Good People, I just accepted the invitation of Finance and Business 2030 (FinBiz2030) to keynote this year’s event. Launched in London, FinBiz2030 is a joint initiative of One Young World and Chartered Accountants Worldwide. Nigeria’s high priest on keeping good balance sheets and P&Ls, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), is the host. Join us on Saturday, 12 June 2021 for a conversation on business sustainability, resilience and innovation. Nations rise when pioneering innovators emerge!
That Buhari’s Chatham Speech
After this speech, the US policy changed. The UK policy changed. EU sang! Everyone wanted Mr. Buhari because with him, the world will not “worry about Nigeria”. In that season, I left circuits and systems to hear Prof Osinbajo (in Washington DC) who also promised that independent power stations will light Nigeria. At 11.0am today, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), “there was a total system collapse of the grid”. What is happening to Nigeria?
Nigeria Opens A Major Playbook – Review of 1999 Constitution
The ant-hills are not built by the elephants but by the collective efforts of little ants. As the Nigerian Senate begins public hearing towards fixing the badly written military-era Nigerian Constitution, I call on everyone to pay attention. When they wrote the last one, no one added anything. In short, the minister of information who presented it to the nation was not allowed to see a copy of it! Yes, that was how bad it was – they never allowed him to see a copy of it.
Most of Nigeria’s problems today could be traced to that Constitution. The bravado of the old where Kaduna ruled as the industrial capital of northern Nigeria has been reshaped. In the east, the inventive sagacity of Enyimba city is badly broken. The brilliance of Ibadan muted. From north to south, east to west, and beyond, everyone is a victim. So now, there is an opportunity; Nigerians need to make inputs.
The biggest problem with the 1999 Constitution is that it is dumb with no awareness. When the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Yobe state had a literacy rate of 7.3% with Imo state at 96.43%, you would have expected changes in the funding of basic education, boosting underperforming states etc from UBE and other sources. But nothing like that: no local innovation because all powers are concentrated at Abuja.
So, to fix these issues, let us participate in this Constitutional review. The schedules are below (sure, they omitted Ekiti but we have it in our hearts).
The Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution cordially invites you to its Zonal Public Hearings as detailed below. pic.twitter.com/gYy7YZjP2I
— The Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) May 11, 2021
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s US Dollar Battle – And New $5,000 Intra-Deposit Limit
Nigeria is not healthy. And the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is applying panadol even when it knows that panadol has no chance of providing any cure. A few weeks ago, we got the news that commercial banks would only allow a maximum of $10,000 monthly (cash) deposit within Nigeria. Today, the latest is that the apex bank has adjusted that to $5,000.
Left and right, the apex bank is trying to wean Nigerians of US dollars. There are many consequences already, as most of the fintech trading foreign apps have been wounded, since their customers cannot fund dorm accounts for the transactions. A peer to peer is never efficient when you want to do fairly big deals.
We’ve Invested In Four Startups in Q2 2021 Already
Tekedia Capital has taken small positions in four startups already in Q2 2021. We like them and depending on the data we continue to gather, we will present them (alongside others) before our investors in the next investment round. Typically, we do not present any business we are not invested in, and typically we invest first, risking our capital and using that to have better insights on startups before we move to the big board.
They are in automotive plus*, financial API, credit with new basis and security systems. I will share about them after our members have invested in the next round, as I want them to get in, at good valuations. Members, feel free to reach out; we will be happy to share as you plan. Nonetheless, you will get a note on May 24 as scheduled.
Tekedia Capital offers a specialty investment vehicle (or investment syndicate) which makes it possible for citizens, groups and organizations to co-invest in innovative startups and young companies in Africa. To invest and help build the Next Africa, learn more here.