Trust me, I am not writing this to defend Nigerian banks. I am writing to explain how the banking system works. In a post where I shared the profit margins of publicly traded companies in Nigeria, many of our members were not happy that banks were well represented, even though they hardly offer affordable loans to small businesses. Those sentiments are justified but those are not the full story. Read on…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently raised its benchmark lending rate to 18%. With that, you can have the total cost model from a typical bank on lending thus:
So, expect your bank’s minimum loan rate to be at least 23.5%. Of course, there are other sources of capital which can make it possible for banks to lend at sub-23.5%. Typically, funds from DFIs (development financial institutions like African Development Bank, and African Export–Import Bank) can make that possible but those coming from CBN will be at least 23.5%.
The implication is clear: the high interest rate is not a bank’s fiat decision.
Then you will ask: why can’t CBN lend to banks at 2%? The issue is inflation. If you make the cost of capital very low, bad things could happen, as the economy is flooded with easy money, resulting in the cost of goods and services rising.
So, managing inflation and strengthening the currency could be defined as the core roles of any central bank. Yes, central banks work mainly to stabilize or strengthen their currencies (to reduce inflation) and create employment by managing interest rates. While they can make lending rates low, they also need to consider that easy money can ravage their currencies. Simply, those high lending rates are not 100% on the banks.
On the verge of 9th Assembly disbandment; what has been achieved?
The 9th assembly is coming to a wrap in less than a month; the 10th assembly will be ushered in on June 11, 2023, and those interested in different key positions in the 10th assembly are already showing their political muscles to wrestle for those positions.
So can the 9th assembly after a 4-year run boldly beat their chests and pat their backs for a job well done? What can be said is a novel achievement or groundbreaking achievement of the 9th assembly for the four years they existed, starting from 2019 till 2023?
Constitutionally, the parliamentarians are there for the primary purpose of law-making as has been provided in S.4(1&2);
4(1) “The legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
4(2) The National Assembly shall have the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution”.
Aside from law-making, they consequently, expected to carry out the representative functions and the oversight duty.
The law-making function; Parliamentarians of the National Assembly have been empowered by the constitution to make and amend laws that bother on the exclusive and concurrent legislative list. They are expected to make laws and amend laws for the whole of Nigeria so as to correct the anomalies in the society.
We can score the 9th Assembly a “C” for the successful discharge of this function. They have had a fair run in making and amending laws since 2019 up till this year.
The 9th Assembly made and amended some significant laws we have today like the Electoral Act of 2022, CAMA, Police Act, etc. So we can say that the 9th Assembly made some improvements in discharging their law-making/law-amending functions.
The Representative function; They are as well expected to represent their constituency or the people who elected them to represent them in government at the federal level.
Since 1999, the parliamentarians have been scoring zero in their representation functions and there has been no improvement even up till this 9th assembly that is coming to a wrap. Most of the constituency offices around the country are always under lock and key. It is sad that whenever you want to see the lawmaker you elected to represent your constituency you will have to travel down to Abuja to see them in their office block at the National Assembly. You only get to see them at their constituencies once it’s election period and they come to canvas for votes and support. We can only wish for improvement in this upcoming 10th assembly in the discharge of the representative function.
Parliamentarians are as well expected to carry out oversight functions. Oversight refers to the actions taken to review and monitor public sector organizations and their policies, plans, programs, and projects, to ensure that they are achieving expected results; represent good value for money; and are in compliance with applicable policies, laws, regulations, and ethical standards. The 9th assembly has also had a fair run in the discharge of their oversight function. We saw them inviting and probing some public officials and we also saw them intervening in the labour union industrial actions. Whether they achieve any significant goal through this oversight action will be a matter for deliberation on another day but they should be applauded at least for folding up their sleeves and delving into the field when their oversight function is demanded of them.
