple, Alibaba, Google, the S&P 500 index among others. Tosin Osibodu, Chief Executive Officer, speaking at the formal unveling of the platform in Lagos, said the platform provides opportunities for local investors to explore international markets and diversify their portfolios into African and global capital markets. When I enquired why Western Union and MoneyGram could not receive money from Nigerians abroad, I was told that it was due to our tax laws Accordng to him, the platform also offers international investors access to invest in local capital markets with just a click, thus bridging the gap in accessing viable investment vehicles. “With booming growth in many nations around the world, investors can now own a stake in the growth of other economies. Yet, for many Nigerians, this is a daunting task. We created Chaka to fill this gap, and likewise, give the global community access to local capital markets. “Our goal is to provide premium borderless trading and investment opportunities for Nigerian professionals and investors. Chaka facilitates access to assets listed on the Nigerian stock exchange, American stock exchanges as well as global bluechip companies from over 40 countries around the world.” “To provide our customers with compliant access to the US stock market, we have partnered with Avanti partners e.Stream to improve broadband penetration across Nigeria e .Stream Networks Limited, a large enterprise internet service provider in Nigeria and Avanti Communications Group plc (Avanti), a provider of satellite data communications services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) have signed an agreement to jointly improve broadband penetration across Nigeria. The partnership would see the Foreign Direct Investment, but was equal to 84 per cent of 2018 budget. Consequently, PWC expressed concern that “one may never know or be privy to the fundamental reasons why Nigerian Governments have serially failed, to harness the significant human and material Capital of the Diaspora Communities, as catalysts for our developmental aspirations, as some other countries have successfully done”! Incidentally, on Saturday, 12 th October 2018, Andrew Nevin, the PWC Chief Economist, expressed this same view on Channels TV, Sunrise programme, when he emphasized the need to create a Special Purpose Vehicle, to transform Nigeria’s economy and GDP with the significant annual harvest from the Diaspora. There is indisputable consensus, up to this point, between World Bank Reports, with CBN and PWC official estimates on the value of Diaspora remittances. Inexplicably, however, CBN’s record of the value of these remittances, seems to have changed radically, in the THISday Newspaper report, of Sunday 13/ 10/2019 titled “CBN Clarifies Diaspora Remittances; Says Official Inflows is $2.6bn, Not $26bn!!” The CBN’s unexpected pushback, was published, barely 7 days after Anthony Ani, who was Finance Minister 1993 to 1998, queried the present destination of Diaspora dollar remittances, in an article, titled, “$26bn Diaspora Remittances: Where are the Dollars?” In that article, Tony Ani alluded to the alleged abuses identified by a columnist, Henry Boyo, in the Punch edition of September 9, 2019. Curiously, the former Minister, suspects that these Remittances are massively laundered by Nigeria’s firms provide the latest Ka-band satellite broadband services to end user-consumers and enterprises located in rural and remote areas of the country. Under this arrangement, e.Stream Networks will leverage Avanti’s newest satellite, HYLAS 4, which was launched in April 2018 and would see broadband connectivity through 64 fixed spot beams and four steerable beams banks, and therefore explained that, “When in 1995 we at the Ministry of Finance, reviewed the country’s sources of foreign revenues, we found out that nothing was coming in from Nigerians in the Diaspora, whereas India and Jamaica were living on foreign exchange from their citizens abroad.” “When I enquired why Western Union and MoneyGram could not receive money from Nigerians abroad, I was told that it was due to our tax laws.” This development according to Etubom Ani, necessitated the change in Nigeria’s tax laws to accommodate those in the Diaspora; expectedly, with the enactment of new tax laws in 1996, Diaspora remittances have increased, exponentially. However, the former Minister is categorical “that Diaspora remittances are not presently domiciled in Nigeria and therefore observed that there is collaboration between CBN, Nigerian banks and Western Union/MoneyGram to retain the dollar abroad”; consequently, Ani advised that government must investigate the infraction, punish money launderers, and recover all past Diaspora remittances retained abroad!” However, in an unexpected somersault on its earlier favourable reports on Diaspora Remittances, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, Corporate Communications CBN’s Director, has lately, queried the sources of data being referenced by critics; the details of Okoroafor’s chat, with