Uber Technology Inc. is planning to launch its boat business in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and biggest city, to beat traffic congestion.
The ride-hailing service company is in talks with the Lagos state government and regulatory authorities to start Uber Boats services on its waterways, Uber’s Chief Business Officer Brooks Entwistle said Thursday in an interview.
“We know the traffic is a priority and we think we can help there,” Entwistle said. “We are having fruitful good discussions with the regulators right now, it is what we are doing this week, we are meeting with partners.” The executive did not give a time line on when the service will begin
Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa biggest city with an estimated population of 22 million, is known for its traffic congestion leaving commuters spending hours in their cars. Public transport services are scarce and unreliable. Its vast waterways provide good transport options but they are hardly used.
Uber, which faces competition from Estonian-ride hailing firm Bolt, said it would seek partnership with local players for the service. It currently has 1.3 million active riders and 36,000 drivers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S-based company said its franchise in Africa is still at early stages.
“Our strategy is in every country we going into we want to find local partners to help us with our business,” Entwistle said. “Partnership is core to our business.”
San Francisco-based Uber launched a boat service in Egypt in 2017, with taxis zipping up the Nile River that dissects Cairo to bypass clogged streets. The company has expanded the service to cities including Mumbai and along the Croatian coast. It is also looking to partner with Lagos Bus company to provide ride services through its platform according to the CBO.
The transport company is in talks with regulators to start operations in Francophone Dakar and Abidjan, Entwistle said.
Bloomberg
Friday, June 28, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Court in Nigeria adjourns $2bn tax case against MTN
The next legal battle between the attorney general of Nigeria and the West African nation's largest cellular service provider is set for October 29, 2019. The case, which centres around a $2bn unpaid tax bill, was supposed to open Wednesday. Lawyers for the attorney general's office requested more time to prepare their case and file a response.
The attorney general's office says MTN Nigeria failed to pay $2bn in taxes and penalties. MTN counters that the attorney general's office does not have the power to determine unpaid taxes and therefore it should neither have to pay the tax bill nor related fines. The cellular service provider is asking the court to rule on the legitimacy of the case.
"MTN Nigeria maintains its stand that we are in full compliance with all extant tax and regulatory obligation," the company said in a written statement released Wednesday. "We reiterate our commitment to obeying all Nigerian laws, rules, and regulations that govern and guide our business practices."
MTN is demanding three billion naira ($8.3m) in general and exemplary damages, as well as legal costs to the company.
The case is being closely watched by local and international investors. It is one of several legal and administrative challenges that the South-African-owned firm has faced over the last four years in Nigeria. MTN Nigeria has also faced past tax demands and a fine over unregistered SIM cards.
MTN Group is a South African company. Its Nigerian division has more than 55 million cellular subscribers. According to an official statement, MTN Nigeria's operations directly or indirectly provide jobs for more than half a million people in Nigeria.
MTN Nigeria used to be MTN Group's most lucrative division, accounting for up to one-third of the group's total revenue.
Beginning of legal trouble
MTN Nigeria's trouble started in May 2018, when Justice Abubakar Malami - then serving as Nigeria's Minister of Justice and Attorney General - asked the company to conduct a self-assessment of its tax obligations over the last 18 years and to report it to the ministry.
MTN Nigeria protested the request, claiming that the attorney general has no statutory powers over tax matters, and that even if it did, Nigeria's statute of limitations only provides a seven-year window for new investigations.
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) - the agency responsible for assessing and collecting taxes - is not involving itself in the case and is not officially offering an opinion on the matter.
MTN is refusing to pay a $1.3bn fine that would go into the attorney general's Fund Recovery Account. It went to court to challenge this and won an earlier decision. The judge struck down a preliminary objection raised by the attorney general against the lawsuit.
Further complicating the situation, Nigeria does not presently have an attorney general, as Justice Malami stepped down in May. The federal cabinet was dissolved on May 28, and President Muhammadu Buhari still has not made a new appointment.
