Citizens don’t expect national economies to recover anytime soon – Survey

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Citizens don’t expect national economies to recover anytime soon – Survey

Global survey finds onus to lead recovery is on governments and big business

August 5, 2021 — A new Ipsos survey for the World Economic Forum finds that, on average, about three in four adults across 29 countries believe it will take at least two more years for their country’s economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Only seven percent believe their country’s economy has already recovered from the pandemic and 19% that it will have recovered one year from now.

Optimism is most prevalent in China where 56% think their economy has already recovered and most scarce in Russia where 66% say recovery will take more than three years.

Citizens tend to expect their country’s government and large/multi-national businesses to lead their economy’s recovery. On average, in the 29 countries, the government and major companies are both cited by majorities of those surveyed as the entities they trust most to take primary responsibility for recovering their national economy, ahead of consumers, small businesses, and non-governmental organizations. However, one in seven don’t trust any of these groups to help recover the economy rebound.

national economies
The World Bank, Washington, United States | Photo by Markus Krisetya

The three developments that are most widely seen as indicators that the local economy is recovering from the pandemic are: (1) people one knows getting called back to work or getting new jobs, (2) new businesses opening, and (3) increased tourism.

Detailed Findings

How long until the economy recovers from the pandemic

In the 29-country survey, Ipsos asked the global public whether their local economy had already recovered from the pandemic or how long they thought it would take for it to do so.
On average, globally:

  • Only 7% believe their country’s economy has already recovered; this view is most widely held in China (the only country where it is by a majority of those surveyed—56%) and in Saudi Arabia (by 25%).
  • 19% believe their economy will have recovered in a year from now – a sentiment that is most prevalent in Saudi Arabia (38%), the United States (32%), and South Korea (31%).
  • 35% say it will take their country’s economy two or three years to recover; adults in Japan (52%), Chile (46%), Italy and Malaysia (both 44%), and the Netherlands (42%) are most likely to think so.
  • 39% believe it will take their economy more than three years to recover from the pandemic, with those in Russia (66%), South Africa (62%), Argentina (59%), and Romania (58%) most likely to hold this view.

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Who to trust to lead economic recovery

When asked which group or institution they trust most to take primary responsibility for recovering the economy in their countries, citizens tend to cite their country’s government ahead of other options: on average, across the 29 countries, it is mentioned of 53% of those surveyed, including 34% for whom it is the first answer. Large/multinational businesses are mentioned nearly as often overall (by 52%), but not as often as a first answer (17%).

“Individuals themselves”, i.e., consumers, are cited by 40% (including 17% as their first answer). They are followed by small businesses (37% overall, including 13% of first answers), and non-governmental organizations and associations (24% overall, including 6% of first answers). Finally, 14% do not trust any of these five entities to lead the economic recovery in their country, and 11% only trust one or two of them.

Expectations about the various entities to drive the economic recovery vary widely across countries.

  • The government is cited most in Russia (91%), Hungary (88%), and South Korea (86%), and least so in Colombia (30%), Poland (32%), and Romania (34%).
  • Large or multi-national businesses are mentioned most in China (83%), South Korea (78%), Russia (71%), and Hungary (68%), and least in Belgium (34%), the United States (35%) and the Netherlands (36%).
  • The pattern is exactly the opposite for individuals themselves, who are mentioned most in the Netherlands (71%), the U.S. (60%), and Belgium (54%), and least in Hungary (11%), South Korea (18%), and China (19%).
  • Small businesses are mentioned most in Colombia (60%), Spain (58%), and Argentina (57%), and least in Russia (7%), South Korea (10%), and Hungary (14%).
  • NGOs are most cited in Turkey (41%), South Africa and Malaysia (both 39%), and Saudi Arabia (33%) and least so in Russia (8%), the Netherlands (13%), and Spain (13%).

In general, high expectations from the government to lead the recovery tend to align with high expectations from large/multi-national businesses and with lower expectations from both consumers and small businesses. Conversely, lower expectations from government and big businesses align with higher expectations from both consumers and small businesses.

