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Business News
Nigeria ranked among top 20 countries affected by spam calls, SMS – Truecaller
The volume of unsolicited calls and messages, otherwise called spam has increased globally. This is according to Truecaller’s annual report.
The volume of unsolicited calls and messages, otherwise called spam has increased globally. This is according to Truecaller’s annual report. According to the report, Nigeria emerged as one of the top countries affected by spam calls and SMS in the world.
The average Truecaller user in Nigeria received 8.4 spam calls per month, which is 20% higher than last year. Also, an average Truecaller user in Nigeria received 30 spam messages every month.
The report also disclosed that telecom operators were the top spammers in Nigeria as they used the contact details of their customers to sell their data plans, promotions, and so on. Other categories of spam calls and messages include Robo-calls, telemarketing and financial service providers, amongst others.
More details: As illustrated on the graph, Brazil topped the list, with the average Truecaller user receiving 45.6 spam calls monthly. After Brazil followed Peru and Indonesia at 30.9 and 27.9 spam calls respectively, then Mexico and Chile, USA, Russia, Colombia and Canada. The other continent which featured prominently was Asia, with countries like Indonesia, India, UAE, Sri Lanka, Israel, Lebanon and Malaysia.
Apart from Nigeria, other African countries which were included as part of the countries affected by spam calls and messages are South Africa and Egypt.
[READ MORE: Truecaller responds to breaching Nigerians’ privacy rights]
What you should know: The Truecaller Insights Report is a yearly report which is collated anonymously from incoming calls that were either marked as spam by users or have automatically been flagged by Truecaller during the period of January 1st to October 30th.
Globally, the volume of spam calls grew by 18% this year, as users worldwide received a total of 26 billion spam calls between the stipulated time.
About Truecaller: Truecaller was initially conceived as a call blocking app, filtering spam numbers from users’ call logs. It has, however, changed a lot as it now filters spam SMS in addition to facilitating payments in some territories and an offering host of other niche services.
Coronavirus
Covid-19: Global deaths surpass 2 million
Global casualty record for the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed 2 million deaths on Friday.
The Global casualty record for the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed 2 million deaths on Friday, with the United States accounting for 1 in every 5 deaths, as it has recorded over 386,000 casualties so far.
This was disclosed in a report by Reuters in its Covid-19 tally reported on Friday evening.
After the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India and the U.K contribute nearly 50% of the combined casualties.
The report also disclosed that an average of 11,900 casualties are recorded per day in year 2021, despite the fact that it took 9 months for the world to record 1 million casualties.
United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said the 2 million death count was “a heart-wrenching milestone.”
- “Behind this staggering number are names and faces: the smile now only a memory, the seat forever empty at the dinner table, the room that echoes with the silence of a loved one,” he added.
The WHO warned that 2021 could be tougher due to the nature of new variants which transmit the disease faster.
- “We are going into a second year of this. It could even be tougher given the transmission dynamics and some of the issues that we are seeing,” WHO Chief, Mike Ryan, said.
Analysts expect the global death toll to surpass 3 million by April 2021.
What you should know
- Nairametrics reported that the total number of covid-19 cases in Nigeria had surpassed the 100,000 mark on Sunday 10th January 2021, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
- The African Union stated that it secured 270 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for the continent from drug manufacturers to supplement the COVAX programme, a step towards the commencement of the complex task of vaccinating over 1.2 billion people with limited financial resources.
- The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Friday 15th January 2021, announced that 1,867 new cases of the covid-19 virus were recorded across 24 states in the country. This represents the highest number of cases recorded in a single day.
Debt Securities
Interest rates will remain low until the end of H1 2021 – Meristem Securities
Meristem Securities has argued that interest rates will remain low until, at least, the end of H1 2021.
Meristem Securities has asserted that interest rates will remain low until, at least, the end of H1 2021.
This statement was made at the recently held webinar on Global Economy and Outlook, which the company themed: Bracing for a Different Future.
Although the company acknowledged that there is mounting pressure for upward movement in yields from several stakeholders, it appears the company concurs nothing concrete is in sight.
This line of reasoning seems to have influenced their decision to advise investors to move away from Treasury instruments.
What they are saying
Meristem advises that:
- “Buy and hold strategy investors seeking to generate above average returns should move away from risk free Treasury instruments and focus on investment grade commercial papers and bonds which satisfy investment objectives.”
- “Active traders with higher risk appetite are advised to focus on high-yield short duration instruments, which would be re-invested into a higher yield environment should rate reversals occur.”
The advice regarding shunning Treasury instruments appears to be in order, considering that treasury bill rate has been declining, with the latest figure — November 2020 — 0.03% as per the CBN monthly interest rate data.
Further checks from the Debt Management Office website, indicates that the latest figures for Eurobonds and Diaspora bond fall short of the fixed yield at issue for all the different categories of bonds in issue.
What you should know
Latest figures from the CBN’s monthly interest rate indicate that:
- Treasury bill rate has been on a steady decline for six months, down to 0.03% since the last rise (2.47%) in May 2020.
- Fixed deposit rates (one, three, six and twelve months) have also been declining – the latest figures for these indicate that in November 2020, one-month deposit rate was 1.92%, 2.9% for three months, 2.84% for six months, and 4.89% for 12 months.
- Compared with the corresponding period in 2019, the figures indicate that these rates fell by 75%, 66%, 71% and 49% respectively.
Corporate deals
FMDQ Securities Exchange admits Total Nigeria Plc and 2 others CPs
FMDQ has announced the admission of three new Commercial papers.
