Victor Moses of Nigeria retires from international football at 27

Nigeria's Victor Moses has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 27.

The Chelsea winger played 37 times for his country, scoring 12 times since making his debut in 2012.

He had previously represented England up to Under-21 level, while coming through the ranks at Crystal palace.

"I have experienced some of the best moments of my life wearing the Super Eagles shirt and have memories with me that will last a lifetime," he said.

"However, I feel that now is the right time to step away in order to be able to focus fully on my club career and young family, as well as to allow the next generation the opportunity to step up and to flourish.

"Thank you for the memories and good luck to the team for the future."

Moses won the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria in 2013, and represented the nation at two World Cups, in 2014 and 2018.

Nigeria were knocked out at the group stage in Russia this summer, having beaten Iceland but suffered defeats by Croatia and Argentina.

BBC

Video - Nigeria Coffee Art

To Nigeria now, where we meet an artist who's found a new purpose for coffee. Ekene Ngige is an avid coffee drinker, and has been using it in staining techniques in his art too.

Monthly uber passengers in Nigeria reaches 267,000

Transportation network company, Uber Nigeria, currently has 9,000 active driver-partners and no fewer than 267,000 monthly riders, an official has said. Francesca Uriri, the company’s Head of Communications in West Africa, made the disclosure in an interview in Lagos on Wednesday.

Uriri said that the drivers and riders were based in Abuja and Lagos, where Uber currently focused. She claimed that the growing number of the riders was due to safety and services provided by the company. “Uber works together with regulators to ensure the safety of its platform and that of those who use it,’’ Uriri said. 

The official also said that Uber maintained a high level of privacy. “Uber has taken steps to protect its sensitive external data repositories. “In Nigeria Uber is currently available in Lagos and Abuja and is focused on enabling driver-partners by providing business and economic opportunities. 

“The steadily growing number of Uber driver-partners in Nigeria is a testament to the appeal of the Uber business model. “That is because it creates real opportunities for local entrepreneurs to create and enjoy flexibility and enhance earning potential,’’ she said. 

According to Uriri, each city in Nigeria is unique and offers unique opportunities. “We have found Nigeria to be defined by agility, creativity and adaptability; we are committed to growth, and excited about the potential. “ When Uber commenced operations in Lagos four years ago, it (Lagos) was the fourth city in sub-Saharan Africa,’’ she said. She said that Uber was already present in over 140 cities in 40 countries before then. 

“ Today, Uber is available in 13 cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is available globally in over 600 cities in over 75 countries spanning six continents,’’ she said. Uriri said that Uber was constantly looking for ways to help driver-partners to get more value through many partnerships. “In Nigeria, we have partnered with companies such as FirstBank and Germaine Autos to ease the barriers of car ownership for driver-partners and to provide valuable car maintenance and servicing plans.’’ 

Uriri listed mapping and traffic congestion as some of Uber’s challenges in Nigeria but said that the company was working hard daily to overcome challenges to ensure seamless experience. Uber is a technology platform. 

The Uber app connects driver-partners and riders. Driver-partners use their own vehicles to pick up riders and drive them to their destinations and are paid for each completed trip. Uber was founded in March 2009 in San Francisco, California.

Vanguard

Related stories: Uber is recording exponential grown in Lagos, Nigeria

Uber testing UberEats in Nigeria

Nigerian government hands out cash to battle extreme poverty

The Nigerian government has just launched a collateral-free loan scheme which will see two million petty traders receive $28 repayable in six months.

It’s the latest social intervention program under Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari. The government also offers free meals in public primary schools and plans to distribute $300 million in looted funds recovered from Swiss authorities to its poorest people. Around 300,000 households in 19 of Nigeria’s 36 states are expected to receive $14 per month.


There’s one simple reason Nigeria is doubling down on cash transfers to its poorest people: 86.9 million Nigerians—nearly 50% of its estimated 180 million population—live in extreme poverty.

So, does handing out cash to poor people actually work?

Yes, according to data.

