The liberator now needs liberation. Now, national parliaments should pass laws that would say “Bitcoin cannot go down but up”. Lol. Good people, let us show common sense: there is no way in this world where anyone can create his currency and yet everything would still work normal. Optimistic exuberance on your computer screen must not take away the reality that getting hard Naira is tough. MMM, Bitcoin… shine your eyes. Yet, blockchain remains an opportunity.
The stock market is so volatile, even a smile or frown could add or wipe off couple of billions of dollars from your market value.
But the real issue with Bitcoin and its cousins is that the world is owned, and highly rigged as well. So it does not really make sense to believe that you can sit in front of your computer screen and live in your own world; those who control levers of power won’t allow you to enjoy such, of course anyone can grab power, but as for authority? Very few.
Just a year ago it looked like the next big thing, and now this…
It is not the despair that kills, but rather the hope.
Time to make peace with those who run the world, before extinction becomes imminent.
There is no perfect system in the world and so I assume that Nigeria is part of that imperfection. What I do not understand is how a country defies every known economic and social principles, sometimes by deliberately inflicting pains on itself. This is my sane interpretation of the economic recession that hit Nigeria, yet the lessons seem not to be learnt in any way.
Our domestic debts stands at N12 trillion (or $40 billion), as of June 2018, which is substantially high when compared to our GDP of $400 billion for the year 2017. There is a truth government bonds and bills are of less risk and high yield, reaching 18% per annum in the best case. There is also be a claim that mopping the economy of free funds could control inflation -15% as of November 2018 based on National Bureau of Statistics reports. Reality is that we are hurting these sharp practices are hurting Nigeria’s economic growth.
Firstly, the implication is that continued mopping of funds from the economy denies our economic drivers access to 10% of the asset needed for job/wealth/value creation. Small and medium scale businesses need to access credit for idea execution, business expansion, and contract execution. The unavailability (or scarcity) of fund is evident as commercial banks as well as government funded banks do not provide any respite to these movers of the economy. Monies meant for credit transaction are deliberately channeled to procurement of FGN bonds and bills thereby denying the economy of this much needed stimulus.
Secondly, investors who could have collaborated with ideators renege their commitments because there is a ‘safer’ haven in FGN bonds and bills. Speculation and short term gains become the primary objective of fund owners who do not believe in the economy. Indeed, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is promoting the same ‘laziness’ that the Federal Government of Nigeria ((FGN) preaches against. The first FGN Sukuk bond which closed in September 2018 was oversubscribed by about 5% to close at N105 billion. Hence, it confirms that domestic capital market players are avoiding the risk of business investments while embracing the lesser devil of bonds.
Thirdly, it becomes even difficult to access funds from Government sponsored facilities through its sector-dedicated instruments in Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Bank of Industry (BOI), and Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN). How do you explain the economics that Government borrows money from the people at 16% per annum (for example FGN Sovereign Sukuk currently open to the public) but gives out credit to businesses at 6% for agriculture, 9% for manufacturing, and 12% for infrastructure. When these economics don’t add up, the only feasible means to recoup earn the committed profit would be simple – pass the funds to Micro Finance banks who can charge interest up to 60% per annum for retail loan offerings. Such loans at targeted at salary earners, especially knowing the fact that many SMEs will default due to bad business environment.
It is evident that our economy will remain stagnant until we begin to reverse or correct these anomalies. CBN must regulate banks to the extent that loan profiling should show that SMEs are beneficiaries of at least 60% of credit sales. The policy on Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) should be pushed into the economy must be pursued and verified that it get to the desired targets – SMEs. Commercial banks must work hard to earn interest and not being lazy by procuring FGN bonds for 16% pa. DBO should validate the impact of its bonds and bills that it controls inflation without hurting the economy. It will be nice to see what the projected GDP would be if such bonds where not offered to mop funds from the economy. The Government of Nigeria needs to come true in its bid to promote enabling environment for businesses to thrive by measuring and reporting the count of new businesses and capital raised by those. Economic stimulants from BOA, BOI, and DBN should be realistic to avoid the round-trip ping that we observe in our capital market. Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) needs to report the ratio of beneficiary versus registered SMEs targeted by the various government incentives.
The inefficiencies caused by sharp practices continue to hampers our economic growth. I may be speaking for many SMEs who are suffering similar fate.
