Dissecting the Nigerian currency: what we need to know

Nigeria’s central bank may soon give bond and stock investors what they have been pleading for: a weaker naira.

Governor Godwin Emefiele announced after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja, the capital, on Tuesday that a more flexible foreign-exchange system would be unveiled “in the coming days.” But he gave scant detail and left plenty of questions. Here are some answers:

What’s the problem?

Nigeria has held the naira at 197-199 per dollar since March 2015, even as other oil exporters from Russia to Colombia and Malaysia let their currencies drop amid the slump in crude prices since mid-2014. Foreign reserves dwindled as the central bank defended the peg, while foreign investors, fearing a devaluation, sold Nigerian stocks and bonds.

While President Muhammadu Buhari and Emefiele argued a devaluation would fuel inflation, that happened anyway: consumer prices accelerated at the fastest pace in six years in April as the black-market naira rate plummeted. To make matters worse, data released four days before the MPC meeting showed the economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time since 2004 as the dollar shortage curtailed manufacturing. That probably surprised policy makers, prompting the change of heart, according to Mathias Althoff, a fund manager at Tundra Fonder AB, which has about $200 million invested in frontier market stocks, including Nigerian banks.

What happens next?

While Emefiele didn’t specify what he meant by “greater flexibility,” analysts at Renaissance Capital Ltd. believe the central bank will allocate dollars at a fixed rate to strategic industries -- like energy and agriculture -- while letting the naira weaken in the interbank market, where everyone else would buy their foreign currency. The central bank may also try try to control the new interbank rate by imposing a trading band of about 5 or 10 percent around it, according to Althoff.

Will that satisfy investors and save the economy?

If the central bank doesn’t allow the naira to drop enough, foreign investors will continue to shun Nigerian assets, according to Althoff. The currency should trade at around 285-290 per dollar, according to Alan Cameron, an economist at Exotix Partners LLP. A devaluation won’t solve Nigeria’s structural economic problems -- which include an over-reliance on oil exports -- and may fuel inflation in the short term. But it would make Nigerian exports more competitive, curb imports and encourage foreign investment.

What are the pitfalls?

Most investors would prefer a fully-floating naira, yet doubt that Nigeria, which has always had currency controls of some sort, will take that option. And there are concerns it will be impossible for the central bank to ensure that only importers meeting its criteria will be able to buy foreign-exchange at the discounted official rate. Many analysts fear that in a nation U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron described as “fantastically corrupt,” access to the official rate will come down to political connections.

“The suggestion of a dual exchange rate, with the maintenance of the official window, is a concern,” Razia Khan, head of African research at Standard Chartered Plc, said. “This might lead to continued distortions in the market, ultimately with pressure on foreign-exchange reserves.”

What else should investors watch out for?

Buhari. He has made it clear that he, not Emefiele, is the person in charge of exchange-rate policy. The president is loath to allow the currency to drop unless he’s forced to and in February likened such a move to “murder.” He has yet to make any response to the MPC’s announcement. And while he is due to make a speech on May 29, the first anniversary of his coming to power, local press reports suggest he will focus on the government’s fight against corruption and Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency. 

The central bank has hinted at change before, only to do nothing. “The MPC has dangled the carrot of exchange rate reform, but without giving any details of what a reformed market would look like,” Cameron at Exotix said. “To the skeptics among us, this will simply sound like a re-hash of the same old material we’ve been hearing about since December 2015.”

Source: www.bloomberg.com

Buhari appoints new prison boss

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr Ahmed Ja’afaru to take over from Dr Peter Ekpendu as the new Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS. 

This is contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, 

Mr Bassey Akpanyung, and issued on Tuesday.

The new Prison boss was, until his appointment, an Assistant Controller General of Prisons and was serving at the Prisons Headquarters in Abuja.

According to the statement which was made available to newsmen, Ja’afaru replaces Ekpendu who retired from service on May 17, 2016 after his mandatory 35 years in service.

Ja’afaru’s appointment took effect from May 17, 2016, same day that Ekpendu retired from service

Stock sees marginal gains as investors accept MPC decisions

The Nigerian stock market advanced 0.80 per cent yesterday, as investors reacted to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) outcome.

Consequently, the All Share Index rose by 215.53 points or 0.8 per cent to settle at 27,231.50 points. Investors gained N74 billion as market capitalization rose to N9.353 trillion.

According to analysts on stock market, following the announcement of the MPC to introduce some level of flexibility into the Forex market, we expect market momentum to strengthen in sessions ahead.

Sentiments in the market strengthened yesterday and this was reflected in the market breadth as 25 stocks appreciated while 18 declined. Vitafoam led the gainers’ table by 6.98 per cent, to close at N4.60 per share. Nahco followed with a gain of 4.82 per cent to close at N4.78, while Fidson advanced by 4.76 per cent to close at N2.20 per share.

NPF Microfinance Bank gained by 4.59 per cent to close at N1.14, while DN Meyer went up by 3.80 per cent to close at 82 kobo per share.

On the other hand, Learn Africa led the laggards’ table by 9.41 per cent to close at 77 kobo per share. CAP trailed with a loss of 5 per cent to close at N38, while Cadbury declined by 4.99 per cent to close at N16.38 per share.

Source: www.today.ng

Huawei record success in Nigerian market

Huawei g 10 series 

Following the successful launch of its “10 minutes to charge” G.Power smartphone in Nigeria recently, leading global innovation and ICT solutions provider, Huawei has launched two affordable mid-range devices, the Huawei GR3 and Huawei GR5. The newly launched smartphones are 4G supported with a sleek metal finishing, and unique features that will cater to a wide range of customers’ preferences.

