It is what it is: Nigeria is planning to introduce an additional 2.5% in VAT, to bring the total to 10%, Tribune reports. The government is looking for money but since there is really nothing productive happening at scale, except financial engineering, the only way is to tax those transactions. Personally, I expect our VAT to hit 18% by 2027 unless there is a foundational redesign of the architecture of Nigeria’s economy.  

Today, we are orthogonal and out of phase to what we should be doing. You cannot be scaling human population faster than economic opportunity, and expect normalcy in any economic equilibrium.

Federal Government on Tuesday disclosed that it has spent N7.09 trillion as at the end of the third quarter of 2020 fiscal year, just as it unveiled plans to introduce additional 2.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) rate in 2021 fiscal year as part of efforts aimed at increasing revenue generation.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed disclosed this while presenting the overview of the 2020 fiscal outcomes and budget implementation/2021 budget defence to the House Committee on Finance, chaired by Hon. James Faleke.

According to documents presented to the Committee, as at the end of Q3 2020, Federal Government’s revenue available for budget funding (excluding GOEs) was N2.83 trillion, 70% of target. Federal Government share of oil revenues was N1.203 trillion (representing 158% performance, over and above the prorated sum in the revised 2020 budget) while non-oil tax revenues totalled N927.47 billion (76% of revised target).

Yet, VAT increase may not be the most fearful. The biggest fear remains and I hope it never happens: a potential Central Bank of Nigeria mandate that all monies in dorm accounts be converted into naira. From all angles, if the government cannot find money to fund bureaucracy, do not think anything is off limits.

These guys have mismanaged Nigeria since 1999 – and that is unfortunate. Who runs a company like Nigeria? You keep creating new boards, institutions, etc when you are complaining that you have no money? When will Nigeria get the right size of suits from our tailors?

My position remains: drastically reduce the cost of government; we may not even need the House of Representatives. Collapse federal universities so that each geopolitical region will have 3 with other current universities as campuses tied to any of the three. Close those agencies like NIGCOMSAT, NARSDA, NACETEM, etc because they will never deliver anything of value. Invest massively in primary and secondary education, and remove subsidies in university education. Etc, Etc.

Update: after Tribune ran the piece, the government posted this tweet. Of course, everything is first denied before it becomes the new normal. So, the tweet changes nothing.

FEC APPROVES FINANCE BILL 2020, NO INCREASE IN TAXES

2020 Finance Bill, critical to the implementation of the 2021 Budget has been approved by the Federal Executive Council presided over by President @MBuhari. The bill will soon be transmitted to @nassnigeria for consideration pic.twitter.com/kx19rIR3uD

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinNigeria) November 18, 2020

Autochek, the automotive technology company that aims to build solutions for the African market, has raised $3.4 million in a pre-seed funding round, co-led by TLcom Capital and 4DX with inclusion from Golden Palm Investments, Lateral Capital, Kepple Africa Ventures, MSA Capital, and a number of local angel/seed investors. The start-up will use the investment to grow its Nigeria and Ghana markets and will see further investment in technology and growing its teams. 

The start-up will use the investment to accelerate product development, grow its teams and grow its Nigeria and Ghana markets. Combining technology and data to power every process of the automotive transactional ecosystem, Autochek will transform the automotive buying and selling experience for African consumers, by creating a single marketplace for all automotive needs. This will include everything from sourcing and financing transactions to after sales support and warranties. 

Through the acquisition of Cheki Nigeria and Cheki Ghana, Autochek already has more than 20,000 unique vehicles listed on its platform, and more than 12,000 dealers and private sellers, as well as a range of corporate partners and customers. Leveraging its extensive on-the-ground network of dealers and an experienced leadership team, the new platform and mobile app has been designed to address the pain points of buying, selling and repairing cars in Africa such as access to finance (for both consumers and dealers), maintenance and insurance, and bring greater value to car dealerships by enabling and enhancing automotive commerce across the continent. Autochek will also facilitate cheaper and more effective transactions for dealers and corporate partners, leveraging its industry relationships to buy and sell vehicles on behalf of the customer for the best price and ensuring value for money.

