Economy
FBNQuest Sees Education as Catalyst for Economic Growth

Across the globe, organisations have intensified efforts towards preparing their workforce for the demands of the future.
The preparation comes in the form of education (or training), that is, upskilling (technical, soft skills, mentorship) and digitisation training programs which will avail workers the ability to acquire knowledge, skills, tools and the ability to use the ever-changing technologies in their workplaces and private affairs.
As a critical component of a country’s human capital, evidence abounds as justifications for investing in educating the workforce: a leading determinant of economic growth, employment, and earnings.
The need for education in all its form cannot be overemphasised in this rapidly changing world. For instance, 2020 in retrospect, particularly between the second (Q2) and third quarter (Q3), have it that the global economy witnessed a significant amount of disruption.
From SMEs to big corporations, economic activities were at a standstill. Despite the technological advancement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the tale was not palatable.
The world’s biggest economy, the United States, was not left out as its economy plunged by 31.4 per cent within the period. The Eurozone witnessed a 12.1 per cent decline in its real GDP growth rate by the same period, and the impacted some economies within the Euro area.
Spain’s real GDP growth rate declined by 18.5 per cent; France’s fell by 13.8 per cent, Italy saw its real GDP decline by 12.4 per cent, while Germany’s sank by 10.1 per cent.
Further, some countries including Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria, slumped into recession. This spiralled into a significant amount of job loss across every sector of the economy, not leaving the western world behind.
As a bounce back, education took its role leading to inventions and innovations. The lockdown forced companies and businesses to think outside the box for a quick fix—upskilling their workforce. Consequently, companies in Nigeria began to train their workforce to adopt digital means of doing business which then led to remote working as part of the new normal.
In effect, technology came atop as one of the catalysts that individuals, firms and government turned to inject life into their businesses and other activities.
From virtual meetings to online learning, mobile technology and online support for offline sectors, governments and corporate bodies switched to the new normal. Apps like Zoom, Google Meet, GoToMeeting, Join Me, Webex, Slack and Microsoft Teams to mention a few became a central platform for conferencing.
According to Sensor Tower, the global app revenue jumped to $50 billion in the first half of 2020, representing 26.1 per cent of the corresponding quarter in 2019, and partly due to COVID-19, with Google Play taking the largest chunk of the global revenue.
Although training and capacity building remains a critical pillar in recent times, the process of developing human capital through education requires creating the necessary environment in which employees can learn better, apply innovative ideas, acquire new competencies, develop skills, behaviours and attitudes.
Education can be formal, informal and non-formal with the desire to get improved performance, enhance innovation in new strategies and products, reduce employee turnover, and boost the organisational profiles. This consequently affects the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. A country’s economy becomes more productive as the proportion of educated workers increases.
Education, through digital technology, has started to transform the lives of smallholder farmers, thus reducing post-harvest losses, by having the means to better storage and processing facilities and access to market information and subsidized farm inputs.
With the introduction of Onecourse, a software application that improves reading, writing and mathematics, the Malawian government was able to narrow the gender gap in reading and mathematics skills. Rwanda implemented a mobile app called Babyl. With this app, patients are given information about their symptoms and referral givens when it becomes unavoidable.
The Nigerian labour force demonstrates the characteristics of individuals who urgently need training such as coding and innovation to be relevant in the 21st-century workplace.
According to the recent labour force data, 30 per cent of Nigerians never attended school. Further analysis shows that 17 per cent had primary school certificates, 36 per cent had secondary school certificates, while those in possession of degree and higher certificates constituted 20 per cent of the nation’s workforce.
Even within this group, 8 per cent have Ordinary National Diploma(OND)/Nigeria Certificate In Education (NCE) certifications; 9 per cent have first degrees (BA/BSc/Bed/HND), while 1 per cent have post-graduate degrees (MSc/MA/MAdmin).
Above this is the 0.1 per cent group which have doctorate degrees. However, according to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, the number of out-of-school children had dropped from 10.1 million in 2019 to 6.5 million in 2020. This shows an intentional effort by parents, governments and organisations to narrow the gap as well as tackle the prevalent challenges, albeit primary education is officially free.
Some organisations envisaged the impact of education/training as a catalyst for Nigeria’s economic growth in Nigeria’s economy. To corroborate this, analysts at Businessday Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU) understudied the impact of upskilling and digital transformation in driving economic growth in Nigeria.
From the report, it was projected that the Nigerian economy will grow by $8.79 billion by 2023 and this growth will be largely driven by some sectors—ICT, agriculture, health, finance and insurance sectors— and by companies that spend more on training, research and development and technology acquisition.
In this light, FBNQuest, through its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S), continues to focus on knowledge and skills development for economic growth.
Thousands of students have been trained in financial literacy which includes ways to earn, save and grow money; hundreds of women have also been trained on financial literacy through female economic empowerment and capacity building initiatives; A Bloomberg Room was set up in Lagos Business School (LBS) to help students gain access to real-time financial data through the use of the Bloomberg Terminals; employees have volunteered to mentor Teach For Nigeria (TFN) fellows; to mention a few.
