Nigerians taunt South Africans with Tyla's song Water after Afcon victory

A video of Nigerians celebrating their football team's victory over South Africa in the Africa Cup of Nations has gone viral on social media.

In the clip, the Super Eagles fans taunt their rivals by pouring liquid over their bodies while singing the hit Water by South African singer Tyla.

On Sunday, she won Best African Music Performance at the Grammys, beating several Nigerian superstars.

Disappointed Nigerians responded by vowing revenge at the Afcon semi-final.

Nigeria beat South Africa on penalties after the match added 1-1 on Wednesday night, sparking scenes of jubilation around the country.

There is a long history of rivalry between Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, and South Africa, the continent's most advanced economy.

The viral Water clip - which is being widely shared on WhatsApp across Nigeria - was filmed at Ahmadu Bello University in the northern city of Zaria.

Hundreds of students gathered in the courtyard of their hall of residence to sing Water after the Super Eagles' victory.

Popular Nigerian pastor Jimmy Odukoya joined in the jesting by commending Bafana Bafana for their performance despite their defeat, but telling the South African players: "You need water."

He added: "If it's any consolation, it's Grammy water."

Some Nigerians have expanded the musical rivalry by saying that Afrobeats is superior to amapiano, the South African blend of hip-hop, soul and slowed-down house music that has also gained global popularity in recent years.

And the banter has also taken on a culinary dimension, with Nigerians saying their Jollof Rice is better than South Africa's Bobotie, a spicy mince-meat dish.

Nigeria will face hosts Ivory Coast in the final on Sunday.

Most South Africans are likely to back the Ivorians.

By Mansur Abubakar, BBC

Related story: Video - Nigeria vs South Africa | AFCON 2023 HIGHLIGHTS

Naira at record low despite improving FX liquidity

Nigeria's naira dropped to a record intra-day low against the dollar on Friday, LSEG data showed, following a devaluation last week, its second adjustment in less than a year, despite the central bank saying liquidity was improving.

Central bank governor Olayemi Cardoso said on Friday that over $1 billion had come into the economy in the last few days to buy Nigerian Treasury bills after it auctioned one trillion naira ($678.60 million) worth of notes that were oversubscribed.

He told lawmakers on Friday that the measures taken by the bank to improve dollar supply have tamed currency volatility. But he added that forex demand had to be moderated for these measures to be sustainable.

The central bank this week hiked open market rates to 19% from under 12% to draw investors to bills which had lost their shine to equities as inflation climbed to a nearly three-decade high and lagged behind the benchmark policy rate of 18.75%.

It also scrapped caps on interbank forex spreads.

"These measures, aimed at ensuring a more market-oriented mechanism for exchange rate determination, will boost foreign exchange inflows, stabilize the exchange rate, and minimize its pass-through to domestic inflation," he said.

Africa's largest economy has been experiencing a crippling dollar shortage that has pushed its currency to record lows in recent weeks, though Cardoso has said that dollar liquidity was improving.

The official naira exchange rate last week plunged to as low as 1,531 per dollar from 900, well below black market levels, after the market regulator changed its closing rate calculation methodology, in a de facto devaluation.

The naira fell to as low as 1,540 intra-day on Friday, dropping lower than the 1,449.27 naira quoted on the unofficial parallel market.

The central bank is due hold its first rate-setting meeting under Cardoso on Feb. 26, six months after the last one, with several analysts expecting the bank to tighten rates by at least 200 basis points to 20.75%.

"Indeed, they (central bank measures) have already started yielding early results with significant interest from foreign portfolio investors that have already begun to supply the much-needed foreign exchange to the economy," Cardoso said. 

By Chijioke Ohuocha, Reuters

Video - Activists Working to End Painful Practice of Breast Ironing in Nigeria

A harmful practice called breast ironing or flattening affects about 3.8 million women in Africa, including some parts of Nigeria. The practice aims to delay development in adolescent girls. Gibson Emeka has this story, narrated by Salem Solomon.

VOA 

Related story: Ending Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria

 

 

MultiChoice will pay settlement of $37.3 mln to Nigerian tax authorities

Africa's biggest pay TV company MultiChoice Group

said on Thursday its subsidiaries have reached a settlement with Nigerian tax authorities and agreed to pay a total tax amount of about $37.3 million.

Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) froze MultiChoice Nigeria's accounts in 2022 and served MultiChoice Group with a 1.8 trillion naira ($1.27 billion) tax claim for its Nigeria operation and a $342 million claim for value-added taxes.

The group said in a statement the total tax amount of 35.4 billion naira to be paid by MultiChoice Nigeria and MultiChoice Africa Holdings will be offset against the security deposits and good faith payments made to date. 

Reuters

NNPC has no plans to raise petrol prices after devaluation

Nigerian state-oil company NNPC said on Thursday it has no plans to raise petrol prices after a second devaluation of the local naira currency in less than a year, following speculation that it could increase prices to recover some of its import costs.

The official naira exchange rate last week plunged to as low as 1,531 per dollar from 900, well below black market levels, after the market regulator changed its closing rate calculation methodology, in a de facto devaluation.

The official rate had been drifting towards parallel market levels as forex shortages funnelled demand to unofficial sources.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), -- the sole importer of petrol because local private firms are unable to obtain foreign currency -- urged Nigerians to disregard the speculation about price rises, adding that "there are no plans for an upward review of the (petrol) price."

Petrol prices have not budged since last July when President Bola Tinubu scrapped a popular but costly fuel subsidy and lifted restrictions on currency trading which more than tripled petrol prices.

This was a move the president hoped would revive sluggish economic growth, but the reforms pushed inflation to a nearly three-decade high in December, worsening a cost of living crisis.

Tinubu has been under pressure from unions to offer relief to households and small businesses after he scrapped the subsidy that kept petrol prices low but cost the government $10 billion in 2022.

The president has said he was aware of the hardship caused by removing the subsidy and was monitoring the effects of the exchange rate and inflation on gasoline prices, adding that he would intervene if and when necessary.

Nigeria's main unions on Thursday gave a two-week ultimatum to the government to meet demands ranging from a wage increase to improved access to public utilities among others, and said it regretted government's failure to uphold pledges to cushion the effects of reforms. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters