The federal government of Nigeria in a bid to drive Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) growth across the country has established several policies to aid their growth.
The government recently rolled out the MSMEs survival fund and also adopted Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) with the aim of sustaining economic growth and development as well as optimizing local content and empowering local businesses to compete globally.
Speaking at the launch of the 34th edition of the Enugu International Fair organized by the Enugu Chamber of commerce, industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) on Saturday in Enugu, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry Trade and investment Adeniyi Adebayo who was represented by Deputy Director, Multinational of the ministry Dr. Sunday Jaja said that a well structured and funded MSMEs sub-sector can contribute significantly to poverty reduction, wealth creation, Employment and also bring about massive development in Nigeria.
Also speaking at the ceremony is the National President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers and Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. John Udeagbala who was represented by the president of the South East chamber of commerce, industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Mr. Humphrey Ngonadi lauded the policies introduced by the government towards the MSMEs, stating that it will bring about development in the country.
He further added that the most impressive performance of the economy of developed countries across the world is the commitment toward human capital development.
In his words, “A nation which is unable to develop skills and knowledge of its people and utilize them effectively in nation building will be unable to develop anything else. The advancement we see in science and technology and every other field today is the strategic commitment to human capital development. When human capital development is properly harnessed and leveraged, it could lead the country to sustained prosperity.
“Therefore, if Nigeria wants to achieve meaningful and sustainable growth, it must begin to aggressively develop its human capital for inclusive growth of the economy.”
The recent initiative by the Federal Government in acknowledging and contributing to the development of MSMEs in the country is remarkable. It is therefore interesting to note that no nation thrives without intentional and concentrated efforts from the government to implement policies and programs to enable and boost MSMEs’ growth.
For the Nigerian economy to continue to grow, SMEs need a lot of support, they are critical drivers of growth and sustainable developmentin any nation. MSMEs are business entities that have about seventy-five employees or fewer. In addition to employing a large percentage of labor in Nigeria, the sector has also been able to drive inventions leading to an increase in job creation.
Last year, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), conducted, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria contributed about 48 percent of the national GDP in the last five years. With a total number of about 17.4 million MSMEs, they account for about 50 percent of industrial jobs and nearly 90 percent in the manufacturing sector.
Despite numerous challenges such as inadequate working capital, unfriendly polices, harsh environment, stiff competition from larger companies, difficulties in sourcing raw materials, and low capacity utilization, among other challenges faced by MSMEs, their significance to the Nigerian economy cannot be overemphasized.
Greetings! Tekedia Capital, in partnership with our sister company, Tekedia Institute, is launching a special investment and portfolio management program for active members of Tekedia Capital Syndicate. The program, Venture Investing and Portfolio Management, is designed to deepen the investment and portfolio management capabilities of our members.
It is exclusive to active members of Tekedia Capital Syndicate, and It comes at no additional cost. The next edition is scheduled as noted here.
Since the exit we had in 2022 with some members getting into a tax season, we just realized that some will need help to deepen their understanding of many components of market systems. If you made $50,000 from an investment from Tekedia Capital Syndicate; that is not “profit”. It is very possible you borrowed that fund (so the interest is an expense), you paid bank fees (another expense), you recharged your phone to watch Tekedia Capital demo day (another expense), etc. You’re expected to keep records so that you can have those as tax deductions.
Also, as you invest, examine industries to design your portfolios. That is why we mix the companies from different sectors, making sure there is diversification. We expect this program to deepen the ecosystem.
Program Structure and Curriculum: click here for the curriculum of Venture Investing and Portfolio Management.
About The Partner: Tekedia Institute is one of Africa’s largest business schools for entrepreneurial capitalism. The faculty members come from some of the finest companies in the world, including PwC, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Coca Cola, Access Bank, Shell, Flutterwave and FIRS. In the current edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA, more than 41 countries are represented. Those include catholic priests, medical doctors, bankers, engineers, businessmen and more.
So… During the week, Arthur Hayes, Former BitMEX CEO, doubled down on previous statements he made about Bitcoin going to $1m.
