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Nigeria’s Minister of Comm & Digital Economy Condemns Government’s Move to Impose 5% Tax on Telecom Services

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

The minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Pantami, has condemned the plan by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to introduce a new 5% tax on telecom services.

Pantami made his belief known on Monday while speaking at the ongoing maiden edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE) organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission in Lagos.

The minister argued that the ICT sector is becoming heavily burden with taxes than other sectors, promising to challenge the move.

“We will definitely challenge the decision. There are about seven sectors of Nigeria’s economy contributing largely, and these sectors are less than two per cent of Nigeria’s economic sector. ICT contributes more than other sectors, and it should be encouraged, while those sectors contributing less to GDP should be monitored properly and ensure they do more. If we fail to do this, we will continue to increase and increase tax by the day,” Pantami said.

Last week, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced government’s plan to levy further excise duty on calls, data and SMS services. The decision has been largely decried. It is seen as an insensitive move that will compound the suffering of Nigerians.

But Ahmed defended the decision saying that the government really doesn’t have a choice but to explore other means to fill the revenue gap emanating from dwindling oil revenue.

“The issue of revenue is not something that needs to be shied away from. Our revenue can no longer take care of our needs as a country. Also, Nigeria is no longer making enough money in oil revenue; hence the attention is shifting to non-oil revenue,” she said.

In response, Pantami expressed concern that the decision, if it succeeds, will amount to further hardship as everyone depends on telecom services.

“You introduce excise duty maybe to discourage the consumption of certain products like alcohol, like tobacco and many pieces where you didn’t produce it.

“How can you do financial services in Nigeria without broadband? How can we communicate with ourselves? How can you, we, a hospital without Internet?” he asked.

Engr Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, said last week that the telecom industry won’t be able to absorb the impact of further taxes on behalf of subscribers.

“We currently pay a lot of taxes, running into 39 of them, so we can’t add more to our existing burden. We won’t be able to absolve this on behalf of subscribers. The five per cent excise duty will be paid by the subscribers. It will collected by the operators on all voice and data services including OTT and remitted to the Nigerians Customs”, he said.

The Nigerian government has failed to diversify the economy, making oil the main source of its revenue. With the oil market currently complicated for Nigeria due to lack of local refineries that is forcing the country to import refined petroleum products, thus making no profit as it pays subsidy to keep the products affordable, the government is shifting attention to the telecom sector that has served as the nation’s economy cash cow since 2020.

SEC Charges 11 People For Alleged $300 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

Wall Street watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has charged eleven people in an alleged $300 million cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, highlighting how authorities are increasing enforcement in digital asset markets.

The fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme, Forsage allegedly raised more than $300 million from retail investors in an illicit way, in countries across the globe, including the United States.

The scheme claimed to be a decentralized smart contract platform, where it allowed millions of retail investors to enter into transactions via smart contracts that operated on the Ethereum, Tron, and Binance blockchains.

SEC further alleges that the scheme which has been running for more than two years was set up and functioned like a standard pyramid scheme, in which investors earned profits by recruiting others into the operation.

It had a structure wherein it allegedly used assets from new investors to pay earlier ones. The acting chief of SEC’s crypto assets and the cyber unit, Mrs. Carolyn Welshans in a statement stated that fraudsters cannot circumvent the federal security laws by focusing their schemes on smart contracts and blockchains.

Forsage, through its support platform, declined to offer a method for contacting the company and did not issue any statement. SEC has however charged the organization’s four founders and a series of people with promoting the nine-figure scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also charged three U.S based promoters who endorsed Forsage on their social media platforms. Two defendants, both of whom did not admit or deny the allegations, agreed to settle the charges, subject to court approval.

According to the SEC, a few other individuals accused in the scheme, continued promoting the scheme and denied the allegations in several YouTube videos. A YouTube channel that claims to be the official one for Forsage has garnered around 170,000 views and has roughly 6,500 subscribers.

The YouTube channel comprises videos, most roughly a minute of people talking about how their lives have been improved by Forsage. This is not the first time that Forsage has been labeled as a fraudulent scheme. The scheme in September 2020, was subject to cease-and-desist orders from the Philippines SEC.

In March 2021, the platform also received the same order from the Montana commissioner of securities and insurance. There is no disputing the fact that the crypto ecosystem has been infiltrated by fraudulent Ponzi schemes operating as legit.

It is therefore imperative for individuals most especially investors to educate themselves properly about the crypto ecosystem to avoid falling for these Ponzi schemes and as well losing their investments. These schemes are otherwise known as pump-and-dump, an orchestrated fraud in the crypto ecosystem that involves misleading investors into purchasing artificially inflated tokens.

Once investors have purchased such Tokens at inflated prices, the people who own the biggest pile of tokens will then sell out resulting in an immediate crash in the token prices. Usually, these pump-and-dump schemes are usually accompanied by false promises around three broad categories, which are; guaranteed exorbitant returns, hype from influencers, and solving real-world use cases.

The Struggle of Naira Positions “Made in Nigeria”

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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1

Can the crash of Naira bring the mojo on “Made in Nigeria”? The experts at Euromonitor International, a London-based strategic market research firm, think so. From its data, many supermarkets, stores, etc are looking for ways to source things internally.

People, you do not even need to look further: this is the deal, pick a truck, go to Ovim Oriendu Market in Abia State, and any produce you want, you will get. Since our sister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,  became the head of all traders (lol) in World Trade Organization, Oriendu Market has modified itself to do global businesses. We now do business with all nations and can supply all supermarkets and stores in Nigeria.

See what the firm said; “This trend will also be supported by campaigns that seek to raise awareness and call for supermarkets to support products that are ‘Made in Nigeria’, as well as putting pressure on the government to reduce the reliance on imports for essential goods”.