A 2016 study by Overseas Development Institute (ODI) showed links between cash transfers and an improvement in school attendance, use of health services and dietary diversity in households that receive them. As Quartz has reported, when given to women, cash transfers have a positive impact on reducing domestic and sexual violence in poor households as well as reducing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Research has also dispelled the notion that poor people could abuse cash transfers with non-essential purchases. Several countries are wise to the potential of cash transfers as a development policy. Around a billion people currently receive cash transfers across 130 countries, according to the World Bank (pdf) with most of the transfers coming from governments.

But there’s a catch.

Studies also show that while giving money to poor people outright can have a positive impact on reducing poverty, the effects don’t last after the cash transfers stop. For many recipients, the cash transfers are essentially a means to better living on a day-to-day basis rather than a permanent transformative fix. The short-lived effects clearly give governments a hint: cash transfers are not substitutes for good governance or delivering a better life to citizens in the long-term.


Ephemeral effects aside, local nuance means cash transfers in Nigeria will unlikely be straightforward business. For starters, Africa’s largest economy notoriously lacks national records through which it will properly identify its poorest people. More so, with the poorest people likely unbanked, it’s unclear how the cash will reach them in a manner that’s transparent. In a country where corruption is rampant, that’s a red flag.

And then there’s the question of timing. With general elections due early next year, some will regard the interventions as a play for votes. There is already ample reason to be cynical. Recent state level elections have been marred by brazen vote-buying by agents of major political parties.

Cheta Nwanze, researcher with SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based intelligence consulting firm, says the loan scheme “will likely end up as a largesse which will not make a dent” and for which “return rates will be very poor.” Recent history backs up some of that sentiment. After launching a $126 million loan scheme for farmers in 2015, the government has struggled to recover the loans. As of December 2017, less than 50 of the 5,540 rice and wheat farmers who received loans had repaid them.

Quartz

Single women struggle to rent homes in Nigeria

Many landlords in Nigeria suspect single women of being prostitutes, making it difficult for them to rent apartments.

A successful career woman, Olufunmilola Ogungbile, 30, never thought that she would be sleeping on a friend's couch after five months of apartment-hunting in Abeokuta city in south-western Nigeria.

She had moved from Lagos after securing a good job with the Ogun state government as a project administrator. Despite being financially independent, she struggled to find an apartment in middle and upmarket areas because she was single.

"The first question the landlord would ask me is if I'm married?" Ms Ogungbile said, "I'd say 'No', and they'd follow with, 'Why not'?"

She was often left puzzled.

"What does my marital status have to do with me getting a place to live in?"

'We want decent people'

Ms Ogungbile said the discrimination was widespread.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the landlords I met did not want to rent to me because I am a single woman," she told the BBC.

"Most landlords and agents would tell me, 'Can you bring your boyfriend or your husband?' In these kinds of apartments, we don't like boys coming in. We just want decent people."

Ms Ogungbile believes the hurdles she faced are down to cultural expectations - marriage is a benchmark used to measure decency.

"In this part of the world, if you are not married then you are a prostitute," she added.

Sylvia Oyinda - a product manager in the retail sector in Lagos, Nigeria's throbbing metropolis - agrees that the stigma makes it difficult for single women to rent in Nigeria.

Ms Oyinda, 31, was engaged when she started looking for an apartment. Landlords refused to meet her without her fiancé.

"There is a saying 'small girl, big god' that describes young single women who rent alone or squat with other females.

"The saying refers to single women who have sponsors, typically older men, who pay their rent," she said.

'Men have more money'

Ms Oyinda believes landlords assume most young single women are like this.

"The three landlords I met all refused to show me their apartments. They would tell me, 'Don't bother.'"

Out of frustration she stopped scouting on her own. On the fourth attempt, she went with her partner, to whom she is now married, and was taken seriously. The couple eventually settled for a four-bedroom flat in the high-end area of Lekki.

Coleman Nwafor, a landlord and property owner, said he does not discriminate, but most of his tenants and buyers are men because they have more money.

"Most single ladies are under the responsibility of their parents or a lover. You can never tell what will happen after the first year. And every landlord wants a tenant who will pay without stress and renew their contract once it expires," he told the BBC.

"Most single ladies are not working. There are more jobs for men than women in Nigeria. That is just the way it is."