We should point out that the fact the national and state house of assemblies are always shying away from exercising their core duties of checking the excesses of the executive especially when the president or the governor is in the same political party as the majority of the lawmakers is worrisome and have been contributing immensely for their catastrophic failures but we can only hope and wish for improvements and for a better 10th assembly.
The online space has become a fertile ground for the exchange of services in the last decade. This has led many sectors, including the freelance gig sector, to adopt online service delivery systems and move from traditional methods. Uwerx aims to help qualified professionals to sell services to their clients across the globe using blockchain technology.
According to sales reports from its ICO, the project is tipped by analysts to offer higher price pumps than Optimism (OP) and Cardano (ADA) by Q3-Q4 2023. This article will explore Uwerx and why you should add it to your portfolio.
Optimism (OP) is a low-entry layer-two project facilitating smart contract development. The network offers low-cost, secure, fast, and reliable transactions for all its users. Optimism (OP), just like Polygon (MATIC) and Immutable X (IMX), was created to handle the excesses of the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain as an additional solution to the Ethereum Layer-1 protocol.
Each transaction on the network is approved almost instantaneously, and just as the name suggests, the network believes in providing good results for its users. Many developers have chosen this platform over the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain as they are guaranteed better results quickly for just a fraction of the cost.
The OP token was released in May 2022 with a total supply of 4.29 billion tokens. Over 4% of those tokens were given freely during airdrops, and the remaining were sold to fund public projects. An OP token costs $1.60 with a market cap of over $600 million. According to price predictions from analysts, OP tokens might reach $3 by the end of Q4 2023.
By the end of 2023, over 40% of the world’s workforce will comprise freelancers. Uwerx aims to exploit those numbers to the advantage of freelancers everywhere by creating a global services system that matches specialized professionals with capable entrepreneurs. Analysts say this might render traditional work models obsolete in 50 years.
Since its ICO, Uwerx has sparked the interest of investors around the cryptocurrency community by successfully generating millions of dollars in presales. With just 300 million WERX tokens for sale, the project has successfully completed the first and second presale stages and is now in its third stage. Token price is at $0.0095. This price will likely change before Q3 and might hit an all-time high of $2 before the end of Q2 2024.
Thanks to audit approvals from InterFi and Solidproof investment protocols, Uwerx will be listed on CoinSniper, a notable exchange.
Uwerx will follow a unique approach in the freelance industry. It aims to create a decentralized network that supports content creators, writers, graphics designers, and every other niche in the freelance industry by connecting them to a stream of available clients worldwide.
Uwerx will promote transparency, a no third-party policy, security, protected intellectual property rights, and low transaction fees across its platform. According to the developers, the platform will only charge a 1% transaction fee as against the 20% other platforms charge.
As soon as the Uwerx is launched on centralized exchanges, potential investors will have a shot at securing more power over the project as the developers will surrender their smart contract ownership.
The bonus has decreased to 20%. Do not feel bad cause the founding team will also reduce their earnings from 8% to 7% to increase potential investors’ benefits. Some of these changes are new and reflect Uwerx’s long-term commitment to serving its community upon launch.
Stage four allocations will be set at 77,500,000 from its previous budget of 60,000,000, while stage five will be set at 72,000,000. The alpha version of the platform will feature a clean and friendly interface. The team is really excited about it and looks forward to sharing it with its community soon.
Potential investors may rest easy as the project’s developers will enter a 25 years liquidity lock to guarantee the future of the platform. This partnership will activate after the project’s presale. Although similar to staking, this strategy provides better benefits, such as a secured DAO commitment.
Cardano (ADA) has quickly risen to become an all-time favorite for smart contract developers across the globe. It currently ranks #7 by coin market cap and is valued at $0.38. What makes Cardano (ADA) so loved is its ability to execute transactions within split seconds at meager costs while maintaining security and reliability.
The network can achieve high scalability and efficiency through its consensus mechanism, Ourbroros.