The Huawei GR3 features an ultra slim design that is comfortable for single handed use & a 160゜wide viewing angle screen, and a choice from three high-end metal color options, including titanium gray, silver and champagne gold. The Huawei GR3’s 5 inch display is the ultimate in visual experience, paired with a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 Mega pixel front camera for amazing panoramic selfies.

The Huawei GR3 is made with aerospace grade material and a solid and powerful octa core processor with 2 GigaBytes of RAM and support for up to 128 GigaBytes of Micro SD Card storage.

On the other hand, the beautiful Huawei GR5 will no doubt be popular among photography aficionados and tech lovers as its camera comes with an independent metering function, and can adjust highlights and shadows in photos automatically. Users are able to take selfies in 10-level beauty mode, panoramic selfie and a refocus mode.

The Huawei GR5 also comes with the new second generation fingerprint identification technology that’s more comfortable, accurate, and natural to use, whilst allowing you perform simple functions like clear notifications, answer phone calls, or take pictures; even with sweaty hands.

Commenting on the launch of these new smartphones, the Country Manager, Huawei Consumer Business Group Nigeria, Mr Leo Jiang, noted that the Huawei GR3 and GR5 phones were designed to suit the lifestyle for the young and vibrant, as well as professionals on the move.

According to Jiang, “At Huawei, we are constantly thinking of ways to improve our consumer’s experience with our devices and we are very happy with what we have been able to achieve.

Our consumers will find that the Huawei GR3 and GR5 are faster, stronger, and smarter and have been designed with great attention to detail”

A testament to remarkable craftsmanship, the Huawei GR3 & GR5 continue Huawei’s tradition of premium mobile devices that have set the industry standard for elegance and performance. With features and specifications comparable to that of some notable Samsung devices, Huawei is no doubt giving industry competition, Samsung a run for its money by making every touch of its devices an interactive experience.  

Source: Nigerian Tribune

NIESV vows to fight quackery

The National President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Dr Bolarinwa Patunla-Ajayi, has disclosed that the management of the institution will use all tricks in the box to rid the profession of quacks and intensify disciplinary procedures to checkmate fraudulent practices among members.

Mr Patunola-Ajayi further posited that like any other serious-minded leader, he was concerned with the proliferation of quacks in the real estate management profession, saying his administration would leave no stone unturned in weeding them (as well as the bad eggs), out of the profession.

He made this known in a recent interview with the media, where he also disclosed that the institution would work at ways of encouraging the formation of mega estate surveying and valuation firms to enhance better productivity of members.

“We must all know that there are quacks in every profession, so estate surveying and valuation is not an exception.

“But we will leave no stone unturned in ridding the profession of quackery, especially in the estate agency area to restore peoples’ lost confidence thereby boosting general perception about estate management practice in the country,” he said.

The NIESV further added that one key way the practice of estate surveying and valuation would be empowered in the country was for two or more practising firms to come together to form mega practising firms that would be able to achieve much more.

He pointed out that NIESV under his leadership was taking this step in response to the rising need in the country to create estate surveying and valuation firms that not only would serve the nation better, but which would also compare with those of other nations of the world.

Photos of Femi Fani Kayode in court today

Despite having been served court notices for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights, the EFCC today sneaked Chief Femi Fani-Kayode into an Ikeja magistrate court where they obtained a highly contentious warrant to keep him in their custody for another three weeks even though EFCC requested for a thirty-day remand warrant. Chief Fani Kayode’s lawyers had served the EFCC the court
notices from a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, 20th of May, 2016, but to our consternation he was whisked to Lagos last Thursday and taken to an Ikeja Magistrate court this morning where they applied to keep him for another thirty days

More pictures below;

Cheers! Twitter to increase character counts

Twitter have announced that in the coming months, the company it will only count text in its character count. Twitter handles in replies (marked with an "@" symbol), as well as photos, GIFs, videos and polls will no longer be counted against.the character limits in a tweet.
"This will make having conversations on Twitter easier and more straightforward," said Todd Sherman, Twitter's senior product manager, in a blog post. "No more penny-pinching your words to ensure they reach the whole group."
Twitter ( , Tech30 ) also said it will update its
social network with some frequently requested
features. For example, it will enable people to tweet at all their followers when they begin a tweet with the "@" symbol.
Previously, a tweet that started with "@" would only
show up in the recipient's feed. To get around that,
people had tweeted with a ".@" when they wanted a tweet to show up everywhere. Replies will still only be seen by the recipient. But Twitter will make it possible to broadcast that reply to everyone by retweeting a reply. Yes, people will now be able to retweet themselves.
The company also hinted at more upcoming features. "In addition to the changes outlined above, we have plans to help you get even more from your Tweets," Sherman said. "We're exploring ways to make existing uses easier and enable new ones."
Twitter has been rumored to be expanding its
character count beyond 140 characters for many
months. CEO Jack Dorsey has shot down those
persistent rumors. "That concept of brevity, speed and live conversation -- being able to think of something and put it out to the world instantly -- that's what's most important," said Dorsey in a prepared statement on Tuesday. "As long as things are fast, easy, simple and expressive, we're going to look at what we can do to make Twitter a better experience."
Many Twitter users have come to like the 140-
character count. But others have found it too
burdensome, posting photos of longer text or launching "tweetstorms" when they want to say something that doesn't fit small chunks of text.
The 140-character count was created to allow tweets
to be send over SMS text messages. SMS has a 160-
character count, so Twitter made its limit 20
characters shorter to allow for @names.
Twitter has a passionate group of more than 300 million customers, but its growth has stagnated. In an attempt to boost Twitter's popularity, the company has been looking for ways to make its service simpler to use, while also matching some of the richer features offered by many of its social media competitors.