Higher food prices pushed up annual inflation in Nigeria last month after borders with neighboring countries were closed in a crackdown on smuggling.
Nigeria closed parts of its borders in August to fight smuggling of rice and other goods. The head of customs confirmed last month that all trade in goods via land borders had been halted indefinitely.
Annual inflation was 11.61% in October, up from 11.24% in September, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday — the highest rate since May 2018. Consumer inflation had dropped to it lowest in almost four years in August.
A separate food price index showed inflation at 14.09% in October, compared with 13.51% a month earlier.
“This rise in the food index was caused by increases in prices of meat, oils and fats, bread and cereals, potatoes, ham and other tubers, fish and vegetables,” the statistics office said in its report.
“The rise in food inflation does suggest that border closures may have played a part in temporarily pressuring prices higher,” said Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered.
Shoppers at a market in the capital, Abuja, told Reuters the price of many food items, particularly rice, had risen in the last few weeks.
“Food items are very expensive in the market. When you go to a store they will tell you that is because the border is closed,” said housewife Naomi Nguher, who said she was given this reason for high rice prices at four different shops.
Sherifat Ajala, a rice wholesaler in the commercial capital Lagos, said Nigeria’s bad roads were delaying the transportation of the grain, further preventing the supply from meeting high demand.
“Trucks will spend almost two or three weeks on the road before they bring the rice,” he said.
Last week the West African country, along with neighboring Benin and Niger, agreed to set up a joint border patrol force to tackle smuggling between the nations after a meeting between their foreign ministers.
The central bank is due to set its benchmark interest rate next Tuesday. The bank, which has targeted single-digit inflation, held its main interest rate at 13.5% at its last meeting, in September.
“Given the increase in inflation, we now expect that policymakers will leave their key rate on hold,” John Ashbourne, senior emerging markets economist at London-based Capital Economics, said in a note on Monday.
Reuters
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Lion removed from house near school in Lagos, Nigeria
The two-year-old lion was reportedly discovered at a property opposite a school by a task force team on Friday.
It was tranquilised on Monday and transferred to Bogije Omu zoo in Lekki, head of the task force team Yinka Egbeyemi told the BBC.
The owner of the animal has been told to report himself to police before the end of Monday or face arrest.
A team from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit located the animal after residents filed a petition to the state's ministry of environment.
A crèche and elementary school stand opposite the house, according to the BBC's Damilola Oduolowu in Lagos.
The school's management said it had been conscious of the children's safety.
It is thought the lion was brought into the building two months ago.
BBC
Startups in Nigeria are beating the odds to succeed
Entrepreneurs in Nigeria have an oft-repeated saying that is borrowed from New York: “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
The phrase captures the daily challenges that come with running a business in Africa’s largest economy. And since tech startups exist within the ecosystem, they face their share of difficulties too. A new survey of Nigerian tech firms offers a glimpse into the tough realities of running a tech startup in the country.
The survey was conducted by two Washington-headquartered organizations—ONE Campaign, an international non-profit seeking to fight extreme poverty, especially in Africa, and the Washington think tank Center for Global Development.
More than half the respondents identified the lack of a reliable electricity supply as a severe constraint. A majority of the startups reported 30 or more power outages every month. It’s likely that many startups keep the lights on by investing in generators that cost a lot to run.
That’s money the startups could have put to other uses, as 60% of them reported access to credit as a major obstacle. Nigeria annually features among the top destinations in Africa for startup investment, but much of the funding goes to established ventures with high-profile or foreign-trained founders. For many others, the reality is much more stark given local banks’ reluctance to provide loans to startups, and the high interest rates they charge when they do.
Meanwhile, wealthy Nigerians who might fund home-grown startups still seem reluctant to do so. Entrepreneurs also reported the following obstacles: Political instability, corruption, multiple government taxes and levies. And then there are stories of harassment by the police.