Signs of economic recovery

Survey respondents were presented with nine occurrences and asked, for each occurrence, to what extent they would view it as an indicator of recovery of their local economy. Those most widely seen as a sign the local economy has at least partly recovered are people getting called back to work or getting new jobs (global country average of 79%), new businesses opening (78%), and more tourists (72%).

Each of the other six occurrences would also be considered to be a signal of a full or partial local economic recovery by a majority of those surveyed, most of all new roads, bridges, and buildings (68%), followed by acquaintances taking vacations or planning trips (65%), fewer homeless people living on the streets (64%), local businesses announcing changes to make their activities more carbon-neutral or sustainable (also 64%), more road traffic (61%), and cleaner air (55%).

Examining the Impact of Exchange Rate Volatility in Nigeria

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Examining the Impact of Exchange Rate Volatility in Nigeria

The stability of the exchange rate is a major macroeconomic indicator used to measure the performance of an economy. Nigeria’s forex market has undergone significant changes over the years. The forex market has evolved from a fixed regime in the 1960s to a pegged arrangement between the 1970s and the mid-1980s, and to various types of managed floating systems since 1986 (the structural adjustment program period).

The country currently has multiple exchange rates (parallel, bureau de change, IATA, investors and exporters window, but to name a few) and currently adopts the managed floating exchange rate system.

exchange rate volatility
Nigerian naira and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in a picture illustration, July 14, 2020. Picture taken July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/Illustration – RC2M3I91PL5T

On May 24 2021, the CBN officially replaced the official exchange rate with the more flexible Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing Rate (NAFEX) rate in an attempt to unify the country’s multiple exchange rates. This replacement means a technical devaluation of the naira by 7.56% to the NAFEX rate (N410/$) from the previous official rate of N379/$.

However, the exchange rate has remained volatile at the parallel market, driven by speculative activities and panic buying. The uncertainty about the CBN’s forex policy has not only spurred profiteers into action but also kept investors at bay, thereby halting FPI inflows.

Exchange Rate Volatility and Its Impact

Two sectors that are highly vulnerable to exchange rate volatility are trade and manufacturing and both have a combined contribution to GDP of 25.54%.5 Nigeria is an import dependent nation and this makes it highly vulnerable to exchange rate volatility.

As of Q1 2021, Nigeria’s total import bill was N6.85trn compared to N2.91trn in export earnings. Rising global prices coupled with the naira depreciation have made imported goods more expensive, resulting in a higher import bill for the government. This has also led to an increase in the cost of goods manufactured in the country as manufacturers pass on the cost burden to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The CBN’s forex rationing has pushed many a manufacturer to adopt a blended exchange rate to meet their forex needs. Also because of the forex shortages and the high cost of imported items, the trade sector has been affected as traders both retail and wholesale struggle to stock up on their inventory levels. As a result, many imported items are either scarce or very pricey when available.

Way Forward

There are two options the CBN could adopt in its forex reform path. One is a full convertibility of the naira and the other option, to adopt a crawling peg and gradual convergence of the multiple exchange rates.

nigerian banks MPC GDP CBN Goes Tough on Exporters Over Forex Non-Repatriation MPC
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele | www.brandspurng.com

Both options have their pros and cons. While a full convertibility of the naira will impact positively on the country’s trade balance which is in a deficit of N3.94trn7, Nigeria’s capacity utilization remains low. Countries that benefit from a full convertibility exchange rate have a high export base and can increase their exports to take advantage of the weaker currency.

Nigeria’s major (or only if we are being frank) export is oil. The unintended consequence of having a full convertibility currency is the sharp increase in external debt service costs due to the weaker currency. This would be exacerbated when global interest rates start to rise.

The other option of a crawling peg reduces the impact of a sharp spike on prices. However, this will encourage speculative activities and panic buying in the autonomous markets.

Not All Infrastructure Projects Are Worth Doing, Research Paper Finds

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Not All Infrastructure Projects Are Worth Doing, Research Paper Finds

  • Economists call for rigorous cost-benefit analysis before spending money on a project

  • Rather than building new lanes to ease traffic in an urban area, two economists suggest in a new paper that it might make sense to consider congestion pricing.

