chidi Nduka Aja

The popular Central Shehu Shagari main market in the ancient city of Sokoto, today February 18, 2016, played host to the Skye Bank’s “Reach for the Skye” Millionaire Reward Scheme. Old and new customers of the bank enjoyed another great experience as winners returned home with cash prizes and instant gifts. The “Reach for the Skye’’ millionaire reward scheme, which kicked off last year has recorded over 20 millionaires who have emerged as star winners of N1m each during the electronic raffle draw. Consolatory cash prices of N250,000 and N100,000 have also been given to about 100 winners. During the last draw held at the bustling Ariaria market, Aba, Abia State, Abdulwahab Aliu, an executive driver, who emerged a winner in the N1 million category expressed gratitude to Skye Bank. “I was shocked when I received a call from the bank that I had won a million naira from the promo. This is the first time in my entire life that I will be involved in this kind of lucky-driven reward...

The African Development Bank has recently released the Africa Visa Openness Report 2016 , which looks at visa openness in Africa. The term ‘visa openness’ refers to how easy it is for African travellers to enter another country on the continent. A more visa-open country has a liberal or relaxed visa policy for travellers, so that visitors either do not need a visa when they enter or can get one on arrival. A more visa-restrictive country requires visitors to get a visa before they travel. Below are the top and bottom 10 countries when it comes to visa openness: Top 10 visa-open countries Index Rank Country Index Score No visa required Visa on arrival Visa required before departure 1 Seychelles 1.000 100% 0% 0% 2 Mali 0.874 37% 63% 0% 3 Uganda 0.863 31% 69% 0% 4 Cape Verde 0.859 30% 70% 0% 5 Togo 0.856 28% 72% 0% 6 Guinea-Bissau 0.852 26% 74% 0% 7 Mozambique 0.830 15% 85% 0% 7 Mauritania 0.830 15% 85% 0% 9 Rwanda 0.822 11% 89% 0% 9 Mauri...

If the mass media is to be believed, Africa is hardly a continent brimming with opportunities for business. But for some time international business commentators have been positioning the continent as the next market with significant potential. It is now often described as being ready to take on the mantle of Asia where growth is slowing, markets are becoming crowded and internal competition is becoming more severe. China has anticipated this potential by making extensive investments in Africa. Between 2003 and 2011, its total investments have increased thirty fold, from US$491m to $15bn. Africa’s traditional trading partners from Europe, the UK and France have been left behind. China is the top bi-lateral trading partner with trade volume exceeding $166bn. This confirms that Africa’s new demographics have plenty to offer: the continent accounts for about 40% of global reserves of natural resources; 60% of uncultivated agricultural land; a billion people with ris...

Lagos, Nigeria We have always maintained that Nigeria’s future does not lie with oil, and are encouraged by the high quality government team that is pushing hard for diversification. We think the government that took office just three months ago is ambitious, smart and realistic. It is a credit to President Muhammadu Buhari that this team – largely unknown to global investors – is of such high quality. On our trip to Nigeria last week it was also refreshing to look at the country’s plans from the government’s perspective – rather than through the financial market lens which at present can focus on little else than the currency and the oil price. The government is on-message and consistent about its top priorities: security, anti-corruption and the economy. There are no dreams of oil at $100/bl, rather the opposite. Many see low oil prices helping Nigeria force through reforms that will revitalise agriculture , encourage economic diversification, and build a relia...

Women and science The International Day of Women and Girls in Science , February 11, presents an opportunity to look at the intersection of two important issues  – gender and science – and their impact on economic development and quality of life. Science and gender equality are both crucial for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are in line with the African Development Bank’s Ten Year Strategy and its five development priorities – the High 5s. The needs of the continent, including infrastructure development, industrialization, modernization of agriculture, private sector development and the improvement of governance systems and accountability, all have a common denominator: the need for people with access to science and technology. There is no improvement of life of Africans without investing in skills, science and technology, and innovation. Although each individual story is different, a simple look at the experiences of individu...

The World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops ( WCRTC ), held in Nanning, China, on 18-23 January, provided a wealth of scientific information on roots and tubers—more than has been imagined. More than 540 abstracts were presented, cutting across breeding, value chain, and genomics. Being the first of its kind, the WCRTC brought together more than 560 participants including researchers, policymakers, development partners, industrialists, and farmers, according to Claude Fauquet, Coordinator of the WCRTC. Peter Kulakow , IITA Cassava Breeder, said the breadth and depth of information shared by researchers at the conference was of immense value to the scientific community. “I see both African scientists and researchers from other parts of the world benefiting from the knowledge shared here,” he said. Kulakow emphasized that the conference provided a great opportunity for young researchers to present their work to a global audience. Grown mostly in the developing worl...

The continuum of private sector health across sub-Saharan Africa provides an extensive platform for investment. In line with global trends, the demand for local healthcare in Africa continues to gain significant momentum. Rising chronic conditions, population growth, increasing life-expectancy and poverty stricken public health systems invites private sector investment and participation. Depending on the country, or market, risk may be high, but so could financial and social returns. The investment lag Despite sub-Saharan Africa’s growth economies, increasing consumer affordability and under-supply of health products and services, it is yet to attract a consistent pool of investors and businesses. Sub-Saharan Africa’s negative reputation around governance, political and currency risks and poor infrastructure have stunted investment appetite for decades. The lack of skilled health workforces, narrow international focus on high-profile communicable diseases and mis...

Despite rising incomes and changing consumer lifestyles across the continent, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is still a relatively untapped growth opportunity with room for first-mover players looking to re-invent the wheel. Recent research by professional services firm Accenture estimates CPG companies can capture US$152bn in accumulative value by 2020 in Africa by leveraging digital ecosystems and mobile applications along the value chain. “In Africa, the next growth frontier for CPG companies, the potential to engage consumers digitally is monumental. Yet African CPG companies have been slow to apply digital strategies,” notes Roze Phillips, Accenture’s management consulting business lead for sub-Saharan Africa. She argues that simply focusing on products and traditional business models is not enough to capture the next billion consumers on the continent. To ensure the long-term survival and relevance of CPG companies, consumers will need to be en...

Sub-Saharan African economic growth has been one of the success stories of the last two decades – but it has come at a price. That is the conclusion of a paper from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which points out that strong growth has tended to mean widening current account deficits. These, in turn, stem partly from a disappointing export performance caused in large part by goods from the region being more expensive than those of competitors. “The lack of price competitiveness has been exacerbated by structural impediments – particularly weak institutions, the limited supply of skilled labour and infrastructure gaps, making the region costly for producers,” says the report. Success story   Written by Antoinette Sayeh, director of the IMF’s African Department, the report pays tribute to the economic achievements of the region. “Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid growth in recent years has been one of the success stories of the global economy,” it says. “Th...

As Africa’s largest economy, is Nigeria poised to rise up against the challenges it faced in 2015 and current struggles in the New Year? The new government needs to clearly articulate its economic policies and steer the economy on a path to growth and sustainable development. Some band-aids may need to be ripped off once and for all, especially currency control measures, in as much as real growth cannot be hinged on a false state of affairs. Year 2015 marked the beginning of change in Nigeria’s political climate and the exercising of the democratic will of the people, to the chants of “Sai Buhari” and “Change”, when the elected President, Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29th. The government is seen to be focused on phasing out corruption in the public sector, and is expected to scale down the bureaucracies’ elongating processes and improve the speed of accomplishment within the government’s ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). However, this change has bee...