The annual United Nations designation is not only a chance to recognize "the dreams of all 8 billion of us on our planet," as UN Secretary-General António Guterres put it in a blog post on Tuesday, it's also a chance to take stock at just how rapidly the world around us is shifting.

In just the past 12 months, the world's population topped 8 billion people for the first time and India overtook China as the most populous country in the world. But even as the global population hits new milestones, one of the buzziest discussions is around the "Great People Shortage," as writers here at Insider have termed it. According to projections, China, Japan, Germany, and even the US are facing the possibility of population decline by 2100 — which could come with some serious economic challenges.

In contrast to the countries facing down the possibility of an aging, shrinking populace, there are other parts of the world that are set to take the baton of population growth in the coming decades. Perhaps the most notable of these rapid-risers is Nigeria.

As recently as 1982, Nigeria had a population of fewer than 80 million people and was outside the world's 10 most populous countries. In the 41 years since, Nigeria's population has nearly tripled to 225 million, moving up to sixth on the list. And that is not expected to slow down.

According to the most recent UN projections, Nigeria will nearly double its population again by 2050 to an estimated 377 million. In the process, the country will leap-frog Pakistan and Indonesia and end up in a virtual tie with the US as the third most populous country in the world. That's incredible for a country that is just a bit bigger than the area of Texas.

Nigeria's stunning growth is also indicative of the growth of the African continent. According to the UN estimates, five of the eight countries that are expected to make up half of the world's population growth over the next 27 years are in Africa. In an interview with Africa News, Tighisti Amare, Deputy Director of the Africa Programme Chatham House in London, pointed out that Africa is the fastest-growing continent and the youngest, noting that 70% of the population is under 30.

"The population growth is, of course, partly explained by improvement in level and access to public health," Amare said. "That has led to decrease in child mortality. And that by itself is good news. And the other good news is that also by having a young population, most African nations do not have the burden of a large elderly population that relies on taxes and pensions, which can be a strain on the economy as well."

She also noted that because of such a young population, countries like Nigeria are producing more workers in the tech industry increasing the possibility that the solutions for issues that impact Africa, such as climate change, are developed domestically. 

While there are plenty of positives, there are also plenty of development issues that come with such a rapidly expanding population. Michael Herrmann, an economic adviser with United Nations Population Fund, told Africa News that without proper planning it can difficult to care for, educate, and employ a population growing that fast.

"They have decided to meet the needs of people in terms of education, of health care, housing, food, water, energy, security," Hermann said. "They want to create full employment for the people, and a growing population can raise the stakes in these efforts. It makes it harder to achieve these objectives, to achieve social progress, and also it might come with growing pressures on the environment."

Regardless of how Nigeria and other fast growing African nations handle their explosive growth, World Population Day gives us a chance to reflect on the dramatic human shifts that will reshape our globe in the decades to come.

Business Insider

President Bola Tinubu has hired 20 new aides, about three weeks after he made the last set of major appointments.

The new appointments include those of senior special assistants (SSAs), personal assistants (PAs), personal physician, and photographers.

Among the new appointees, according to the list seen by PREMIUM TIMES, are veteran journalist, Tunde Rahman, who has been designated SSA (Media); Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (SSA Print Media); and Ibrahim Masari (SSA Political).

Others are Adekunle Tinubu – Personal Physician; Damilotun Aderemi – Senior Special Assistant (Private Secretary); Toyin Subair – Senior Special Assistant (Domestic); O’tega Ogra – Senior Special Assistant (Digital/New Media); Demola Oshodi – Senior Special Assistant (Protocol); Tope Ajayi – Senior Special Assistant (Media & Public

Affairs); Yetunde Sekoni – Senior Special Assistant; Motunrayo Jinadu – Senior Special Assistant; Segun Dada – Special Assistant (Social Media); and Paul Adekanye – Special Assistant (Logistics).

