Nedbank Group Ltd., South Africa’s fourth-largest bank by assets, has announced plans to divest its 21.2% stake in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), officially ending a 17-year-old alliance that once defined its pan-African strategy.

The bank said the decision follows a year-long strategic review, marking a pivot toward greater focus on regions it can directly control, specifically the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East Africa.

“The board has approved a formal plan to dispose of the investment, and we are currently engaging interested parties,” Nedbank said in a statement.

Nedbank CEO Jason Quinn disclosed that regulatory uncertainty and the potential for increased capital requirements were key factors in the move. These risks, he noted, weighed heavily on the decision to downgrade Ecobank’s position on the balance sheet—from a strategic holding to a financial investment—an accounting move that allows Nedbank to manage the stake in a way that maximizes value for its shareholders.

The South African lender initially took up the stake in ETI to gain a footprint in West Africa, where Ecobank operates one of the continent’s largest banking networks. But mounting regulatory complexities and diverging regional priorities now appear to have prompted Nedbank to consolidate its efforts closer to home.

“This change represents a reset of our strategy on the rest of the continent with a clear focus on the Southern African Development Community and East Africa regions in businesses we own and control,” the bank stated.

The announcement came alongside Nedbank’s half-year earnings report, showing that the bank’s profit rose in the first six months through June, buoyed by strong fee income and a sharp drop in credit impairments.

Headline earnings climbed 6% to 8.4 billion rand ($469 million), while impairment charges fell 18% to 3.82 billion rand, signaling improved credit conditions. The drop in bad debts also pulled the lender’s credit loss ratio down to 81 basis points—within its board-approved range of 60 to 100 basis points for the first time since 2023.

In a show of strength, Nedbank declared an interim dividend of 10.28 rand per share, beating analysts’ median forecast of 9.95 rand.

Who Might Buy?

Nedbank’s exit could open the door for new strategic investors eager to gain or expand their foothold in Ecobank’s diverse West African markets. Some analysts believe that the move presents an opportunity for financial institutions seeking cross-border scale across both Anglophone and Francophone territories.

With operations in 38 countries, including 35 across Africa, Ecobank remains a formidable player on the continent. The group reported total assets of $28.9 billion as of March 2025 and continues to demonstrate strong financial resilience.

In its recently released Q2 2025 unaudited results, Ecobank posted a pre-tax profit of N352.92 billion, marking a 45.86% increase year-on-year and a 32% rise over Q1 2025. The performance reflects continued growth momentum and operational improvement across its core markets.

Ratings Upgrade

In July, Moody’s upgraded its outlook on ETI to “stable” from “negative,” affirming the group’s B3/Not Prime long- and short-term issuer ratings, as well as its senior unsecured debt rating. The ratings agency cited better earnings stability and improved asset quality across the group.

While the planned exit may signal the end of a cross-regional partnership, it also reflects a growing trend among African banks to concentrate on markets where they have direct control. For Nedbank, the shift appears to be less about Ecobank’s performance, which continues to improve, and more about aligning its long-term growth plan with regulatory and capital realities.

As talks with interested buyers progress, the spotlight now shifts to who steps in—and what it might mean for Ecobank’s ambitions in West Africa and beyond.

Mo Gawdat, the former chief business officer of Google X, has delivered a sobering forecast on the future of work in an AI-driven world: No profession, no matter how elite or creative, is safe from artificial intelligence.

Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, published by BI, Gawdat warned that the pace of AI development is being underestimated, and that a complete reordering of the job market is on the horizon. He said we are rapidly approaching what he calls the era of “machine mastery” — a phase where artificial intelligence will not just assist humans but perform entire roles autonomously, across industries.

“AGI is going to get better at everything than humans — at everything, including being a CEO,” Gawdat said. “Even podcasters will be replaced.”

Gawdat cited his own startup, Emma.love, which builds emotionally intelligent AI systems for relationships. The company runs on a team of just three people — a job that would have required over 300 developers only a few years ago. It’s a microcosm, he said, of what’s already unfolding: massive labor reduction powered by increasingly capable AI systems.

He described the current moment as a transitional phase — what he calls the “era of augmented intelligence,” where AI still works alongside humans. But that partnership is temporary, he warned. Soon, machines will run the show.

A Dystopia by 2027?

Gawdat predicted a “short-term dystopia” beginning around 2027, with mass unemployment, economic instability, and social unrest, triggered by the replacement of knowledge workers. He argues that most institutions deploying AI today are driven by profit and ego, not ethical design or human-centered thinking.

“Unless you’re in the top 0.1%, you’re a peasant,” he said. “There is no middle class.”

His solution? A complete societal reset — one where AI enables a world of equality, free healthcare, jobless leisure, and human connection.

“We were never made to wake up every morning and just occupy 20 hours of our day with work,” he said. “That’s a capitalist lie.”

This is not Gawdat’s first warning. In a 2023 episode of the same podcast, he called AI a global emergency — “bigger than climate change.” At the time, he advocated for a 98% tax on AI-powered businesses to slow down deployment and fund support systems for displaced workers.

“The likelihood of something incredibly disruptive happening within the next two years that can affect the entire planet is definitely larger with AI than it is with climate change,” he said.

Industry Divided Over the Threat

While Gawdat’s message is blunt, he’s not the one preaching it. Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called “godfather of AI,” has warned that machines will eventually replace everyone doing “mundane intellectual labor.” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also predicted that half of all entry-level white-collar jobs will disappear within five years.