Via the Autochek mobile app (Android app now available. iOS app coming soon), car owners and potential owners will have access to loans, auctions, trade-ins and maintenance. Automotive dealers will have access to real time car auctions, fleet management, marketing support and standardised reports on car conditions and market value, as well as inventory management, CRM for lead management and garage management systems for car workshops. Financial institutions like banks and fintechs will also have access to a credit management dashboard that will make it easier for them to access customers.  By focussing on the demands of both customers and dealers, Autochek is building an ecosystem of solutions specifically designed to deliver an unrivalled customer experience for the African automotive market.

Etop Ikpe, Founder and CEO of Autochek, said, “This early stage investment allows us to get started with the work of developing technology products and services that will transform automotive trade on the continent, whereby we significantly improve transactions and after care support for car owners, dealers and other stakeholders across the African automotive industry.

“Building on the solid work that the Cheki Nigeria and Ghana teams have done over the last ten years, we  are already dispersed across multiple locations and applying the technology built and developed by our Autochek auto-tech experts, we are well positioned to scale quickly, as demand for reliable and well priced cars on the continent grow. With this pre-seed round and our seasoned strategic investors on board, we are working to transform the automotive sector on the continent”

Africa is widely regarded as the final frontier for the global automotive industry, with high growth prospects over the next decade. Despite the impact of the COVID-19, car sales are expected to grow across the continent, with a corresponding rise in demand for support services. However, a range of existing challenges, including limited access to finance and an opaque and fragmented marketplace means car owners and dealers do not always enjoy the best experience.

I’m sure on LinkedIn you have regularly come across posts that invite you to ‘follow’ the post author.

You may also have something turn up in your messages with the heading ‘promoted’, or you may have noticed a section under your ‘My Network’ tab that lists ‘Recommended people for you’ each of which invite you to ‘follow’.

The question is… what credentials merit that you follow them?

That they are an eminent person in their profession – perhaps, or that they have a huge following already – maybe…  But LinkedIn is a community, and in any community, engaging with others should be a key component.

More importantly,  engagement is about listening as much as speaking. One of the things that should concern you about the human qualities of those you follow, should be their willingness to listen and participate outside the closed space of their own posts and articles.

It is easy to find out if members are sufficiently reciprocating, if they are ‘listening’ as much as ‘speaking’

Scroll down to the section in their profile called ‘Activity’ and in the right top corner of the section click ‘See All’. Scroll through their participation history as far as you have patience, and check how often they respond to or contribute to content that isn’t their own or that of a co-worker.

If you can’t find anything, then they are preaching but not listening. They are failing to engage on equal terms with their community.

What to do next ? Well if you don’t like their sense of self obsession, you can just decide to ‘unfollow’ them. Open their profile, at the top near their picture, move to the extreme right to find the ‘more’ button, click on it and select ‘unfollow’ from the drop down menu.

If they won’t listen to others, you don’t need to listen to them!

The BEST INFUENCERS are those open to being INFLUENCED by others for the BETTER.

Already in the Board but sharing here for those yet to get to the Board. This is our Tekedia Live schedule for this week. I begin it later today. Then Comfort Aruosa-Osemwegie ACSI,CFC of DealRoom Nigeria will follow tomorrow.  On Saturday, market makers and rainmakers duo of  Azeez Lawal of TrustBanc Capital and Babalola of Muster will lead one on Capital Market and Startup Fundraising.

Wed, 7pm | Scaling through Partnerships, MultiChoice/DStv BetKing Deal | Ndubuisi Ekekwe

Thurs, 12noon | Raising Capital for SMEs | Comfort Aruosa-Osemwegie, CEO DealRoom Nigeria

Sat, 7pm | Capital Market Operations & Startup Funding | Azeez Lawal, Trustbanc Capital & Ibraheem Babalola, Muster

Innovators co-learn at Tekedia Mini-MBA. Register for the next edition.

The quality of our programs at the Tekedia Institute is anchored on the excellence of our Faculty. I am happy that we have a new Faculty member. Ibraheem Babalola is a business leader who speaks on important market issues in CNBC, Channels TV, etc. Our entrepreneurship and investment tracks just got better. Mr. Babalola, welcome to Tekedia Institute.