Also on the list are Friday Soton – Special Assistant (Housekeeping); Shitta-Bey Akande – Special Assistant (Catering); Nosa Asemota – Special Assistant (Visual Communication) Personal Photographer;

Kamal Yusuf – Personal Assistant (Special Duties); Wale Fadairo – Personal Assistant (General Duties); Sunday Moses – Personal Assistant (Videography); and Taiwo Okanlawon – Personal Assistant (State Photographer).

This newspaper learnt that Tinubu has issued some of the new aides appointment letters.

From the list, 14 (70 percent) of the new appointees are Yoruba, mainly from the Southwest. Other appointments so far made by Tinubu have followed this pattern.

PT/NewsScroll

Wale Adeniyi, acting comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), says not all borders in the country have been reopened. 

He made the clarification on Tuesday while speaking to state house correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Villa.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari had, in August 2019, shut all land borders in the country as part of efforts to curtail smuggling and boost local production of rice. 

On December 6, 2020, Buhari ordered the immediate reopening of four land borders. 

Speaking on the issue, Adeniyi said while selected strategic borders were reopened in 2022, a review is currently underway to assess the objectives of the closure. 

“Well, it is not true that all Nigerian borders have been opened. The status quo ante still exists in the borders. If you remember that the borders were completely shut down in 2018 up until 2022 when some selected strategic borders were reopened, that is still the situation as we speak,” he said. 

“And this was why we had an ad hoc arrangement of a special unit coordinated by the office of the NSA (national security adviser) to enforce that border closure. But as we speak, about five of them have been reopened. 

“Four were initially reopened and two more were opened after that. And that is still the situation. There are ongoing processes to review this situation against the objective of the border closure itself. 

“And the processes are not yet completed. And of course, when the borders are reopened, it’s not going to be subject of rumour in any way.”

The acting comptroller-general said there are plans to visit the Republic of Benin to engage with the country’s customs administration as part of efforts to enhance border security and regional integration.

“The aim of the visit is to foster collaboration, address border security concerns, facilitate importation across the border, and explore technological solutions to complex border challenges,” he added.

‘ERADICATION OF FUEL SMUGGLING MIGHT TAKE TIME’

Addressing the issue of fuel smuggling despite the removal of the petrol subsidy, Adeniyi acknowledged that complete eradication may take time. 

He said some border areas have reported seizures of fuel, adding that the rate of smuggling has considerably reduced. 

He expressed hope that ongoing policies being implemented by the current administration would “completely” eliminate fuel smuggling across borders.

“Well, sometimes we just want to assume that because of the subsidy, the problem will evaporate one day. So the sense I was trying to create was that it might take some time before the issue of smuggling of fuel across the border will completely dissipate,” he said. 

“So in some border areas, we had reports of seizures of fuel and that is what we heard. So it was the assumption generally, that because the fuel is now sold at N500 per litre it will be a disincentive for smuggling. 

“But contrary to that, we have seen that they are smuggling it across the borders. The rate at which this is being smuggled has reduced considerably. 

“And it is our hope that by the time we mix some of these other policies that government is working on, it will completely eliminate the problems of smuggling of fuel across borders.”

The Cable

The Spanish coastguard rescued two Nigerian migrants who stowed away on the rudder of a ship that arrived in the Canary Islands from Togo, a coastguard spokesperson and the police said on Tuesday.

After being rescued on Monday night in the port of Las Palmas, the migrants were taken to a hospital. They were later released and were transferred back to the ship, which has to return them to their port of origin, the port police tweeted.

In a video and photographs published on Twitter by Las Palmas maritime police, the two stowaways are shown hunkered on the rudder under the hull, just above the waterline of the MSC Marta.

The migrants are aged 19 and 22, a spokesperson for the Guardia Civil police said.

The container ship's last stop before reaching the Spanish archipelago off the African coast was Lome, Togo's capital, said the coastguard spokesperson without elaborating.

The ship left Lagos, in Nigeria, on July 2 and stopped on July 4 in Togo, according to local newspaper La Provincia, meaning the migrants were onboard at least seven days.