But many in the industry are not convinced.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has pushed back, arguing that AI will reshape work, not eliminate it — and that learning how to prompt and harness AI is a “highly cognitive skill.” He described AI as the “greatest technology equalizer” that can expand opportunity, not destroy it.

Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, is even more skeptical of the doomsday scenarios. He said he “pretty much disagrees with everything Dario says,” and maintains that humans will remain in control of future AI systems.

A Microsoft study released in July found that generative AI tools, including chatbots, are most effective in assisting tasks such as research and communication, not replacing entire professions outright.

The conversation around AI’s impact is no longer theoretical. Companies like Emma.love are showing how entire departments can be replaced by small, AI-powered teams. Meanwhile, the divergence in expert opinion underscores the uncertainty over whether humanity is heading toward collapse or renaissance.

Gawdat’s core message is that AI’s trajectory is not inherently destructive, but the way we build and deploy it will determine whether it liberates or devastates society.

“But the truth is it could be the best world ever,” he said. “The society completely full of laughter and joy. Free healthcare, no jobs, spending more time with their loved ones. A world where all of us are equal.”

Nigeria recorded total capital inflows of $5.64 billion in the first quarter of 2025, marking a sharp 67% increase from the $3.38 billion posted in the previous quarter.

However, behind the impressive headline figure lies a deeper issue—more than 90% of the inflows were short-term speculative funds, also known as “hot money”, drawn by Nigeria’s elevated interest rate environment rather than long-term investment interest.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), $4.21 billion—representing 74.6% of the total—was channeled into money market instruments, especially Open Market Operation (OMO) bills and Treasury Bills. These short-term debt instruments, issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to manage liquidity and attract foreign exchange, have become the mainstay of foreign capital inflows due to their high yields, which range between 18% and 25%.

CBN’s Hawkish Stance Pays Off—Temporarily

The spike in foreign inflows is largely tied to the CBN’s aggressive interest rate hikes aimed at attracting foreign portfolio investors and bolstering dollar liquidity. Since the start of the year, the CBN has deployed a hawkish monetary stance to curb inflation, which stood at 31.7% in June 2025, and to steady the naira after months of volatility that saw it plunge to near N1,900/$ earlier this year.

To regain investor confidence and halt the naira’s freefall, the apex bank intensified the use of OMO instruments as a tactical shield, rather than directly piling on public debt. These instruments have not only attracted capital but also helped narrow the spread between the official and parallel market exchange rates. The naira has since appreciated to below N1,550/$ in the parallel market, a substantial recovery.

Portfolio Investment Dominates as FDI Remains Weak

While the influx of foreign capital may appear encouraging on the surface, a closer look reveals a troubling pattern. Portfolio investments accounted for $5.2 billion—or 92.2%—of the Q1 inflows, while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remained disappointingly weak at just $126.29 million, making up only 2.2% of the total.

Breakdown of the portfolio inflows includes:

• $4.21 billion in money market instruments (OMO, T-Bills)
• $877.41 million in government bonds
• $117.33 million in equities

The heavy concentration in OMO and Treasury Bills reflects foreign investors’ preference for quick returns with minimal exposure, rather than commitment to productive ventures that generate employment and technology transfer. The bulk of FDI, according to the NBS, came via equity investments in a handful of Nigerian firms—further evidence of limited appetite for long-term engagement with Nigeria’s real economy.

Additionally, $311.17 million came in as foreign loans under the “Other Investments” category, a relatively minor portion compared to portfolio flows.

Hot Money: A Fragile Support System

Experts warn that while hot money has helped steady the naira and calm investor nerves, its volatility presents significant risks. These funds can leave just as quickly as they arrive, especially if global interest rates rise or if the CBN falters in maintaining policy credibility.

Nigeria’s reliance on hot money has been a recurring pattern since the mid-2000s when the CBN began liberalizing the financial markets. During periods of high interest rates or oil-driven investor confidence, portfolio inflows surged—only to evaporate during global shocks like the 2008 financial crisis, the 2014 oil crash, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The current influx may prove similarly fickle if reforms are not deepened.

Policy Reforms Still a Work in Progress

The CBN’s tactical use of high yields to stabilize the naira reflects a short-term fix to deeper structural issues: weak infrastructure, inconsistent regulations, and insecurity that discourage real sector investment. Despite pledges by the Bola Tinubu administration to rebuild investor confidence and tackle corruption, ease-of-doing-business reforms have yet to yield substantial FDI.

Furthermore, analysts caution that the current strategy could become a burden if rising domestic borrowing costs begin to crowd out the private sector or if Nigeria is forced to sustain high interest rates longer than expected.

For lasting stability, analysts say that Nigeria must deepen structural reforms, attract genuine investors, and create an environment conducive to productive enterprise, not just high-yield speculation.

This video podcast asserts that Artificial Intelligence is a tangible reality, not mere hype. The speaker substantiates this claim by drawing a sharp contrast with the dot-com era, highlighting the significantly lower barrier to entry and reduced asset-heavy nature of AI startups due to cloud computing. Unlike many dot-com companies that lacked revenue, AI companies are demonstrating real, substantial revenue generation by solving genuine customer problems and addressing market “frictions.”

Examples of companies like Contour, Midjourney, and “Lovable” are cited as evidence of this rapid revenue growth. Furthermore, AI is shown to be actively improving the three core pillars of any business: people, processes, and tools, by enhancing intelligence, streamlining operations, and providing powerful analytical capabilities.

The lecture concludes with the powerful idea that AI is transcending its role as a mere tool and is poised to become a new, transformative industry that will reshape global markets and sectors, fundamentally altering the world as we know it.

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