Cardano (ADA) uses a two-layer system. Each layer is designed to execute specific tasks and functions on the network independently. These tasks include the validation and execution of applications across the network.
Launched in 2017 as a third-gen blockchain, Cardano (ADA) has outperformed many major players in the coin market. Analysts believe that by Q4 2024, ADA tokens might be valued at $10 per token.
While it is essential to make any investment choice cautiously, the buzz and excitement surrounding Uwerx should clear any doubts investors might have about the project’s future and intentions. While Cardano (ADA) and Optimism (OP) have their perks and offers, we strongly suggest you try something different, like Uwerx.
Website: https://www.uwerx.network
Presale: http://invest.uwerx.network
Telegram: https://t.me/uwerx_network
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uwerx_network
In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies, the success of a project often hinges on its ability to adapt, innovate, and meet the demands of the market. Today, we delve into three notable players in the crypto space: TMS Network (TMSN), Optimism (OP), and Lido DAO (LDO). While the latter two have faced challenges, TMS Network (TMSN) has emerged as a shining star, captivating the attention of investors and traders alike.
In recent news, Optimism’s (OP) Bedrock upgrade has garnered significant attention within the crypto community. The upgrade of Optimism (OP) aims to enhance the performance and security of the Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup network. While this development promises improvements in modularity, simplicity, and Ethereum parity, it has also raised concerns among some investors of Optimism (OP).
The upgrade, which seeks to reduce transaction costs and improve throughput characteristics, has encountered a brief period of network downtime during the migration process. However, Optimism (OP) Governance Organization assures users that this will not require a complete overhaul of the system, ensuring a smooth transition. Nevertheless, some market participants remain skeptical about the potential disruptions caused by the upgrade. With intensifying competition among Layer-2 networks, the Bedrock upgrade merely attempts to position Optimism (OP) to survive, and adapt in the ever-changing multi-chain landscape.
Lido DAO (LDO) recently achieved a significant milestone in network transactions, further solidifying its position in the crypto staking realm. A staggering $135 million worth of Lido DAO (LDO) tokens were transferred in a single transaction, marking the largest coin transfer in two years. This achievement demonstrates the growing popularity and trust in Lido DAO’s (LDO) liquid staking platform. However, the positive transaction record has not translated into immediate price gains for Lido DAO (LDO) tokens.
Currently trading at $1.85, Lido DAO (LDO) has faced a marginal decline in the past 24 hours, and a cumulative loss over the week. Although Lido DAO’s (LDO) integration with OKX wallet’s web extension provides access to a wide range of DeFi protocols, including Lido, it’s uncertain whether this will result in increased user adoption, especially given the short-term market fluctuations.
Amidst the developments surrounding Optimism (OP) and Lido DAO (LDO), TMS Network (TMSN) has emerged as a symbol of innovation and success. TMS Network (TMSN), with its groundbreaking platform, has revolutionized digital trading, leaving competitors such as Optimism (OP), and Lido DAO (LDO) astonished. Currently, in its third round of presale, TMS Network (TMSN) has experienced an astronomical 2800% growth in its token price. Starting at a mere $0.003, the token is now trading at $0.085, with experts predicting a value surpassing $2 by year-end.
The unprecedented growth of TMS Network (TMSN) can be attributed to its unique offerings, including trading of digital derivatives, comprehensive risk management tools, educational resources, minimal transaction fees, revenue-sharing opportunities, and much more. What sets TMS Network (TMSN) apart is its array of advanced trading tools, catering to both seasoned traders and newcomers. Features such as trading bots, on-chain analytics, social trading, portfolio management applications, and trading signals empower users to make informed decisions and maximize their profits. The future looks exceptionally bright for TMS Network (TMSN), and those who embrace its platform can expect to be at the forefront of a transformative era in digital trading.
Presale: https://presale.tmsnetwork.io
Website: https://tmsnetwork.io
Telegram: https://t.me/TMSNetworkIO
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@tmsnetwork_io
