The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has suggested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should temporarily halt interest rate increases as a measure to alleviate the supply-side pressures contributing to inflation. This recommendation comes in response to the recent inflation report indicating a rate of 25.80%.

According to a statement by Dr. Chinyere Almona, the Director-General of LCCI, a pause in interest rate hikes could help address the factors affecting inflation, particularly on the supply side.

The LCCI’s proposal, which also urged the federal government to implement prudent fiscal policy measures, highlights the need for a balanced approach to monetary policy to manage inflation and support economic stability.

According to the statement, the LCCI anticipates that businesses will adopt various cost-reduction strategies to mitigate the impact of inflation on their operations.

Businesses operating in Nigeria are expected to implement additional cost-cutting measures in response to the escalating inflation. This could involve reducing their workforce through downsizing and intensifying efforts to source raw materials locally.

Such strategies are driven by the need to control expenses and navigate the challenges posed by increasing inflation, which can erode profit margins and financial stability for businesses in the country.

These strategies may include downsizing and seeking local sources for input materials in order to manage operating expenses and sustain profitability in the face of rising inflationary pressures. This reflects the challenges businesses may face in maintaining their financial health and competitiveness in an inflationary environment.

Dr. Almona said that households’ real income would continue to experience a decline, especially in the near term, citing the business lobby group is concerned about the uptick in inflation (year-on-year) driven by the increase in both the food and core components of the CPI and also the indication that the path of price movements remains unclear in the near term.

She added that the inflationary shocks have created a need for the government to give tax breaks on basic food items.

“The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry recommends government implement prudent fiscal policy measures.

“This is particularly in terms of borrowings as well as addressing the challenge of food inflation by immediately reducing and removing the tax on basic food items to protect the most vulnerable,” she said.

Nigeria’s inflation rate has seen a spike following new economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu. The reforms include fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the Nigerian forex market. Inflation, led by the rising cost of foods and beverages, surged to 25.80% in August 2023, 1.72% points higher than the 24.08% recorded in July.

The LCCI also called for measures to alleviate the impact of escalating inflation on consumers. The organization called on the government to provide palliatives to help mitigate the effects of inflation, which include higher living costs and reduced purchasing power for individuals.

Additionally, the LCCI has advocated for a temporary halt in interest rate hikes as part of the strategy to address inflationary pressures and promote economic stability. These recommendations are expected to provide relief for both businesses and consumers in coping with the challenges posed by inflation.

“We implore the government to hasten the provision of the anticipated palliatives to lessen the impact of the rising trend in prices on economic agents.

“Furthermore, we urge the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pause interest rate hikes to relieve the pressures on the supply side, especially at this time,” she said.

In H2 2023, more foreign investors are investing in African (very early stage) tech-anchored startups at a rate faster than when they did at the same time last year. Here they invest between $50k to $500k. 

However, in the range from $500k to $5m, that has slightly dropped while from $10m is extremely challenging. Above $20m is now a miracle.

Yet, I do think the market is opening up because the “VC banking crisis” in the US is largely over, and they will be getting back to big deals. In the last few days, we have been getting more calls on due diligence for larger rounds, indicating that the big dance is returning. I expect things to normalize around Nov or early 2024 for mega deals.

In Tekedia Capital Syndicate, we typically do 6-7 startups in a cycle, but due to interests from some of our funding clubs, etc, we are extending the list to 10 startups, for the cycle starting on Oct 2, 2023, as we can see enough capital to take care of the needs of all the startups. Yes, we will make ten investments in the next 45 days to close the year.

As always, the best companies in Africa and Nigeria are yet to be established. #build one!

Last week I wrote about how some senior lawyers are maltreating young lawyers by overworking them and paying them peanuts. A senior lawyer friend subsequently reached out to me and we had a long conversation about this. He told me that despite the fact that when they were junior lawyers, which is some decades ago, there were more jobs and better pay. As a lawyer then, even from law school, there will be so many jobs with good bonuses waiting for you; if you decide that you do not want to go into private practice or full-time law practice there are thousands of organizations including multinationals and government agencies lining up to hire you immediately but now that the only option for a young lawyer is to join a law firm that will be overworking you paying you 10-20k or you will be jobless but it is still preferable to be a new wig now than then because there are more opportunities available now for lawyers than as it used to be. 

I pondered on this and I believed him. I have come to very much believe and hugely optimistic that it is easier and scalable to be a young lawyer in Nigeria today than it was some decades ago, the only difference is that you just have to create the jobs for yourself but if you do, there is no limit as to what you can earn or how much you can excel. Therefore, the chances of you getting rich and excelling in today’s market as a young lawyer are higher than the chances of people who were young lawyers 20-30 years ago excelling. 

For starters, there are more opportunities for lawyers in today’s legal market. There are more practice areas, new legal niches, and fresh diversification areas in the law field today than it was some decades back. There are newer and lucrative areas of law that a young lawyer can branch into and make solid money off of. Some decades ago, there was nothing like fashion law or fashion lawyers in Nigeria, there was not even tech law or tech lawyers or entertainment lawyers, these are newer niches which some young lawyers have diversified in and they are making a solid living from it. There is even art law now which focuses on artworks like high-priced paintings or drawings and the legalese around them. I’m pretty sure that there were no such niches or lawyers diversifying into such niches in Nigeria some decades ago. 

Another advantage of being a young lawyer at this point in time is the advent and proliferation of technology and social media. Some lawyers are building solid brands for themselves through the use of social media which was not there decades ago. Some lawyers have abandoned active legal practice and ventured into full-time social media influencing and they are making a whole lot of money from it. I recently spoke with a lawyer on social media, what he does is to regularly provide legal opinions on social and trending issues and he amassed huge followership across different platforms through that. Now he charges companies money to influence their products and give them legal opinions and advice. That is his niche and he told me that he is raking in millions of naira per month from that. 

Lawyers that started their legal journey some 20 or more years ago wouldn’t have thought that this could be an area of legal practice. 

Moreso, with Technology, the practice of law is much easier and more convenient now than it used to be. Carrying out legal research is way too easy now. Before what was only available were hard copy case reports and hard copies of statutes, this means that if you want to read up on a case or do some law research you will have to go to the library and look for the law report that reported the case or the statute that provided for the law but now you can read up any case or any law over the internet. There are so many digital law reports now in Nigeria some of which are free for young lawyers. Statutory provisions are now compressed and uploaded online. I believe that lawyers of the late ’90s wouldn’t have thought that there would ever be a time like this. And for lawyers navigating complex international cases, understanding ofac sanctions Iran is essential to ensure compliance with U.S. regulations.

Also with the advent of technology, you can serve a legal process online unlike before. You can serve legal processes through WhatsApp or email. In fact, my favorite way of sending a petition now is through email instead of stressing myself or wasting resources to waybill it. I stay in Abuja and I serve a petition to anybody anywhere around Nigeria in seconds.  

Also, there is much more money now in the Nigerian legal market. The market has expanded and grown and there is no limit to what a lawyer could bill a client now and lawyers are more valued now that clients pay them well. 

There will definitely be a part two to this article this is just a starter to wet the appetite of any young lawyer out there; instead of staying in a law firm where you are not valued and are getting paid 20k per month, there are a lot of opportunities for you out there and newer practise areas you can explore, build on, create your brand on and excel.