A new paper by a pair of economists says the gains from infrastructure spending aren’t always clear-cut and recommends that policymakers examine the costs and benefits of each project.

“If we are going to commit a significant amount of resources to new infrastructure projects or to maintain our existing infrastructure, bringing some discipline to the way we decide what we’re spending on is an important element of this,” said James Poterba, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who co-wrote the paper with Edward Glaeser of Harvard University.

The paper is set for publication Wednesday by the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, a division of the nonpartisan Aspen Institute. Mr. Poterba is a member of the group. Congress and the White House are now working on a bill that would include about $579 billion in new infrastructure spending.

Not All Infrastructure Projects Are Worth Doing, Research Paper Finds
Photo by Troy Mortier

The common way to determine the country’s infrastructure needs is to calculate how much it would cost to relieve congestion and to improve the roads, bridges, airports and transit systems that already exist. The economists’ approach instead looks at projects individually to assess whether they are needed.

In some cases, the authors write, the best solution doesn’t involve construction at all. Rather than building new lanes to ease traffic in a dense urban area, it might make sense to consider congestion pricing, which charges drivers a variable fee depending on the time of day, they write.

Mr. Poterba recommended a voucher or tax-rebate system for lower-income households to ensure they aren’t disproportionately hurt by the fees.

The cost of repairing an unsafe bridge in a remote area with very little traffic may exceed the benefits, they write. In that case, the most economically efficient solution might be to close or demolish it. It might also make more sense to link cities with rapid buses on dedicated lanes rather than build new rail lines. Satellite broadband or 5G network access might be a good alternative to laying fibre optic cables to provide high-speed internet access to rural areas, they write.

The paper suggests establishing an independent entity such as an infrastructure bank that would perform cost-benefit analyses on projects and that would fund only those where benefits exceed the costs. That would help keep political considerations out of the process, they write.

The studies would take into account a project’s financial costs as well as its impact on the environment, maintenance requirements and long-term economic impact.

But there are significant hurdles to cost-benefit analyses. It is often hard to estimate a project’s final cost because its design can change due to community opposition or environmental considerations.

Identifying the benefits of a project also is complicated, because measuring benefits depends on how much it will be used, which is difficult to predict in advance.

“You have to be careful you’re not being highballed with rosy projections about what the demand for utilization will be,” said Mr. Poterba.

Such cost-benefit analyses likely would recommend focusing more on maintaining existing infrastructure rather than new projects, they write. About 47% of highway spending now goes to maintenance, they find.

Officials sometimes prefer spending on new projects over maintenance because of a “ribbon-cutting bias,” Mr. Poterba said, “where you can point to the thing and say it wasn’t there before my time and now it’s there”.

The paper also expressed scepticism about public-private partnerships, in which a private entity finances the project in exchange for future revenue from tolls or other charges. Low-interest rates in recent years mean that governments can often borrow more cheaply than the private sector, they write.

“Some state and local governments may be attracted to these partnerships because they relieve current cash flow constraints,” the authors write. “But they may come at a price in terms of the long-term cost of infrastructure services”.

Violence: 2.3 million children going hungry in North-East Nigeria – Report

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Violence: 2.3 million children going hungry in North-East Nigeria – Report

A recent UN report found that 4.4 million people in the area are facing food shortages as attacks by militants are forcing farmers from their lands

August 5, 2021 – Save the Children is deeply concerned to find that an estimated 2.3 million children and youth, including some 700,000 children under five, are going hungry in North-East Nigeria.

A recent UN report found that 4.4 million people in the area are facing food shortages as attacks by militants are forcing farmers from their lands. Save the Children strongly condemns the reported attacks and displacement of farmers and other civilians.

Pandemic year marked by spike in world hunger Africa posts biggest jump Brandspurng
WFP/Grant Lee Neuenburg, Woman and her baby standing in front of a tent in a resettlement camp, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

An estimated 2.2 million people have fled their homes because of the violence, leaving families and children wanting food, a safe place to live and, for many children, education.

Shannon Ward, Acting Country Director, Save the Children International Nigeria, said:

“The situation is extremely dire. Millions of children have already been through a decade of suffering, violence and humanitarian crisis. Thousands and thousands have died, and many more saw their rights impacted to survive, learn and be protected.”