James Emejo of THISday was published on Sunday 13 th October, 2019, with the title “CBN Clarifies Diaspora Remittances, Says Official Inflows Is $2.6bn, Not $26bn.” According to Okoroafor, the 2018 data, purported to be from the World Bank, “had earlier, also, been queried by CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)”, because they did not reflect the actual amount of inflows from abroad. Okoroafor therefore cynically noted that “we are looking for the so called $26 billion Diaspora cash, because such cash will impact positively on our reserve!” The CBN Director, reportedly also chuckled at those bandying such figures and therefore suggested that, an understanding of the methodology through which the data was sourced, could provide an insight into why critics’ Diaspora figures might be off the target! Okoroafor, also claimed that, instances of inaccurate statistics, further lent credence to the recent call by President Muhammadu Buhari that homegrown data should predicate the recommendations of the latest Presidential Economic Advisory Council! Indeed, President Buhari recently faulted the statistics on Nigeria produced by the IMF/World Bank, and described them as wild estimates, while Okoroafor similarly that add capacity in existing coverage or enable reach to new areas. David Bestwick, Chief Technology officer at Avanti said: ‘It is the biggest and most powerful communication satellite that Orbital has ever built. This partnership will enable eStream Networks deliver highly flexible, fast and secure broadband services with 100 percent incountry coverage. Internet services can now be quickly deployed across areas where fixed infrastructure is not available. Muyiwa Ogungboye, Chief Executive Officer, e.Stream Networks, said: ‘Our partnership with Avanti will open up new frontiers that will revolutionise the use of broadband services to homes, samll and medium scale enterprises and big enterprises.” observed that “the IMF and the World Bank have recently churned out data, suggesting structural weaknesses in Nigerian’s economy and, consequently, advised government to activate urgent reforms. Nonetheless, Okoroafor noted that these foreign bodies had often admitted that their narratives were somewhat faulty;” however, the CBN Director assured Nigerians of CBN’s readiness “to correct their mistakes.” Okoroafor also suggested that “the calculation of remittances by these foreign bodies, usually include data from inward official sources like Western Union, as well as money/cash being brought by Diaspora Nigerians, coming home for any social or family function. Consequently, the Director explained that, “now, when the World Bank sums up the dollar value of these various activities, they say we receive Diaspora remittances of $26 billion. I’m disappointed that enlightened people could now say remittances is $26 billion, which gives the impression as if CBN has it in its pocket.” It is however, not unusual for the federal government and foreign bodies to differ on such data; recently, for example, government and World Bank also differed on the source and value of spending on Social safety nets, which the World Bank claims is funded primarily from Development/Aid Partners. Finance/Budget and National Planning Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, also differed with the World Bank, on source for funding social investment; the Minister has conversely, explained that Nigeria’s intervention programmes, include pensions, health and disability insurance programmes and several other programmes that other countries put together and highlight. Ultimately, irrespective of the above differences, the CBN should defend its earlier report of celebrated Diaspora remittances and explain why Nigerian beneficiaries of its reported modest $2.6bn were not paid in dollars by respective banks. ECONOMY a U.S. based leader in global digital trading technology, DriveWealth, LLC. Through this partnership, we are ensuring that Nigerians can own a stake in their favourite companies in the US”, Osibodu said. Seun Oluwole, CEO, Citi Investment Capital, said: “The partnership with Chaka has given us a leverage above every competition in the local space. This is something we have been looking forward to for a while. We tried our hands on it six years ago, but it didn’t work out. Chaka founders have played in those foreign markets and with the benefit of their partnership with foreign broker like ours, it has a marriage made in heaven for us. “We have the customer service here and we have cutting edge technology in serving our customers. So, when we have technology partner that is able to open a window for our customers to now have varieties of investments outside of what prevails now, it is quite a leverage for us. This will enable people have options of exploring other markets if markets in Nigeria are down.”
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21102019 - BORDER CLOSURE:‘How neighbouring countries worked against Nigeria’

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