It has happened many times to me: spent enormous amount of time working on projects with Microsoft Word on my Mac only to mistakenly delete the file while purging and cleaning my machine. Typically, what follows is a sheer level of helplessness of where do I begin. People, relax because there is a huge solution in town: Disk Drill.
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If you want to master how to recover deleted word document on Mac, you need no more work – this solution does it elegantly. If you don’t have a copy of Disk Drill installed yet, and your valuable business and personal folders not protected, now is the time to action and install the software. The process is simple and it takes just three steps, and you would be using tool.
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All Together
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Apple has started the unthinkable: discounting iPhones. The company has already announced that it would discontinue the practice of reporting unit sales of its devices. Largely, Apple is moving into services.
Simply, the company is making it clear that its future is going to include services. So, if you hold Apple stocks because of iPhones and iPads, you may have to reconsider. By dropping the disclosure, Apple wants investors to focus on its revenue bottomline and not the number of devices sold. As far as the company is concerned, if it can grow revenue through payment, apps, licensing, etc, investors should not overly care what is happening on hardware as the company transmutes into making services a key part of its future. Simply, Apple has gone Services.
Apple became a category-king technology company by innovating on top of industry existing products. It perfected Sony Walkman. It perfected Blackberry. It took down Pebble with its smartwatch. Largely, it gets inspired, then and innovates better than pioneers.
But there is a big problem: there is really nothing much to be inspired in hardware except AV/VR in the next five years. Yes, Apple will make an iPhone that would help on AV/VR but after that, nothing is there on the horizon. For a company that sells proprietary hardware via exclusive software, that is a big challenge. People will not keep spending money on the same hardware if there is no clear physical innovation. Incremental innovation will not do it. So, Apple is strategically moving out of upcoming hardware-revenue paralysis, pivoting to services. That is typical: there is a limit you can improve hardware without creating more problems. That is why not much has happened in your dishwasher, bicycle, and radio except some fanciful electronics stuffs.
Google continues a push into Africa, unlocking opportunities and changing landscapes
Apple and Netflix, Impact on DStv and iROKOtv
There is a redesigning in the entertainment industry in Africa: global ICT utilities like Netflix are aggressively coming. From DStv to Nollywood, there would be major dislocations over the next few years. As Google Station advances with its free WIFI and Elon Musk begins his immersive connectivity promise via Starlink, a new entertainment industry will emerge.
But while we see Netflix as the leading crusader into Africa, I do not see Netflix thriving beyond 2025 as a separate company. Netflix has a marginal cost problem: its increasingly decreasing marginal cost has not improved its capacity to make profit. So, the company has been borrowing average of $1 billion per year. In the near future, it would struggle. I expect Samsung or Apple to acquire it.
An Apple acquisition would mean that Netflix would become a service under Apple iOS ecosystem. A Samsung acquisition will unlock new dimensions on how it would sell Galaxy.
At the end of these possibilities, I expect the price of Netflix to drop by 50% post-acquisition. If that happens, the ecosystem would become very promising to most Africans since it would be affordable even as Netflix unloads African contents in its foreign-flavored ecosystem.
Netflix has announced that its first original African series, titled Queen Sono, will debut next year. It will center on a complex, diverse female character, in line with similar Netflix shows like Jessica James and Luke Cage with one-man epicenters. The lead character will be played by South African actor Pearl Thusi who has also starred in popular action drama Quantico alongside Priyanka Chopra. (TC Daily newsletter)
Integrating hardware to online movies will cause a shift. Apple will end up becoming the biggest threats to DStv (and iROKOtv) since some of its best customers are Apple users in South Africa. If they see Netflix as an extension of iOS, DStv will not have the opportunities to make a case. Yes, you cannot beat the user experience if Netflix becomes natively Apple!
All Together
The biggest threats to Africa-based movie streaming companies are Apple and Google. Apple taking over Netflix would mean that some of the best paying customers would be lost to Netflix via ancillary Apple services. But Google investing on African shows for YouTube Red Africa, powered by free wifi Google Stations across African cities would bring a new dimension on local competition.
Simply, if you want to watch anything, check if Google has it because if it is on YouTube it would be mobile-credit free. Yes, YouTube Red would have African-themed productions, creating a scenario that would be extremely tough for indigenous companies to defend as Google would turn-off any mobile-metering on them. That would be a challenge as the broad movie entertainment moves online: simply, besides contents, you need to consider access. In Africa, access remains a big factor.
