Dangote Cement Completes Issuance Of N50Billion Bonds

Esan Bolaji
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Dangote Cement Completes Issuance Of N50Billion Bonds

Dangote Cement Plc, Africa’s largest cement producer, announces the successful issuance of N50 billion Series 1 Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Bonds under the company’s new NGN300 billion Multi-Instrument Issuance Programme. The bonds were issued on May 26 2021 at coupon rates of 11.25%, 12.50% and 13.50% for the 3, 5 and 7-year tranches respectively.

Despite market headwinds, the bond issuance was well received and recorded participation from a wide range of investors including domestic pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies and high net-worth investors.

Dangote Cement truck drivers protest alleged mistreatmentDangote Cement truck drivers protest alleged mistreatment Brandspurng

The proceeds of the bond issuance will be deployed for the company’s expansion projects, short-term debt refinancing and working capital requirements. Aside from this first issuance of a traditional bond under the new Multi-Instruments Programme, Dangote Cement has registered a programme enabling it to consider different types of fixed income instruments to cater for different type of investors.

The ability to issue Green Bonds and Sukuk will enable the company to leverage the depth and breadth of the Nigerian market.

Commenting on the bond issuance, Michel Puchercos, Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement Plc. stated:

“This bond issuance allows us to move a step further in achieving our expansion objectives and will be deployed to projects instrumental in supporting our export strategy while improving our cost competitiveness. We thank the investor community for their continued support in the management of Dangote Cement and their successful participation in the bond issuance.”

Absa Capital Markets Nigeria acted as Lead Issuing House for the Series 1 Bonds, and Stanbic IBTC Capital, Standard Chartered Capital & Advisory Nigeria Limited, United Capital Plc, FBN Quest Merchant Bank, FCMB Capital Markets, Coronation Merchant Bank, Ecobank Development Corporation Nigeria, Futureview Financial Services, Meristem Capital Limited, Rand Merchant Bank, Quantum Zenith Capital and Vetiva Capital Management acted as Joint Issuing Houses.

The Bonds will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and FMDQ Securities Exchange.

Dangote Cement Plc is Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer with an installed capacity of 48.6Mta capacity across 10 African countries. We operate a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities covering manufacturing, sales and distribution of cement. We have a production capacity of 32.3Mta in our home market, Nigeria.

Arla builds dairy farm in Nigeria to support local milk production

Esan Bolaji
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Arla builds dairy farm in Nigeria to support local milk production

Farmer-owned dairy co-operative Arla Foods will build a state-of-the-art commercial dairy farm in Northern Nigeria where it will also train and support up to 1,000 local dairy farmers as part of its long term commitment to public-private partnerships that support the development of the Nigerian dairy sector as part of the country’s efforts to increase local food production.

Located in Kaduna State, the 200-hectare farm, scheduled to open in 2022, will have housing for 400 dairy cows, modern milking parlours and technology, grasslands and living facilities for 25 employees. The facilities and expertise provided by Arla will ensure a first-class opportunity to train local dairy farmers to improve milk yields and quality, animal welfare and farm profitability, contributing to the country’s aims to develop local milk production.

Arla
3D image of Kaduna farm cow shed | Brand Spur Nigeria

In addition to providing training and support, the farm will also showcase modern commercial farming in Nigeria. Over time, the farm is expected to produce over 10 tonnes of milk per day which will be processed by Arla’s dairy plant in Kaduna State, to supply locally produced dairy products to Nigerian consumers.

Growing demand for dairy

Nigeria is among the fastest-growing nations in the world. Its population is set to reach close to 400 million people by 2050 and there is already growing consumer demand for affordable dairy nutrition in the country. The Nigerian dairy sector is, however, currently only able to supply less than 10 per cent of the country’s demand for dairy products, a gap that is expected to grow in line with the growth of its population.

“There is a great need for nutritious food and dairy products to satisfy the growing demand from Nigeria’s fast-growing population. This requires a complementary approach where imported food is crucial to ensure food security while also supporting the government’s long-term agricultural transformation plan to build a sustainable dairy sector in Nigeria. Our new dairy farm is our next step in our commitment to Nigeria,” says Executive Vice President and Head of Arla Foods International Simon Stevens.

