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“The European Union agreed Sunday to … spend hundreds of millions of euros on buying weapons for Ukraine … EU officials said.” Associated Press reports. They have started the African playbook in Ukraine instead of addressing the root cause of this problem. Before you know it, some smart men will model how much profit & loss statements will improve if the war continues for an extra hour. And just like that, the evil party continues. The war is seen from balance sheets and how much dead weapons to be sold.
The European Union agreed Sunday to close its airspace to Russian airlines, spend hundreds of millions of euros on buying weapons for Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in its latest response to Russia’s invasion, EU officials said.
That and Germany’s announcement earlier in the day that it would almost triple its defense budget this year underscored how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was rewriting Europe’s post-World War II security and defense policy in ways that were unthinkable only a few weeks ago.
In what he described as “a defining moment for European history,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers had greenlighted the unprecedented support for Ukraine and that those actions would take effect within hours.
To the President of Ukraine, the EU may not be helping you because shipping arms to you, to convert ordinary citizens into soldiers will simply facilitate more destruction of your land.
It takes Russia capturing a dozen non-Ukranians to think that everyone is against them. And if that happens, no one can predict where this will end.
No war has ever been ended by bullets; ONLY negotiations do. So, there needs to be more talks but sending arms will escalate this madness.
Why? If the EU supplies arms to Ukraine, and China ships to Russia, this can become a new normal! Even experts agree that Russia has complete supremacy around Black Sea. So, this game can change rapidly.
The move would only be symbolic, said Mustafa Aydin, president of the International Relations Council of Turkey.
“Russia has enough firepower in the Black Sea that it doesn’t make sense for NATO countries to [enter],” he said. “Russia has complete supremacy on the water.”
But if the war drags on, Moscow may feel the heat, since Russia had already completed its naval buildup in the Black Sea by shifting units from the Baltic Sea ahead of the start of hostilities, said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.
Earlier in February, six Russian warships and a submarine transited the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to the Black Sea for what Moscow called naval drills near Ukrainian waters.
“They [Russia] probably have enough resources to sustain their naval power in the Black Sea for about two to three months,” he said. “But if conflict drags on, it’ll be a different story.”
If you are a resident or citizen of Nigeria but yet to realize that blackout has overtime been synonymous with the country, probably you have been outside minded.
There’s no day passed, you wouldn’t find a certain group in a given arena deeply discussing the excruciating effects of epileptic power supply endlessly faced by the teeming Nigerians in all corners of the country.
The acclaimed giant of Africa has thus far, to assert the least, suffered an untold hardship in the hands of electricity, yet no one can currently foresee when the affected populace would start singing a new song as regards the public utility in question.
In spite of the countless remedies proffered so far by various tech and policy analysts like myself, we are still beclouded by retrogressive mentality.
It sounds not unlike a paradox, but it’s real, that a country that has continually generated electricity for some of her neighbouring ones cannot presently boast of uninterruptible power supply. This is the sole reason many concerned individuals cum entities are sensing something fishy regarding the ordeal.
The unfortunate situation being discussed can’t be aptly and wholly x-rayed without mentioning some key stakeholders that are involved in the day-to-day management and sustenance of the limited resources.
There are three fundamental segments of electricity supply, which include generation, transmission and distribution. We have earlier on this platform scrutinized extensively the aforementioned segments. It’s noteworthy that ‘billing’ as inscribed on this topic, is not unrelated to the distribution section.
The above background signifies that only Distribution Companies (DisCos) in Nigeria are statutory charged with the responsibility to provide as well as issue electric bills to the electricity consumers within their respective jurisdictions.
It’s equally worth noting that the billing system could acceptably be of two major forms namely, the prepaid billing and the postpaid billing. A prepaid item or service is paid for in advance, whilst a postpaid one is paid after the item/service has been purchased or rendered, as might be the case.
