The revival of Nigeria’s economy has gained momentum under the guidance of President Buhari’s ERGP programme; its ambitious targets yield results that seem to indicate that they will soon be superseded.
In spite of difficult times, Nigeria has been rated as the top 10 most improved economies in 2016/2017.
“Nigeria is a very resilient country in terms of economy,” states Mr. Venkatapathy Venkataraman Group MD at NIPCO.
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This has been a result of the ERPG programme and its emphasis on industrialisation and diversification policies which boost capital inflows and encourages ease of doing business.
In November 2017 Godwin Emefiele Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN’s presented Nigeria’s economic outlook for 2018, predicting that national forex reserves will hit US$ 40bn in 2018. In introducing I&amp;E forex the improvement in the ease of doing business is guaranteed.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) played an extensive role in ensuring relative price stability and in managing the dearth of foreign exchange,” declares Mr Obeahon Ohiwerei, Managing Director at Keystone Bank.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2018/01/19/nigeria-needs-new-national-carrier/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ: Why Nigeria needs a new national carrier</a>
“If the tight monetary policy continues, and the Central Bank continues to manage the liquidity that makes FX, the economy may grow more than the 1.8% projected,” claims Mr Abubakar Jimoh, CEO at Coronation Merchant Bank.
Although energy sales in Nigeria account for up to 80 percent of all government revenue and more than 90 percent of the country’s exports, Agriculture and ICT sectors have flourished, providing steady growth, employment and investment opportunities.
The ERGP’s shift towards becoming import dependent has been particularly successful in Agriculture. Proforce MD, Mr Ade Ogundeyin declares, “the government is serious and committed about made-in-Nigeria goods. They are saying that if it can be produced in Nigeria you don&#8217;t import it.”
The government&#8217;s intention to use telecoms and ICT for economic development and financial inclusion is auspicious for the industry. Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Mr Umar Danbatta states that “telecoms contribution to GDP is now close to 10% and has been contributing 1.4 trillion naira to the economy.”
Minister of Power, Works and Housing Hon. Fashola confirms the commitment to IT, “We&#8217;re installing more broadband and connectivity across the country,” which in turn enhances a definite entrepreneurial spirit at play amongst the people.
The government has made it extremely clear that it will be pouring funding into infrastructure. Minister of Power, Works and Housing Hon. Fashola declares, “the investment in infrastructure is driving the value chain of the economic diversification.”
The government’s plans to modernise and restructure the country’s public transport system has proved a great opportunity for investors and the economy.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/05/01/nigeria-needs-industrialization-now/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ: Nigeria Needs Industrialization now</a>
Nigeria remains a highly appealing destination for investors. Mr Tunde Fowler, Chairman at FIRS elaborates, “Nigeria is an investor’s heaven with so much potential; from industry to agriculture to telecommunications. There&#8217;s so much room for expansion and the ease of doing business ensures that anyone who has a business, or who intends to start a business, will not have to face any bureaucracy, roadblocks or hindrance.
Nigeria’s government is determined to provide profound and long-term change in economic prosperity and stability; there remains little doubt that it is Nigeria’s destiny to uphold the title of largest economy in Africa for a long time yet.

