This is the state of Nigeria today and one that calls for the fierce urgency of now. Across core metrics, we are becoming poorer. It is very important to note that the declining revenue is not because the Nigerian population is shrinking. Rather, what is happening is that most productive sectors are leaving the tarmac even as we are scaling bureaucracy. The fact is this: population is rising but economic opportunities are massively shrinking.
People make the case that we cannot compare today with the past since the exchange rate with US dollars is a moving target. Yet, even if you are to use today’s exchange rate for 2011, Nigeria would have still made close to double the revenue.
The trillions of Naira which gave $55.5 billion at N165/$ , if you use N380/$, would deliver at least twice of 2020 revenue. You may blame Covid-19 for 2020 paralysis, but check 2019, the difference is very marginal.
So, there is a problem – and I want the government to understand that point. We are using debt to cover the revenue shortfall without addressing the root cause which is evident: productivity has dropped. Mr. President, look at data; what we are doing today is not working! We need a new strategy, urgently!
All data on my table is from a speech given by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , Sanusi Lamido
“If you go through the CBN statistical bulletin, in 2011, the total federally collected revenue from all sectors was 18.9 trillion Naira at 165 Naira to the dollar. This will have placed federally collected revenue in 2011 at $55.5 billion. Meanwhile, debt at that time was 5 billion so we had an external debt to external revenue of about 8 per cent in 2011.
“By 2020 we have an external debt of about $33.4 billion but all revenues in 2020 were about $8.3 billion. So it has moved from 8 per cent to 400 per cent between 2011 and 2020.”
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the body charged with overseeing Facebook’s privacy compliance in the European Union, said it had opened an investigation into the social media giant on Wednesday. If Facebook is found to have violated the EU’s data rules, it could face a monetary fine of up to 4% of its $86 billion global revenue, Business Insider reported.
Facebook was caught in yet another data scandal earlier this month, when the personal data of over 533 million Facebook users were dumped online for free in a hacking forum. The data included phone numbers that users didn’t make public on their Facebook profiles, which were scraped by cybercriminals in violation of Facebook’s terms of service.
In a statement, the DPC said it believes EU data rules “may have been, and/or are being, infringed in relation to Facebook Users’ personal data.”
“The DPC, having considered the information provided by Facebook Ireland regarding this matter to date, is of the opinion that one or more provisions of the GDPR and/or the Data Protection Act 2018 may have been, and/or are being, infringed in relation to Facebook Users’ personal data,” the regulator said.
Facebook’s earlier attitude toward the data leak was insouciant. The social media platform had downplayed it, saying the data was scrapped due to a vulnerability that the company patched in 2019, and refused to address the matter publicly.
Facebook CEO
Facebook spokesman said last week the social media company does not plan to notify the hundreds of millions affected by the data breach because it was not confident it had full visibility on which users would need to be notified. Facebook has said it plugged the hole after identifying the problem at the time.
But in response to DPC’s investigation, Facebook spokesman told Insider that it is cooperating with the inquiry, which it said is about how a vulnerability in a Facebook tool made it possible to gather information about a Facebook user by entering their phone number.
“We are cooperating fully with the IDPC in its enquiry, which relates to features that make it easier for people to find and connect with friends on our services. These features are common to many apps and we look forward to explaining them and the protections we have put in place,” the spokesperson said.
Facebook has been enmeshed in a series of private data breach controversies since the notorious Cambridge Analytica, and has been subject of scrutiny in the United States and Europe, with antitrust and the use of private data being the primary concerns.
Following increasing cases of misuse of private information, the EU Commission and other watchdogs have upped their oversight function on how social media platforms manage people’s data.
Late last year, European Union starteda new set of laws that will guide the use of data in Europe.
The DPC investigation will probe whether there is legal obligation for Facebook to notify users and European regulators when it found and fixed the vulnerability.
“The Commission considers it appropriate to determine whether Facebook Ireland has complied with its obligations, as data controller, in connection with the processing of personal data of its users by means of the Facebook Search, Facebook Messenger Contact Importer and Instagram Contact Importer features of its service, or whether any provision(s) of the GDPR and/or the Data Protection Act 2018 have been, and/or are being, infringed by Facebook in this respect,”it said in a statement.
The EU’s data privacy rules, which are regulated by General Data Protection Regulation known as GDPR, require such disclosures — but the GDPR only applies to data processed after 2018, and it’s not yet clear if the leaked Facebook data was scraped before the GDPR went into effect, Insider noted in the report.
The European Commission. Justice commissioner Didier Reynders said on Monday that he had discussed with the DPC head Helen Dixon regarding the Facebook leak and will follow the case closely and is committed to supporting authorities, urging Facebook to cooperate with the investigation.
Tekedia Capital announces investments in Pass and TradeGrid. Nigeria’s Pass is an emergent digital bank with an operating layer of one-click checkout which reduces abandoned carts for online merchants. It has partnerships with Gokada, MaxNG and other digital platforms including some major multinational FMCGs.
TradeGrid is a California-based company but wholly operating in Africa. It is an online marketplace focusing on connecting all parties in the downstream sector of the global new energy, and oil & gas industry. Other services offered by the firm include finance, logistics, amongst others.