'Landlords try to police women'

Yinka Oladiran, 25, who moved from New York to Lagos in May 2016 to pursue a career as a TV presenter, said she lived independently in the US and wanted to maintain her freedom in Nigeria.

She also wanted to reduce a three-hour commute to work from her father's home, but she could not rent an apartment without her father giving his consent to landlords.

"There were landlords who said they did not want to rent to me until they had spoken to my father to make sure that he was OK with it, even though I was paying with my own money," Ms Oladiran told the BBC.

"My opinion didn't matter. The landlords try to police women," she added.

After searching independently for more than six months, she finally got an apartment in April 2017.

However, she said she felt constantly undermined by security staff, especially when she came home late from work, as they often asked her who she was visiting.

"For that to even happen over and over again was very insulting," Ms Oladiran said.

As for Ms Ogungbile, her five-month hunt ended last week when she finally moved into a studio flat.

She said she secured it through a letting agency which focused on her income rather than her gender or marital status.

The 30-year-old, who is now excited about painting her new home in her favourite colours - purple and lilac - believes she fought back against discrimination in her own little way.

"Part of fighting the stigma was me refusing to bring a spouse or a partner because that was part of the criteria before they would hand me the keys," she said.

BBC

Video - Nigerian government seeks to address petrol theft

As it stands today, Nigeria does not know how much refined petrol it consumes. Government agencies have bandied different figures ranging from 30 M to 70 M liters per day but the country's Bureau of Statistics says the figures are best guesstimates. The net effect is that the country pays subsidies on refined petrol consumption it cannot really account for. The government is now moving to address the age long problem.

FIFA gives Nigeria ultimatum or face ban

Fifa has issued ultimatums to Nigeria and Ghana that they both face bans from global football for "undue influence" in the affairs of their governing bodies. 

Nigeria's ban could begin with immediate effect if the Nigeria Football Federation "offices are not handed back to the legitimate NFF executive committee under president Amaju Pinnick."

The issues in Nigeria come after a recent court case recognised Chris Giwa, who is currently serving five-year ban by Fifa, as the NFF president.

Giwa has been protesting the result of elections held in September 2014 that saw Pinnick installed as NFF president.

The NFF are due to hold polls on 20 September as Pinnick's four-year term is coming to an end.

The statement from Fifa added that any ban would not affect Nigeria's ongoing participation at the Women's Under-20 World Cup in France.

The Super Falconets are due to play Spain in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

A Ghana high court petition, brought by the attorney general to have the football association liquidated, must be withdrawn by the 27 August or a ban will be imposed.

The case came in the wake of widespread corruption allegations.

Football's world governing body says this "constitutes an undue influence in the affairs of the GFA in contravention of Fifa statutes."

The letter signed by Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura added that "if the petition to start the liquidation process of the GFA is not withdrawn by Monday 27 August 2018 at 1100GMT the GFA will be suspended with immediate effect."

The petition came in the wake of a film by controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremayaw Anas that showed African match officials and former GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi accepting cash gifts.

A global ban would put Ghana's 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Kenya on 8 September in doubt, Nigeria are due to travel to face Seychelles the same weekend.

Since the release of the film the Confederation of African Football has issued bans to many of the match officials shown on camera.

Nyantakyi resigned from his posts as GFA president and from the posts he held with Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf). He denies any wrongdoing.

Fifa, suspended Nyantakyi for 90 days on 8 June but he has now left his role on the Fifa Council.

Caf has also announced that it will hold a vote at an Extraordinary Congress on "30 September 2018 in Egypt to fill the Caf 1st Vice-President function and the vacancy on the Fifa Council."

BBC

Video - Nigeria displaced return to ruin homes, fear violence

Thousands of people displaced by the armed group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria are returning home despite reports of new attacks. More than 30,000 left the relative safety of camps in Maiduguri to start rebuilding their lives. Although not all want to take the risk.

Video - Nigerians seek to end treacherous illegal immigration route from Libya to Europe

Nigeria is reported to have the highest number of illegal Migrants in Libya -- who are seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. Most of them are young people hoping to get a better life in Europe. Although many of those who have been repatriated tell of harrowing experiences, there are still a number of Nigerians who are ready to take the risky journey. CGTN's Deji Badmus has been speaking to a returnee who is now one of those trying to put an end to the trend of irregular migration in Nigeria.