LAGOS-cv2

FOCUS ON NIGERIA: Making Nigeria

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma desperately tried, but failed, to block the release of the public protector’s report that implicated him, several politicians, and state-owned enterprises, in the so-called state capture saga.
In the same week that controversial fraud charges against the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan were dropped, the president and two of his ministers were dealt with a sickening blow by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. On November 1, Judge Dunstan Mlambo struck off the roll the application of the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, David van Rooyen. Minister of mineral resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, and Zuma also failed to have the report interdicted. Zuma’s lawyers withdrew their application and the judge ordered the office of the Public Protector to release the report in a few hours.
The report implicated Zuma, several ministers, and some businessmen, in colluding in state capture with the Gupta family. Brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta, from India, have numerous business interests in South Africa.
Former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, had planned to release the report on October 14, her last day in office, but Zuma’s lawyers applied for an interdict to prevent the report being released.
In a television interview soon after the state capture report was released, former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, said he believes Zuma will respect the law.
“I would like to imagine the president, like everybody in the country, would take the report seriously, study it as the presidency has suggested. Study it closely with the view to taking whatever action might be necessary. I don’t know what it would be, but it must be based on assessment of what the Public Protector has said and the implication of those statements if they are indeed correct,” said Mbeki.
In 2005, Mbeki suspended Zuma, who was the Deputy President at the time. Zuma was accused of having a corrupt relationship with his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik. Although the charges against Zuma were dropped, Judge Hilary Squires found the two had a “generally corrupt relationship” and Shaik went to prison.
Zuma dodged serious charges then. Will he be able to repeat the trick after the state capture report? The Public Protector stated that Zuma must appoint a judicial inquiry within 30 days to investigate the allegations. Zuma, however, says he plans to go back to court to challenge the report. He says it is inconclusive and needs to be reviewed by him.
Prince Mashele, a political analyst and senior researcher at the Centre for Politics and Research at the University of Pretoria, says the African National Congress (ANC) missed a golden opportunity to fire Zuma when the Constitutional Court ruled he had misused state funds to upgrade his Nkandla homestead.
“The report is a clear indication that South Africa is run by a corrupt government and people who join politics to enrich themselves at the expense of citizens. This is a simple message to the rest of the world that we are no different from the rest of the continent. This doesn’t put us in a positive light. During the tenure of Presidents Mandela and Mbeki we gave the impression that we were different, but Zuma has confirmed the stereotypes that we cannot run our countries,” he says.
Mashele says he cannot imagine the ANC repairing its dented imagine before the national elections in 2019.
“The ANC is doomed. They can only go down. Come 2019, if they are winning the elections, they can only do that with a small margin. They have been constantly losing the people’s support. I won’t be surprised if the people dump them for the opposition,” says Mashele, is the author of The Death of Our Society and co-author of The Fall of the ANC: What Next?.
Scathingly, Mashele says we must all thank Zuma for revealing our true African character, that the idea of the rule of law is not part who we are, and that the constitution is a concept far ahead of us as a people.
“How else are we to explain the thousands of people who flock to stadiums to clap hands for a president who has violated their country’s constitution?”
“Now that we have reclaimed our place as another African country, we must reflect on, and come to terms with, our real character and imagine what our future portends,” says the despondent Mashele.
Unless a credible and independent investigation into the state capture allegations takes place, that future could be bleak.

