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Davido Plans to Marry Chioma in 2020

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Nigerian singer Davido has announced his plan to get married to his heartthrob, Chioma, in 2020. The news came after he shared pictures of their marriage introduction on Twitter, with the hashtag, #chivido2020.

The “assurance” seems to be coming true, though it spans to 2020 and beyond, the marriage introduction is a good way to start.

There have been mixed speculations about his relationship with Chioma, with many saying it’s only a matter of time and she will take her place among his baby mamas. Davido’s previous relationships had turned out bad that it couldn’t result in any marriage. And his fans have been skeptical that his relationship with Chioma could scale the hurdle.

At a point too, Chioma was doubting if she can trust him with her heart. Even though they have been in relationship all the while Davido was making children with other girls. That was the more reason for the assurance song, where she was assured that her heart is safe with him, and Davido seems to be living up to it.

Although the details of the wedding were not given, Davido has urged his fans to get their traditional attire ready.

Last month, Davido and Chioma set a traditional marriage on fire in Imo State, with extravagant display of financial power. And Imo people can’t wait to experience another display like that.

Imo state is expected to be agog when David Adeleke and Chioma Avril Rowland are pronounced man and wife in a traditional style, and Nigerians can’t wait to see the London’s 02 Arena selling force in display.

Ndubuisi Ekekwe Makes TAFFDs’ Top 20 Keynote Speakers on “transdisciplinary awareness about the future”

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I made California-based TAFFDs’ TOP 21ST CENTURY BEST KEYNOTE SPEAKERS on transdisciplinary awareness about the future. They shared the list here on LinkedIn.

TAFFDs is poised towards providing a transdisciplinary awareness about the future. We recommend these smart thinkers and encourage you all to invite them for your academic, transformative and futurists Keynote Speaking. At the end of the year, we are to publish our TAFFDs MAGAZINE, where we mention the best five futurists Keynote Speakers. We need more work and integration. Say NO to academic poison and low-quality talks.

That is amazing indeed – Ndubuisi Ekekwe is #7 on 21st BEST KEYNOTE SPEAKERS THAT CAN SPICE UP YOUR CONFERENCES/SEMINARS/LECTURES.

I confess that I prepare for any moment as the most important. The same tenacity I put when I visit global banks is the same when I speak before traders in Aba (Nigeria).

To be called to deliver a speech upon which a conversation in a 2-day event would be built upon in places like India, UK, US and Nigeria demands absolute readiness.

Thanks TAFFDs MAGAZINE.

The Elon Musk’s Gift To Zimbabwe

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There is one key industrial sector in Africa which has a very challenging future: electricity distribution companies (Discos). They have a double-whammy: the micro-renewal energy momentum,  and the loss of premium customers through disintermediation. Yes, as most customers find alternatives to national grids, the Discos will be forced to serve sub-optimal customers who can hardly pay for the electricity consumed.

So, the news that Econet Wireless has gone Tesla Powewall is typical – the national grid in Zimbabwe loses one of its best customers. As that happens, it becomes a vicious circle where not having those good customers will make it harder to have the resources to invest, and not having the capacity to invest will annoy the remaining customers who will then find their own alternatives.

Zimbabwe’s Econet Wireless is has ordered for over 520 Powerwall batteries from Tesla, the US-based energy and automobile company. The order was made following persistent power failures in the southern Africa country. Power blackouts last up to 18 hours per day and risked having an impacting on Econet’s telecom services and mobile money operations. The newly ordered Tesla batteries will serve as backups in the telco’s base stations particularly at night when solar panels are not generating electricity. (TC Daily newsletter)

Just like that the distributions companies keep struggling because the best customers are going or gone: only two electricity utilities in Africa are profitable! 

The SMEs need power to run the economy. But discos would need the help of some of the big manufacturers who typically are the cheapest to serve and usually most profitable to link into the network. But for this to happen, those major players would expect the discos to demonstrate reliability before they commit to national grid. If we do not manage this interface, what would happen is to expect discos to become profitable by serving the masses (typically expensive due to higher marginal cost). Most times, that does not happen. The business of power utilities is hard: only two utilities are profitable in Africa.

Do not expect that to change, especially now that everyone knows that Elon Musk can send a good gift to Africa: Powerwall.

Nigeria’s Battle with P&ID

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I wish there was an individual who could  let Governments know that the current procurement procedures are comic, and agreements and contracts awarded are to be followed religiously to the later, that you cannot wake up and just decide to alter something that two parties have agreed upon even if one group was drunk or unprepared when the signing took place.

A nation should obey its laws and keep to agreements. When they start attacking these, they gradually slip into lawlessness and chaos and instability.

There should be continuity of economic policies, there should be continuity of capital projects, and there should also be continuity and predictability in the economic sphere . At the same time, procurement and award of contract is not the sole belongings of one man. Whoever that maybe.