Research shows that several present-day jobs may disappear in the next few years, while the jobs of the future are not yet created, requiring that workforces across different sectors need new skills while for firms to remain competitive, digitalisation is the way to go.
In all, it is envisaged that the gross domestic product of many economies will increase noticeably due to the implementation of upskilling and digitisation programs across the world.
Economy
Trump Tariffs: Nigeria Faces Lower FX Earnings, Higher Tariffs on Wheat, Cars

By Adedapo Adesanya
President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed reciprocal tariffs on imports from all countries of the world. This has been regarded as the biggest shake-up in the international trading system in decades and has the propensity to significantly affect trade.
According to the US government, there will be a baseline levy of 10 per cent on all imports and far higher tariffs on many key trading partners.
The Trump administration said, “For years, hard working American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense.”
Nigeria, a key trade partner of imports and exports, faces 27 per cent in US tariffs and a 14 per cent reciprocal tariff.
Giving a breakdown of how this may impact countries particularly on the continent, African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) in a research published on Thursday noted that these tariffs could reduce export revenues, increase production costs, and disrupt investment flows, particularly for nations heavily reliant on US trade.
For Nigeria, it could affect some key exports like crude oil, cocoa, and rubber as well as impact imports like wheat, refined petroleum, and vehicles.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the US was Nigeria’s fourth top trading partner by import as it carried out 6.4 per cent of its total imports from the US, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) valued at N1.055 trillion.
As a result of this relationship, this development could lead to challenges such as reduced oil demand which could lower the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
It could also lead to higher tariffs on wheat, which translates to Nigerians facing higher cost of food particularly bread, noodles, and pastries.
Imported vehicles are not exempt, as the cost of buying cars will increase as importers look to cover their profit margins.
“Impact: Reduced oil demand could lower forex earnings, while higher tariffs on wheat and vehicles could raise local prices,” it said in a post published on X (formerly Twitter).
Economy
NASD OTC Bourse Weakens 0.23%

By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.23 per cent on Wednesday, April 2, after the market resumed from a two-day holiday observed on Monday and Tuesday.
There were three price gainers and three price losers at the first trading session of the new week and month.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 23 Kobo during the trading day to close at N36.50 per unit compared with last Friday’s N36.73 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc went down by 22 Kobo to sell at N2.48 per share versus N2.70 per share, and Food Concepts Plc slipped by 13 Kobo to end at N1.17 per unit, in contrast to last Friday’s closing price of N1.30 per unit.
On the flip side, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc grew by 23 Kobo yesterday to end at N2.63 per share compared with the preceding day’s N2.40 per share, IPWA Plc appreciated by 5 Kobo to 55 Kobo per unit from N50 Kobo per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc marginally increased by 1 Kobo to close at 36 Kobo per share versus 35 Kobo per share.
When trading activities ended for the day, the market capitalisation lost N4.45 billion to settle at N1.910 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.915 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) shed 7.71 points to 3,308.46 points from 3,316.17 points.
During the session, the volume of securities transacted by investors increased by 625.8 per cent to 9.1 million units from the 1.3 million units, but the value of transactions went down by 17.5 per cent to N7.2 million from N8.8 million, and the number of deals rose by 100 per cent to 22 deals from 11 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 70.2 million units sold for N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.2 million units valued at N89.4 million.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, with the sale of 13.7 million units valued at N529.1 million, was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date), trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N364.2 million.
Economy
The Rising Attraction of Crypto Presales

Crypto presales have become a fundamental pillar within the blockchain fundraising landscape, providing a vantage point to investors for outstanding buying opportunities even before public and secondary markets. Due to these presales, the investor can avail discounted prices for tokens and acquire significant returns on the investment in case the project takes off afterward. For those with an eye on presale crypto, it’s believed that getting to either an illegal or an unreliable presale is pretty hard; thus every avenue must be exploited. Consequently, then, in the world of cryptocurrencies, presale has turned out to be a crucial modality for both developers and investors to somehow pave the way for seeding even better alternatives.
What Do You Mean By Crypto Presale?
Presales are the early fundraising events conducted by blockchain projects that let them sell their native tokens to a limited class of investors before they make an official public offer at retail or before listing on the exchanges. Here, the ones who are privileged to participate are on a whitelisting that mostly consists of very early supporters, venture capitalists, or community representatives. Through participation in a presale, investors get the chance to obtain tokens at lower price points, often including some additional bonuses or incentives. For the projects, presales present their funding opportunity and build a loyal community before going public.
Why Do Crypto Presales Matter to Stakeholders?
It is imperative for a project intending to develop a blockchain project to put on a crypto presale to assist in bridging the gap of capital necessary for the build-up and scaling of the platform; allowing early stakeholders the opportunity to benefit by truly supporting the project in its off-the-ground stages. For the stature investor, the presale is a particular investment opportunity in itself, developing a guarantee that projects of substantial promise might potentially reward high returns. Furthermore, presale tokens are based on either added governance rights, staking returns, or perquisites from the platform in a constrained fashion, vanishing all but one or two.