Balaji Srinivasan is a respected ‘investor’ in Crypto circles He was the co-founder of Counsyl, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Coinbase, and former general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
He went one better and said it would happen in 90 days.
A lot of questions on LinkedIn came over the week focusing on whether this will happen or not.
Now, predicting any value instrument will go up (against the dollar), is just people using a smoke and mirrors trick to convince an audience they have some expertise they do not.
It’s a conjurors trick. a bit like being a stage magician. Let me explain.
There are only two ways one instrument (in this case Bitcoin) can go against another (in this case $USD) – Up or Down. So statistically, the so-called guru already has a 50% statistical likelihood of being right if left to chance. It is the toss of a coin.
If they have a small bit of subject matter information, even if logically it isn’t 100% sound, then that pushes the likelihood over the 50/50 line in the direction of their thesis. Even if the margin changes to 53% v 47% , they are going to end up being right more than 53% of the time, because each new toss is slanted in their favour.. that’s sort of how ‘probability’ works.
Moreover – they have kept back copies of their predictions, and over time, they will bring you ‘Throwback’ references from past content to reinforce their credentials for a new prediction, but they will never make references to past examples of when it went wrong.
Statistical Airbrushing in play!
Srinivasan has gone one better, because he has actually put himself on the line to say it will happen in 90 days.
Anybody who has bet on Football or Boxing ( I don’t), knows the odds given by simply predicting the winner are way too low to benefit from. A reasonable return is only possible by predicting things like ‘who will score the first goal’ or ‘which minute the first goal will be scored in’ or predicting not only the victorious boxer, but in what round the match was won.
This introduces other variables into the prediction that moves it from being a binary one, making the outcome much harder to get correct.
There is no skill in predicting any fluctuating 2 directional variable will reach a specific milestone ‘sometime’ and in real terms, the condition being met can be meaningless – If you have a bitcoin that is valued at $25k which can buy 4 plots of land somewhere, then keeping the bitcoin until it reaches $1m is pointless if by that time $1m cannot buy more than 4 of those same plots of land.
Claiming to be a guru and celebrating ‘I told you Bitcoin would go to $1m’ in context is deceitful.
But Balaji Srinivasan has been very specific, and said it will happen in 90 days.
Will he be shown to be right?
Well, I won’t answer that, but I will provide you with the arguments to help you decide that for yourself!
The fundamentals –
Bitcoin is a value instrument. I talk frequently about blockchains being ‘sovereign’. Each one having their own currency. The Bitcoin cryptocurrency is the sovereign currency of the Blockchain Republic of Bitcoin just like the dollar is the sovereign currency of the US and the Naira is the sovereign currency of Nigeria.
Bitcoin price is driven by Supply and Demand.
What defines Supply?
‘Miners’ (computers programmed to solve cryptographic puzzles on the blockchain) add new blocks to the blockchain and get rewarded for work with Bitcoin. The total supply of BTC is limited and pre-defined in the Bitcoin protocol at 21 million, with the mining reward (how Bitcoins are created) decreasing over time. Roughly every 4 years, an event ‘the halving’ happens. Beyond this point, mining reward per block will be half what it was before.
Bitcoins can never really be ‘destroyed’ but they can be put permanently beyond use, through someone losing keys to access solutions such as wallets. There are also some wallets, or transfer conditions under which transferred bitcoin will neither give a send error from the sending app, nor arrive at the intended recipient. This also puts Bitcoin out of supply.
Hayes and Srinivasan
What creates Demand?
I’ve previously written on the importance of blockchains having utility. As ‘the Blockchain Republic of Bitcoin’ I call this the blockchain’s GDP. Just like a country in the real world. The more being generated inside the blockchain, and the more internal assets are traded through its coin, to internally active actors, the more robust it will be in the face of outside influences.
For such a huge market cap – $469,522,992,501 USD .. there isn’t a huge lot going on inside the ‘Republic of Bitcoin’. Its got the Lightning Network, and its got Ordinal, but if we look at the value being generated, then inside the BTC ecosystem, that market cap isn’t getting a lot done.
