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Cut Cost of Governance by 60%, Not Entourage – Obi tells Nigerian Govt

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

In response to the Nigerian government’s recent decision to cut down on the size of official entourages for international and local travel by 60%, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has emphasized the need for a more comprehensive approach to cost-cutting in governance.

The former Anambra State governor expressed his views through a statement on his verified X handle on Wednesday.

The move to reduce entourages was announced by the presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, as part of the administration’s efforts to implement cost-cutting measures. This decision will impact the entourages accompanying the President, Vice-President, First Lady, ministers, and heads of government agencies.

However, Peter Obi believes that this measure “is just scratching the surface” and will result in only a negligible saving. He contends that the focus should be on a 60% reduction in both the number of official overseas trips and the size of delegations. Furthermore, Obi stresses the need for a broader 60% reduction in the total cost of governance at the federal level.

In his statement, Obi asserted, “The just announced 60% cut in the size of federal official entourages on travels is one positive step towards the reduction of cost of governance and a way of halting wastage.

“But this measure is just scratching the surface as it is limited in scope and can only lead to a very negligible saving. We are yet to be told how much savings this will amount to.

“While this modest step may be somewhat commendable, what is desirable should be both a 60% reduction in federal official overseas trips as well as a 60% reduction in the size of delegations.”

Highlighting the economic impact of such measures, Obi emphasized the need to revise the 2024 budget to eliminate wasteful and unnecessary items. He argued that arbitrary cuts in entourages are insufficient without addressing the larger issue of overall government expenditure.

“This is the level of cost-cutting and savings that can meaningfully impact the present state of the economy. This level of cut in the cost of government should lead to substantial savings,” Obi stated. He urged that the resulting savings should be redirected towards funding the productive sectors of the economy and critical social investments, particularly in education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation.

Moreover, the two-term former Anambra State governor called for transparency in communicating the financial implications of the reduced entourage sizes. He stated, “It is not enough to announce arbitrary cuts in the size of federal official entourages. The nation needs to be informed of how much the measure will save and where such savings will be applied.”

While acknowledging the positive step taken by the government in cutting entourages, Obi’s response points to the urgency for more comprehensive and impactful measures to address the economic challenges facing the country.

“Most importantly, it is not enough to announce arbitrary cuts in the size of federal official entourages. The nation needs to be informed of how much the measure will save and where such savings will be applied,” he said.

Mobile Apps: Global Consumers Spending on Apps Hit $171 Billion

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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According to a recent report by app intelligence provider data.ai’s annual “State of Mobile” report,consumer spending on apps saw a modest 3% increase year-over-year in 2023 to reach $171 billion across the App Store, Google Play, and third-party Android app stores in China.

According to the report, consumer spending on non-game apps grew 11% year-over-year in 2023 to reach $64 billion. Social apps and the creator economy drove this growth with TikTok leading the way.

The mobile app economy has reportedly grown to become a half-a-trillion-dollar market, with approximately $1.5 billion being spent every day in 2023 on app store purchases and mobile advertising.

After declining 2% YoY in 2022, global consumer spending bounced back in 2023 up 3%. Consumers are shifting their spending habits. Popularized by TikTok, as they are opting to spend directly in the app via ‘tips’ to their favorite content creators, opening the door for subscriptions and lAPs.

Also, reports reveal that consumers are now embracing mobile apps for their financial needs from Banking to Payment. Mobile app adoption across top subgenres like Mobile Banking and Digital Wallets and payment has continued to climb as consumers continue to turn to their mobile devices more.

Time spent on Social Apps grew in 2023, as time spent on social apps on Android phones showed no signs of slowing, climbing 9% in 2023 to more than 2.3 trillion hours.

Consumer spending growth also remained strong at 13% year-over-year to nearly $9 billion in 2023. Top social platforms are continuing to unlock monetization strategies outside of advertising, with TikTok, the best add monetizer in the history of the app store.

TikTok Monetization is unparalleled as the app now earns more than $1 per user in the United States, up from just 67 cents per user in 2022.

Some of the largest social media platforms in the US also showed some promise in terms of monetizing through in-app purchases. Snapchat’s consumption increased 5X on the back of its Snapchat subscription and Instagram also saw rapid growth.

Here is an overview of the 2023 Mobile App Landscape

Appstore Spend

$171 million was spent on Appstore, with $325,000 spent per minute in 2023, representing a +3% Year-on-Year (YoY) growth.

