Transportation is a big friction in Nigeria. I see a huge opportunity in that space especially in the last mile segment. As Nigeria’s traffic paralysis continues, keke will become a part of the equation in most of our major cities. In the northern part of Nigeria, it will be huge – keke is not going away.

So, I am putting my resources in that space: last week, I became a shareholder and board member of Matatu Keke Taxi – Nigeria’s pioneering aggregator of keke. Your food delivery, ecommerce logistics, etc can be more optimally executed by keke than those big cars! Yes, you do not need a car to deliver your food; keke can do it better.

Matatu is a technology-driven auto rickshaw (keke) aggregator. It runs on that enviable business construct of aggregation where digital technology is used to bring efficiency in demand-supply framework. The app-based transport networking solution provides on-demand transport services to commuters within towns through easy-to-use taxi hailing mobile applications.

Look forward to working with Samuel Akinniyi Ajiboyede and his team on Matatu

https://www.tekedia.com/matatu-keke-taxi-overlays-technology-on-keke-to-get-lagosians-moving-faster-over-traffic/

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspended Wale Tinubu as the CEO of Oando. The market regulator also mandated that Mr. Tinubu and some other senior leaders of the firm cannot be directors of public companies in the next five years. Read the full suspension letter here.

Oando Responds

Oando has responded that it may take legal steps against SEC on the actions it has taken. Ayotola Jagun, the board secretary, noted that Oando has been denied fair hearing. Consequently, it considered the ruling overboard.

“Oando is of the view that these alleged infractions and penalties are unsubstantiated, ultra vires, invalid and calculated to prejudice the business of the Company.

“The Company has not been given the opportunity to see, review and respond to the forensic audit report and so is unable to ascertain what findings (if any) were made in relation to the alleged infractions and defend itself accordingly before the SEC.

“The Company reserves its rights to take all legal steps to protect its business and assets whilst remaining committed to act in the best interests of all its shareholders”, it said.

The Accusations

You can read more about the Oando accusations here.

SEC Strikes Oando’s Wale Tinubu, Others after Investigations – Barred and asked to Resign

The ecommerce sector will experience a minor slowdown as government begins implementing automatic and direct collection of VAT on online transactions in Nigeria. See it this way: if a physical open market sells electric iron for N8,000 and Jumia sells the same for N8,000, because Jumia’s customer will be required to pay VAT (5% of cost), the price will jump to N8,400. This extra N400 for online purchase will inflate the price against the open market which typically does not collect VAT. (In U.S., the reverse was the case: ecommerce firms were originally not required to collect taxes unlike physical stores even though the ecommerce companies expect customers to self-report during tax filing. The non collection of online taxes helped Amazon significantly when it started.)

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it will soon begin collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on online transactions.

The Chairman of the agency, Mr Babatunde Fowler, made the disclosure in an interview with Journalists in New York on Saturday.

Fowler said: “soon, we will ask banks to impose VAT on online transactions for purchases of goods and services. “Not that it is something new; it actually should be in existence. “We will certainly follow up to make sure that every VAT that is due to be collected is collected.” He explained that the move was part of measures by FIRS to meet its N8 trillion revenue target for 2019.

This program is going to be extremely challenging since government must ensure it is only commercial transactions that are charged VAT. Yes, it cannot effect VAT on online transactions like refund, loan payment, etc. Also, payments to foreign merchants may be excluded unless those foreign merchants are mandated to remit money to Nigeria.

A good strategy will be to have regulations that any online commercial transaction must add VAT which will go direct to the bank. But if they make it that 5% will be deducted at source bank account after any online payment, chaos will be created.

We will be watching how the government plans to roll out this online VAT collection in the nation. I expect a detailed publication in coming weeks that would define the rules for all the stakeholders.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a major international U.S.-based professional association that publishes technical academic papers, has excluded Huawei staff from participating in the peer-review process. Last month, the U.S. government placed Huawei on its dreaded “entities list,” making it difficult for businesses to collaborate with the China-based telecom giant. IEEE is attempting to comply with the new regulations. In retaliation, the China Computer Federation has cut-off ties with the IEEE, reports Fortune newsletter.

IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is a professional association for technologists that publishes research, defines technology standards, and hosts conferences, among other activities. Huawei employees frequently contribute to the organization’s publications and present at its conferences. But this week the Chinese technology news publication Pandaily published an email sent by IEEE to the editors of its publications, instructing them to stop using Huawei employees as peer reviewers for articles they’re considering for publication. In other words, Huawei employees will no longer play a role in evaluating research before publication.

Meanwhile, Huawei has ” ordered employees to cancel technical meetings with US contacts, and has repatriated all U.S. employees working in the company’s Shenzhen research and development facilities.” The country has also created its own list to ban foreign entities or individuals who “do not follow market rules, violate the spirit of contracts, blockade and stop supplying Chinese companies for noncommercial reasons, and seriously damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

The U.S.-China trade war may not end as just a trading conflict – we sincerely hope it ends with ‘G’ in this phrase: The 5 (G) World War. The escalation has crossed lines with military leaders using words usually reserved for politicians. People, this is entering a global paralysis with structural redesign of commerce and industry in ways never experienced in the last four decades.

LinkedIn Comment on Feed

The serious shaking of world order is needed, for too long, we seem to have different rules for some categories of people and players, while instructing the rest of us to remain in the line.

China has been wearing a globalist toga for a while now, but has equally refused to open itself up for the rest to scrutinize its internal workings; the world is not only made up of dumb people, there are wise and smart ones too.

You only consider negotiation as a viable option when you believe the other party has something to bring to the table, else you can easily bully them to submission.

We shouldn’t be afraid whether 5G evolution is slowing down or not, but it’s important governments and people across the globe use this US-China thing to reassess their own partnerships and alliances; many have been too timid to complain or raise objections, even when it’s clear that they have beaten on all sides in the treaties.

After all the noise and punches, let’s see if it can give the global community a wonderful opportunity to rewrite trade rules. At the moment, some countries are simply too dumb to understand what could hit them in the future, except we clearly define this ultra-ambiguous word called globalisation.

Game on…