Making Trade Easier for Africa’s Youthful Population

By Michael Owhoko, PhD Any Nigerian with a rational and open mind knows that the complexity of governance in Nigeria today is rooted in the country’s political system, which by any stretch of imagination and logic, is unsuitable for a heterogenous society like Nigeria with over 250 ethnic groups that is characterized by incompatible cultures, varied history, background and interests. These ethnic groups were hitherto independent nations that ceded their sovereignty to the Nigerian state under federalism, a political system that took cognizance of their peculiarities and agreed upon by the country’s founding fathers. But ever since this system was

By Gorata Ogotseng Ask most entrepreneurs what their biggest challenge is and there’s a good chance they’ll list access to investment and funding among them. That’s particularly true in many of Africa’s biggest entrepreneurial markets too. In a survey released by the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) South Africa earlier this year, for instance, nearly half of South African entrepreneurs said they don’t get enough funding from the public or private sectors. Another survey released by East Africa Com, meanwhile, saw 59% of East African entrepreneurs list a lack of access to investors as a significant business barrier. Similarly, a 2021EFInA report

By Emmanuel Udom Jesus Christ is the founder of the Christian religion. Born of a Virgin Mary over 2000 years ago, Jesus, the beloved son of God, came down to earth from heaven on a mission of liberating humanity from sin. More than 2000 years after he returned to heaven, writers, journalists, scholars, researchers and other interested persons have continued to speculate on whether or not our Saviour was a white or black man. Go to Google to read some of the expository and insightful articles and books on the complexion and mission of Jesus Christ on earth, which later

By Sunkanmi Vaughan The reason is unusual and too technical for most people to understand, including most journalists who cover business and political news. As one with an understanding of that highly technical professional sector, I will break down the technicality in the Sanofi strategy for easy understanding and explain why the misunderstanding or misreporting occurred. In the business world covered by economy/business-reporting journalists, everything boils down to profit. It can be a real struggle indeed for the journalists to understand the priority of Sanofi. If you add the unpatriotic politics of disinformation, then you have a bigger problem to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The proposed nationwide strike to kick against the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government may suffer a setback as the National Industrial Court (NIC) has restrained the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) from going on with the action. In a ruling on an interim order sought by the federal government on Monday in Abuja, Justice O. Y. Anuwe ordered the unions to stop the strike pending the determination of a suit filed by the government. The judge directed the government to serve the NLC and the TUC the interim order

By Samuel Ighoyota Akporhiunuvwiyo The concept of carry trade is a very important concept in the financial market. A carry trade is when you borrow from a low interest rate economy to invest in a high interest economy. This is very common in the security market because a smart investor can make more money on the difference between interest rates of the two economies. For example, Sammie, a portfolio investor, borrowed on January 5, 2019, the sum of $5000 with the interest rate of 2 percent from the United States economy and decided to invest in Nigeria, which presently has

By Dipo Olowookere Oyo State government has explained why it used state funds for the ongoing reconstruction of the façade of the Music House, owned by the gospel musician, Mr Yinka Ayefele, which was partially demolished in August 2018. Part of the building, which houses the popular Fresh FM in Ibadan, was brought down for allegedly breaching state laws. The development generated mixed reactions across the country, leading to a truce between the state government led by the Governor, Mr Abiola Ajimobi, and owner of the property in question, Mr Ayefele. In a statement issued on Sunday by the Special

By Dipo Olowookere The presidency has debunked a rumour making the rounds that President Muhammadu Buhari was planning to embark on a 20-day vacation to the United Kingdom. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, described this rumour as fake news, urging Nigerians to disregard. Mr Adesina said the “falsehood” was being concocted by some “mischievous minds” against members of the first family, ministers, top government officials, the military, and other key institutions. According to him, these “enemies of national cohesion [and] purveyors of fake information” will stop at nothing to come up with

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has called on African countries to prioritise the development of public and private export trading companies (ETCs) in order to position the continent’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to participate effectively in global trade. This was a core message in an address to the Africa International Exhibition on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York by Mrs Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, speaking on behalf of Bank President Mr Benedict Oramah. She said that SMEs participating directly in global trade face stiff competition from

By Adedapo Adesanya Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc led the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the positive territory by 0.08 per cent on Friday, April 14. The performance of the stock of the Nigerian securities depository company lifted the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC stock exchange by N800 million at the close of transactions to N1.023 trillion from the N1.022 trillion it quoted on Thursday. This movement was also seen with the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI), which increased by 0.58 points to end the day at 739.58 points as against the 739.00 points it recorded in

By Dipo Olowookere The year-to-date loss of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) shrank to 0.02 per cent on Wednesday following the 0.83 per cent growth recorded by the market. This was buoyed by the rising demand for equities, which left stocks of 20 companies on the exchange appreciating in value during the session. Only eight shares closed in the red territory yesterday. At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 219.8 points to 26,831.76 points from 26,611.96 points, while the market capitalisation finally hit N14 trillion after gaining N117 billion to settle at N14.025 trillion as against

In a bid to reward hard work among Nigerian women, Jashabel Touch A Heart (JTAH) Foundation has named Cherry Eromosele, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer of Interswitch Group, as one of the ‘10 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria’. She was named alongside other female trailblazers at the JTAH annual National Women and Girl-Child Stakeholders Conference which held recently at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. The award reflects the individuals’ pre-eminence in practice areas and achievements such as: notable works, strategic growth, excellence in client services, and inspiring contribution to women and girl child education. In her acceptance speech, Eromosele said