Al Jazeera
The attorney general's office says MTN Nigeria failed to pay $2bn in taxes and penalties. MTN counters that the attorney general's office does not have the power to determine unpaid taxes and therefore it should neither have to pay the tax bill nor related fines. The cellular service provider is asking the court to rule on the legitimacy of the case.
"MTN Nigeria maintains its stand that we are in full compliance with all extant tax and regulatory obligation," the company said in a written statement released Wednesday. "We reiterate our commitment to obeying all Nigerian laws, rules, and regulations that govern and guide our business practices."
MTN is demanding three billion naira ($8.3m) in general and exemplary damages, as well as legal costs to the company.
The case is being closely watched by local and international investors. It is one of several legal and administrative challenges that the South-African-owned firm has faced over the last four years in Nigeria. MTN Nigeria has also faced past tax demands and a fine over unregistered SIM cards.
MTN Group is a South African company. Its Nigerian division has more than 55 million cellular subscribers. According to an official statement, MTN Nigeria's operations directly or indirectly provide jobs for more than half a million people in Nigeria.
MTN Nigeria used to be MTN Group's most lucrative division, accounting for up to one-third of the group's total revenue.
Beginning of legal trouble
MTN Nigeria's trouble started in May 2018, when Justice Abubakar Malami - then serving as Nigeria's Minister of Justice and Attorney General - asked the company to conduct a self-assessment of its tax obligations over the last 18 years and to report it to the ministry.
MTN Nigeria protested the request, claiming that the attorney general has no statutory powers over tax matters, and that even if it did, Nigeria's statute of limitations only provides a seven-year window for new investigations.
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) - the agency responsible for assessing and collecting taxes - is not involving itself in the case and is not officially offering an opinion on the matter.
MTN is refusing to pay a $1.3bn fine that would go into the attorney general's Fund Recovery Account. It went to court to challenge this and won an earlier decision. The judge struck down a preliminary objection raised by the attorney general against the lawsuit.
Further complicating the situation, Nigeria does not presently have an attorney general, as Justice Malami stepped down in May. The federal cabinet was dissolved on May 28, and President Muhammadu Buhari still has not made a new appointment.
Al Jazeera
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
British tax haven returning $270 million of Abacha loot
A trio of secretive British tax havens beloved of kleptocrats and money-launderers are facing unprecedented pressure to open their books.
Two influential backbench MPs, Labour’s Margaret Hodge and the Conservatives’ Andrew Mitchell, have been pushing an amendment that would force Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man to publish a public register revealing who actually owns the roughly 80,000 companies registered on them.
Anti-corruption activists allege that the three jurisdictions dotted around Britain’s coastline, known as the Crown Dependencies, are hotbeds for financial crime and tax evasion. They point to the family of Azerbaijan’s dictator Ilham Aliyev allegedly owning a $25 million house through an Isle of Man shell company, and the notorious wife of a jailed Azeri state banker holding a $28 million golf course through a Guernsey firm.
Last month, after a five-year court saga Jersey announced it was putting $268 million, which had been stashed in a Deutsche Bank account on the island by former Nigerian military dictator Sani Abacha, into an asset recovery fund that will eventually return the cash to Nigeria. The island’s solicitor general said the move showed “Jersey’s determination to deal with international financial crime more generally.”
The announcement was one of several actions taken by various actors seemingly in response to international scrutiny over the Crown Dependencies and other tax havens. The Abacha case dates back to US enforcement efforts under the Obama administration, but the Crown Dependencies only need look at Britain’s Caribbean tax havens—known as the Overseas Territories—to understand the threat posed by Hodge and Mitchell. Last year, the two former government ministers pushed through an amendment forcing the territories, which include the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, to set up a public register by 2020.
Last week (June 19), all three Crown Dependencies promised of their own accord to set up corporate ownership registries. While transparency advocates say the islands aren’t moving as fast or comprehensively as they should, the move in itself is a win for Hodge and Mitchell. “This is [the Crown Dependencies] acting before Margaret Hodge attempted to do anything before Parliament,” says Ben Cowdock, a senior research officer at anti-corruption NGO Transparency International UK. “Rather than face some constant battle with the UK Parliament, they’ve decided to go of their own accord with this announcement.”