In a similar case in November last year, the Spanish coastguard rescuedthree African stowaways who had arrived in the Canary Islands after enduring 11 days on the rudder of a fuel tanker from Nigeria.

Under Spanish law, any stowaway who does not seek asylum must be returned by the operator of the ship to the port where the journey originated.

The Spanish-owned Canary Islands are a popular but dangerous gateway for African migrants attempting to reach Europe.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Military aid to Ukraine makes World War III more likely – ex-Russian president

The continuing Western military aid to Kiev only increases the risk of escalating the standoff with Russia, etching the world closer to a global war, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned after NATO members gathered for a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday. 

In a post on his Telegram channel, Medvedev blasted the new defense packages announced by Ukraine’s supporters. 

“The completely crazed West could not come up with anything else,”Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote. “In fact, it is a dead end. World War III is getting closer.” He added that the aid decisions were “highly predictable, to the point of idiocy.”

“What does it all mean to us? Everything is obvious. The special military operation will be continued, with the goals remaining the same,”Medvedev wrote, referring to the military action launched by Russia in Ukraine in February 2022.

Medvedev’s comments came as experts on both sides have been voicing concerns that current tensions between Russia and the West can lead to a new global war and even trigger the use of nuclear weapons. 

Although Ukraine was denied an immediate NATO membership out of fear that it would spiral into an open war between Russia and the US-led alliance, Kiev’s major supporters pledged additional aid. 

Last week, US President Joe Biden authorized the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite the White House having previously condemned the use of such weapons as war crimes. France plans to provide Kiev with SCALP long-range cruise missiles, while Germany pledged 25 additional Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks and 40 Marder armored vehicles, as well as two US-made Patriot air defense batteries.

Russian officials have repeatedly warned that shipments of heavy weapons and other military aid to Ukraine make NATO members de facto direct participants in Moscow’s conflict with Kiev. Moscow also insisted that Western support would not change the course of the fighting and not derail the Russian forces from achieving their goals on the battlefield.

** Kiev lost over 26,000 during its so-called counter-offensive — Russian minister

Starting from June 4, the armed forces of Ukraine lost over 26,000 servicemen and more than 3,000 items of military hardware during their so-called counter-offensive, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has told reporters.

"The adversary’s losses beginning from June 4 have reached over 26,000 servicemen and 3,000 items of various pieces of armament," he said.

In his words, Russian troops destroyed 21 planes, five helicopters, 1,244 tanks and other armored vehicles, 17 German-made Leopard tanks, five AMX tanks produced by France and 12 US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles in the reported period.

Moreover, Russian forces eliminated 914 special automotive equipment, two air defense systems, 25 multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), 403 field artillery cannons and mortars.

Russian air defense systems shot down 176 HIMARS rockets, 27 Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles and 483 drones of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Shoigu underscored the damage done to the Ukrainian artillery.

"Once again, I repeat, 403 [artillery] weapons [have been destroyed], including 43 US-made artillery pieces and 46 self-propelled artillery weapons from Poland, the United States and France," the minister emphasized.

He added that Russian troops continue to strike the enemy’s reserves and West-supplied military equipment with its high-precision weapons, thus reducing the offensive potential of the Ukrainian armed forces.

According to Shoigu, foreign intelligence services, primarily those of the United States and NATO, are closely following and analyzing Russia’s combat operations and note "the high efficacy of our defense lines and barrier minefields, [and the] professional work of army aviation and ground-attack aircraft who carry out pre-emptive strike at the adversary’s targets.".

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine, Russia report heavy fighting in east, south

Ukraine's military on Tuesday reported heavy fighting in the east and southeast, the main theatres of its drive to recapture land seized by Russian invaders, saying its forces had repelled dozens of enemy attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who expressed a measure of frustrationwith NATO's failure to offer Ukraine a timeline for alliance membership, suggests that the early stages of a counter offensive in those two regions are going to plan.

But he also says he wishes the advances were faster.