Arla’s long-term commitment to Nigeria

Since 2017, Arla has been the lead business partner in a partnership to develop a sustainable dairy value chain in Nigeria together with The Danish Agricultural and Food Council, Danish Agricultural Knowledge Center Seges, Care Denmark, the Nigerian pastoralist organization CORET, and the dairy farm cooperative MILCOPAL. The Milky Way Partnership programme is supported by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Arla Dano World Milk Day 2019 milk consumption brandspur nigeria5

In 2019 Arla scaled up its commitment to developing a sustainable dairy sector in Nigeria with a new public-private partnership with the Kaduna State government. It is the first of its size and offers 1,000 nomadic dairy farmers permanent farmlands. Arla is the commercial partner that will purchase, collect, process and bring the local milk to market.

More recently, last year, working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through ALDDN (Advanced Local Dairy Development Nigeria) with SAHEL Consulting, Arla is also helping to support more than 600 small scale households to create better livelihoods by developing a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable dairy market in West Africa.

Arla Foods Chairman, Jan Toft Nørgaard says:

“I am very proud of our collaborations to support the sustainable development of the Nigerian dairy sector and excited about what our new state-of-the-art farm will achieve. To collaborate with farmers in many parts of the world, sharing knowledge and supporting local dairy industries is a key part of our cooperative mindset and our farm in Nigeria is the next important step.

When it is built, we can support local dairy farmers to create better livelihoods and it is a key enabler to growing dairy and food production on a local scale.”

The dairy farm will be led by Arla’s farm management expert Snorri Sigurdsson, who will also head up the training agenda.

Nigeria Commemorates 2021 World Blood Donor Day, Targets Voluntary Donations

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Nigeria Commemorates 2021 World Blood Donor Day, Targets Voluntary Donations

In commemoration of the 2021 World Blood Donor Day Nigerians are encouraged to become voluntary non-remunerated blood donors, as data indicate that less than 5% of all blood donations in Nigeria come from voluntary unpaid donors.

Speaking at a press briefing to mark 2021 World Blood Donor Day in Abuja, with the theme, “Give blood and keep the world-beating”, Nigeria’s Minister of Health highlighted the essential contribution that voluntary unpaid blood donation makes, to keep the world pulsating by saving more lives and improving others’ health.

The representative of the Minister, Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe said voluntary blood donation is very important towards achieving adequate supply of blood and blood products to meet the increasing demand for safe blood and blood products, which have been on the increase due to the rise in global emergencies.

Dr Onwudiwe added that adequate blood supply and blood products will substantially reduce the mortality associated with life-threatening diseases, trauma cases from victims of road accidents, causalities of bomb blasts, anaemia in children, bleeding in pregnancy and childbirth women, victims of insurgency, conflict, and tragic building collapses.

About World Blood Donor Day

Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day. The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.

The highlight of the media engagement was the recognition and award given to the two highest voluntary non-remunerated male and female donors by the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTC). The highest Nigerian male donor, Nathan Akpan, has donated 67 times, while his female counterpart, Barrister Hajara S, has donated 32 times.

In his remark during the Press briefing, Mr Omotayo Hamzat of WHO Nigeria said it has become necessary to raise awareness on the need to give blood because, over the past year, bloodstock decreased in the African Region as COVID-19 pandemic affected movement and fear of infection hindered people from accessing donation sites.

Mr Hamzat who spoke on behalf of the WHO Country Representative in Nigeria acknowledged the effort of NBTS, the National Orientation Agency, the Road Safety Corps and other development partners in their drive to ensure the availability of blood in Nigeria, especially during the pandemic. He said WHO has been supporting NBTS to develop a robust system for blood safety reporting.

“Currently, the report indicated that a total of 158,378 voluntary non remunerated blood donation were screened between January 2018 and May 2021 from federal institutions reporting in the database. WHO and NBTS also developed and rolled out a ten-year strategic plan to ensure an increase in the number of voluntary unpaid donor donations to meet the rising need for safe blood and blood products across the country, he added.

Meanwhile, the President, NMA, Prof. Innocent Ujah called for extensive collaboration between the NBTS, the medical health association and other health workers association to enable the country to achieve its desired aim of improving blood donation in the country.

The 2021 edition of WBDD in Nigeria as commemorated with a Road Walk and other community engagement activities which had participation of the Nigeria Medical Association, The Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Youth Services Corps, Nigeria Red Cross Society, Civil Societies Organization and the media.

AfDB Approves $1.4M Grant To Improve Household Food Security In Zambia

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AfDB Approves $1.4M Grant To Improve Household Food Security In Zambia

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $1.4 million grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program to reduce malnutrition among the Southern African nation’s most vulnerable households.