Video - Players from across the globe participate in table tennis tournament in Nigeria

The international Table Tennis Federation Challenge Nigeria Open is under way in Lagos. 170 players from 26 countries are taking part in the tournament.

Video - Femi Kuti reflects on a life in music and activism

Femi Kuti has long been one of the leading lights of Afrobeat. Over the course of a 40-year career he has melded jazz and funk to hypnotic effect while paying loving tribute to Fela Kuti, his pioneering father. The eldest son of Fela and grandchild of Nigerian women's rights activist Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Femi started playing in his father’s band at the age of 15. 

In 1986 he struck out on his own with his band Positive Force and within three years released his first album 'No Cause For Alarm'. It was just the start of a wide-ranging journey that has seen Femi collaborate with artists including Common, Mos Def and Jane’s Addiction, while garnering four Grammy Award nominations along the way. 

Yet, activism is just as important to Femi as his music - despite an ever-busy touring schedule he remains a pro-active ambassador for Amnesty International. Now, Femi is touring his tenth album, the recently-released 'One People One World'. 

For his first album in more than five years he returned to the studio with Positive Force to record a set of songs that expands his musical palette more than ever before. Activism is still central to Femi's songwriting but elements of reggae, soul, and calypso now sit comfortably alongside his trademark Afrobeat arrangements.

Video - Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo fires head of secret police

Nigeria's security forces are facing a major shake up. The country's Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has fired the head of Nigeria's secret police known as the Department of State Services. He was fired after agents of the DSS blockaded parliament, preventing lawmakers from entering.

Video - Nigerian-born artist dazzles South Africa with his unique style

Let's now head to South Africa -- Where a Nigerian-born artist is causing ripples. Olatunji Sanusi is a creative who spends his days crafting and developing a collage technique -- or process painting with paper. Sanusi uses pieces of colored paper that from a distance, gives an illussion of gestural strokes.

Video - Startup aims to tackle Nigeria's electricity problem

Having lived in other continents for years without electricity interruption, one Nigerian, Femi Adeyemo decided to return home to help, in his own small way, find a solution to the country’s notorious electricity challenge. In 2014, in collaboration with a friend, he founded Arnergy, a startup that deploys the use of solar technology to generate electricity. Today, solar technology is catching on very fast in Nigeria and Femi’s Arnergy is at the thick of things.

Video - Nigerian police block lawmakers, officials from parliament

Nigerian security officers backed by unidentified uniformed men have blocked legislators, journalists and other government officials from accessing parliament. This comes amid a fallout in the ruling party - as members of parliament and other senior party officials decamp to the opposition. Senate president, Bukola Saraki, is among those who have defected. President Muhamnmadu Buhari is planning to seek a second term in the February 2019 elections.

Intelligence chief in Nigeria sacked over parliamentary blockade

Nigeria's acting president Yemi Osinbajo has fired the head of the country's intelligence agency, according to Osinbajo's aide, after masked security men prevented lawmakers and staff from entering the country's parliament earlier in the day. 

The incident sparked widespread anger in what one Senator described as a "siege" on the country's democracy.

Video of the incident shows Nigeria's lawmakers in angry confrontation with the masked men who blocked all gates leading to the parliament, denying senators and journalists access. 

Local media reported that the men were operatives of the State security service headed by Security chief Lawal Musa Daura, who has now been fired.

Several of the lawmakers, mostly from the opposition party, posted images and videos of the blockade, which happened early Tuesday morning.

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce claimed legislators from the opposition were locked out of their offices in the parliament, while those from the ruling party had earlier gained access into the building.

"APC (All Progressives Congress) senators are now in the chambers strategizing. They want a change of power, and they are desperate for leadership. They are now using law enforcement agencies for their bidding, but we are documenting all those involved in this illegal activity, " Murray-Bruce told CNN. 

President Buhari is currently out of the country on a 10-day working vacation in the United Kingdom, and his Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is ruling the country in his absence.

The security officials were acting without Osinbajo's authority as his spokesman, Laolu Akande, earlier told CNN he did not know why the lawmakers were prevented from entering the building.
"This administration is fully committed to the principle of separation of powers and will not do anything against those principles or against the constitution," Akande told CNN. 