Russian accounts from the front line also outlined clashes, including a successful defence of areas near the devastated city of Bakhmut, where Ukraine says its forces are recovering ground.

A spokesperson for Ukraine's General Staff, Andriy Kovaliov, said Ukrainian troops had beaten back a Russian advance backed by artillery strikes near two towns north of Bakhmut - captured by Russian mercenary forces in late May.

The fluid situation near Bakhmut has been the focus of much attention, with Ukraine noting gains on the city's southern fringe, particularly the strategic village of Klishchiivka.

Liberating the village, which lies on higher ground, would give Ukrainian forces operational advantage in potentially encircling Russian forces in Bakhmut, analysts say.

Ukraine said on Monday it controlled heights ringing the village, enabling it to fire on targets in Bakhmut itself.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had repelled nine attempted Ukrainian advances in eastern Donetsk region, including one drive near Kliishchivka.

In the south, Ukraine says it has retaken a cluster of villages in the early stages of a drive towards the Sea of Azov - with the aim of severing Russia's land bridge linking eastern Ukraine to the Crimea peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

Ukrainian General Oleksander Tarnavskyi, writing on Telegram, said battles were raging throughout the sector, with his forces repelling 27 enemy attacks. He estimated Russian losses over 24 hours at the equivalent of several hundred dead and wounded.

For all of Ukraine's gains in its counter offensive, Russian forces still hold vast tracts of land after more than 500 days of war - some estimates put it at 17% of Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Hrabskyi said Ukraine's drive towards the coast was proceeding well, taking account of Russian defence preparations and extensive mining.

"We note that in a month and a half of offensive operations, we have brought in 25 percent of our resources," he wrote on the Espreso TV website. "By virtue of simple arithmetic, if we continue at this pace we are talking about four months.

** Russian ex-submarine officer on Ukraine blacklist gunned down

A Russian military officer who had commanded a submarine in the Black Sea and appeared on a Ukrainian blacklist of alleged war criminals has been shot dead by an unknown assassin while on his morning run.

Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, was gunned down early on Monday in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar. His address, picture and personal details had appeared on the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), a vast unofficial database of people considered to be enemies of Ukraine.

On Tuesday the word "Liquidated", in red letters, had been superimposed on his photograph on the site.

Russia's state Investigative Committee said on Tuesday it had arrested a suspect in his early 60s who was found in possession of a pistol and silencer. It published a short video showing heavily armed security officers storming a house and detaining the man, who was wearing only boxer shorts.

Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency published details of the killing on its website, without claiming responsibility or saying how it obtained the information.

It said Rzhitsky died on the spot when seven shots were fired at him from a Makarov pistol as he was running in a deserted city park at around six in the morning.

Baza, a Russian Telegram channel with links to the security services, said the killer could have tracked Rzhitsky's movements on an app where he posted details of his regular jogging route in Krasnodar and how long he took to complete it.

Russian state media and war bloggers said Rzhitsky was deputy head of military mobilisation in the city and had previously commanded the "Krasnodar" submarine in the Black Sea.

A Telegram channel used by self-styled pro-Ukraine partisans who have claimed hundreds of sabotage attacks inside Russia said - without stating evidence - that Rzhitsky was suspected of involvement in a submarine-launched cruise missile strike in July 2022 that killed at least 23 people including a 4-year-old girl in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia.

Baza quoted Rzhitsky's father as saying he had resigned from the military at the end of 2021 and been discharged, after a delay, the following August.

At least two other pro-war Russian figures in the Myrotvorets database have been assassinated inside Russia since Russian forces invaded Ukraine nearly 17 months ago. Bomb attacks killed journalist Darya Dugina last August and war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in April.

Russia has blamed Ukraine for the attacks. Kyiv has denied involvement, suggesting the attacks are the result of Russian infighting.

Scientists have used sugar to create a record-breaking battery capable of storing grid-scale energy for more than a year.

The breakthrough could help speed up the transition to renewable energysources, which require vast amounts of battery storage in order to avoid relying on fossil fuels to meet demand when solar or wind output is low.