Banks have also stepped up their monitoring of accounts in the Crown Dependencies and other European tax havens. At the end of 2018, Lloyds Bank shuttered 8,000 accounts in Jersey, after their owners spent three years ignoring the bank’s questions about their identity, the Financial Times reported yesterday (paywall). HSBC, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Scotland have also tightened their questioning of customers on the island, according to the FT. Deutsche, which banked Abacha’s money, has warned (paywall) 1,000 of its customers that they may also lose their accounts.
By Max de Haldevang
Quartz
Two influential backbench MPs, Labour’s Margaret Hodge and the Conservatives’ Andrew Mitchell, have been pushing an amendment that would force Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man to publish a public register revealing who actually owns the roughly 80,000 companies registered on them.
Anti-corruption activists allege that the three jurisdictions dotted around Britain’s coastline, known as the Crown Dependencies, are hotbeds for financial crime and tax evasion. They point to the family of Azerbaijan’s dictator Ilham Aliyev allegedly owning a $25 million house through an Isle of Man shell company, and the notorious wife of a jailed Azeri state banker holding a $28 million golf course through a Guernsey firm.
Last month, after a five-year court saga Jersey announced it was putting $268 million, which had been stashed in a Deutsche Bank account on the island by former Nigerian military dictator Sani Abacha, into an asset recovery fund that will eventually return the cash to Nigeria. The island’s solicitor general said the move showed “Jersey’s determination to deal with international financial crime more generally.”
The announcement was one of several actions taken by various actors seemingly in response to international scrutiny over the Crown Dependencies and other tax havens. The Abacha case dates back to US enforcement efforts under the Obama administration, but the Crown Dependencies only need look at Britain’s Caribbean tax havens—known as the Overseas Territories—to understand the threat posed by Hodge and Mitchell. Last year, the two former government ministers pushed through an amendment forcing the territories, which include the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, to set up a public register by 2020.
Last week (June 19), all three Crown Dependencies promised of their own accord to set up corporate ownership registries. While transparency advocates say the islands aren’t moving as fast or comprehensively as they should, the move in itself is a win for Hodge and Mitchell. “This is [the Crown Dependencies] acting before Margaret Hodge attempted to do anything before Parliament,” says Ben Cowdock, a senior research officer at anti-corruption NGO Transparency International UK. “Rather than face some constant battle with the UK Parliament, they’ve decided to go of their own accord with this announcement.”
Banks have also stepped up their monitoring of accounts in the Crown Dependencies and other European tax havens. At the end of 2018, Lloyds Bank shuttered 8,000 accounts in Jersey, after their owners spent three years ignoring the bank’s questions about their identity, the Financial Times reported yesterday (paywall). HSBC, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Scotland have also tightened their questioning of customers on the island, according to the FT. Deutsche, which banked Abacha’s money, has warned (paywall) 1,000 of its customers that they may also lose their accounts.
By Max de Haldevang
Quartz
Nigeria Football players owed bonuses and allowances
Nigeria's players are in dispute with the country's football federation in the build-up to their Africa Cup of Nations match against Guinea.
None of the Super Eagles players has received allowances or a $10,000 bonus.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is hoping to prevent a strike before the match in Egypt on Wednesday.
"My player [Ahmed Musa] couldn't attend the press conference today because they have a very important meeting," said coach Gernot Rohr.
"I just hope the situation can be resolved so we can focus on what we have in front of us."
The squad was an hour late for training on Tuesday and have not ruled out taking further action.
The financially stricken NFF, which receives its funding from the government, has denied it was responsible for the delay in paying the players' bonuses.
The BBC understands that the team, which has been together since early June, had received verbal assurances that they would be paid before the tournament kicked off this month.
Pay rows have often surrounded Nigerian teams, while players have boycotted training during important qualifiers or at major tournaments over unpaid fees.
Their 2014 World Cup campaign was affected by a bonus row, with players boycotting training before the last-16 fixture against France as they demanded their bonuses and appearance fees.
Nigeria's women's team - the Super Falcons - has twice been involved in sit-in protests at hotels in South Africa and in Abuja, Nigeria, to demand money owed to them, with their latest protest coming at the Women's World Cup in France.
By Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC
None of the Super Eagles players has received allowances or a $10,000 bonus.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is hoping to prevent a strike before the match in Egypt on Wednesday.
"My player [Ahmed Musa] couldn't attend the press conference today because they have a very important meeting," said coach Gernot Rohr.
"I just hope the situation can be resolved so we can focus on what we have in front of us."
The squad was an hour late for training on Tuesday and have not ruled out taking further action.
The financially stricken NFF, which receives its funding from the government, has denied it was responsible for the delay in paying the players' bonuses.
The BBC understands that the team, which has been together since early June, had received verbal assurances that they would be paid before the tournament kicked off this month.
Pay rows have often surrounded Nigerian teams, while players have boycotted training during important qualifiers or at major tournaments over unpaid fees.
Their 2014 World Cup campaign was affected by a bonus row, with players boycotting training before the last-16 fixture against France as they demanded their bonuses and appearance fees.
Nigeria's women's team - the Super Falcons - has twice been involved in sit-in protests at hotels in South Africa and in Abuja, Nigeria, to demand money owed to them, with their latest protest coming at the Women's World Cup in France.
By Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
77 year old widow opens her doors to refugees
When the insecurity in Cameroon’s restive western region forced Susan Agbo to leave her home, she did not know what lay ahead. All she knew was that she needed to get her eight grandchildren to a safer place. She found that safer place in Nigeria.“When I came to Nigeria, I had no place to stay,” says Susan, who fled Cameroon nearly two years ago.
She struggled with homelessness for months, relying on the goodwill of the local Nigerian community for shelter.
“I was staying with people for a few weeks here and there and then I would leave and stay somewhere else for a month,” explains Susan, who is in her 60s.
Escalating violence in Cameroon has displaced hundreds of thousands of people within the country’s borders and forced about 37,000 more like Susan to seek safety in Nigeria.
The constant movement from one place to another, with her grandchildren in tow, was exhausting for the sickly grandmother who longed for a lasting solution to her situation.
Lucia Ikuru, who lives near Agbokim Waterfalls on the border with Cameroon, sympathized with Susan’s predicament and offered her shelter without a second thought.
“I saw she had run away and had no place to stay,” says the 77-year-old Nigerian widow. “I gave her a house and told her to stay there.”
Lucia’s large compound has several rooms that she has turned into shelters for other Cameroonian refugees including Susan.
“I try to help them, and whatever little I have, I give them,” adds Lucia.
Susan is grateful for the shelter, solace and friendship that she has found here and is especially grateful for the food that Lucia provides her grandchildren.
“When she cooks, she feeds my grandchildren and they eat. I am happy,” says Susan, adding that she has no means of supporting them herself.
She explains that due to the conflict, their parents’ whereabouts is unknown – a constant source of worry for her.
“I don’t know where they are since they ran away so now the children are here with me,” she says.
To keep her worries at bay, she talks to Lucia often, sitting with her in the courtyard and carving wooden sticks into toothbrushes and toothpicks to sell at the local market.
“I’m happy that I have her staying here with me,” says Lucia. “If something happened to her, I wouldn’t feel happy.”
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has launched an urgent appeal to increase support for displaced Cameroonians who have survived nearly two years of ongoing violence. But of the US$184 million required for UNHCR’s operations in Cameroon and Nigeria – including US$35.4 million needed urgently for critical life-saving assistance to newly displaced Cameroonians – just four per cent has been raised.
The majority of the refugees - over 50 per cent of the population - live in host communities in over 47 villages along the border. The support they receive from kind Nigerians like Lucia is crucial and reflective of the sense of solidarity that most refugees experience from their Nigerian hosts.
Susan hopes that the situation back home will improve so that she can return. But for now, she continues to adjust to life here and is grateful for Lucia’s kindness and that of the Nigerian people.
“I don’t know where I would have been,” she says. “I am happy because we are like friends.”
UNHCR continues to seek funding to provide basic assistance to refugees and carry out projects that empower the host communities, also in need.
UNHCR
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