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- ThinkBusiness Today - May 5th
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Ahead of Monday, when I share my weekly thoughts on winning, permit me to share straightaway that I will be using Napoli, the Italian club at Naples, that has just won their third Italian title (the Scudetto), as my analogy. Of course, there is a Nigerian connection – Victor Osimhen. The Nigerian striker has been formidable and a colossus throughout the season.
Yes, this weekend, the coronation of their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla will take place tomorrow 6 May in London. King Charles, formerly known as the Prince of Wales, became king on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September. Nigeria, as part of the commonwealth family, is still connected to the throne. Lightheartedly, Tiwa Savage, one of Nigeria’s truly global music global stars, will perform at one of the concerts celebrating the coronation on Sunday 7 May.
Markets
Wednesday’s trading session's loss was reversed as the ASI rose by 0.16% to end at 52,290.75, showing a 1-week gain of 0.37%, a 4-week loss of 3.9%, and a year-to-date gain of 2.03%. This was attributable to growth in Ardova (8.47%), GTCO (3%), MTNN (0.2%), WAPCO (0.42%), and NGXGROUP (1.38%).
The Nigerian Exchange Group has said that the last general election and the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria impacted its top-line revenue negatively, resulting in a 20.5 per cent decline to ₦1.33bn in the first quarter of 2023 compared to Q1 2022 revenue which was ₦1.67bn.
Lasaco Assurance Plc’s gross premium income rose from N10.96bn in 2020 to N13.91bn in 2022. The company continues to demonstrate a trend of steady growth over the past three years. This positive development is reflected in the company’s gross premium income, which surged from N10.96bn in 2020 to N13.91bn in 2022, signifying an increased ability to attract a larger customer base and generate more revenue.
Brent crude oil prices improved on Thursday, gained 1.47% to $73.39 after the European Central Bank (ECB) decided on Thursday to slow interest rate hikes, but were unable to claw back much of this week's more than 9% decline as demand concerns in major consuming countries weighed.
The Naira appreciated marginally by 0.68% at the parallel market to close at N732/$ but declined by 0.02% at the I & E window, closing at N462/$.
Natural gas fell -4.2% to $2.11 yesterday as drillers continue to extract record supplies of gas from the ground, while seasonally warmer weather reduces heating demand and the quantity of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities drops as units close for spring maintenance.
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National Headlines
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, in Abuja, launched the Nigeria Agenda 2050, declaring that its implementation would “ensure that Nigeria attains a per capita GDP of $33,328 per annum to place her among the top middle-income economies globally by 2050.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami has asked telecommunication firms and other stakeholders in the sector to ignore any attempt to impose a five per cent excise duty on telecom services. The sector has been excluded from excise duty tax with approval from the President which was announced on the 21st of March 2023. He affirmed that this supersedes any other declaration regarding the issue.
CBN E-naira hit N1.4million transactions as of March 2023. However, the IMF cautioned about the unforeseeable “consequences” that could be brought about by the retail central bank digital currencies. The IMF stated this central bank digital currencies should ensure best practices and the IMF also expects that the digital currencies to have a huge influence on banks and economies in the future. However, the IMF promise a handbook to help central banks with CBDC design and implementation, a decision resulting from the unprecedented levels of interest from nations around the world.
Nigerian Breweries Plc has revealed a plan to raise N25bn from commercial paper issuance to support the company’s short-term working capital and other funding needs, according to reports in BusinessDay. The firm informed the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public about the issuance in a disclosure titled, ‘Series 4, 5 And 6 of the Commercial Paper Programme’ signed by the Company’s Secretary, Uaboi Agbebaku, on Tuesday.
Global Headlines
The World Bank’s board of governors yesterday elected former Mastercard CEO, Ajay Banga, to a five-year term as president, ushering in the Indian-born finance and development expert to revamp the lender to tackle climate change and other global crises.
Following the U.S rate hike, the European Central Bank on Thursday increased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% as it continues to fight a surge in consumer prices, with rates now at levels not seen since November 2008. The decision comes after inflation figures released earlier this week showed an increase in the headline rate to 7% for April.
India and Russia have suspended efforts to settle bilateral trade in rupees, after months of negotiations failed to convince Moscow to keep rupees in its coffers, two Indian government officials and a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. This would be a major setback for Indian importers of cheap oil and coal from Russia who were awaiting a permanent rupee payment mechanism to help lower currency conversion cost
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits increased last week as the labor market gradually softens amid higher interest rates, which are cooling demand in the economy. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 242,000 for the week ended April 29. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 240,000 claims for the latest week. Unadjusted claims fell 5,518 to 219,619 last week.
What I read this week!
Collapse and Recovery: How the Covid-19 pandemic eroded human capital and what to do about it.
Authors: Nobert Schady, Alaka Holla, Shwetlena Sarbawal, Joana Silva, and Andres Yi Chang
At the recent World Bank / International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meeting 2023, I think this report was one of the most important released. While it is widely recognized that Covid-19 pandemic impact on human capital was huge, little was known about the lingering consequences of the pandemic on young people. This report, using individual and household level data from low- and middle-income countries, articulated the likely consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on human capital and future implications for productivity, income growth, earnings, and inequalities if these losses are not reversed.
The key element of the report is the dynamic impact of Covid-19 pandemic on human capital, documenting how it affects human capital in the future. For instance, the report showed that "nearly 1 billion children missed a year or more of schooling and learned little, if anything, while schools were closed". The report does not only examine what happened to the different sets of young people - childhood, adolescent, and early adulthood - critical ages of accumulation of human capital, but the dynamic effects of this impact many years to come.
The implications are huge, affecting future productivities, earnings, income growth, and inequalities. Focus, therefore, should be on measures that helps to reverse the losses recorded during the pandemic.
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