Daily Time Spent Per User

5 hours were spent per user daily on, which is 1/3 of daily working hours. This represented a 6% year-on-year (YoY) growth.

Mobile Ad Spend

$362 billion was spent on mobile ads which was reported to be larger than the total economies of countries which include Finland and New Zealand.

Total Hours Spent

A total of 5.1 trillion was spent on apps, marking 14 billion hours collectively per day in 2023. This represented a 6% year-on-year (YoY) growth.

It is worth noting that Generative Al is the breakout genre of 2023. Generative Al, data.ai’s latest addition to its App IQ taxonomy, emerged as one of the fastest-growing genres of 2023.

Al Chatbot apps took off in the later part of the year with the launches of ChatGPT and Character Al and adoption has remained strong since Consumer spending also continued to climb throughout 2023 after huge growth earlier in the year.

The Al Enthusiasm Hit Mobile in 2023, and with many more Apps than just ChatGPT. Thousands of apps flocked to the iOS App Store and Google Play store with ai-related solutions.

For example, 2,500 apps launched in 2023 with “chatbot” in their description, nearly double the apps launched in the previous four years combined.

Microsoft Surpasses Apple, Becomes World’s Most Valuable Company

By
Samuel Nwite
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In a groundbreaking shift, Microsoft has dethroned Apple to emerge as the world’s most valuable company, boasting a market valuation of $2.875 trillion, slightly edging out Apple’s $2.871 trillion.

Reuters reports that the reshuffling of the tech hierarchy is primarily attributed to Apple’s lackluster performance in the early months of 2024, raising concerns about demand for its flagship product, the iPhone.

Microsoft’s stocks experienced a robust 1.6% surge, credited to its early leadership in the race to harness the potential of generative artificial intelligence (genAI), which garnered increased investor attention.

Analyst Gil Luria from D.A. Davidson pointed at the inevitability of Microsoft surpassing Apple, noting Microsoft’s rapid growth and its substantial gains from the genAI revolution.

Conversely, Apple faced a 3.3% decline in its stocks in January, compared to Microsoft’s 1.8% ascent, marking the first instance since 2021 that Apple’s valuation has dipped below Microsoft’s.

The slump in Apple’s shares is traced back to a series of rating downgrades, signaling worries about the sustainability of iPhone sales, particularly in the pivotal Chinese market. Redburn Atlantic expressed concern about China potentially hindering Apple’s performance, citing fierce competition from Huawei and heightened Sino-U.S. tensions affecting Apple’s market position.

“China could be a drag on performance over the coming years,” the brokerage said.

Adding to Apple’s challenges is regulatory scrutiny over its services business, which has been a recent bright spot in its financial reports. The potential antitrust implications of the lucrative deal designating Google as the default search engine on iOS have become a focal point for regulators.

Microsoft’s success is underscored by its aggressive rollout of genAI-powered tools throughout 2023, a strategic move resulting from its collaboration with OpenAI. This recent triumph echoes Microsoft’s sporadic overtaking of Apple as the most valuable company, which last happened in 2021 during disruptions caused by COVID-driven supply chain shortages.

Currently, Wall Street sentiment strongly favors Microsoft, with almost 90% of brokerages endorsing the stock and no “sell” ratings. In contrast, Apple faces a more subdued outlook with two “sell” ratings and only two-thirds of analysts advocating it as a “buy.”

Both Microsoft and Apple are currently deemed relatively expensive in terms of their price-to-earnings ratios. Apple’s forward PE stands at 28, well above its 10-year average of 19, while Microsoft trades at around 31 times forward earnings, exceeding its 10-year average of 24, according to LSEG data.

The surprising shift has created a fresh challenge for Apple, as the market watches whether the Cupertino giant will swiftly reclaim its top position in the fiercely competitive tech industry or if Microsoft will solidify its reign as the world’s most valuable company.

VanEck bought $72.5 million Bitcoin to seed its Bitcoin ETF

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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VanEck, one of the leading asset management firms in the US, has announced that it has purchased $72.5 million worth of Bitcoin to seed its newly launched Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The VanEck Bitcoin Trust, which began trading on the Nasdaq on January 5, is the first Bitcoin ETF in the US to receive approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The Bitcoin ETF is designed to provide investors with exposure to the price performance of Bitcoin without the hassle of buying, storing, and securing the cryptocurrency themselves. The trust holds Bitcoin in cold storage with a qualified custodian and tracks the performance of the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin Benchmark Rate, a real-time reference rate for the price of Bitcoin.