Akande later released a statement saying that Osinbajo described the unauthorized takeover as a "gross violation of constitutional order, rule of law and all accepted notions of law and order."
According to him, the unlawful act was done without the knowledge of the Presidency and was "condemnable and completely unacceptable."

However, opposition party legislators claim the incident was motivated by a desire to impeach the Senate President Bukola Saraki who recently defected from the ruling APC party to join the main opposition, People's Democratic Party (PDP). 

Saraki, Nigeria's third-most senior politician, left President Muhammadu Buhari's party after weeks of speculation over his loyalty. 

His announcement followed mass defection of top politicians from APC to PDP in recent weeks.
President Buhari is seeking reelection early next year but has been beset by problems with rising insecurity in the country as well as a lack of confidence in his leadership which has led to a large number of defections from his ruling party.

CNN

Video - At least eight killed in suicide attack on Borno State mosque

In Nigeria, at least eight people have been killed in a suicide attack at a mosque in Borno State. Boko Haram insurgents are believed to be responsible.

Video - Police raid Nigeria Football Federation headquarters

Nigeria's football leadership dispute has taken another new twist. Officials of the Department of State Service have stormed the NFF headquarters in Abuja and ejected the new president, Chris Giwa. Giwa took over leadership following an order by the sports minister, Solomon Dalung, in compliance with a verdict from the Supreme Court.

Video - 52 MPs quit President Buhari's ruling APC party ahead of 2019 poll in Nigeria

In Nigeria, 52 lawmakers from both chambers of the National Assembly have defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress. The move is a blow to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking a second term in next year's elections.

75 Nigerian football fans vanish in Russia after 2018 World Cup

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 75 out of 230 stranded Nigerian Football fans vanished in Russia after the 2018 FIFA World Cup .

The ministry’s spokesperson, Dr Tope Elias-Fatile, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the fans absconded in spite of government’s efforts to repatriate them.

Fatile said that 230 stranded Nigerian football fans were profiled to board chartered Ethiopian Airline to Abuja but at the last minute, only 155 boarded the flight.

“As at the last count, over 230 stranded Nigerians had been cleared to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Abuja, however, only 155 boarded the flight that arrived Friday night July 22,” he said.

He said that the ministry officials had to contribute to feed some of the stranded Nigerians in Moscow as many of them were left with nothing.

He said that though they had the rights not to come back, it would be better for them to return because of the unfavourable weather in that country.

He said that the mission had done a lot to facilitate their coming back, but they did not appreciate it.

”Do you know that the officials at the mission had to sacrifice their earning by contributing money to feed the stranded fans?,” he said.

He said that if, however, they repented and decided to come back, the ministry was ever ready to assist them.

Fatile said that Federal Government was ever willing to assist Nigerians at anytime, anywhere in the world

The spokesperson said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, had also made some contacts with relevant agencies to commence investigation into suspected human trafficking in the case.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stranded football fans including a nursing mother in her mid-thirties arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 p.m. on July 20.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who was at the airport to monitor their arrival, had said that the Federal Government was going to probe the case.

Onyeama said that the plan to probe the issue surrounding the incident was underway.

He said after a discussion with the Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ms Julie Okah–Donli, it was clear that there were possible cases of human trafficking among the returnees.

“I have spoken to the D-G of NAPTIP and she had also indicated that they had sounded the alarm bells for these young children not to leave the country, that it had all the hallmarks of trafficking and irregular migration,” he said.

The minister insisted that some of them, among whom was a nursing mother, were quite too young to have travelled to Russia by themselves solely for the purpose of the World Cup tournament.

He added that an investigation would also be launched into an allegation that some travel agents cancelled the return tickets of the football fans without informing them, leaving them stranded in the European country.

NAN

Related story: Video - Nigerian football fans stranded in Moscow with no return tickets back home

Video - Nigeria makes progress towards reaching consensus on CFTA deal

Nigeria is moving closer to signing the pan-African free-trade deal. 44 other countries have already signed on. The agreement scraps barriers to intra-African trade. President Muhammadu Buhari says he's made significant progress in reaching consensus to sign the deal.

