The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria has continued to rise rapidly as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control revealed Nigeria now has 7,839 confirmed cases.

On the 24th of May 2020, 313 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

To date, 7839 cases have been confirmed, 2263 cases have been discharged and 226 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory having carried out 44,458 tests.

The 313 new cases were reported from 17 states- Lagos (148), FCT (36), Rivers (27), Edo (19), Kano (13), Ogun (12), Ebonyi (11), Nasarawa (8), Delta (8), Oyo (7), Plateau (6), Kaduna (5), Kwara (4), Akwa Ibom (3), Bayelsa (3), Niger (2), Anambra (1).

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In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4.

The latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 3505, followed by Kano (896), Abuja at 505, Katsina (308), Borno (250), Jigawa (241), Oyo (240), Bauchi (232), Ogun (231), Edo (191), Kaduna (189),  Gombe (145),  Sokoto and Rivers (116), Plateau (83).

Kwara State has recorded 79 cases, Yobe (47), Nasarawa (46), Osun (42), Delta (39), Ebonyi (33), Kebbi (32), Niger (28), Adamawa (27), Akwa Ibom (24), Ondo (23), Ekiti (20), Taraba and Enugu (18), Bayelsa (11), Anambra (9), Imo and Abia (7), while Benue state has recorded 5 cases.

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The British High Commission has released flight schedules to evacuate its nationals from Nigeria within a fortnight.

In a video made available to Nairametrics, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, stressed that they would be the final evacuation flights from Nigeria back to the United Kingdom, and urged nationals to take advantage of it.

Speaking about eligibility, Laing stated:

“These flights are aimed at British nationals and dual nationals who are normally resident in the UK, and their immediate dependents. We’ll be prioritising people who are already on our waiting list.
“After that, we will allocate seats on a first come first served basis, and those of you who are non-British nationals but have indefinite leave to remain in the UK could also be eligible. We will pick up any foreign nationals if we have seats available.”

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Schedule

There will be flights from Lagos to London on May 29, and June 1, 2020, while the flights from Abuja to London will only run on June 6, 2020.
There are also arrangements to pick up stranded nationals in Port Harcourt, and connect them to Abuja where they will board the flight home.

According to Laing, the Commission will be using Virgin Airlines for its Lagos flights and Titan Airways to convey nationals from Abuja.

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What it will cost

Britons taking the flight from Lagos will be expected to pay £445 for their tickets, while passengers from Abuja will pay £600.

Laing added that the commission has also made provisions for nationals who are cash strapped.
“If you are struggling and you have exhausted all other means, there are loans available,” she said.

Bookings are to be made at the ‘return to the UK’ part of their travel advise page, and details of the loans can also be found there.

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has notified the public of it’s proposed Commercial Paper Issuance (series 1 & 2 commercial paper issuance N50billion each) under its N100 billion Commercial Paper (“CP”) Issuance Programme.

The proceeds from the CP issuance will be used to support MTN Nigeria’s working capital and general corporate purposes. This issuance under the CP Programme represents MTN Nigeria’s debut in the domestic debt capital market.

Highlights of the report are as follows:

Arranger: Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited

Minimum subscription: N5 million

Issuance size: N100 billion (series 1 & 2 commercial paper issuance N50billion each)

Tax consideration: Free and clear of withholding Taxes

MTNN is the leading telecommunications operator in the largest telecoms market in Africa. The company is the largest mobile operator and undisputed market leader in Nigeria, as measured by total mobile subscribers (c. 70 million), active data users (c. 26.8 million), revenue (almost 50% of industry), and profit pool. 

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MTNN is well-positioned for the long term, with its unmatched investments in its infrastructure – most expansive 2G, 3G, and 4G network, largest fibre network (c. 29,000km) that spans across Nigeria, largest physical and digital distribution platform, and wide range of spectrum holdings – and the exciting market opportunity Nigeria brings.

Nigeria offers an attractive telco market proposition as Africa’s largest economy and most populous country. Mobile voice and data subscription will continue to be a major part of consumer spending, largely driven by increased adoption by the young population.

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It is important to note that in the recent COVID-19 environment, MTNN has continued to sustainably add new subscribers, and customer voice and data usage remains resilient.

MTNN is rated Aa+ by Agusto & Co. which reflects the company’s history of strong financial performance – record revenue in excess of N1 trillion (largest revs by a listed corporate), stable and healthy operating profit metrics (+53% EBITDA margin), comfortably low leverage (0.4x Net Debt/EBITDA, 10.8x interest coverage) that is predominantly local currency, and strong free cash flow.