Congratulations, Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA edition 15 graduates. This is just to update that all the certificates are now ready. Admin has started sending them out . You will get a link, follow the instructions. As always, every certificate issued by our Institute is auto-verifiable using the unique code on the certificate.

Celebrate your achievement and let the world know that you are an alumnus of our amazing Institution. Update your LinkedIn profile as follows:

-Go to Education section in your LinkedIn profile:

-School: Tekedia Institute

-Degree: Mini-MBA

-Field of Study: Business Administration Management, General.

And most importantly, the real value of Tekedia Mini-MBA is in the application. Go and WIN in the markets, and advance the wealth in communities. Thanks for co-learning with us. And return for other programs.

By February, we are launching an operating system for entrepreneurial capitalism and business systems. We will let you know, because whatever your vision is, in a new company, in an established company, in a multinational company, in a public sector institution, in an NGO, and more, Tekedia Institute has the tools to propel you to win.

Tekedia Capital welcomes Pulse AI (runpulse.com) to our portfolio. The team is on a mission and has accomplished some great stuff in the technical space on document extraction: “We first developed this API for a very specific use case in the supply chain and got it to work across various unstructured documents used in the field. We were simply unable to find another solution on the market that worked well. Our original plan was to keep it in-house, but we soon started getting requests from dozens of companies to use this API on their own.”

Simply, Pulse AI is an inference layer that automates and analyzes data from legacy supply chain systems with AI, making sure yesterday, today and tomorrow’s data are used in the organization.

Indeed, the future of LLM-applications lies in the ability to process and understand raw data. Pulse AI extraction models perform SOTA extraction and intelligent chunking, enabling application’s “brain” to synthesize information better than ever. To utilize the data of old to drive businesses of the future, Pulse AI provides foundational tools for enterprises. RunPulse.

Tekedia Capital (capital.tekedia.com) funds great ideas globally.

TikTok, the popular short-form video app owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, has filed an emergency motion in a U.S. federal court to block a looming ban scheduled to take effect next month.

The filing, made late Sunday, seeks an injunction to provide the U.S. Supreme Court adequate time to review the case and allow the incoming administration of Donald Trump to evaluate the implications of the ban.

In the court filing, TikTok and ByteDance stressed the importance of this case for public interest, stating: “The public interest favors providing sufficient time for the Supreme Court to conduct an orderly review process, and for the incoming Administration to evaluate this exceptionally important case.”

The legal maneuver appears as a last resort for the embattled app as the deadline to implement the federal appeals court ruling that upheld the government’s order for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations nears. Tekedia earlier reported that this ruling left TikTok with two stark options: escalate the case to the Supreme Court or rely on President Donald Trump to delay or overturn the ban.

With the emergency motion, TikTok appears to be pursuing both paths, though it remains unclear if Trump will indeed “save” the app, as he previously indicated.

Background of the Ban on National Security Concerns

In 2020, the Trump administration pursued a ban on TikTok  over concerns that its ownership by ByteDance poses a national security threat. Officials allege that the Chinese government could exploit the platform to access sensitive data on millions of American users, a claim TikTok has denied. In response, the administration issued executive orders to ban the app unless ByteDance divests TikTok’s U.S. operations.

To comply, ByteDance entered negotiations with American companies, including Oracle and Walmart, to create a U.S.-based entity, TikTok Global. While a preliminary agreement was reached in late 2020, the deal was never finalized until Trump left office.

In 2022, US lawmakers initiated legislation that will force TikTok to sell its US operations to American companies. In April 2024, The U.S. Senate passed the bill mandating ByteDance, the parent company of the popular social media platform, to divest its ownership within 270 days or risk losing access to the lucrative U.S. market.

The bill, christened the “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” sailed through the Senate with a resounding 79-18 vote, reflecting bipartisan concern over potential national security risks posed by Chinese-owned technology companies operating within U.S. borders. It was swiftly signed by President Joe Biden, who retains the prerogative to extend the divestiture deadline by up to 90 days if significant progress toward a sale is underway.

Fighting for survival, TikTok went to court. TikTok users also went to court to challenge the government’s move, citing the First Amendment.

Court of Appeal upheld the Judgment to Sell

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the government’s divestiture mandate, rejecting TikTok’s argument that the move violated constitutional protections, including freedom of speech. The ruling effectively left TikTok with two choices: appeal to the Supreme Court or await intervention from Trump.

While TikTok is moving forward with its Supreme Court strategy, the company’s reliance on Trump is believed to be a calculated gamble. Although the president-elect had signaled a willingness to “save TikTok,” saying, “I’m for TikTok because you need competition”, the Court of Appeal ruling has significantly minimized what he can do to save the app.

Experts speculate that Trump may adopt a less adversarial approach, focusing on regulatory oversight rather than an outright ban. However, any such action would require time and the court’s backing or possible amendment of the law that legitimatized the ban.

Some analysts suggest that TikTok could get a reprieve if Trump considers it as a bargaining chip in broader U.S.-China trade negotiations.