Video - At least 44 people dead, thousands stranded after heavy rains in Nigeria

At least 44 people are dead and scores still missing after severe flooding in Nigeria. Torrential rains have swept across northern parts of the country this week, leaving thousands of people homeless.

Video - Nigerian football league suspended after leadership row

Leadership wrangles in Nigeria's football managing body have taken another twist. The League Management Company has suspended all Premier League matches indefinitely.

Nigerians are burying cash in backyards due to stumble in mobile cash

Every few days, Tasiu Abdurrahman takes the money he makes from selling spices in Nigeria’s biggest northern city and buries it in his yard.

The 55-year-old closed his bank account eight years ago after growing disillusioned with standing in long lines for hours to deposit or withdraw cash. Abdurrahman is one of about 50 million of the unbanked in Nigeria, which despite having Africa’s largest mobile-phone market, is only just opening up to the technology to bring banking to its estimated 200 million people.

“My business partners need cash,” said Abdurrahman as he juggled two mobile phones at his ginger and tamarind stand, one of many dotting the streets in Kano. “If they all opened bank accounts, I would be happy to.”

Financial inclusion in Nigeria -- which vies with South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy -- has gone backward as the regulator blocked network operators from applying for mobile-money licenses that would allow cash transfers without the need for a bank account. Between 2014 and 2017, the percentage of banked adults dropped nearly 4 percentage points to 39 percent, while the sub-Saharan African average increased more than 8 percentage points to 43 percent.

The Central Bank of Nigeria this month announced it is not on track to reach its target of increasing financial inclusion to 80 percent by 2020. It is now reviewing the path it took in 2012 with a “refreshed strategy” and has also signed a cooperation agreement with the Nigerian Communications Commission to improve the penetration of financial services using mobile phones.

 

Baby Steps

Less than 6 percent of Nigerians use their handsets to transact using mobile money, compared with 73 percent of Kenyans, where more than two-thirds of adults have a bank account, according to the World Bank. That’s even though there are more than two phones for every bank account in the West African nation.

 

Mobile First

Nigerians own twice as many mobile-phone lines as they do bank accounts

“We’re taking baby steps when we should be running,” Yomi Ibosiola, an associate director at Deloitte Nigeria’s data analytics practice, said in an interview in Lagos, the commercial hub.

Cellular phone operators would invest more if they were allowed to lead the way, said Emeka Oparah, a spokesman for Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s Nigerian unit, which has 40 million subscribers.

“Right now, we’re only providing a platform for some people to use, if it becomes our business, we will invest in it,” Oparah said. The government should adjust its policies “if it wants to move very quickly.”

 

 

Verification Details

Fidelity Bank Plc allows people to open an account using a mobile phone, said Chief Operations and Information Officer Gbolahan Joshua. It is also using agents to offer banking services, such as small payments and deposits, through informal branches, he said, adding the lender has 3.9 million customers.

“When you open an account on your mobile, you can receive money but you cannot make payments,” Joshua said. “You need a Bank Verification Number to make transactions on that account you opened on mobile. Since the targets for financial inclusion are people that don’t have BVN already, some infrastructure needs to be deployed, like mobile BVN.”

There are efforts being made to remove those obstacles. One includes issuing identity numbers to 70 million people by the end of next year and pulling together the government’s various identity verification systems into a centralized database, which will make it easier for people to plug into financial services.

 

 

India Inspiration

The central bank has said it’s taking inspiration from India, where a government-biometric database known as Aadhaar helped grow financial inclusion from 53 percent to 80 between 2014 and 2017, by cutting the cost for banks of identifying a customer.

Regulators in Nigeria also announced an initiative in March that will help to increase banking agents to 500,000 within two years, from 100,000, according to estimates by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access, or EFInA, a research organization.

“One of the major issues for banks has been the cost of going to those unprofitable areas,” said Henry Chukwu, who focuses on broadening agent networks at EFInA.

Most of the biggest lenders are focused on business banking. Zenith Bank Plc, the country’s largest lender with the equivalent of $15.4 billion in assets, makes about 6 percent of its revenue from retail banking and about 58 percent from corporates.