This means Bitcoin (at least for now) can’t be credited with its own value. It’s a mirror of things happening somewhere else.
And what is that somewhere else?
That somewhere else is the US Dollar! – the instrument which is more traded with Bitcoin than any other! BTC rises or falls based purely on sentiment and mechanics of what’s happening in value instruments outside blockchain as a whole, particularly the $USD and its keepers.
So to anticipate what will happen to the Dollar, examine the US economy, examine in particular the mood of the US Government and the FED and their plans. Examine the impact of US International Trade and Foreign policy.
As the USD$ weakens, the value of Bitcoin in USD will strengthen and vice versa. DYOR. Keep watching. Forget about any charts about Bitcoin people display in online platform posts. This is only about the fortunes of the dollar and nothing else.
This is the key dynamic that drives speculative behaviour.
Watch the US Economy and other things that impact on the dollar and you will find your answer!
I’m more interested in blockchains whose coins have much smaller market caps, and have different utility going on in them, which makes their ‘GDP’. These are impervious to speculators because liquidity at any time is limited and its very difficult to buy or sell a holding substantial enough to make speculation worthwhile.
The increments over which coin value in USD rises or falls are much smaller than a speculative holding. But they are fine for the needs of those active in things that generate the blockchain’s ‘GDP’… which is well… sort of the idea!
So does that mean it is impossible to speculate on them? No. How is that possible? Maybe I will reveal it in another article! .. or maybe not!
9ja Cosmos is here…
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He was sold by his brethren, and later found himself in a jail with servants of Pharaoh. They dreamt and he interpreted their dreams, a pro bono service which he used to showcase his abilities. But he did one critical thing: he told one of the servants to remember him when he finally gets out of jail.
Then Pharaoh had a dream and was troubled. None of his astrologers and thinkers could help. And one of the jailed servants, now free, told Pharaoh: “Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there…he interpreted our dreams for us… And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened”. Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he helped his master.
(1) Joseph did a pro bono (not paid) and showcased his skills. And he added value.
(2) Joseph was very clear and told the servant to remember him. That request was clear and definite: “But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.”
This is the deal: until people could recommend you in your absence, the promotion may not come. Joseph was recommended before the king while he was still in jail because he did a great job, and he also spoke for the person to put good words for him.
How many times have you asked your colleagues to put “some nice words” when necessary for you, besides them just thanking you for a job well done? In my family here, when we wake up, we ask the Lord “as you send your angels on assignments today to bless men and women, remember us. Our hands are raised up unto heavens, for your blessings and they cannot miss us. Find us in the day and in the night for your recommendations.”
As we sing in the Scripture Union, the next praise will be better because more songs will be discovered; may His Grace be in abundance. Happy Sunday.
Comment 1: There’s a place for giving out value without necessarily expecting anything in return.
My Response:When you do that consistently, you are making it harder for others to get that value. But if you encourage the recipients of that value to tell others where possible, you can share more value. See it from the angle that you want to help more even if that adds no value to you. Most times we wonder why Foundations built to spend money advertise what they do: they want to reach more people with value.
A good person can add value to others without expecting anything in return. Yet, there is nothing wrong if more people can also be helped. That differs from how I see law practice in Nigeria and the US. A lawyer can advertise his services on TV, radio, billboards in America with clients giving testimonials. In Nigeria, that is not allowed. The problem is that in Nigeria, discovering great lawyers becomes difficult. Even if the Nigeria lawyer is rich and does not care, that system hurts many who would have received value.
“There’s a place for giving out value without necessarily expecting anything in return. “ Yes, but think beyond the giver to others who are denied value.
Comment 2: Thank you for sharing the story of Joseph and the valuable lessons we can learn from it. Joseph’s pro bono service and clear request for the servant to remember him were critical factors in his eventual promotion. It is indeed essential to showcase our skills and ask our colleagues for recommendations when necessary. Additionally, your family’s practice of raising hands to heaven for blessings is a beautiful way to start the day. Happy Sunday to you too!
Comment 3: We all have same opportunities like Joseph to offer a voluntary service, request for a referral and to be gracefully skilled enough to meet & surpass the expectations of the king.