In Nigeria, over the years till date, electricity consumers have been used to the postpaid billing system whereby the bills of the services rendered or energy consumed are issued to them at the end of every month via the aid of the electric meter installed in each of their households, or business premises, by the concerned authority.
Through this methodology, the stipulated bill of the exact utility consumed is being provided for the consumer by the relevant distribution firm. It’s needless to enthuse that by the aid of the electronic device (meter) mentioned above, the apt bill would be worked out at the end of each month.
This has been the case even prior to the emergence of the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) that was formerly in charge of electricity distribution within the shores of Nigeria. The pattern was rightly inherited by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) till it was sent packing by the Federal Government (FG) under the watch of the immediate past administration led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to pave the way for the private investors.
The practice continued unabated not until lately when the FG instructed the DisCos, whose services are currently ‘enjoyed’ in the distribution section, to provide and issue prepaid meters to the electricity consumers across the federation towards implementing the ‘Pay as you go’ policy presently witnessed in the telecommunication sector.
This recent directive has apparently fallen on deaf ears as it could be fully observed that only a few entities, not even individuals, could at the moment boast of the prepaid meters. Taking note of this derailment, a worried mind domiciled in the country may then want to know what the way forward entails.
It’s imperative to acknowledge that the prepaid pattern of billing enables a consumer to pay for only the amount/quantity of electricity he intends to use within a stipulated period by purchasing and consequently slotting a prepaid card into the installed prepaid meter. This method, therefore, is widely adjudged to be very accurate, concise and devoid of any form of imposition or pranks.
Aside from its merit to the consumers, the prepaid billing pattern is equally noted to be of high advantage to the DisCos as it’s meant to be labour effective. The measure would drastically reduce the degree of stress currently experienced by their employees as it’s foreseen that they wouldn’t longer need to go from house to house towards penalizing defaulters as regards bills’ payment.
Survey rightly indicates that over 97% of Nigerians are still facing the postpaid pattern of billing, perhaps owing to the inability of the DisCos to do the needful or pay heed to the directive of the government.
It’s appalling to realize that these consumers aren’t only faced with postpaid electric bills but estimated ones, whereby the DisCos do the billing without the aid of any meter. So, as the citizens decry the high level of blackout being experienced in the country, the random method of billing adds more salt to the injury already incurred.
This unspeakable condition could be what occasioned the Bill to Criminalize Estimated Electric Bills recently passed by the Green Chamber of the National Assembly (NASS). The document, which is targeted to amend the Electric Power Reform Act, is meant to prohibit and criminalize the ongoing estimated billing of consumers.
The bill, which had graciously scaled through third reading at the Lower Chamber, is in protest against the ‘crazy bills’ invariably issued by DisCos to their teeming subscribers and will hopefully put to an outright end any kind of estimated billing system when eventually passed into law.
The House Committee in charge of energy consumption reported on the bill, following a public hearing held on it precisely on June 5, 2018. The report was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers present at the plenary via voice votes, hence the document was approved overwhelmingly.
The bill, which will ensure that prepaid meters are installed in all houses – and what have you – upon the request of the consumers, has reportedly been transmitted to the Upper Chamber (Senate) for concurrence. If the Red Chamber passes the bill, it would be subsequently transmitted to the Presidency for assent as required by the Constitution.
Unfortunately, it is quite disheartening that till date, since after 2018 it was passed by the Lower Chamber, the Senate (Higher Chamber) is yet to do the needful as expected by the wailing Nigerians who are apparently getting fade up.
We must take into cognizance that any regulation that allows estimation of bills when the actual consumption rate could easily be ascertained is against natural justice and equity, hence completely unacceptable and should not stand.
It’s imperative to comprehend that there’s reportedly nowhere across the global community where consumers of electricity, or any form of energy, are billed arbitrarily as it is the case in Nigeria. This is to say that the country is obviously operating in isolation in terms of electricity billing.
We must understand that in a postpaid billing system, estimated billing can only be employed in situations where the installed meter of the consumer cannot be accessed by the service provider, perhaps due to technical hitch or whatever.
