A new age has indeed started and Elon Musk is leading it. Yes, car-renting giant, Hertz, has ordered 100,000 units of Tesla vehicles, in a deal valued at $4.2 billion.  With that, Tesla has joined the $1 trillion market cap club. This is legendary. With this move, I expect many car companies to begin to close their fossil-fuel units and focus on electric vehicles. Why? Car companies watch car-renting entities which are major buyers, and now those firms are going EV, the memos have been delivered.

Hertz has ordered 100,000 Tesla cars in a $4.2 billion deal aimed at expanding its electric vehicle fleet, the company announced on Monday. The deal will run until the end of 2022, and includes new EV charging infrastructure across the company’s global operations.

It is the first major step the rental company is taking since it escaped bankruptcy orchestrated by the pandemic. Tesla shares rose more than 9% at the news, selling above $1,000 for the first time and pushing the company across the $1 trillion capitalization threshold. Also, Elon Musk fortune jumped by $28.5 billion to $281 billion.

This is good business because if you use Hertz now, all you need to focus is your rental cost with gasoline largely out. Sure, you may still have to pay a small fee for the charging but that would be marginal.

Dangote Refinery. Dangote Refinery…. It is looking like a very bad call. Yes, unborn tomorrow but died yesterday! I think the only option would be for Dangote to go and acquire the gasoline car unit of Ford or Toyota because they are going to part ways with those ‘pasts” in the next few years. That would be the only way to extend the usage of gasoline cars. If not, if these car companies move on, Nigeria and indeed Africa do not buy a lot of new cars for them to waste efforts making fossil-powered cars for us.

That brings me to the future of Nigeria’s economy and the optimism from the Central Bank of Nigeria. If Elon Musk and other innovators are disintermediating Dangote Refinery, potentially making this a very bad business, the saving moment this refinery will bring to Nigeria and Naira will not be sustained. Why? Not many will be using hydrocarbons to move around; electrons win the future.

Of course, Dangote Refinery is not just about making gasoline. Yet, you will agree that the bulk of the revenue will come from gasoline. Nigeria must not just wait for this refinery as it may have to save itself first before it can save Nigeria and its Naira!

Hertz Orders 100,000 Tesla Vehicles in a $4.2 Billion Deal, Shooting Tesla to $1 Trillion Valuation

Hertz has ordered 100,000 Tesla cars in a $4.2 billion deal aimed at expanding its electric vehicle fleet, the company announced on Monday. The deal will run until the end of 2022, and includes new EV charging infrastructure across the company’s global operations.

It is the first major step the rental company is taking since it escaped bankruptcy orchestrated by the pandemic. Tesla shares rose more than 9% at the news, selling above $1,000 for the first time and pushing the company across the $1 trillion capitalization threshold. Also, Elon Musk fortune jumped by $28.5 billion to $281 billion.

Hertz also said it’s teaming up with seven-time Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady to showcase how it is making EV rentals fast, seamless and more accessible, as the company accelerates its commitment to lead the future of mobility and travel.

“Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest,” said Hertz interim CEO Mark Fields. “The new Hertz is going to lead the way as a mobility company, starting with the largest EV rental fleet in North America and a commitment to grow our EV fleet and provide the best rental and recharging experience for leisure and business customers around the world.”

Bloomberg which broke the news, reported that Hertz is planning to electrify nearly all of its roughly 500,000 cars and vans, with Tesla’s order making up a sum of the plan.

Hertz made a comeback from bankruptcy through a $5.9 billion investment led by Knighthead Capital Management and Central Management. The press statement issued by the company said the move is driven by growing love for electric vehicles.

It noted that 40 percent of U.S. consumers say they are likely to consider an electric vehicle the next time they are in the market for a new vehicle, according to Pew. Global EV sales skyrocketed 200 percent in the last year and will likely continue to grow with commitments from global automakers to increase EV sales.

Environmental concern has been a major drive for the shift to EVs. With the current US administration pro green, electric vehicles have gained more popularity recently, which is also boosted by high efficiency, positive user experience, battery breakthroughs and rapidly expanding charging networks.

Hertz said customers will be able to rent a Tesla Model 3 at Hertz airport and neighborhood locations in U.S. major markets and select cities in Europe, beginning in early November and expanding through year end.