The reason most foreign organizations may shy away from coming to invest in Nigeria is because they have no idea what to expect or whether contracts will be respected or whether policies will be altered the moment power shifts hands or even whether signed contracts are truly valid.

To some leaders, it seems to them that decisions at the executive level is the sole responsibility and business and problem of whoever is there,  without realizing that whatever comes out of there, the entire nation is roped together in it. So if Mr A makes a decision and leaves, Mr B can undo it since he wasn’t the one who directly took the action. Unfortunately that’s not how the international community sees it.

It would be very difficult for any international body to take us seriously if we can’t keep to simple agreements.

Economic decisions are being made with political minds and thoughts. Decisions are made or unmade based on political  interest or perceived interest.

You may be wondering where this is coming from,  I myself I’m wondering too.

I’m probably as lost and confused as anybody is at the moment .

Few days ago,  it was announced that Nigeria had lost about $9 billion to an Irish firm simply because we couldn’t keep our own part of an agreement ,if really it was an agreement . It’s difficult to blame a specific individual  for this because when and how this contract was signed is shrouded in mystery. A few suggests it was signed at the time the late President Musa Yar’adua was in coma . Whoever signed it! Anyway, I don’t believe in ghosts. According to Reuters –

“A judge in London said on Friday he would grant a firm called Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) the right to seek to seize some $9 billion in assets from the Nigerian government over an aborted gas project.

The company was awarded $6.6 billion in an arbitration decision over a failed project to build a gas processing plant in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar. With interest payments, the sum now tops $9 billion – some 20% of Nigeria’s foreign reserves

The judge’s decision, issued on Friday, converts the arbitration award to a legal judgement, which would allow P&ID to try to seize international assets.”

It’s not so difficult to understand why the government would want bail out of an agreement of such magnitude considering how the contract was awarded.

I don’t want to make assumptions as to why, but according to the Minister of Information :

“We want to place on record that the Federal Government views with serious concerns the underhand manner the contract was negotiated and signed. “Indications are that the whole process was carried out by some vested interests in the past administration, which apparently colluded with their local and international conspirators to inflict grave economic injury on Nigeria and its people.

“In view of the above, and in an attempt to unravel the circumstances surrounding the entire transaction, the  Attorney-General of the Federation, with the approval of Mr President, has requested the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, and the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to conduct a thorough investigation into the company, the circumstances surrounding the agreement and the subsequent event, which includes commencing a full-scale criminal investigation.”

As the whole process continues to unfold, I still hope and pray that the nation would come out triumphantly, somehow.

Remember that Nigeria had lost a  case to Cameroon in a 2002 ICJ ruling leading to the forfeiture of Bakassi Peninsula as a result of an agreement the Government of the day signed with the Cameroonian government during the civil war. 

One thing the Government and people in power should recognize is that the International community  expect agreements and laws to be respected and obeyed . They may not be interested in your internal political folklore , riddles and ghost stories.

Purchase Tax Exemption for Tesla: Is China Wooing American Companies With Tax Waivers?

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The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), has announced that it would grant a purchase tax exemption to all Tesla vehicles sold in the country. It is such an unbelievably exciting news, in the face of a trade war between the US and China that has forced their companies to severe ties and bask on the uncertainties of economic egotism. The move has given Tesla an edge in an uncommon ground.

The 2019 localization of Tesla’s Model 3 production and its Model Y in 2020, exemption from import duties, all are in the Chines deal with Tesla that the US Government didn’t see coming.

The purchase tax exemption means that buyers could save ten percent ($14, 000) in purchase cost. They are 16 Tesla’s vehicle models currently selling in the Chinese market, and the deal covers them all. Tesla has seen a remarkable growth in China this year. In the second quarter of the year, its revenue climbed 42 percent to $1.5 billion, which is a whopping 13.5 percent of total company revenue, Clean Technica reports.

With the new measures taken, the coming year is likely going to be more lucrative for Tesla. There is proliferating enthusiasm among the locals over the expanding production plants of Tesla in China, and many of them can’t wait to buy from new products. For instance, the construction of Gigafactory 3 has become more like a national pride to the Chinese. It was reported that locals are flocking to the site to fly drones over it,  take pictures and get in the queue for the Model 3s, which will be the first made in China Tesla product come early next year.

The production is expected to yield 250, 000 of the Model 3s, as the excitement among the locals is spurring the demand.

With this latest move, the Chinese Government seems to be on top of their game in the trade war. While the White House is issuing tariffs and sanctions, American companies moving to China is more like a friendly bullet with the American Government on the receiving end.

It actually looks like the “America first” gospel of Donald Trump has unprecedented loopholes that the Chinese Government is set to exploit. With Tesla on the move, it would only take a friendly smile from China for another American company to follow suit.

And in the event where Trump is taking a swipe at some Americans companies like Google, the Chinese playing the good guys with tax waivers is a smart reconnaissance.