The Mitigating Impacts of Covid-19 on Household Food Security Project will create about 150 permanent skilled or semi-skilled positions and 40 part-time unskilled jobs in crop, livestock and fisheries value chains.

The project will supply inputs for crops, livestock, and aquaculture enterprises to promote good agricultural practices and increase food production. There will also be a capacity-building component.

“The agriculture sector is an important source of livelihoods, employment and GDP in Zambia. Increased food supply resulting from additional grant funds will lead to more jobs, improved quality of life, and reduction of malnutrition in many impacted communities,” said Martin Fregene, African Development Bank Director of Agriculture and Agro-industry.

The project provides supplementary funds to the ongoing Agriculture Productivity and Market Enhancement Project, a $32 million grant-funded initiative also from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, which has been managed by the Bank in the Sinazongwe, Gwembe, Chongwe, Rufunsa, Serenje and Chitambo districts of Zambia over the past five years.

Global Agriculture and Food Security Program administrators said the six districts were selected based on poverty levels, food insecurity and malnutrition prevalence. However, with this funding and program, these districts have the potential for economic growth, and to promote crop diversification. Some 5,000 people, including 3,750 women and 1,000 youth, will benefit. Some 5,000 people will also benefit indirectly along the commodity value chains.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Zambia has implemented bold measures to protect the health and economic well-being of its citizens. These steps included a nationwide program to scale up agricultural diversification. The Bank’s Covid-19 Response Facility launched in 2020 has been a lifeline to member governments by providing resources to tackle the pandemic.

“The facility will consolidate the Bank’s support for Zambia’s economic diversification and impact mitigation against Covid-19,” said Mary Monyau, the Bank’s Country Manager in Zambia.

The Zambian project is in line with the Bank’s High 5 strategic priorities, specifically, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. Similar Bank projects have been successfully undertaken in Malawi, Niger, Liberia, Senegal and the Gambia.

The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program was established as a response to the 2008/09 world food price crisis, following a commitment by the Group of 8 nations (G8) in September 2009 to mobilize up to $20 billion for agricultural development and food security. The World Bank supervises about half of the project portfolio of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. The African Development Bank managed about a quarter in December 2019, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, 11%.

#BBNaijaReunion: Big Brother Naija Lockdown Reunion Show Premieres Tonight

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#BBNaijaReunion: Big Brother Naija Lockdown Reunion Show Premieres Tonight

The moment you have all been waiting from is finally here! BBNaija fans from across the African continent can finally see their favourite lockdown housemates’ set things straight on the BBNaija Reunion Show: Lockdown Edition, which premieres Thursday, 17 June on Africa Magic Urban (DStv channel 153) at 10 pm and Africa Magic Family (DStv channel 154 & GOtv channel 2) at 10:30 pm, Mondays to Fridays.

Fans of the BBNaija reality TV show get the chance to look back at all the incredible moments from the Lockdown season, especially the fiery moments amongst the ex-housemates. Let’s not forget the heated and lovey-dovey relationships in the house. Are the ships still sailing?

BBNaija host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu will get down to the nitty-gritty with his controversial questions, which we love! This is certainly a reunion you do not want to miss.

The Lockdown reunion will be available to customers on DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Confam, Yanga, and GOtv Max and Plus packages.

Icons, Elites, Ozone, Explora, Royal Army and other dedicated fan clubs, to not miss a moment of the drama, visit www.dstvafrica.com or www.gotvafrica.com and download MyDStv or MyGOtv Apps from your Google or App store to subscribe or switch your package.

For more information, please visit the BBNaija page on the Africa Magic Website and follow the Big Brother Naija social media fan pages on Instagram: @bigbronaija and Facebook: @BigBrotherNaija.

The headline sponsor of Big Brother Naija season 6 is Abeg and the associate sponsor is Patricia.

World Rugby Launches ‘This Is How We Sevens’ Campaign Ahead Of Olympics

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World Rugby Launches ‘This Is How We Sevens’ Campaign Ahead Of Olympics

World Rugby has launched a major new rugby sevens campaign “This Is How We Sevens” as excitement builds towards the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which kicks off in under 50 days.

The World Rugby campaign aims to showcase the vibrancy, excitement, and breadth of personalities involved across rugby sevens, supporting World Rugby’s core objective of maximizing the Olympic exposure to attract and engage fans from across the globe with the sport.