To kick the EV shift off, Hertz also is installing thousands of chargers throughout its location network. Customers who rent a Tesla Model 3 will have access to 3,000 Tesla supercharging stations throughout the U.S. and Europe. It will also offer a premium and differentiated rental experience for the Tesla EVs. This includes digitized guidance to educate customers about the electric vehicle to get them on their way quickly, and coming soon, an expedited EV rental booking process through the Hertz mobile app, the company said.

The Tesla order means EVs will make up more than 20 percent of Hertz global fleet and is expected to be supported by a combination of Level 2 and DC fast charging in approximately 65 markets by the end of 2022 and more than 100 markets by the end of 2023, according to the company’s press statement. However, Hertz said these ambitions could be affected by factors outside of Hertz’s control, such as semiconductor chip shortages or other constraints.

Nigeria’s crypto market has scored another victory. A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday vacated an interim order which directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to freeze accounts of two firms in two banks that were linked to cryptocurrency trading.

The financial regulator had in August ordered banks to freeze the accounts of some companies facilitating cryptocurrency trading and brokerage services for Nigerians to invest in foreign stocks. The companies; Bamboo, Risevest, Trove and Chaka have been fighting legally to undo the order.

The CBN had claimed that the activities of these companies contravened its directive and were partly responsible for the free-fall of the naira against the US dollar.

Per Sahara, Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo, in his ruling said that the CBN could not rely on a mere circular to freeze the bank accounts of a company using its accounts to trade in cryptocurrency.

According to the Judge, the CBN failed to provide any law showing that it is illegal to deal in cryptocurrency in Nigeria, adding that the CBN circular, referenced as BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/014/001 of February 5, 2021, is not a law.

Justice Taiwo therefore ordered the banks – Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank – to immediately grant the firm unfettered access to the accounts.

The order was made by the court while ruling on a Motion on Notice brought by Rise Vest Technologies, praying the court to discharge an interim freezing order granted by the court on August 17, 2021, in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/822/2021

CBN Governor (Plaintiff/Respondent) V RiseVest Technologies Ltd (1st Defendant/Applicant) & five others, are the parties to the suit.

Submission had earlier been made by RiseVest Technologies’ counsel, Mr Seni Adio (SAN), that CBN did not present any evidence that the defendant engaged in any unlawful conduct, adding that the CBN did not meet its burden of proof in support of its allegations.

But CBN’s counsel, Mr Mathew Onoja argued that the ex parte orders the court sought to be set aside were proper, lawful and valid.

He contended that the orders of August 17, 2021 in the suit were in accordance with the provisions of Section 97 (1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2021, which empowered the Plaintiff/Respondent to invoke the jurisdiction of the Court via an ex parte application.

Justice Taiwo, in his ruling, upheld Adio’s argument, while he observed, among others, that although the CBN had power to investigate any infraction, the infraction must relate to BOFIA or any other enactment administered by the regulator.

“I have perused the counter affidavit of the Respondent and I see that the reason for freezing the account of the applicant is based on the alleged infraction of the circular of the CBN.

“The law is trite that any conduct that must be sanctioned must be expressly stated in a written law.

“Being unknown to law, circulars cannot create an offence because it was not shown to have been issued under an order, Act, Law or Statute.

“The learned counsel for the respondent has also raised the issue of public policy in his submissions against the application.

“Can this court decide this application based on public policy as being urged on it by the learned counsel for the respondent? I think not.

“I hereby discharge the interim freezing order of this court made on August 17, 2021, made against the defendant/ applicant,” Justice Taiwo held.

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Let me congratulate the Central Bank of Nigeria, Governor Godwin Emefiele, President Buhari, Vice President Osinbajo, and all the team who worked hard to make the e-Naira a reality. This congratulation is not because this is rocket science. Rather, I am thanking them for demonstrating that Nigeria has the capacity to decide on something, and get that thing done. What does that tell us? We can do and execute anything we commit to do. Can we do that on electricity? Clean water? Education?

People, things used to work in Nigeria. It took Governor Mbakwe of Imo State just 3 months to put those men who used to come in the night, to move human waste, out of work in Owerri. Yes, in 3 months, he replaced the mess with WC. Governor Jakande was there in Lagos expanding future opportunities via his novel basic education.  Kano worked. Kaduna worked. And Nigeria was rising.

E-Naira just made it look like the old time: yes, the government can get things done on time. For that I congratulate the team. But remember, e-Naira will not save Naira and that means we need to get to work by making sure we focus on what really matters: factories of the old and new! And just like we set a tough deadline for e-Naira, we can do the same on power, water, and those factories. Can you copy me, now?

God bless the nation.