For its part, the Nigerian government points to its improved rank on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report—it went from 146 last year to 131—as proof of its efforts to improve the business climate. But, as the World Bank’s report measures progress more by changes to policy rather than its implementation, it could be argued that it’s getting easier to do business in Nigeria only on paper.
But the workarounds to some of the problems that plague Nigeria’s business environment may come from the tech ecosystem itself. From off-grid energy companies trying to drive up electrification, to fintech ventures looking to boost financial inclusion and access to credit—startups are struggling against the odds. And sometimes beating them too.
By Yomi Kazeem
Quartz
The phrase captures the daily challenges that come with running a business in Africa’s largest economy. And since tech startups exist within the ecosystem, they face their share of difficulties too. A new survey of Nigerian tech firms offers a glimpse into the tough realities of running a tech startup in the country.
The survey was conducted by two Washington-headquartered organizations—ONE Campaign, an international non-profit seeking to fight extreme poverty, especially in Africa, and the Washington think tank Center for Global Development.
More than half the respondents identified the lack of a reliable electricity supply as a severe constraint. A majority of the startups reported 30 or more power outages every month. It’s likely that many startups keep the lights on by investing in generators that cost a lot to run.
That’s money the startups could have put to other uses, as 60% of them reported access to credit as a major obstacle. Nigeria annually features among the top destinations in Africa for startup investment, but much of the funding goes to established ventures with high-profile or foreign-trained founders. For many others, the reality is much more stark given local banks’ reluctance to provide loans to startups, and the high interest rates they charge when they do.
Meanwhile, wealthy Nigerians who might fund home-grown startups still seem reluctant to do so. Entrepreneurs also reported the following obstacles: Political instability, corruption, multiple government taxes and levies. And then there are stories of harassment by the police.
For its part, the Nigerian government points to its improved rank on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report—it went from 146 last year to 131—as proof of its efforts to improve the business climate. But, as the World Bank’s report measures progress more by changes to policy rather than its implementation, it could be argued that it’s getting easier to do business in Nigeria only on paper.
But the workarounds to some of the problems that plague Nigeria’s business environment may come from the tech ecosystem itself. From off-grid energy companies trying to drive up electrification, to fintech ventures looking to boost financial inclusion and access to credit—startups are struggling against the odds. And sometimes beating them too.
By Yomi Kazeem
Quartz
Monday, November 18, 2019
Nigerian army rescues 8 hostages in NE region
Eight hostages held by Boko Haram insurgents in Gwoza area of Borno state in the restive northeast Nigeria have been rescued, the army spokesman Aminu Iliyasu said Sunday.
In a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, Iliyasu said troops subdued Boko Haram terrorists in an encounter and rescued eight villagers including four children held captives by the insurgents.
The coordinating army spokesperson said the rescued victims were evacuated while the children among them were equally administered with Polio vaccination by a Nigerian army medical team.
He added that no causality was recorded by the army troops during the commando operations.
According to him, many of the Boko Haram criminal elements fled in disarray toward the summit of Mandara Mountains with gunshot wounds.
"The troops' resilience and doggedness are unwavering as further exploitation to complete the annihilation of the insurgents is being sustained in the mountainous environment," he said.
Iliyasu said the army continued to sustain the tempo of the counter-insurgency operations in the northeast with a view to decimating and destroying the remnant of "Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) criminals".
Xinhua
In a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, Iliyasu said troops subdued Boko Haram terrorists in an encounter and rescued eight villagers including four children held captives by the insurgents.
The coordinating army spokesperson said the rescued victims were evacuated while the children among them were equally administered with Polio vaccination by a Nigerian army medical team.
He added that no causality was recorded by the army troops during the commando operations.
According to him, many of the Boko Haram criminal elements fled in disarray toward the summit of Mandara Mountains with gunshot wounds.
"The troops' resilience and doggedness are unwavering as further exploitation to complete the annihilation of the insurgents is being sustained in the mountainous environment," he said.
Iliyasu said the army continued to sustain the tempo of the counter-insurgency operations in the northeast with a view to decimating and destroying the remnant of "Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) criminals".
Xinhua
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