A team from the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) made the latest discovery while researching flow batteries, which use two liquid-filled chambers to produce an electrochemical reaction to store and release energy.

Flow batteries have the potential to be scaled up to the size of football fields, capable of storing vast amounts of energy, however current methods for creating them rely on mined minerals that are difficult and costly to obtain.

“This is a brand new approach to developing flow battery electrolyte,” said Wei Wang, a battery researcher who led the investigation into the new method. “We showed that you can use a totally different type of catalyst designed to accelerate energy conversion.”

The researchers used a dissolved simple sugar called β-cyclodextrin, which is a derivative of starch, in order to boost their flow battery’s longevity and capacity.

The system achieved 60 per cent more peak power than current methods, while also being capable of storing and releasing energy for more than a year continuously.

The latest advance makes the next-generation battery design “a candidate for scale up”, according to the researchers.

“We cannot always dig the Earth for new materials,” said Imre Gyuk, director of energy storage research at DOE’s Office of Electricity.

“We need to develop a sustainable approach with chemicals that we can sythesize in large amounts – just like the pharmaceutical and the food industries.”

A study detailing the research, titled ‘Proton-regulated alcohol oxidation for high-capacity ketone-based flow battery anolyte’, was published in the scientific journal Joule.

The Independent, UK

Do you know how to sell yourself? No need to panic if that feels alien. Sales expert Rob King is here to help. 

Sure, a job interview is about getting to know each other and figuring out if you and a role are the right fit. But it’s mainly about one thing: convincing your interviewer that you’re absolutely brilliant. 

For self-deprecating types and modest mice, this can feel more than a little uncomfortable. The good news is that it’s entirely possible to fake it till you make it. Easy, in fact. The key lies in understanding the basic sales skillsinvolved in selling yourself, rather than a product. 

Rob King is an expert in sales, so knows his stuff when it comes to those skills. Ahead, he shares eight tips to bear in mind for your next job interview. 

ASK ABOUT VISION

“One of my favourite questions to ask in an interview is something like, ‘What’s your vision for the company (or this role)?’” King tells Stylist. “It’s such a big question that it gets them talking about how you might fit into their vision. This single question pretty much secured me a dream job in the music industry – try it, it works!”

CHOOSE THE TIME OF YOUR INTERVIEW CAREFULLY

Don’t just take the first interview slot your potential workplace offers. Think about what time you’re at your best, so you can best sell that version of you. 

“Think about the best time to have the interview,” King recommends. “When would suit you? Do you perform best in the morning or at the end of the day? 

“Personally, I never meet anyone on a Friday afternoon. It feels like people are winding down and have subconsciously ‘clocked off’. I don’t want to be largely forgotten about come the following week. 

“Similarly, Mondays are a busy ‘doing’ day for most people, so I rarely have face-to-face meetings on a Monday. That only leaves Tues-Thurs. Don’t be afraid to try to ask for a slot on your terms, not theirs. Remember they are interested in you so have the confidence to ask for a slot when you’ll be at your best.”

BE PREPARED

Do you think a great salesperson freewheels their pitch with no research or forethought? Probably not. Make sure you do your prep to be – and feel – completely ready for any question that’s thrown at you. 

“Don’t rock up having not done your homework,” King tells us. “At the very least, have a quick look at their website or LinkedIn profile. Offer some insights as to what you’ve learned about the company or role. You cannot go into an interview without having done your research. There is no excuse!”

ASK OPEN QUESTIONS

King urges: “You should be asking a lot of questions. Use words and phrases like ‘What…?’ ‘How…?’ or ‘Tell me…’ in front of any question you ask. This open-question technique will help get the other person – or interview team – to open up because it prompts them to talk. Avoid closed questions that invite just yes or no answers. ‘Why?’ can be quite defensive, too, so use it sparingly. 

“This is a very helpful technique to gain key information, balance out the conversation and ensure it’s not you talking too much.”