According to a filing with the SEC, VanEck bought 3,751.7 Bitcoins at an average price of $19,316.76 per coin on January 4, the day before the ETF launched. The total value of the trust’s assets as of January 5 was $74.1 million, which includes $1.6 million in cash and other receivables.

VanEck’s move is a significant milestone for the Bitcoin industry, as it marks the first time that a major US asset manager has launched a Bitcoin ETF. The firm has been one of the most persistent advocates for a Bitcoin ETF, having filed multiple applications with the SEC since 2017. VanEck’s latest proposal, filed in December 2020, was approved by the SEC in November 2021 after a lengthy review process.

Grayscale, the world’s largest digital asset manager, had filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its alleged arbitrary and capricious treatment of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The lawsuit challenges the SEC’s denial of Grayscale’s application to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would allow investors to buy and sell bitcoin directly on a regulated platform.

Grayscale argues that the SEC has applied inconsistent and unreasonable standards to crypto-related products, while approving similar products for other asset classes. The lawsuit also claims that the SEC has violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the Investment Company Act, and the Constitution by acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

The lawsuit comes at a time when the SEC is facing increasing pressure from the crypto industry and lawmakers to provide clear and consistent guidance on how it regulates digital assets. Many observers believe that the SEC’s stance on crypto is outdated and inconsistent with the innovation and growth of the sector.

The SEC has repeatedly rejected applications for spot bitcoin ETFs, citing concerns over market manipulation, custody, and investor protection. However, the SEC has approved several futures-based bitcoin ETFs, which track the price of bitcoin through derivatives contracts rather than holding the underlying asset. The SEC has also approved ETFs for other asset classes that face similar or greater risks than crypto, such as gold, oil, and foreign currencies.

Grayscale’s lawsuit could have significant implications for the future of crypto regulation in the U.S. If Grayscale wins the case, it could pave the way for more spot bitcoin ETFs to be approved.

The approval of VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF has also sparked hopes that more Bitcoin ETFs will follow suit in the near future. Several other firms, including Fidelity, WisdomTree, and have also filed applications for Bitcoin ETFs with the SEC, but are still awaiting approval. Analysts believe that the launch of more Bitcoin ETFs will increase the liquidity, accessibility, and adoption of Bitcoin among institutional and retail investors, as well as boost its price and market capitalization.

Fault line between abundance and scarcity cuts across many disciplines

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

One of the most fundamental questions that humans have faced throughout history is whether we live in a world of abundance or scarcity. This question has profound implications for how we organize our societies, economies, and politics. I will explore the philosophical fault line between abundance and scarcity that cuts across many disciplines, like economics (capitalist vs. statist), politics (liberal vs. conservative), and ethics (utilitarian vs. deontological).

Abundance is the belief that there is enough for everyone, that human creativity and innovation can overcome any limitations, and that cooperation and sharing are the best ways to achieve prosperity and happiness. Scarcity is the belief that there is not enough for everyone, that human needs and wants are always greater than the available resources, and that competition and hoarding are the best ways to survive and thrive.

Economics is one of the fields where the abundance vs. scarcity debate is most evident. Capitalist economists argue that free markets, private property, and individual incentives are the best mechanisms to allocate scarce resources efficiently and generate wealth. Statist economists argue that markets are prone to failure, inequality, and exploitation, and that public ownership, planning, and regulation are the best mechanisms to distribute resources fairly and ensure social welfare.

Politics is another field where the abundance vs. scarcity debate is influential. Liberal politicians advocate for individual rights, freedoms, and opportunities, believing that people can achieve their potential in a diverse and tolerant society. Conservative politicians advocate for social order, stability, and security, believing that people need to conform to a common culture and tradition in a hostile and dangerous world.

Ethics is yet another field where the abundance vs. scarcity debate has implications. Utilitarian ethicists propose that the moral action is the one that maximizes the happiness or well-being of the greatest number of people, assuming that there is a common measure of value and a way to aggregate preferences. Deontological ethicists propose that the moral action is the one that follows a universal rule or duty, regardless of the consequences or preferences of individuals.

As you can see, the abundance vs. scarcity debate is not only a factual question, but also a normative one. It reflects not only our understanding of reality, but also our values and goals. It shapes not only our actions, but also our identities and worldviews. Therefore, it is important to be aware of this debate and critically examine our own assumptions and beliefs.

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