With the high inflation rate ravaging the global economy, coupled with the devaluation of the Naira, a large percentage of people in Nigeria are now looking for alternatives in supermarkets and local stores. Despite the negative impact of the high inflation and the fall of the Naira, industry experts are looking at the positive side of supermarkets and stores switching to locally produced goods.

They disclosed that including and developing SMEs in the supply chain allows the nation to grow and diversify by providing various options and a continuous supply pipeline for products and services. A case study of South Africa, as local production, is one of the things that has enabled the country to thrive in retail which has boosted their economy.

Uwa bu ahia [the world is a market]. Let’s make things in Nigeria, Nigerians!

Supermarkets/ Stores Switch To Local Products As Naira Rout Worsens

Supermarkets/ Stores Switch To Local Products As Naira Rout Worsens

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

As the naira continues to fall against the dollar in the parallel market, it has no doubt put a strain on manufacturers who are faced with the difficulty of getting dollars from the official market to import their raw and packaging materials.

This has increased the prices of imported products and has led to the scarcity of goods in the country, which has made supermarkets and stores switch to locally made products.

According to a report by a supermarket, Euromonitor International, a London-based strategic market research firm, they disclosed that following the disruption of supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures, and Naira depreciation, more supermarkets are likely to source products locally.

See what the firm said; “This trend will also be supported by campaigns that seek to raise awareness and call for supermarkets to support products that are ‘Made in Nigeria’, as well as putting pressure on the government to reduce the reliance on imports for essential goods”.

With the high inflation rate ravaging the global economy, coupled with the devaluation of the Naira, a large percentage of people in Nigeria are now looking for alternatives in supermarkets and local stores. Despite the negative impact of the high inflation and the fall of the Naira, industry experts are looking at the positive side of supermarkets and stores switching to locally produced goods.

They disclosed that including and developing SMEs in the supply chain allows the nation to grow and diversify by providing various options and a continuous supply pipeline for products and services. A case study of South Africa, as local production, is one of the things that has enabled the country to thrive in retail which has boosted their economy.

Local procurement has been one of the key drivers of the Nation’s economic growth and job creation. The government of South Africa consistently encourages its citizens to prioritize locally made products over imports. Top supermarket stores like Hubmart, Sundry, and spar are already dealing in locally manufactured products.

Experts in Nigeria disclose that for some products there has been a 60 percent increase in prices in the last 12 months, while the price of products in the food category has increased by 27 percent. This significant increase has mounted pressure on supermarket/ store owners to not only stock goods that will sell but to make sure that they are getting the best possible prices for these products.

There have been concerns about the structural problems in Nigeria such as Inadequate power supply, insecurity issues, currency devaluation, and poor infrastructure, which has made foreign investors hesitant about entering the Nigerian market.

Reports have it that manufacturers in Nigeria are now beginning to source more inputs within the country, rather than going abroad in order to beat the FX scarcity. These uncertain times is indeed a period for the government of Nigeria to look inward by developing local manufacturing firms in the country.

Unless there is massive investment in local companies and also creating an enabling environment that will enable them to thrive, the development of modern retail formats will continue to operate below their potential. To further prevent the devaluation of the Naira, SMEs in Nigeria can resolve most of the country’s critical problems. SMEs have been described as the cornerstone of most economies.

The government of Nigeria should take a cue from that of South Africa by encouraging the citizens to buy locally made goods in order to boost the nation’s economy. Also, with the high level of unemployment in Nigeria, developing local industries as well as patronizing locally made products will reduce the high rate of unemployment in the country.

Apple Recorded Almost 11% Decline in Revenue Growth

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

As the global economic upheaval hits home, high-value companies are beginning to count their losses, even the most valuable company in the world.

On Thursday, Apple reported a profit decline of about 11% in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period of the previous year, although the company has continued to record growth.

The Cupertino giant reported revenue of $83 billion, a 2% increase from the same period in the past year. It is the highest revenue figure that Apple has posted during its fiscal third quarter, but it marked a significant slowdown in growth from the company’s 36% year-over-year revenue increase in the previous year.

The downturn has been largely spurred by covid-induced shutdowns in China and logistics constraints. The result was seen in 1% drop in sales in Greater China, which used to be among Apple’s most lucrative regions.

However, Apple made more sales and profits than expected by Wall Street. The company’s shares rose nearly 4% in after-hours training on Thursday following the results, per CNN.

CNN quoted Apple as saying that its installed base of active devices hit all-time highs in each product category during the quarter. For instance, quarterly sales from Apple’s services, a crucial element of the company’s strategy for future growth, grew 12% to $19.6 billion, slightly below the $19.7 billion analysts had expected.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri said on a conference call with analysts Thursday that the company now has more than 860 million paid subscriptions across its various services, an increase of 160 million since last year.

“Our June quarter results continued to demonstrate our ability to manage our business effectively despite the challenging operating environment,” Maestri said in a statement with the results.

Per CNN, Apple declined to share revenue guidance for the current quarter because of the economic uncertainty. However, it added that Maestri said Apple expects its year-over-year revenue growth to accelerate in the September quarter compared to the June quarter, assuming that the macroeconomic situation and Covid-related impacts on its business do not worsen. He added that supply constraints are also expected to be lower than they were in the June quarter.

Maestri also noted the company’s efforts to make it easier for customers to purchase its products, including expanding installment plan payment and trade-in programs around the world.

Outside the covid lockdowns in China, tech companies are increasingly getting caught in the effect of crossfire between Russia and Ukraine that has touched nearly every sector of the global economy, forcing companies to downsize or stop hiring.

But CEO Tim Cook said Apple itself plans to “continue to hire people and invest in certain areas” but would be “more deliberate” in doing so.

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