MAKE IT YOUR AIM TO GET RID OF THE TENSION

Interviews can be uncomfortable. And when there’s discomfort, it’s hard to make a sale. 

“So part of your job in any interview is to help lower the natural and instinctive tension levels that will be present,” King notes. “As human beings, tension is hardwired into us because it helps us to approach any new or unfamiliar situations with a degree of wariness. Once you know this, you can work with it and not let the nerves (theirs and yours) get in the way. 

“Create an environment to allow this to happen and make people feel at ease. Ask those key questions that help build rapport and trust. Offer a suggested structure to your responses, be clear and succinct, and always ask them about their agenda for the time you have together. Get those tension levels down as quickly as you can.”

WORK OUT HOW TO RESET

An essential part of selling anything is making sure it’s in the best condition, so it can perform at its peak. The same goes for you. You need to do whatever you can to make yourself feel fully rested, relaxed and restored. 

King says: “How are you feeling? Are you prepared and relaxed? If not, what can you do to get yourself into a prepared and relaxed state? Clear the diary for some prep time? Go for a walk? Some breathing exercises? Make a cup of tea or coffee? What is the best way for you to take a five-minute break and reset before any important interview?”

DON’T LET YOUR INTERVIEWER’S BODY LANGUAGE PUT YOU OFF

King asks: “How is the interviewer behaving? Do they seem relaxed and happy to talk? Or do they seem bored and disinterested? Don’t be thrown by it if they do – ask them what they’d like to get out of the time and what they’d like to know about you. People often give body language signals that can be misinterpreted. It’s important to not be put off by things that are unexpected or let them affect your overall plan.”

FINISH WITH ONE SIMPLE IDEA

When you sell a product, you need an aha moment – a slogan or one simple idea that sticks with people after the pitch is done. Take a similar approach to selling yourself. 

“Aim to leave the interviewer with a simple idea or thing to remember you by,” King recommends. “Most people forget 80% of what is said in a meeting. Therefore, start and finish the interview with one simple easy-to-remember anecdote or fact about you and your experience. You can use it as an opening or closing statement – it’s highly memorable, especially when told as a story.”

Stylist

National Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has charged members of the party to be prepared for a presidential rerun.

He said he had been informed that President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) led government was also getting set for a rerun.

Abure also urged millions of party members to be on the alert and get ready to “further humiliate” APC and its government at the polls.

H said this during a virtual meeting held with Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy led by Eddie Oparaoji, who is the LP Diaspora Chairman in the United States, on Monday.

“Those in government are already planning for rerun and this is one of the support we will be canvasing from you. We should also be getting prepared because since all those in government are already preparing for rerun we too should not be taken unawares.”

“So we will be needing your engagement and support on this aspect if par adventure it happens today, that the election is nullified which is not what we are asking for, because we are asking for outright declaration of Peter Obi as the President of Nigeria.

“We believe strongly that we won that election given the statistics we have, given the result we have, we are not expecting anything less than the declaration of Obi as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But supposing that didn’t happen as the government is believed to be planning for a rerun, it will not also be out of place for we to be preparing for a rerun election,” Abure said.

The LP boss said the party is hopeful that if the matter gets to the Supreme Court, the apex court will also act in their favour.

Also, the Director of Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign, Oseloka Obaze, urged ObiDatti members in diaspora to see the struggle “for recovering of our mandate” as a collective responsibility and one that no one can actually abandon for any other reason.

In his speech, the chairman of the Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy, said that the group in partnership with all Obidients in diaspora has the potential to contribute significantly to Nigerian’s development.

“Through advocacy, human rights promotion, capacity building, investment, education and healthcare support, diaspora engagement, and policy advocacy, we can play a crucial role in fostering democratic governance, justice, and socio-ecobomic progress in Nigeria,” he said.

Daily Trust

Foreign investors overlooked 28 states as the value of capital importation into Nigeria grew by 6.78 percent in the first quarter of 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The total capital imported was $1.13 billion, up from the $1.06 billion recorded in Q4 2022.