“The reported loss of livelihoods, land and crop coupled with the effects of COVID-19 is beyond something the community can bear. We are extremely worried that this will lead to an even bigger food crisis in the northeast of the country.”

“We call upon the Federal and State Governments to ensure that farmers are supported and protected, so they can work their lands, and feed their families and communities. And we call for safe access for humanitarian workers, so we can reach those most in need.”

“Children, girls and women are more vulnerable at times of attack and displacement. As a result of overcrowding, family separation, a lack of basic social services and desperate measures people take just to survive, such as marrying off their children, they run a high risk of gender-based violence, physical and sexual abuse. Many children will be urged to drop out of school, and some will never return – with their childhood dream fading away.”

The crisis in Nigeria comes at a time when the world is facing its biggest hunger crisis of the 21st century, with an estimated 5.7 million children under five on the brink of starvation across the globe. A further 13 million children under 18 are facing extreme food shortages, the organisation said.

Save the Children urges the authorities in Nigeria and the international community to commit more resources to address the massive critical needs of the displaced people in North-East Nigeria.

Save the Children was one of the first humanitarian organisations that responded to the humanitarian crisis in the area, reaching 1.2 million people since the start of the response. The organisation is providing food assistance and protection services to more than 320,000 children and families regularly.

Save the Children remains committed to working with the authorities to deliver urgent, life-saving humanitarian assistance for children and their families in need.

Messi To Leave FC Barcelona This Summer

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Messi To Leave FC Barcelona This Summer

Lionel Messi’s two-decade stay at FC Barcelona is over after “financial and structural obstacles” prevented him from signing a new deal, the LaLiga club announced.

Barcelona insists both they and Messi were willing to extend his stay, but claim LaLiga regulations have made that impossible.

A statement on the Catalan giants’ official website said: “In spite of FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi has reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen.

”This is because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations).

“As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona.”

The statement continued: “Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.

“FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandizement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.”

Messi had headed to the Nou Camp from his native Argentina, where he had learned his football with Newell’s Old Boys, as a 13-year-old in 2000.

He progressed swiftly through the club’s junior ranks before making his senior debut as a late substitute against Espanyol at the age of 17 in October 2004.

His contribution to the club since has been stellar, with his 778 appearances yielding a staggering 672 goals.

They have helped him to claim 10 league titles, four UEFA Champions League crowns and three FIFA Club World Cups among his haul of 35 trophies.

Messi had told Barca last summer he wanted to leave with his camp believing he was able to do so on a free transfer.

But he remained on board when it emerged he was in fact subject to a 700 million euros (828 million dollars) buy-out clause during the final year of his existing deal.

Fraud: How FCMB Staff, Others Swindled N1.6 Billion Belonging To Start Orient

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Fraud: How FCMB Staff, Others Swindled N1.6 Billion Belonging To Start Orient

Top staff of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and others are currently facing scrutiny over a fraud running into one billion and six hundred million naira. 

Multiple media stated that the fraud involves a staff of Star Orient Nigeria Limited.

The Police Intelligence Department at Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, unraveled how FCMB and another commercial bank reportedly carried out the deal which has led to the arrest of three senior management staff of the company, Star Orient Nigeria Limited, located at JUH12, Muritala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The company’s top management staff, who the Police indicted were Dare Osamo, 42, M, Olore Abisola, 30, F, and Hussaina Abdulkadir, 32, F and others now at large.

The Police alleged that the aforementioned staff forged Star Orient Nigeria’s Board Resolution meeting dated 15th December, 2015 and 31st July, 2018, to act upon as genuine, in order to deceive members of the public including CAC, FCMB and other banks in question connected with the withdrawal of the said money.

They claimed that Star Orient Nigeria Limited agreed in their Board Meeting that they wanted to buy and sell aviation products, which was false, and eventually withdrew the N1.6billion, which they diverted to their own use.