Click HERE to watch The World Rugby Campaign Launch

A bold and dynamic look and feel, brought to life in the campaign launch video, combined with a suite of new content strands will help bring rugby sevens to fans both existing and new across a seven-week period.

In-depth storytelling will be at the forefront of the approach with a sevens-specific “Open Side” interview series, featuring the likes of rugby sevens superstars Carlin Isles, Dan Norton and Celia Quansah.

The ever-popular Ultimate Rugby Challenge Series will also take on a sevens flavour with a number of skills-based challenges pushing teams right to their limits. Newer fans to the sport will be able to learn the ins and outs of sevens with our “Freshman Fan” series on World Rugby’s Tik Tok channel.

Despite the disruptions brought about by COVID-19, fans will still get a sneak peek into the hard work going on behind the scenes with some of the top teams, with footage from USA Women’s training camp in California and an all-access pass to Argentina men’s preparations in Buenos Aires.

Fans can follow the campaign across all World Rugby’s social platforms using #HowWeSevens

Meanwhile, on the pitch, the final two women’s and one men’s teams qualification spots for Tokyo will be determined at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco from 18-20 June. Fans can watch the action live on World Rugby’s website, YouTube and Facebook platforms.

Watch The World Rugby Seven Repechage News HERE

To ensure the teams are as best prepared as possible for the Olympic Games, and thanks to support received from the International Olympic Committee, World Rugby is investing US$4 million into Olympic qualified unions’ sevens programmes and towards the costs of hosting a number of high-performance preparation events around the globe.

Australia and Fiji are reigning women’s and men’s Olympic champions respectively following their victories in Rio, and the competition for medals has never been closer with the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series showcasing in recent years that a wide number of teams are capable of reaching the medal podium, including the hosts Japan whose men’s team finished fourth at the Rio 2016 Games and were champions of the inaugural HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in 2020 before the onset of the pandemic.

The inclusion of rugby sevens for the first time at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 had a profound effect on the sport, attracting an estimated 30 million new fans globally and rugby sevens is expected to be one of the most highly anticipated events of the Tokyo Games, following the outstanding success of Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, which captured the nation’s imagination with record-breaking broadcast audiences and huge numbers of new rugby fans across Japan and Asia.

The men’s competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on the 29-31 July with the gold medal match happening on ‘Super Saturday’. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which was the venue for the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.

IFAD Calls For Digital Infrastructure To Tackle Poverty In Rural Areas

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IFAD Calls For Digital Infrastructure To Tackle Poverty In Rural Areas

…Makes Urgent Call On International Day of Family Remittances

Despite a massive increase in migrants sending money home via digital transfers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of their rural family members struggle to access mobile banking services which could help lift them out of poverty.

The President of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today called for urgent investments in digital infrastructure and mobile services in developing countries to ensure rural families are not left behind.

“Migrants have shown their continued commitment to their families and communities during the pandemic with more remittances transfers made digitally than ever before,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD, speaking on the International Day of Family Remittances.

“Unfortunately, families in rural and remote areas – where remittances are a true lifeline – battle to access cash outlets or even more convenient alternatives such as mobile money accounts. Governments and the private sector need to urgently invest in rural digital infrastructure to address this.”

Mobile remittances increased by 65 per cent last year, rising to US$12.7 billion. This change was driven by a switch from cash due to lockdowns that limited informal channels and social distancing rules for senders and recipients alike. In spite of the global economic recession due to the pandemic, migrants continued to send money home to their families, with remittances in 2020 reaching $540 billion – a drop of only 1.6 per cent compared to the previous year.

However, in many countries, people living in remote rural areas have sparse local access to banking services or limited mobile connectivity. In addition, there is a limited availability of agents offering mobile money services such as pay outs in cash. Often mobile money service providers are only located in urban centres. This means millions of poor, rural people have to travel long distances to towns or cities, often at significant cost, to receive the cash sent digitally by their migrant family members.

Digital transfers are cheaper than traditional cash transfers, and mobile banking services also provide the opportunity for migrants and their families in their countries of origin to access useful and affordable financial products to better manage their finances, including savings, loans and insurance.

Across the globe, 200 million migrants regularly send money to their 800 million relatives. This plays a crucial role in their lives and livelihoods. Almost half of these families live in rural areas of developing countries, where poverty and hunger are highest. Families use the funds sent by migrant workers to cover basic household needs such as food, housing, school and medical bills, as well as to start small businesses. These resources can often transform both families and local communities.