According to the NBS report, the 28 states that failed to attract foreign investment in Q1 2023 include:

• Abia
• Bauchi
• Bayelsa
• Benue
• Borno
• Cross River
• Delta
• Ebonyi
• Edo
• Enugu
• Gombe
• Imo
• Jigawa
• Kaduna
• Kano
• Katsina
• Kebbi
• Kogi
• Kwara
• Nasarawa
• Osun
• Oyo
• Plateau
• Rivers
• Sokoto
• Taraba
• Yobe
• Zamfara

LAGOS LEADS

In the quarter under review, Lagos took the lead as it outshined others — and the federal capital territory (FCT) — to top the list of states that attracted the most investments.

Analysis by TheCable Index shows that the country’s major commercial city attracted $704.87 million, representing 62 percent of the total capital inflow into Nigeria.

According to the NBS report, the FCT emerged as the second top investment destination with $410.27 million — representing 36 percent of the total capital inflow in the country.

Other states that attracted foreign investments in Q1 2023 are Akwa Ibom ($5.21 million), Adamawa ($4.50 million), Anambra ($4 million), and Ogun ($2.09 million).

Niger made the list with $1.50 million, Ondo had $0.20 million, and Ekiti secured $0.01 million.

The Cable

Last month’s currency devaluation in Nigeria is bringing foreign investors back to the nation’s stock market.

Overseas investment flows have jumped over the past month after President Bola Tinubu’s administration allowed the naira to weaken 40%, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos. While the devaluation initially reset the foreign-currency price of the benchmark index lower, stock gains fueled by the flows have mitigated that impact — leading to a 7.5% rebound over the past two weeks.

Investors will take heart from history that shows currency devaluations, while causing short-term pain, boost stock values and investment flows over the long term.

The world’s best-performing stock market over the past year is Argentina’s, up 101% in dollar terms on the back of a 51% decline in the peso. Not far behind is Turkey, up 74% off a 34% slump in the lira. The stocks gauge of Lebanon, which has seen the world’s worst currency losses, is up 20% in dollar terms over the period. In Egypt, stocks are up 20% after the currency fell 39%.

“Foreign investors are coming now because they believe they are taking a position on the future,” said Adetilewa Adebajo, chief executive of Lagos-based CFG Advisory.

“If the government comes out with a good budget, oil prices stabilize, crude production goes up, foreign exchange becomes more available, those will be good signals for foreign-investor participation and the positive market movement will be sustained.”

Nigerian stocks are already one of the world’s best performers in local-currency terms. Though Tinubu wasn’t the markets’ most favorite candidate at the February hustings, his administration has surprised investors with the intent and execution of a range of economic reforms. He wound down expensive fuel subsidies, brought changes to the management of the central bank and pledged to move to a flexible foreign-exchange rate.

The World Bank is forecasting the West African nation will almost double its growth rate to 4% from 2024 onward compared with an average of 2.1% since 2015 if it implements reforms to increase non-oil revenue and cut inflation. Bank of America Sub-Saharan Africa economist Tatonga Rusike expects the central bank to intensify its fight against consumer-price growth, potentially hiking interest rates by 700 basis points by the end of the year. 

The NGX All Share Index has risen 6% this month in naira terms, its third monthly gain. That translates to a 3% advance in dollars. The post-election rally has helped the gauge to reduce its valuation discount to its emerging-market peers. It now trades 31% below the forward price-earnings ratio of the MSCI Emerging Markets, compared with 40% in April. 

Meanwhile, foreign-investor participation has increased to 12% of transactions from 4% before the devaluation, according to the exchange. For the flows to continue and deepen, however, they would need assurances the reforms will continue. They will also monitor other variables including foreign-exchange volatility and inflation before committing more funds, said Samuel Sule, director of the financing group at Renaissance Capital Africa. 

The naira erased a decline Monday to trade 1.2% higher at 760.12 per dollar.

Bloomberg