FCMB Staff, Others Swindle N1.6 Billion Belonging To Start Orient

This online news medium gathered that during the investigation, it was gathered that FCMB and the other banks were suspected to have approved the payments without verification of the authenticity of the documents, which the arrested staff of the company allegedly used to siphon the money from the banks

It was not confirmed if the Central Bank of Nigeria had taken any punitive steps against the management of FCMB and the other banks over their conduct, which Police sources described as deliberate negligence of duty.

However, the three top staff of Star Orient have been charged before the Ebute Metta Magistrates Court for conspiracy, forgery, obtaining money under false pretense and stealing.

They pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector Olatunde Kehinde, asked the Court to give a date for a hearing to enable the Police to prove that they actually committed the alleged offence.

The Presiding Chief Magistrate, Mrs. A.A. Oshoniyi, granted them bail and ordered their remand in custody pending when they will perfect their bail conditions.

The matter was adjourned till 16th August 2021, for mention.

Publicis Groupe And TikTok Partner To Help Brands Harness Power Of Community Commerce

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Publicis Groupe And TikTok Partner To Help Brands Harness Power Of Community Commerce

Publicis Groupe partners to help brands tap into emerging shopping trends on TikTok.

Publicis is the first global agency group to partner with TikTok to bring the power of commerce and education to brands and marketers; as TikTok’s founding commerce agency partner, brands will benefit from unique learning opportunities, insights, and strategic counsel centered around driving product discovery and purchase intent on the platform. Publicis clients will also test TikTok’s new commerce products, capabilities and creative solutions.

TikTok is home to a new kind of shopping culture — Community Commerce is the blend of community, entertainment, and shopping that makes product discovery so unique on TikTok. As we lead up to the holiday shopping season, brands have an opportunity to create an engaging experience on TikTok.

Publicis clients will be chosen to participate in TikTok’s first-ever “Community Commerce Sprint”, a bespoke incubator program that will prepare brands to create impactful commerce campaigns for TikTok ahead of the holidays.

Publicis Groupe And TikTok Partner To Help Brands Harness Power Of Community Commerce-Brand Spur Nigeria
Publicis Groupe And TikTok Partner To Help Brands Harness Power Of Community Commerce-Brand Spur Nigeria

Through this multi-week program, participants will receive access to cross-functional support and coaching on Community Commerce best practices from dedicated TikTok teams.

Shopping trends on TikTok are evolving every day, and we’re excited to partner with Publicis Groupe to better understand what inspires our community to share and purchase products they discover on TikTok. As a part of the partnership, Publicis clients will be seminal to fielding data-driven insights, supported by WARC research, and best practices to apply to their future commerce strategies.

“TikTok charged into the world of entertainment virtually overnight, but its role in evolving consumer shopping patterns, and creating instant groundswell, is what’s caught our attention. Incredible opportunities exist at the intersection of content and commerce, especially when endorsed with a sense of community and authenticity that grows organically on TikTok.

“We are thrilled to partner with TikTok to lead the charge in Community Commerce, bringing a unique suite of capabilities to Publicis clients around the globe.” – Helen Lin, Chief Digital Officer, Publicis Groupe

The TikTok community is reshaping the way we discover new products and shop. Just one example of Community Commerce in action is the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag, which showcases the products the community discovered on TikTok and has generated over 3.8B views to-date.

Countless brands have reaped the benefits of community-driven, organic trends on the platform like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt through real-time engagement and action; by partnering with Publicis Groupe, we’re diving deeper into what drives Community Commerce on TikTok and giving brands tools and resources to drive sales by proactively and intentionally engaging with our community.

“As we’ve seen time and time again, the TikTok community has an incomparable ability to make products go viral – and sell out – almost instantaneously. By partnering with a global force in commerce and media like Publicis Groupe, we’re co-creating resources for brands that will help them better understand and take advantage of the incredible momentum around commerce that’s been building on TikTok.” – Khartoon Weiss, Head of Global Agency and Accounts, TikTok

We’re thrilled to be kicking off this first-of-its-kind partnership with Publicis Groupe and are excited to see how brands utilize these new tools and resources to connect with the TikTok community.

Investors Record N65.82bn Loss, As NSEASI Dips By -0.32%

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Investors Record N65.82bn Loss, As NSEASI Dips By -0.32%

At the end of today’s trading session, the Nigerian Equities market closed in red as the benchmark index declined by 0.32% to close at 38,801.51 points.