“While the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital transfers and mobile money accounts, it also highlighted pervasive gender inequality,” said Pedro de Vasconcelos, the head of IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances.

“Research shows that women are 33 per cent less likely than men to have a mobile money account. We must focus on closing the gap by addressing the barriers that prevent women from accessing and using mobile financial services.”

Since March 2020, IFAD has led a global Remittances Community Task Force comprised of 41 international organizations, inter-governmental bodies, industry and private sector groups, and networks of diaspora organizations to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the one billion people directly involved in remittances.

Of their numerous recommendations to the public and private sectors, the Task Force developed concrete measures to stimulate digitalization in the remittance market in an effort to spur recovery and the resilience of migrants’ families around the world. In line with these measures, IFAD is currently financing private sector mobile solutions that will benefit over one million people in West Africa alone.

Hyundai Unveils All-New, More Powerful CRETA SUV

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Hyundai Unveils All-New, More Powerful CRETA SUV

Hyundai Motors Nigeria Limited has launched its all-new Creta vehicle in Nigeria with a redesigned SUV model. The company said the second-generation Creta had been transformed into the ultimate sub-compact SUV for any terrain.

The Head of Sales and Marketing, Mr Gaurav Vashisht, at the launch in Lagos, said, “The latest and fresh-look SUV stands out on the road with enhanced improvements to both exterior and interior.

Hyundai

“The car is bigger in size and boasts state-of-the-art technology, the Creta offers a premium experience with more space, comfort and convenience features.” He described the new SUV as a tremendous improvement on the success of the first model.

He said, “The fresh-look Creta is more spacious, boasts improved features and utilises state-of-the-art technologies to meet the complete needs of working professionals, young peer group and families.”

According to the sales head, central to Hyundai’s vision of delivering a superior experience is performance and the Creta is installed with highly evolved powertrain engines, bringing incredible power and cleaner emissions.

“The all-new Creta comes with a choice of three engines. The Smart stream G1.5 (maximum power of 115ps/6,300rpm and maximum torque of 14.7kgf.m/4,500rpm) and the Kappa 1.4T-GDI (140ps/6,000rpm and 24.7kgf.m/1,500-3,200rpm) are both gasoline engines, providing better fuel economy on the roads.

“The 2021 Creta offers the diesel U2 1.5 VGT engine, which has a maximum power of 115ps/4,000rpm and a maximum torque of 25.5kgf.m/1,500-2,750rpm.”

While responding to questions from journalists, Vashisht said the design for the car was launched in 2020 and produced in 2021. He also said that the company was in talks with one of the commercial banks in the country on an easy payment structure for interested buyers.

Manliki Joins Schneider Electric As Marketing Communications & Digital Lead

Esan Bolaji
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Manliki Joins Schneider Electric As Marketing Communications & Digital Lead

Arafat O. Manliki, former digital marketing manager at MTN has ended his 14-year career journey to resume his new position as the marketing communications & digital leader, West Africa, at Schneider Electric, a global multinational company that provides energy management and digital automation solutions for efficiency and sustainability.

With over 15 years of cognate experience in marketing communications strategy, brand management, digital marketing & transformation, growth hacking, PR, and stakeholder engagement, Manliki who is also a co-founder of ROUTE-28, a hybrid mobile content production hot shop and acceleration hub, has a history of leading company-wide projects and high-impact teams across functions.

Schneider Electric
Arafat O. Manliki | Brand Spur

Leveraging the experiences he has garnered over the years, Manliki has worked extensively as a brand, digital marketing, and media planning specialist across various portfolios.

Prior to his new appointment, amongst other roles, he was tasked with building and executing digital marketing strategies for MTN to meet both commercial and brand objectives.

Also, he design, build and manage the corporate website and all portals [web & mobile]; advise and manage the annual digital marketing budget; design, implement and measure online marketing initiatives; lead and direct the digital creative team in the production of all digital marketing creative collateral.

As a highly-skilled professional, Manliki has a demonstrated ability to translate corporate strategy into actionable marketing plans that deliver on commercial growth, brand equity, and market share targets, particularly in competitive emerging markets where speed to market and brand penetration are key success factors.

Orange and Schneider Electric Run Industrial 5G trials in French Factory

Manliki is a member of the CIM “MCIM”, a member of the NIMN and APCON.

He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Advanced AI and Automation from the Nexford University; a Certificate in Disruptive Strategy from Harvard Business School, a Mini MBA in Digital Marketing from Rutgers Business School New Jersey, and a Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK.