Backed Into A Corner But Still Throwing Punches

You have probably watched Nigerian movies and marveled at the common theme of African magic. If you have lived in Africa long enough, you have heard those who claim to be victims or beneficiaries of witchcraft, declare its supernatural powers.
From Malindi in Kenya to Balagaza in Nigeria, magic is a way of life, its mythical powers verge on religion. In Kenya, someone who suffers from a twisted mouth or a businessman who loses a client is likely to blame an envious neighbor or relative for the misfortune.
And witchcraft is big business and not just in Kenya. Before modern religion, magicians and witches were consulted for all ailments and circumstances. They doled out, and still do, curses and blessings for believers and decided who became wealthy and who became poor.
Never mind that most witch doctors and magicians have little or no money. African communities have a common saying: a doctor cannot be his own doctor.
Kenyans who believe in witchcraft use it to seek revenge, wealth and power and to keep their marriages alive. Many associate the practice with the impoverished masses who visit witch doctors in pursuit of an ever elusive change of fortune. But in Nigeria and Kenya, as with many African countries, the prosperous too look for fame and fortune through magic.
A local television station in Kenya recently ran a series on witch doctors. At a witch doctor’s shrine, on the outskirts of Nairobi, expensive cars drove in and out—politicians were looking to bewitch their electorate and contractors were looking for charms to win huge tenders. All over Africa, people battle remotely by using charms. The affluent, worried about losing their wealth or seeking to suppress rivals, will pay a fortune for protection from their enemies or to improve their luck.
This witch doctor was clearly not the kind found in the villages, who is paid in animals and food. So it’s little wonder that she owns a huge compound in an area that the middle class would need some magic to afford.
Politicians are some of the biggest consumers of black magic, some pay up to $10,000 per visit. With elections on the horizon in a good number of African countries, magicians and witch doctors are looking forward to an even bigger boom in their business. At Kenya’s last polls, presidential contenders were rumored to fly out to visit the most potent witch doctors south of the country.
In the fiercely competitive market, it’s a battle of the witches. Shopkeepers, hotel owners as well as livestock traders go to shocking lengths to attract customers. The success of Indian retailers is often attributed to charms—a cat jumping over an Indian shopkeeper’s counter at the close of business may mean more business the following day. For hotel owners who believe in the powers of magic, rinsing an undergarment in cooking water is a business strategy. Football teams are known to hire the services of expensive magicians to increase their chances of winning.
A Pew Research Center survey, conducted in 2010, showed that a quarter of Kenyans believe in witchcraft despite being deeply religious. Kenya was ranked as being the 11th most religious nation in Africa and 16th in the world—78% of Kenyans are Christian and 10% are Muslim. Close to nine out of 10 people stated that religion played an important role in their lives, but most of them forget the Bible or Koran soon after worship to seek solace in shrines and witch doctors’ dens.
Despite their belief in one God, heaven and hell, the survey found that sub-Saharan Africa leads the continent in the worship of witchcraft and evil spirits; sacrificial offerings to ancestors and religious healers as well as the belief in reincarnation.
The study ranked Kenyans 15th in Africa most likely to believe in witchcraft, a few points behind the Democratic Republic of Congo and way ahead of Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia and Rwanda.
According to the report, “A quarter of Kenyans, both Christians and Muslims, confessed they believe in the protective power of juju (charms or amulets) and that they consult traditional healers”.
A number admitted to revering their ancestors and treasuring animal skins and skulls or knowing people who did. Tanzania leads the pack in believing in witches and superstitious objects, with six in every 10 Tanzanians confessing to making sacrifices to spirits and dead ancestors. Rwandans, according to the poll, are the least superstitious people in Africa, with only five out of 100 people interviewed saying they believed in juju.
These results from across the continent would make any televangelist or fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer drool, as witchdoctors are not taxed. Maybe the receiver of revenue has been bewitched too.

