The Uber ruling in the UK where the Supreme Court noted that Uber drivers are indeed workers, not independent contractors, is a new opening for nations to arrest the challenge of workers’ casualization and gig economy. This should go beyond transportation to other sectors like banking, insurance and even technology where people are measured and expected to perform, but at the end, the safety net of livable wage is not there.
Uber will have to treat its U.K. drivers as workers, meaning it will have to pay them minimum wage and give them paid leave, following a Supreme Court ruling that also said drivers are working whenever they’re logged into the app, not just when they’re driving passengers. The ruling will likely have major implications for the gig economy in the U.K. Uber’s share price fell 3.6% on the news. (Fortune newsletter)
Why we want affordable pick and drop cabs, we need to have this obligation that abstraction of living wages, to make the 1% richer will never advance communities. Yes, I believe that we cannot be minting millionaires at the back of men and women who cannot pay rents, health insurance, etc, even when working more than 40 hours a week. That economic virus needs a vaccine and that means make companies pay them better!
The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court has reaffirmed earlier rulings that the Uber drivers who brought the case — which dates back to 2016 — are workers, not independent contractors.
“Drivers are in a position of subordination and dependency in relation to Uber such that they have little or no ability to improve their economic position through professional or entrepreneurial skill,” the court said in a statement. “In practice the only way in which they can increase their earnings is by working longer hours while constantly meeting Uber’s measures of performance.”
Uber, while acknowledging the decision, emphasized that it applies to the specific group of drivers who brought the case, many of whom are no longer driving through the app. (Techcrunch newsletter)
This ruling is a right move and Nigeria needs to pick it to ensure our industries are not built on excessive casual workers. Aggregators cannot have it all ways – build empires on the strength of others, from news to driving to everything.
This week, it began raining in Lagos. It was a special rain: the fintech company, Paystack, which was acquired for about $200 million by America’s Stripe, started paying its investors. A tweet told us, “By all accounts today was distribution day for all the investors in@Paystack, and their money is now in the bank. Huge returns to be had for many – big day for African startup ecosystem”. And an investor took the message home: “The angels who invested in the seed round of Paystack back in 2016 made ~1,440% ROI. That’s x14.4 their money in only 5 years. Paystack raised at various SAFE valuations between $5m and $10m.”
The angels who invested in the seed round of Paystack back in 2016 made ~1,440% ROI. That’s x14.4 their money in only 5 years. Paystack raised at various SAFE valuations between $5m and $10m. Most of the people in my network invested at $7m valuation cap (which we all agree at the time seemed a bit rich), but Oo was convincing and Shola seemed like he knew what he was doing. The $1.3m from angel investors’ total return, although I asked many different ways Shola wouldn’t tell me, was between $13-17m by my calculation. In USD o, so protected from the macro devaluations and inflation destroying so much value from this region. This was the kind of deal the ecosystem had been yearning for all these years and the most likely candidate was always going to be Paystack
By all accounts today was distribution day for all the investors in @Paystack, and their money is now in the bank. Huge returns to be had for many – big day for African startup ecosystem
By now the world fully realizes that the ex Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been confirmed to the top job in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).Though congratulations continue to pour in, perhaps now we need to move beyond that to deliberate on what this new era for this critical global agency is going to bring to Africa and indeed the World.
Media coverage would have us believe the world has turned a corner catalyzed purely by a change of leadership in one country – The United States of America.. or has it?
For sure, US has a huge influence on the socio-economic health of nations globally. At the recent African Union Summit 2021, hosted from Addis Ababa, President Biden said:
“The United States stands ready now to be your partner in solidarity, support and mutual respect,”
The problem with being a US President with a global focus is that ultimately, no President wants to be perceived as not doing their best by the American People. Biden needs leaders in global structures who can push back with integrity as much as they can concur and co-operate. In this way, an American leader with aims as a Global Statesperson can discretely arrive at planned global outcomes, with ‘hard won’ results that are domestically palatable, and without appearing to have given concessions or making compromises that were not hard pressed for. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala appears to be a mould breaker for the person this agenda needs.
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to working with the African Union to advance our shared vision of a better future.
Prime KBS Institute Limited said on LinkedIn: ‘She will lead the charge for a revival of multilateralism, in the negotiating chambers of the WTO and for a better deal for developing economies’
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is former chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, is a board member of Standard Chartered Bank, has served the World Bank for twenty-five years, and has been Finance Minister of Nigeria (2003–2006, 2011–2015). There are many other stellar career accomplishments.
Clearly Biden sees her as someone that will hoist the ‘African’ flag, were it that there is such a thing.
The big question is, what shape will that take in a China context?
‘…WTO has also failed to police China for its intellectual property offenses that involve companies sharing sensitive technology as a prerequisite for investing. The global trade body’s outdated classification method means that China, the world’s second-largest economy, continues to enjoy concessions by classifying itself as a “developing country.” – DW Business.