At Tekedia Capital, our goal is to deploy $millions of dollars in category-king companies that would build the Next Africa. We do that by pooling resources through a syndicate where members invest together. Learn about Tekedia Capital and join us here – https://school.tekedia.com/tekedia-capital/
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 and around the world. Capital from these investing entities are pooled together and then invested in a specific company or companies.
We invest in mainly technology-anchored companies and are sector-agnostic which means those companies could be operating in any industry, including finance, real estate, education, health, logistics, etc. The opportunity is open for individuals in Africa, Africans in diasporas, global citizens in any place in the world, investment groups and organizations around the world.
Coinbase, the largest American cryptocurrency exchange platform went public through direct listing on Wednesday with a record $100 billion valuation.
The listing, which makes Coinbase the most valuable exchange in the world, has come with a wave of noise, and for a company that is little over 10 years old, it is expected. It has also propelled gains for other cryptocurrencies.
Leading cryptocurrency, bitcoin rose above $64,000, a record new high during the week. Dogecoin, which originally started as an internet parody more than seven years ago, has surged more than 85% in the last 24 hours and is trading at $0.13, putting Its market cap at over $17 billion.
The cryptocurrency market has continued on its frenzy trajectory, buoyed by growing institutional acceptance and recent investors’ welcoming attitude.
Bitcoin hit $1tr in market capitalization in just 12 years, faster than the biggest names in Silicon Valley and Wall Street. It took Microsoft about 44 years to hit a valuation of $1 trillion. Apple took 42 years, while Amazon took 24 years and Google took 21 years.
Coinbase, whose users primarily deal in bitcoin and ethereum,reported last week that its revenue soared 847% in the first quarter to $1.8 billion, and that it now has 56 million verified users. Analysts said its $100 billion listing marks a watershed moment for cryptocurrency.
How Bitcoin is minted
“Coinbase is the watershed moment in terms of legitimizing some valuations you see in crypto, particularly around DEXs who have a tiny fraction of the amount of employees and opex [operating expenses] that a Coinbase or ICE has. Crypto is an asset with incredible volume and diversity, which is poised to grow even more. Coinbase showcases how profitable exposure to this market can be. Also, I expect a wave of M&A and VC activity on the heels of this as private investors will be asking their fund managers for exposure to this space,” said Ben Lilly, co-founder of Jarvis Labs.
The exchange platform’s shares opened at $381 today, a change of around 52% percent. It has moved above $400 as of the time of filing this report, putting its value above $105 billion, larger than the NYSE and Nasdaq combined.
With its 56 million verified users, the company hosts 6.1 million monthly transacting users, according to its first quarter financial statement, released this week. With its huge user-base, Coinbase estimates that it scored between $730 million and $800 million in profit on revenues of $1.8 billion during the first quarter of the year.
With the gain recorded across the cryptocurrency market during the week of Coinbase listing, analysts believe the craze is just getting started.
“Digital currency and the digital dollar, those are all things that the government should actively be pursuing. The ship has sailed in crypto. Crypto is a phenomenon, whether or not anybody wants it to be or not. It’s here to stay,” Coinbase Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi said in an interview with Protocol on Wednesday morning.
Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, said he believes the Coinbase “IPO” could boost Bitcoin to $70,000.
“Coinbase IPO May Boost Bitcoin to $70,000, Like Tesla to $60,000 — The lowest 30-day volatility since October indicates Bitcoin is ripe to exit its cage and bull-market continuation is favored for the next $10,000 move. Similar to Tesla’s equity-wealth allocation to Bitcoin..”
While the fear of volatility remains, Coinbase’s historic listing has made a statement: cryptocurrency can no longer be taken for granted.
Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, hasevolved to become the largest publicly traded exchange in the world. It began life in Nasdaq today and closed the day at $85.8 billion. With that, it has eclipsed the previous king, Hong Kong Exchange, which has a valuation of about $74 billion. Yes, Coinbase is more valuable than Nasdaq which houses it!
Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, made history by going public on Wednesday, closing at $328.28 and giving it an initial market cap of $85.8 billion. The Nasdaq had set a reference price of $250 a share. Coinbase is the first major digital currency exchange to go public in the U.S., and the company recently estimated that it oversees about 11% of the total cryptocurrency market. The move also comes a day after Bitcoin reached a fresh high above $63,000, having more than doubled its price this year.
So, a public market has now validated everything: Coinbase which helps people buy and trade cryptocurrency has real value. It is no more the secret Wall Street traders, but real people who are pumping money to make this clear call. Yes, there is nothing else to expect as real people have voted with their money.
And if Nigeria is reading, this game is ending very soon. You need to take a better position by regulating cryptocurrency, and allow your young people to participate. Follow the clear instruction of the Vice President of the nation where henoted: “There is a role for regulation here. And it is in the place of both our monetary authorities and SEC to provide a robust regulatory regime that addresses these serious concerns without killing the goose that might lay the golden eggs. So it should be thoughtful and knowledge-based regulation not prohibition.”
We need to stop our own-goals – and listen to Prof Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of Law.