This was mainly due to sell pressures in bellwether stocks such as ARDOVA (-6.25%) and GTCO (-1.23%). Consequently, the YTD loss worsened to -3.65% as market capitalisation decreased by  ₦64 billion to close at  ₦20.22 trillion.

The Sectoral Performance strengthened as three of the five indices under coverage improved. The Consumer Goods index, the biggest gainer, improved by 0.26% on DANGSUGAR (1.65%). The Insurance and Industrial indices followed suit, rising by 0.25% and 0.04% on CHIPLC (8.93%) and DANGCEM (0.04%) respectively. On the flip side, the Banking and Oil & Gas indices, the losers under coverage, declined by 0.30% and 0.04% on GTCO (-1.23%) and ARDOVA (-6.25%) respectively.

Investor sentiment strengthened in today’s trading session, as market breadth increased to 1.13x from 0.84x . This was illustrated by the advance of 18 stocks, led by  CONOIL (10.00%) and CHIPLC (8.93%), and the decline of 16 stocks, led by ARDOVA (-6.25%) and VERITASKAP (-4.00%).

Activity level was mixed as total volume declined by 32.24% while the total value increased by 31.67% as investors exchanged about 139.78 million units of shares worth over N1.41 billion respectively.

Fixed Income

There was mixed activity across the bond yield curve as two of the four bond yields under coverage closed flat while the yields on FGN-APR-2024 and FGN-JAN-2026 bonds compressed by 1bps and 9bps respectively. The FGN-APR-2023 and FGN-JUL-2030 bond yields closed flat at 10.18% and 12.42% respectively.

Treasury bill yields for the 90, 180 and 365-day papers compressed by 3bps, 20bps and 12bps to close at 3.66%, 5.56% and 8.48% respectively.

We expect investor sentiment to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the fixed income space.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

  • Bearish Performance in the Local Bourse, NSE ASI Shed 32bps
  • Mixed Activity across the Bond Yield Curve
  • Bullish Performance in Global Stocks
  • Parallel Market Reports at N508/$
  • Mixed Sentiment in African Stocks

GCR Assigns BBB-/A3 Ratings To Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited

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GCR Assigns BBB-/A3 Ratings To Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited

GCR Ratings (GCR) has assigned Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited’s national scale long and short-term issuer ratings of BBB-(NG) and A3(NG) respectively, with a Stable Outlook.

Rating history – Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited

Rating class
 Review
 Rating scale
 Rating
 Outlook
 Date
Long Term issuer Initial/last National BBB-(NG) Stable August 2021
Short Term issuer National A3(NG) August 2021

Rating rationale

The ratings assigned to Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited (“Greenwich MB” or “the bank”) balance its nascent banking operations of less than a year, limited operational scale, strong capitalisation, robust liquidity and sound risk position.

Greenwich MB is a new entrant in the Nigerian merchant banking space, evolving from an investment banking led franchise (under its former name Greenwich Trust Limited) with over 27 years track record. Leveraging existing relationships, strategic alliances, and somewhat diverse product offerings by its subsidiaries (asset manager and stockbroking) and affiliated entities, the bank envisages accelerated operational expansion over the short to medium term.

However, Greenwich MB’s competitive position is currently constrained by its limited operational scale and very small customer base, as evidenced by the elevated concentration risk by both the loan portfolio and deposit book. Management & Governance is a neutral rating factor as it is in line with best practice.

Capitalization is considered strong, with GCR computed capital ratio registered at a robust 151% as of 30 June 2021 (FY20: 185%), reflective of its nascent banking operations and moderate loan exposures to date. Over the next 12-18 months, we expect Greenwich MB’s capitalization metrics to be weighed down (albeit to remain at a sound level) by its operational expansion drive and accelerated loan book growth, as well as the consequential increase in risk-weighted assets (“RWA”). Nonetheless, we expect the core capital ratio to remain within a strong range of above 35% over the rating horizon.

Also, increased value proposition and lending activities are expected to further support internal capital generation, albeit at a relatively slower pace vis-à-vis the anticipated RWA growth.