But around Nigeria, the concerned authorities can barely provide the consumers with the required meters let alone installing them. This implies that DisCos have, however, deemed estimated billing to be normal and acceptable; a belief that is highly condemnable by any right thinking individual.
The operators of this untold – though not unusual tradition – being harboured in Nigeria, unequivocally deserve to be holistically prosecuted for a criminal act, thus the compelling need for the aforementioned bill to be hastily passed by the senators headlong.
As we keep our fingers crossed, it’s ideal to remind all relevant authorities that this lingering norm is anti-human, therefore shouldn’t be allowed to continue showcasing its inhuman muscles.
With the wave of innovation happening lately, Nigeria has observed lately a rapid emergence of Fintech start-ups and tech giants. Although the sector has experienced a massive boom, there are still some challenges that these start-ups are often faced with. Just recently playing its part to address challenges posed by start-ups and investors in Nigeria’s Fintech ecosystem, the Fintech Association of Nigeria (Fintech NGR) launched ‘The Start-Up Marketplace’.
This newly launched innovative platform was designed to provide Startups playing in the Fintech ecosystem with access to free and heavily discounted services in funding, legal, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data privacy, business development, and a variety of other areas to accelerate their growth. Despite Nigeria being one of the biggest and most predominant African Fintech hubs, and the country being home to two Fintech Unicorns, Opay and Interswitch. There seems to be no relenting for Fintech start-ups at the moment, as they continue to break new grounds.
This initiative launched by FintechNGR has indeed encouraged start-ups not to rest on their oars. The Fintech ecosystem is one sector in the country that is doing exceptionally well and putting the country’s name on a global stage in a positive light. The fact that FintechNGR is not carried away with the remarkable achievements of some Fintech companies by still going ahead to address its challenges is indeed laudable. They are hell-bent on blocking any loophole that will pose a challenge to Start-Ups in the country.
Citing the whooping $4.65bn in disclosed funding received by African start-ups, as shown from statistics, with over $1.37bn of that amount coming to Nigeria and Fintechs in the country taking up a huge 73%. The president of Fintech NGR Mr. Ade Bajomo has opined that there are indeed many opportunities to leverage and achieve unparalleled transformation in the Fintech landscape”. To FintechNGR, they strongly believe that Nigeria has only scratched the surface of the Fintech ecosystem, as there is still more to be achieved.
In a recent meeting held by the Fintech Association of Nigeria, which was themed Fintech outlook 2022. In a bid to ensure that Fintech start-ups leapfrog and maximize impact this year and beyond. They had to Pinpoint some challenges that have often affected the Fintech ecosystem;
They also highlighted some major drivers for the growth in the Fintech space and beyond, some of which include; Open Banking, Contactless Payments, data aggregation, and embedded finance.
Once challenges posed by Startups are properly addressed, one can only imagine the extraordinary remarkable achievements to come out from the Fintech space in Nigeria. It can only get better. The role of the fintech Association of Nigeria in the Fintech ecosystem deserves due credit, as they have accelerated the growth of most Fintech companies in the country. They have actively been at the forefront, connecting stakeholders, accelerating Fintech growth and impact, also promoting and advocating for a conducive environment for Fintech companies to thrive and the adoption of emerging technologies.
Let me congratulate Abdulaziz Kabir and his team as they begin operations in Lagos. From his LinkedIn post: “It’s official; we are in Lagos. When your customers call, you answer without hesitation. This picture is about Farm365 first order in Lagos made by one of the largest restaurants with the highest number of outlets across the country. We are glad to serve, and it continues that way.”
Our Fund is very happy to have supported this business from Kano, to Abuja, to Lagos. Next destination: Enugu, as the digitization of farm produce continues in Nigeria. Well done Bello Isyaku, Muhammad Zubairu Ahmad, Fareed Muhammad, Abdallah and Najib Yalli.
They’re opening their pre-seed; reach out to Kabir if interested.