Magic Spells Money

Outside Sandton Convention Centre a handful of protestors declaimed his name; inside former British Prime Minister Tony Blair strolled up to the microphone, in the glare of stage lights, for one of those moments politicians refer to as emotional docking—that connection with the mood of an applauding audience.
“It’s amazing how people start being nice to you once you stop being prime minister, except for archbishops!”
<div id="attachment_1228" style="width: 213px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1228" class="wp-image-1228 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/144649913-203x300.jpg" alt="" width="203" height="300" />Archbishop Desmond Tutu</div>
Most people laughed, if slightly nervously, to the reference to the refusal of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to speak alongside Blair because of the Iraq war in 2003. One bearded heckler in a suit at the back, shouted something at Blair, before storming out in high dudgeon.
“A bit of protest there, just to make me feel at home,” quipped Blair, ever the smooth one.
Blair hasn’t changed that much, apart from the grey hair, since the last time I interviewed him on a freezing December morning in 1985. That was in the rugged industrial town, Spennymoor, in the heart of his Sedgefield constituency in the Durham coalfields in the north east of England, which I covered for my evening newspaper. I remember the generous grin and the bright eyes; he was a bit like your elder brother’s best mate. On that day, we spoke of plans to create jobs in a region where unemployment had replaced coal mining. The word was even then that he would go far and he had the look of a man with a winning lottery ticket. As far as I know, people still do not have enough jobs in Spennymoor.
Twenty seven years on and Blair is a world name, with that laddish charm polished to perfection. He is understood to earn $300,000-a-time for gigs like the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in Sandton on August 30. On this one, he needed his boyish charm and nerve amid days of hostile headlines. After all, Archbishop Tutu wanted Blair hauled before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, rather than a stage in Sandton, for his hand in the Iraq war. Writing in Britain’s Observer newspaper, the Archbishop said: “The then leaders of the United States and Great Britain, fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand—with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us.”
The Archbishop was referring to the phantom weapons of mass destruction, the grounds for war that could launch an attack on London within the hour, which nine years later have yet to be found in Iraq.
If Blair were a boxer, he could slip a punch; if he were a footballer, he could ride a tackle with ease. The former prime minister sprinkled his speech with safe statements like: “Democracy is not a way of voting, it is a way of thinking.”
Then there were the anecdotes. Blair said he was a technophobe and was not allowed a mobile phone while in office and got one only when he stepped down in 2007. The day after, he sent an SMS to a friend, with his new phone, forgetting that it did not yet carry his name.
“My friend sent me back message saying: ‘Sorry, who are you?’ I thought, ‘It has taken less than 24 hours!’”
The audience laughed along, but went quiet when Blair answered questions from the floor over why he sent the British Army into Iraq.
“I took the decision in good faith and I didn’t take it because I didn’t believe this was a right thing to do I knew it was controversial decision, but I thought it was right. In the end, that is what we elect leaders to do&#8230; I never regret removing a brutal dictator, who was a threat. The intelligence reports are on the website before you ask me questions go and read them and see what I was given at the time,” says Blair.
<div id="attachment_1227" style="width: 214px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1227" class="size-medium wp-image-1227" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/000_DV1182822-204x300.jpg" alt="" width="204" height="300" />Tony Blair</div>
Then there was the question about how he felt that protestors outside the building wanted to make a citizens’ arrest.
“Why don’t they go and protest against the people doing the killing and the bombing and the suicide attacks,” says Blair to a ripple of applause.
There was more applause earlier in the day for Pravin Gordhan, the South African finance minister, and his call for a fight against corruption.
“Let me tell you very clearly, from where I stand and what I see, this is a disease our hospitals are not going to solve. It requires a set of decisions we need to make morally. In South Africa, when you see a bribe it is not the head that must turn, it is your gut. With your guts, you can do something about it,” says Gordhan.
“In South Africa we have too many pretenders who say something in public and another in private. We need to act… We have to fight greed, we have to fight conspicuous consumption… It is the honest people who must come to the front line&#8230; To quote the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination’.’’
One of the surprise packages was former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, who proved to be a chirpy chap when he is not frowning across the chess board. He opened by congratulating the South African cricket team for beating England, even though he confessed to not knowing the rules.
Kasparov told us his mother put a sign over his bed, when he was a child, saying: “If not you, who else?”
It seemed to work. Kasparov learned from his father how to play chess by the time he was five, by the time he was 12 he was Russian champion and on November 10, 1985, he became the youngest world champion ever—a title he held for 20 years.
In the 1980s, computer pioneers, IBM, pitted its Deep Blue chess-playing computer against Kasparov.
“I won the first match and the second one and then IBM decided to retire Deep Blue. I always wondered what happened to it, I understand it is directing traffic in Philadelphia!” says Kasparov.
The former grandmaster is now a campaigner for democracy on the chess board, that is Russian politics. He told the conference how on, August 17, he was arrested outside the trial of the Russian punk rock band, Pussy Riot.
“You had young girls in an empty church, I stress that, praying to the Virgin Mary to drive Putin away and they got two years in prison. I was there giving an interview to the press and they came to take me away. They threw me in a van and used violence to keep me inside,” says Kasparov.
“The difference between chess and politics is, in chess we have fixed rules and an unpredictable result, in Russia we have the opposite.”
Kasparov hopes chess, with its patience, analysis, strategy and concentration will take the imagination of the young away from video games; like democracy in Russia, this too is a dream.

Tag: Politicians

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FOCUS ON NIGERIA: Making Nigeria

Backed Into A Corner But Still Throwing Punches

Magic Spells Money

Blair Tutu Smooth For Words