Bitcoin and Nigeria

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Bitcoin and Nigeria

Bitcoin is the most commonly traded cryptocurrency in the world, accounting for about 60% of the global cryptocurrency market. It is created as a reward for a process known as mining, which uses software that requires solving cryptographic problems and which in turn creates and stores records of transactions on a public digital ledger called the blockchain.

From Q4 2016 to Q3 2020 the number of users rose by 324%, becoming a social and economic phenomenon that has created big winners and losers as its popularity has grown among retail and institutional investors. There were 191 million accounts as of Q3 2020.

Bitcoin and Nigeria

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is worth US$681.8billion in market capitalisation, which is more than seven times the size of the NGX-ASI (US$95.31bn). However, the decentralised nature of cryptocurrencies skews them towards high volatility.

In addition, the anonymity of cryptocurrencies exposes them to use for money laundering, fraud and even financing of terrorism. This has led the Central Bank of Nigeria to ban banks from dealing in cryptocurrency-related transactions and to close the accounts of individuals or entities dealing in cryptocurrencies.

Data from recent months after the ban showed that, despite regulators’ attempts to dampen demand, Nigerians moved to peer-to-peer transactions in which bitcoin can be transferred directly from seller to buyer, bypassing the need for a registered financial intermediary.

Other emerging market regulators, like the People’s Bank of China, have followed the CBN is trying to curtail demand for cryptocurrencies and have reminded financial institutions that they should not conduct business in cryptocurrencies.

The People’s Bank of China is test-running its cryptocurrency, the digital Yuan. Turkey has also banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Other countries implementing regulatory prohibitions include Egypt, Pakistan, Argentina, India and Bangladesh.

All these raise questions about the tolerance of global central banks for private cryptocurrencies within their jurisdictions as many have plans to develop, or are already developing, their own cryptocurrencies.

What makes Bitcoin so volatile? The value of Bitcoin has taken wild swings based on tweets or comments from powerful individuals. For instance, in recent months, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, played a critical role in influencing its value.

Last month he released a statement stating that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin for payments due to the adverse effects on the environment of the large amounts of energy it takes to mine it. By recent estimates, it has dwarfed the energy usage of some small European countries.

However, in a recent tweet, Elon Musk has said that if the energy issues improve, he would consider accepting it as a means of payment for Tesla. This tweet led to a 9.08% jump to $39,035.47 in Bitcoin’s price from the day before to the time he made this tweet.

Bitcoin and Nigeria

Last week, El Salvador took a bold decision and laid out plans to make Bitcoin legal tender. A new bill mandates all businesses to accept bitcoin for goods and services. The primarily cash-based country is one of the poorest in Latin America, with remittances making up 24% of GDP amid low levels of financial inclusion.

As of 8 June, Bitcoin’s value had fallen by 47.11% from a year-high of US$63,346 per coin. To keep bitcoin scarce and help maintain its value, the number of bitcoins that can be mined is capped at 21 million. To date, almost 19 million bitcoins have been mined.

Bitcoin and Nigeria

The arguments for and against Bitcoin continue as, in technical terms, we gradually move towards mining the last Bitcoin. Its potential as a currency presented by its proponents is still debatable, and its high volatility puts it in the highly speculative category of asset classes.

Narrowing it down to Nigeria, Bitcoin’s popularity witnessed massive growth as the country grappled with the Covid-19-induced recession in 2020 and while the Naira was afflicted by inflation.

As a result, some Nigerian retail investors saw Bitcoin as a means to make quick returns (compared with traditional investments) and a hedge against inflation and Naira devaluation. According to figures from two cryptocurrency online trading platforms, Paxful and Localbitcoins, monthly average trades of Bitcoin (combined) reached US$24.6 million.

These data suggest that Nigeria is the country with the most Bitcoin trades in Africa and number three in the world (after the US and Russia).

Bitcoin and Nigeria

Cryptocurrency poses numerous opportunities for Nigeria and this article aims to show that there may be untapped capital from certain retail investors. The data from the number of trading volume has revealed that Nigerian retail investors are willing to take on risky assets as long as there are promising returns and the market is liquid.

We also wish to show that the flow of remittances can be aided significantly through Bitcoin as it erases the need for middlemen in carrying out transactions. Data shows that it is expensive to remit funds through Money Transfer Organizations.

Finally, it can be argued that it boosts digital financial inclusion. We hope that these features will characterise the cryptocurrencies currently being created by central banks.

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