However, while TikTok’s emergency motion aims to buy time, the company is operating under a tight deadline. Should the Supreme Court decline to hear the case or Trump fail to intervene, ByteDance may be forced to divest its U.S. operations, a move that could drastically alter the app’s trajectory.

The Nigerian Naira has continued its remarkable appreciation against the U.S. dollar, driven by strategic interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and implementing reforms in the foreign exchange (FX) market.

Over the past week, the Naira strengthened to N1,515 per dollar in the parallel market, a significant leap from its earlier position of N1,660. Similarly, in the official market, the Naira closed at N1,535 per dollar on Friday, gaining N32 from the previous day’s N1,567, according to CBN data.

This rapid appreciation has sparked optimism among traders and analysts, with speculations that the currency could climb even further. Some traders believe the Naira may reach as low as N1,400 per dollar in the parallel market, reflecting the growing confidence in Nigeria’s FX reforms.

Aminu Gwadabe, President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), acknowledged the possibility of further gains but noted that it might not appreciate beyond N1,500.

“It is achievable considering the enhanced investor confidence,” he remarked. “But I want to believe further appreciation levels may not go beyond N1,500/$.”

Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives Company, offered a more conservative outlook, projecting that the Naira could stabilize at around N1,525 per dollar by 2025. Rewane highlighted the importance of sustained reforms and confidence-building measures to achieve long-term stability.

Central to this positive trend is the CBN’s introduction of the Bloomberg BMatch platform, a cutting-edge electronic forex trading system aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency in Nigeria’s FX market under the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS). The directive mandating all banks operating in the interbank FX market to adopt the platform was issued on November 26, 2024, and the system became operational on December 2, 2024.

EFEMS has been touted as a game changer for Nigeria’s FX market. The system eliminates opaque trading practices, reduces speculative activities, and fosters a more predictable trading environment by providing a structured mechanism for matching buyers and sellers. Analysts have hailed its introduction as a critical reform that addresses the longstanding inefficiencies and malpractices in the market.

Factors Driving the Naira’s Appreciation

The Naira’s recent gains can be attributed to a combination of factors, including improved investor confidence, rising foreign exchange inflows, and structural market reforms. Gwadabe pointed to substantial dollar inflows from portfolio investors, citing oversubscribed bond issues as evidence of renewed interest in Nigeria’s economy.

“The increasing level of confidence among portfolio investors has resulted in substantial dollar inflows, as evidenced by the oversubscribed bond issues. This has significantly helped the Naira recover,” he explained.

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, which recently surpassed $40 billion, have also played a pivotal role. The increased reserves have empowered the CBN to intervene more effectively in the FX market, reducing volatility and fostering stability. Gwadabe highlighted other contributing factors, including improved crude oil and gas production, as well as rising diaspora remittances, which now average $600 million monthly through international money transfer operators (IMTOs).

Muda Yusuf, CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), described the Naira’s appreciation as a significant relief for individuals and businesses grappling with economic challenges. He emphasized the broader economic benefits of a stronger currency, particularly in curbing inflation and reducing the cost of doing business.

“It is a development that gladdens the hearts of individuals and corporates because the exchange rate issue has been one of the biggest challenges facing the economy. It has been one of the biggest drivers of inflation and the high cost of doing business. So, it’s a great relief that we are having this development,” Yusuf remarked. “Our prayer and hope is that this will be sustained going forward.”

He noted that the improved external reserves have bolstered the CBN’s ability to stabilize the currency.

“In recent times, we have seen an improvement in our reserves, which implies that the CBN has much better capacity to intervene in the foreign exchange market. Over the past five months, we have seen relative stability in the Naira exchange rate, and now we are beginning to see a strengthening of the currency,” he said.

He also emphasized the importance of boosting autonomous forex inflows through international money transfers and export activities.

“As confidence improves, speculative demand in the foreign exchange market will reduce, and this is already playing out. The CBN has also been actively cleaning up the foreign exchange environment, addressing malpractices, and eliminating speculative activities,” Yusuf added.

Challenges on The Path to Sustainability

Despite the progress, experts have warned of potential challenges that could undermine the Naira’s stability. Yusuf stressed the need for fiscal discipline and alignment with monetary policies to sustain the current momentum. He pointed to government spending, fiscal deficits, and debt accumulation as critical variables requiring careful management.

“Our fiscal operations should be such that they don’t create liquidity challenges in the economy, which could put new pressures on the Naira. We need to moderate deficits, debt levels, and possibly even government expenditure to complement what is being achieved on the monetary side,” Yusuf advised.

He further called for enhanced efforts to boost oil production and combat oil theft, emphasizing the importance of strengthening Nigeria’s forex earnings. Yusuf also highlighted local manufacturing and import substitution initiatives, such as the Dangote Refinery, as critical to reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported fuel and easing forex pressures.

“What is important is to ensure sustainability,” Yusuf concluded. “With the right mix of fiscal and monetary policies, we can maintain this positive outlook and drive long-term economic growth.”