Spotlight Stories
Buhari insists “no kobo” of foreign exchange will be issued for food imports
Buhari insists “no kobo” for food imports sending a loud message to CBN to ban forex for importation for food and fertilizer
President Muhammadu Buhari has warned the Central Bank of Nigeria against implementing any plans geared towards providing forex for the importation of “food items and fertilizers” into the country.
The President made this remark via his Twitter handle on Thursday, September 10th as he presided over the National Food Security Council meeting yesterday at the State House, Abuja.
READ: CBN removes “third parties” from buying forex routed through Form M
According to a series of tweets from the president’s Twitter handle, “I am restating it that nobody importing food or fertilizer should be given foreign exchange from the Central Bank. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign reserves to import food or fertilizer. We will instead empower local farmers and producers.”
I am restating it that nobody importing food or fertilizer should be given foreign exchange from the Central Bank. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign reserves to import food or fertilizer. We will instead empower local farmers and producers.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) September 10, 2020
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He also claimed that Nigeria has “a lot of able-bodied young people willing to work, and agriculture is the answer.”
Just last week the CBN issued emergency forex importation approvals for companies for the importation of 262,000 tonnes of Maize. The companies are Wacot Limited, Chi farms Limited, Crown Flour Mills Limited, and Premier Feeds Company Limited. It is unclear if this statement by the president affects these plans.
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Between the lines: These tweets appear to be clear instructions to the CBN to resist any plans to provide forex to importers of forex into the country for importation of food items.
- The government’s economic policy has centered mainly on food and agriculture security even as prices of food remains at all-time high.
- Latest inflation numbers indicate food inflation rose by 15.48% in July 2020 compared to 15.18% in June 2020.
- This represents a 0.34% increase compared to June figures. Also, on a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.52% in July 2020, up by 0.04% points from 1.48% recorded in June 2020.
READ: CBN claims no immunity for Emefiele as it fires back at NESG
Business
Lagos eases restrictions on social, event centres, sets new occupancy limit
The state government has pegged the occupancy limit for event centres in Lagos to 500 people while social events can now have 200 people at a time.
The Lagos state government has further eased restrictions on social and event centres in the state. This follows due consultations and deliberations between the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanow-Olu, and relevant stakeholders and MDAs.
The state government has pegged the occupancy limit for event centres in Lagos to 500 people while social events can now have 200 people at a time.
This disclosure is contained in a statement by the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Uzamat Yusuff, and the Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr Lanre Mojola, on Friday, April 9, 2021.
The statement noted that safety marshals will be deployed to any social event with over 200 people and event centre exceeding the 500 limits.
The statement partly reads, “All event centres must hold a valid license of The Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture prior to operating as an event centre in the State.
“All event centres must be duly registered and verified on The Lagos State Safety Commission website www.lasgsafetyreg.com prior to holding any event.
An Event Safety Clearance must be obtained from the Lagos State Safety Commission through the website www.lasgsafetyreg.com for any proposed event or exhibition.
Safety Marshals shall be deployed by an accredited event safety consultant from Lagos State Safety Commission for every social event with attendance exceeding over 200 people.
Occupancy limit at any event must not exceed 50% of the maximum design capacity of the hall, wherein Occupancy Limit stickers provided by the Lagos State Safety Commission must be boldly posted at the entrance of the event hall.
Maximum allowable capacity for event centres irrespective of the occupancy limit is 500 people. Deep cleaning must be carried out before and after every event. Physical distancing shall be maintained between seated guests and a maximum number of seated guests should be 6 (six) people on a table of 10 persons.
Event duration should not exceed a maximum period of 6-hours. All guests and service providers at the facility must wear a nose mask and make use of hand sanitisers All guests and service providers must endeavour to wash their hands before entering the venue or in the alternative use hand sanitisers. Temperature checks must be taken at all entry points into a facility.
Guests and service providers with temperature (above 37.5) are to be politely turned back and referred to paramedics or the emergency response team on the ground. Hand sanitizers must be positioned at the entry points and different spots within the hall.
All event centres must endeavour to display standard COVID-19 safety signs. The signs must be bold and installed at conspicuous locations. Event centre owners/ planners/vendors would be responsible for any breach of protocols by their staff.”
In case you missed it
- It can be recalled that in July 2020, the Lagos State Government had issued fresh guidelines on the reopening of event and social centres following their shutdown as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
- The state government insisted that the owners of such facilities must register with the government pending further directives.
FLASH: Lagos State Government has further eased restrictions on Social/Event centres in the State. This was disclosed today by the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile Yusuff and the DG, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola.@jidesanwoolu pic.twitter.com/Ai5KVOBfKC
— Jubril A. Gawat (@Mr_JAGs) April 9, 2021
Billionaire Watch
Reinvestment: The powerful strategy used by the 2 richest men in the world
Bezos and Musk increased the stock value of their companies by investing back into the company, the proceeds they made from it.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are collectively worth $372bn. They are the two wealthiest individuals on earth. Their wealth has grown significantly over the years and it looks likely to remain so.
To give you a clear picture of the significant increase in the wealth of both men, read the points below.
- According to Business Insider and Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos’ net worth increased by 59.1% in 2020. The tech billionaire added a humongous $67.9bn to his fortunes in 2020 and is currently worth $197bn.
- According to CNBC Elon Musk started 2020 with a net worth of $28bn, he is currently worth $175bn.
Both men have employed some interesting strategies in growing their wealth to the point that it currently is, and this article will harp on one of these strategies.
Reinvestment
Reinvestment as an investment strategy is defined by Investopedia as the practice of using dividends, interest, or any other form of income distribution earned in investment to purchase additional shares or units, rather than receiving the distributions in cash.
In very simple terms, it means ploughing the income you make from an investment back into it, rather than receiving the income as cash. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk both employed this strategy to grow their wealth in one year.
How the multi-billionaires did it
The Reinvestment strategy has been proven over time to increase the value of a stock or mutual fund. Buying a huge stake in your own company shares encourages more investors to also buy your company shares. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk increased the stock value of their companies by reinvesting some of their profits and in so doing, they significantly got richer.
Jeff Bezos’ reinvestment strategy
Jeff Bezos retains part of his wealth in his company’s stocks. This means that instead of collecting all of his profits in cash, he retains some in his company by buying its shares. He currently owns about 11% of Amazon’s shares according to a November 2020 SEC filing.
The result
- Jeff Bezos added an extra $67.9bn to his net worth in 1 year.
- Amazon’s stock price rose by a staggering 70% in a calendar year.
- Jeff Bezos is currently the richest man in the world.
Elon Musk’s reinvestment strategy
Like Bezos, Elon Musk also retains part of his wealth in his company’s stocks. He owns over 20% of Tesla stocks. His reinvestment strategy played a major role in driving Tesla shares to a whopping 740% increase in 2020.
The result
- Elon Musk’s Tesla Stock price increased by 740% in just 1 year.
- His net worth increased by over 500% from 2020 to 2021.
- His company got into the S&P 500 index and he became the second richest man in the world.
What you should know
Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person for the fourth year running, according to Forbes while Elon Musk moved from his 31st position to his current 2nd place on the Forbes billionaire ranking for 2021.