Risk position is sound and well contained, evidenced by the nil non-performing loan (“NPL”) as of 30 June 2021. This position largely rides on the back of Greenwich MB’s relatively short track record, with the most part of the loan book yet to reach maturity. Reflective of its small customer base, concentration by obligor is high, with just four obligors making up the loan portfolio as of 30 June 2021.

We anticipate a more diversified loan book over the short to medium term as the bank continues to expand its lending activities. Conversely, foreign currency (“FCY”) risk is considered minimal, as the FCY loan portfolio is still evolving following the recent regulatory FX license approval. That said, the bank expects to mitigate FX risk through cautious FX exposure to only obligors with FX receivables.

Greenwich MB’s funding and liquidity is robust and considered appropriate for its current operational scale. As of 30 June 2021, the bank was predominantly funded by equity and customer deposits, constituting 84.6% and 15.4% of the funding base respectively. Although the deposit book remained moderate at N4.9bn as of 30 June 2021, management expects to improve deposit mobilization through leveraging the digital platform, strategic alliances with fintechs, and increase the value proposition to customers. Expectedly, concentration by depositors is considered high, with the twenty largest depositors constituting 96.6% of the deposit book as of 30 June 2021.

Outlook statement

The stable outlook reflects GCR’s expectation that Greenwich MB would successfully implement its outlined strategic initiatives and expand operational scale over the short to medium term. We believe capitalization metrics would be sustained at strong levels, albeit the outpacing growth in RWA vis-à-vis internal capital generation could weigh down capitalization assessment somewhat.

Asset quality metrics are expected to remain sound over the rating horizon on the back of the bank’s cautious lending approach and stringent credit approval process. Liquidity is expected to remain at robust levels, despite the loan book growth.

Nielsen Readies Next-Gen Wearable Metering Technologies And Devices For National, Local And Audio Measurement

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Nielsen Readies Next-Gen Wearable Metering Technologies And Devices For National, Local And Audio Measurement

Nielsen has announced that starting in September 2021, it will begin placing approximately 3,000 new Portable People Meter (PPM) Wearables in a subset of its nearly 60,000 active PPM panelists.

The deployment of PPM wearable devices and technologies is part of Nielsen’s continued efforts to modernize its panels and improve the panelist experience, drive broader adoption among existing and new panelists and increase engagement among more challenging demographics.

The new PPM Wearable comes in a variety of ways to wear including wristbands, clips, and pendants.

The PPM is currently used to underpin Audio, Local TV, and National audience measurement. It is used to measure both in-home and out-of-home tuning for Audio and Local TV and out-of-home tuning for Nielsen’s National TV estimates. The next-gen wearable PPM metering will serve as foundational support for Nielsen ONE, a cross-media solution that will deliver a single, deduplicated metric for total media consumption across TV, Digital and Audio.

PPM Wearables feature an updated design that is smaller and more aligned with current wearable technology trends. The new PPM Wearable comes in a variety of ways to wear including wristbands, clips and pendants, which are more appealing among demographics that typically have lower compliance. In addition, a new companion app will help improve communication, encourage participation and enable data transmission when the device is outside the home. The companion app will also allow Nielsen to add new features and capabilities and adapt more seamlessly to new data and technology trends.

“By modernizing our panels with the PPM Wearable, we are not only improving the overall panelist experience and increasing engagement, but also ensuring our measurement is durable and can adapt to evolving technology changes,” said Mainak Mazumdar, Nielsen’s Chief Research and Data Officer. “This is another example of how Nielsen is continuing to innovate in our march towards Nielsen ONE in order to create a better media future for the entire industry.”

Nielsen plans to share top line findings in Q2 2022 of this subset of panelists phase, with the full rollout of PPM Wearables in new panel households planned for the second half of 2022. PPM Wearables have been through a series of rigorous tests and the system has performed very well in each phase. These tests included lab, focus groups, and dual-carry testing that measure how the wearables detect codes versus the current PPM among the same panelists.

PPM Wearables are part of Nielsen’s ongoing commitment to innovation that enhances the quality of our panels and makes cross-platform measurement a reality in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

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