But the real question is, how will the new WHO regime reign in China’s Economic Colonialism (psedo slavery) of Africa?
Nairametrics – ‘Chinese policy of using Chinese banks to issue grants to developing economies, is deliberately designed to capitalise on their global financial infrastructure to rival the IMF and the World Bank.’
While Chinese money appears on the surface of it to offer preferential T&C to ‘western’ institutions, Chinese development programs associated with the loans involve a mass influx of project labour, imported materials, and management services, so the loan is repatriated while it remains outstanding. In essence, the African country repays twice.
In Nigeria, specifically, Political Capital does not always translate to wellbeing of the citizenry on the long term, as high profile infrastructural achievements from such loans gain media promotion for the incumbent while subsequent regimes and the population at large, have to later, pay the piper with much pain.
At the Ehingbeti Summit in Lagos yesterday, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said ‘ A successful Africa, and a successful Lagos State is one that creates jobs for its citizens… about how we create modern, decent jobs for our young people… while Dr. Adesina said.. fiscal incentives (need) to be provided to the private sector’
However, we have been here before with statements in bright lights, and a populist objective.. what is always absent is the clear nitty-gritty details of the journey in between, one of financing, policing and value maximization of project resources, unwavering commitment to enforcement of progress milestones, and, above all else, sensitivity to, and welfare of impacted local communities.
Reverting to the loan issue –
In October 2005, with Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister, Nigeria and the Paris Club announced a final agreement for debt relief worth $18 billion and an overall reduction of Nigeria’s external debt stock by $30 billion.
However… Chinese debt is a world away from the ‘Paris Club’
‘Chinese lenders tend to set more onerous borrowing conditions – higher interest rates, shorter maturities – than multilateral development banks. In April 2020, Tanzanian President John Magufuli reportedly threatened to cancel a $10 billion project launched by his predecessor, because the Chinese funding came with conditions that “only a drunkard” would accept.
Moreover, most of China’s bilateral lending is carried out by so-called policy banks and state-owned commercial banks, which may be controlled by the Chinese state, but operate as legally independent entities, not as sovereign lenders. So, unlike the members of the Paris Club of major sovereign creditors, they often require collateral for development loans. About 60% of their total lending to developing countries is subject to collateral. When a country applies for debt relief, its Chinese creditors can claim the rights to assets held in escrow.’ – Paola Subacchi, Professor of International Economics at the University of London’s Queen Mary Global Policy Institute, and author of The Cost of Free Money (Yale University Press, 2020).
As an intro – the ex- Nigerian Finance Minister dancing to a sax solo interpretation of a song called ‘Chop My Money’ – A simple case of ‘You couldn’t make this up?’ or a prophecy of what is really to come!
Screenshots from P-Square – Chop My Money Remix (Official Video) ft. Akon & May-D – but which character(s) in the video could be personified as Africa or China?
‘If you spend so much time trivializing an issue, when the evidence is there in front of you, that is not giving a good service’ – Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 2014.
To be successful at the mammoth tasks she has set herself…, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala may have to trade her trademark ichafu for aju… Fashion needs to make way for combat fatigues…because heavy is the head that wears the crown, and this is a head that will come under some considerable weight in the days and months to come.
When Ban Ki Moon from South Korea, China’s southern neighbour, took over from Kofi Annan at the UN, he famously sang live on camera. It was his own rendition of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, inserting his own name.
China needs to be aware Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is already in town and paying in-person visits soon. She won’t need any chimney. She will come straight in the front door.
Ngozi in her native Igbo means ‘Blessing’. She is indeed a blessing not only to Igbos but Nigeria, all of Africa, and perhaps the world.
Referenced content/acknowledgements (others as per main article body) :
Following the step of Australia, Canadian government said on Thursday it will enact a law that will force Facebook to pay publishers for their content even if it will end in the social media platform shutting down its services in Canada like it did in Australia.
Australia proposed a legislation that will make Facebook and Google pay for news contents that provide links to their platforms. The new legislation means Facebook and Google will have to bargain with newsrooms either individually or collectively – and will have to enter arbitration if the parties can’t reach an agreement within three months.
In response to Australia’s proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook said it will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content on its platform.
Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, who is leading the charge to craft the bill, said Facebook made the wrong choice cutting off news services in Australia, and that wouldn’t deter Ottawa from pursuing Australia’s line of action.
“Canada is at the forefront of this battle … we are really among the first group of countries around the world that are doing this,” he said.
Recently, governments and media organizations are confronting Facebook and Google for using their monopolies to rake in billions of dollars in ad revenue while paying little to publishers who provide the contents their use to serve the ads.
The confrontation has been fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw Google halve AdSense earnings, further depleting the already poor revenue of news publishers.
In 2019, the European Union enacted Copyright Laws that require search engines and social media platforms to share revenue with publishers if their contents are displayed. The increasing push by these countries to protect media outlets from Google and Facebook’s rip-offs is believed to be the reason Google came up with the News Showcase idea, a $1 billion program designed to compensate publishers for their contents.