 

 

Push-Pull

There are not enough incentives for people to open bank accounts, especially among the poor, said Ameya Upadhyay, a principal in the investment team of Omidyar Network Fund Inc., which has invested in Pagatech, one of Nigeria’s first mobile-money providers, and another company that gives loans to small- and medium-sized businesses. About 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1.90 a day, according to Vienna-based World Data Lab’s World Poverty Clock.

“You have to create a ‘pull’ to these accounts and that happens when those accounts are meaningful to people’s every day lives,” he said, such as increasing the number of merchants with pay points or offering more insurance, savings or lending products. “People don’t eat accounts.”

Abdurrahman, the Kano spice merchant, agrees and remains unconvinced about using his phone to transact.

“I may decide to go for mobile money if more of my suppliers have it,” he said. “But for now I am very comfortable keeping cash at the shop to pay for supplies and keeping the rest at home.”

Bloomberg

Nigeria to relaunch its national airline by the end of year

Nigeria unveiled a new national carrier Wednesday, nearly 15 years after the previous state-run airline, Nigerian Airways ceased operations.

The new airline will be known as Nigeria Air.

Nigerian Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika made the announcement and unveiled the new branding and livery for the airline at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK.
"I'm very pleased to tell you that we are finally on track to launching a new national flag carrier for our country: Nigeria Air," Sirika said at the event.

The name was chosen after Nigeria's Ministry of Aviation invited Nigerian youth and students to contribute "their ideas and creativity in developing the new Nigerian Flag carrier," according to the website nameyourairlinenigeria.com.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's media aide, Bashir Ahmad announced the name on Twitter.
"And it's Nigeria Air ...Bringing Nigeria closer to the world #NigeriaAtFarnborough," Ahmad wrote, alongside a photo of the branding presented at Farnborough.

According to Sirika, the federal government hopes to launch operations by the end of the year.
Nigerians have greeted the announcement with skepticism as they expressed uncertainty about the federal government's capacity to sustain a national airline, especially considering its track record with previous national carriers.

One man wrote on Twitter that he supported the creation of a national airline, "as long as it's not the government running it."

Their fears may be allayed by reports that the airline will be primarily owned and managed by a group of a yet unidentified private investors. 

"The Nigerian Government will not own more than 5% (maximum) of the new National Carrier. The government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it," Sirika said at the press conference in Farnborough.

Marketplace Africa covers the macro trends impacting the region and profiles the continent's key industries and corporations. 

However, some are also questioning the government's involvement in bargaining with aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing in light of Sirika's statement.

"No private investors named but the govt that will supposedly own a tiny percentage is leading negotiations for aircraft purchase and drawing logo in Calibri font. Carry on," London-based Nigerian commentator, Feyi Fawehinmi wrote on Twitter.

Nigeria's federal government has suffered many setbacks in its many attempts to create a new national carrier since Nigerian Airways ceased operations in 2003.

 
Described as 'Africa's fastest growing airline' in its heyday in the 1980s, Nigeria Airways was plagued by mismanagement, eventually amassing millions of dollars in debt upon its closure.

In 2004, a team of Nigerian investors and Virgin Atlantic Airways, owned by British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson signed a joint venture agreement creating a new national carrier, Virgin Nigeria.

Despite reaching record numbers and carrying its 1,000,000th passenger within two years of operations, Virgin Atlantic announced plans to sell its 49% stake in Virgin Nigeria in August 2008, along with a review of whether "the Virgin brand should remain linked to Virgin Nigeria."

In September 2009, Virgin Nigeria announced a name change to Nigerian Eagle Airlines on its website.

In 2010, Nigerian business magnate, Jimoh Ibrahim acquired a majority stake in the carrier and announced a rebranding to Air Nigeria.

The airline eventually ceased operations in September 2012, weeks after laying off the majority of its staff.

Minister Hadi Sirika assured the audience at Farnborough and Nigerians that the new national carrier would be a much sturdier and efficient enterprise.

"I am confident that we will have a well-run national flag carrier, a global player, compliant to international safety standards, one which has the customer at its heart. 

"An airline that communicates the essence of our beautiful country, an airline we can all be proud of," Sirika said at the unveiling.

CNN