Comment 4: About 8 years ago, I interviewed with a great Company. I strongly felt that my knowledge and skills were a good match for the advertised opportunity. I went through 3 sets of management interviews. The opportunity was given to someone else. I used the interview process as a teachable moment. I knew that I needed to communicate better and be more likeable. Less academic and more of a leader.
During the interview process, I “connected” with one of the people who had interviewed me. Later on, we linked up on LinkedIn. I asked him to remember me in case any other opportunity cropped up in our field.
In 2018, he joined an even greater Organization. An opportunity cropped up for a Senior Manager. He was a Director. He remembered me.
We have been working together for almost 5 years. Great team leader. One of the best experiences of my career. I have done the same along the way. Mentioning and recommending deserving hard working people along the way.
The cryptocurrency market comes in waves, and the biggest winners are often those who are early enough to spot the opportunities presented. Despite the rough ending to 2022, the new year started, and we are seeing decent trading volume within certain price ranges. This shows that users are actively trading assets, and any new inflow of money will be enough to send us into another bull market. Knowing that it would be smart for anyone in cryptocurrency to position themselves by owning crypto assets that are primed to grow with the market.
Big Eyes Coin(BIG) and some other crypto assets mentioned in this article will make for great picks as crypto enthusiasts make their way to profit. Let’s look deeper at these cryptocurrencies:
Ethereum(ETH) Remains a Tog Crypto Asset
Ethereum(ETH) is the second-largest crypto asset in the market, and while the coin takes a huge share of the market, it is not overvalued for some decent gains as the market pushes for growth. Ethereum is about 65% down from its all-time high, so if you’re betting on its chances of returning to that price range which is very likely, that’s some decent 4x on your purchase. Also, being large means holding is safer even when the market shows high volatility. Ethereum holds a stake in the future of the landscape and is guaranteed to grow as we see growth in the overall blockchain landscape. Also, for the second-largest asset in the crypto market, it powers the most valuable network in the landscape with thousands of values built within.
Cardano(ADA) Sees Massive Growth on the DeFi Network
Cardano(ADA) is a third-generation blockchain, and for a cryptocurrency that is regarded to be a bit higher than Ethereum, it was not as impressive until recently. Cardano(ADA) has been on a roll of updates and developments in the past few years, bringing the network up to competitive status with other layer-1 solution networks. Its recent upgrades have not translated to value growth for the network’s token, but it’s something to bet on as it’s a usual market pattern. Cardano is a highly efficient network known for its impressive scalability capabilities, earning the network its status as a top Ethereum competitor. Cardano also recently launched a stablecoin project on its network, and that’s not something to ignore, seeing as it will enable the growth of DeFi on the network.
Chainlink(LINK) Bridging the Network Gap
Chainlink(LINK) is a popular decentralized oracle network that feeds off-chain data to on-chain smart contracts. This is a desirable solution because as smart contracts continue to evolve and we begin to create solutions on blockchain, we’d need a medium that can translate real-life data to blockchain networks in a way that the network understands. Smart contracts are self-executing codes that activate when the preset condition for the contract is met. For example, some smart contracts could need real-time prices in the stock market, and seeing that it’s information that’s off-chain, Chainlink(LINK) serves as the mediator for such data. Also, with the recent collaboration with Binance’s new choice of stablecoin, TrueUSD(TUSD), the network has exciting developments.
Big Eyes Coin(BIG) Having an Amazing Presale
Big Eyes Coin(BIG) is a new Ethereum-based cat-themed memecoin. For all its worth, the hype it has built in the market is unprecedented, from raising $1 million in the first week of presale to having raised over $30 million at the time of writing. The new memecoin project has demonstrated the most desirable trait in memecoin projects and has all the traction it can get. Big Eyes wants to create a utility to help engage the community and build wealth. A huge focus is on DeFi because it has become reputable as a wealth creator in several communities. NFTs, gaming, and the metaverse help to keep the community fun alive and will find extra purpose as access tickets to community events and more content. Join the Big Eyes Coin(BIG) presale now, and don’t miss out on huge profits.