Guilbeault said Canada may adopt either the French or Australian option.
“We are working to see which model would be the most appropriate,” he said, adding that he spoke to his French, German, Australian and Finish counterparts last week about working together on ensuring fair compensation for web content.
Facebook was defiant with Australia; the social media giant said news makes up less than 4% of the content people see in their News Feed in Australia, and generated only about AU $407 million last year, which makes business gain from news in the country minimal.
But with the momentum garnering to involve more countries, the social media app may be facing a war it did not see coming.
“I suspect that soon we will have five, 10, 15 countries adopting similar rules … is Facebook going to cut ties with Germany, with France?” Guilbeault asked, adding that at some point, Facebook’s approach would become “totally unacceptable.”
Reuters reported a University of Toronto professor, Megan Boler, who specializes in social media, saying that Facebook’s action [in Australia] marked a turning point which would require a common international approach.
“We could actually see a coalition, a united front against this monopoly, which could be very powerful,” she said.
While Facebook appears lax in addressing the pay-for-news controversy, Google is putting foot forward. The web search giant has signed agreements with about 500 media outlets across more than 12 countries, including Australia, and it said to be in talks with Canadian news organizations.
Despite these efforts, Guilbeault said Google will also be governed by the Canadian new law, as Ottawa seeks a fair, transparent and predictable approach.
However, Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and e-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, said following the Australian model may mean loss to both Facebook and Canada, and the North American country should aspire to Google’s approach.
“If we follow the Australian model … we’ll find ourself in much the same spot,” he said. “Everybody loses. The media organizations lose … Facebook loses.”
Canada is expected to enact the News Law in coming months and EU member states are expected to implement the EU Copyright Law before its June 7 deadline, which will see more countries towing the path of Australia or France.
With this mounting pressure, Facebook, who is already at crossroads with regulators around the world, and Apple for restricting its access to iPhone users private data, will have a “coalition of countries against Facebook” challenge to deal with.
I saw a post of a young Nigerian lady, carrying a placard to advertise her “vacancy”. It’s brave for someone to boldly declare that she is unemployed and needs a job. It is braver when this is done in the public. But the bravest thing here is that she gave herself the opportunity to trend on the internet. This is a good marketing strategy that should be adopted by everyone. However, her action showed the deep gap between being educated and being schooled.
The young lady in question has a BSc in Mass Communication and an MSc in Marketing Communication. These two qualifications, in today’s world, can take her anywhere if she knows her onions. As much as I don’t know this lady, I can tell you, from what happened today, that she went back to school for masters because she believed it would give her an added advantage in job hunting. This is the misinformation most Nigerians have that hits them immediately they leave school with a certificate they know not what to do with.
But back to the main theme of the day, what is the difference between education and schooling? Understanding this will help every Nigerian discover himself and how he can make a living without depending totally on the government.
Schooling, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, is “education received at school” while education, from the same source, is “a process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills.” Hence, schooling only takes place in school while education can occur anywhere. Further, for education to take place, there must be a process, which must be completed for knowledge and skills development to take place. If this process is in any way broken, or if one its stages is omitted, knowledge and skills development become incomplete and incompetency results. In the case of the lady described above, it is possible some stages in the process of her education were omitted while she was in school. As a result, what she did was going to school and not getting educated. To deepen people’s capabilities, experts at customwriting.com do help many develop skills on writing, and that is also part of being schooled even as one is educated
A person that is educated would have been taught what to do with the knowledge passed to him and the skills he acquired. In the instance given above, there are many private freelance jobs and businesses someone with such marvellous qualifications could set up without requiring much capital. One good thing the government has done for Nigerian graduates before throwing them into the harsh reality of the labour market is sending them on one year compulsory youth service. Most corps members have accommodations provided for them by their recruiters. Some live with their relatives. Many have even redeployed to stay with their parents’ or husbands’, and hence, do not need to spend their “allowee” on accommodation or feeding. This would have provided them, if they know what they are doing, with the opportunity to save up money as seed capital to start up business of their own when they pass out. Many do this; but most don’t. This comes to prove that many Nigerians go to school without becoming educated.
I used to blame Nigerian education system that does not prepare graduates for the harsh reality of life after school. I used to hold the system responsible for the confusion Nigerians face when searching for jobs. But then, as much as I still blame the system, I also blame the students for failing to educate themselves despite having access to the best source of informal education: internet and social media.
It is good that many young Nigerians are learning what their schools didn’t teach them through the internet and social media. But the majority don’t. Some Nigerian youths think the internet and social media are for gossip, “hyping”, and “catching cruise”. They fail to see positive uses of these sources and refuse to be directed by those that know better. However, many are utilising their free time in school to educate themselves informally in addition to the ones their teachers/lecturers do. This way, they do not only go to school but are also educated.