Participating in Crypto Presales
Becoming a spectator in a crypto presale must be well-earned; the investor must display a satisfactory level of underweight. Firstly, the probable investor should know any right projects-that is, to research the whitepapers, the team, and the roadmap. In many projects, one must be on a whitelist, which generally requires performing small tasks such as tracking social media accounts. Often following retweets, sharing posts, or joining other channels of this community will hide a whitelist. Once he/she is whitelisted, an investor will have to send various cryptocurrencies to the required address (mostly Ethereum or BINANCE) in exchange for presale tokens. It is important to check the legitimacy and be secure while scouting a presale.
Risks Associated with Crypto Presales
Well, crypto presales might offer fantastic opportunities, yet none are without risks. Due to the very little regulation in the crypto space, an investor has very minimal protection when it comes to scam projects. Most of the presale projects are in their very initial stages, which in turn makes it difficult to judge the long-term viability of the project. Moreover, the sphere is so great because the presale tokens can see very abrupt spikes or dips once the project is operational. Scams and marauding projects are no joke, thus it falls most urgently on you to research a bunch of these and stake only what you can afford to lose.
Key Factors to Evaluate in a Crypto Presale
There are a few criteria that shall be essential for making a positive effect on the project. The problem that is supposed to be solved must find proper rationale or should not better still just be significant and observable. This means a useful case here, which will only help to justify its chance of adoption. These experienced engineers and advisors are supposed to make the roles in the success of their projects and are commonly rewarded within the scope of project tokens. Tokenomics comes into the equation when fairly transparent with how tokens are used and distributed. A community that stands with a weak amount of support is not in the best interest, though partnerships and community support are in place to partner the project with success and enhance its reputation.
The Role of Community in Crypto Presales
The credibility of the community is very important for crypto presales. If the community is active and supportive, it can push for mass adoption, create network effects, and increase the value of presale tokens. Many projects actively engage their communities by providing forums for discussion using social media pages, forums, and Telegram groups, thus fostering a sense of ownership and loyalty among early supporters. An active community can be taken as a good indicator by investors, showing genuine interest and support towards the forward motion of the project.
Notable Examples of Successful Crypto Presales
Numerous great crypto presales have been able to change the lives of early investors, turning millionaires overnight. For instance, in 2014, holding its presale, Ethereum went on to make over $18 million, which eventually opened up the road for the subsequently occurring DeFi paradigm. Binance Coin (BNB) is the other excellent token that did a presale before launch and has grown to become one of the leading cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The above few examples represent what crypto presales are capable of doing in the name of innovation and value for early contributors.
The Future of Crypto Presales
The future of presales will be engineered by the evolution of regulations, technological advances, and market trends. With maturity, one would expect to see relatively standardized administrative processes, in the hope of attracting society’s most unfathomable level of belief in us through due diligence by misaligned objectives in governance and scrutinization processes of the presales. Additionally, with the progression of artificial intelligence and IoT into blockchain integration, it is almost certain that there are other horizons to reach for presales. As the noise of presales dissipates, they may subside into more elaborate, more reliable tools of exploitation in the crypto life.
Spotting Scams in Crypto Presales
The increasing popularity of crypto presales has led to a corresponding increase in scam cases that investors need to guard against. Some triggers are extremely risky: especially those offering returns that seem unreasonable or lack transparency. Some of the worst offenders come with anonymous teams, greatly marked-up whitepapers and careful yet chaotic marketing campaigns. One has to complete thorough due diligence to check for such key things as audits, public opinion, and a proven track record by their team. Platforms that provide information on where to buy presale crypto also add insights and ratings from actual users to help in testing authentic projects.
The Relevance of Regulation in Crypto Presales
The regulation has become a key part of influencing the direction of crypto presales. Countries differ from one another; some nations have given in to pre-sales and accepted them as a way to raise revenue, while others have put forth stringent rules about pre-sales. Regulation can save investors by providing transparency and making people accountable, although it does come at the risk of stifling innovation. The harmony between investor protection and the evolution of innovation would be a key factor, using the increasing age of crypto to propel presales in the years to come. Websites that display information on the regulation of presale platforms, where investors can look up the rules governing it, make it easier for investors to navigate.
In Conclusion
Crypto Presales have become vital to the blockchain ecosystem, giving willing investors early access to potentially worthwhile projects with huge returns. For anyone still wondering where to buy presale crypto, the critical point for them is to engage in deep research and due diligence. While they have their risks, presales bestow their support in favor of breakthroughs while nurturing the possibilities of reaping the healthy fruits upon them. In the long run, presales are destined to play a crucial role in fundraising and innovation, and whoever can put in effort into the dynamic and malleable space will surely find the chance circulating it. Understanding the future of crypto assets in a changing world, hence, requires comprehensive realities on presales, be you an investor, developer, or just an enthusiast of the crypto sector.
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