To recap the major events that have impact on local businesses in Nigeria, here are some ‘brew’ from Monday 20th to Friday 24th, 2020:
- Nigeria set to receive $1.1 billion loan to fund agric projects – Nigeria will be offered a loan package to the tune of $1.1 billion to boost agriculture and enhance its food value chain. Aided by the Brazilian government the loan will be provided by the combine effort of Deutsche Bank, BNDES and the Islamic Development Bank @ 3% interest rate for the next 15 years. While the fund will facilitate the mechanisation of the nation’s agric-base, it moves her closer to food sufficiency. It is good time for farmers allied with FG.
- Amazon comes under the spotlight for sale of counterfeit online – As the US and China reached an agreement to tackle sale of counterfeits, Amazon has been implicated. The largest e-commerce platform is being monitored by the US Department of Homeland Security to “combat the prevalence of counterfeit or pirated goods”. The authority will impose fines and penalties against any one selling counterfeit goods online. This is in keeping with its own part of the agreement with China to help combat counterfeiting and intellectual theft, of which China in particular is known for. Hence, as the e-commerce boom reaches Nigeria, local authority will be paying attention to this new development.
- GTBank crashes payday loan interest rate to 1.5% – GTBank seeks to dominate the credit market with latest reduction in its interest rate. The bank crashes its payday loan interest rate from 5% to 1.5%, the lowest in the industry so far. While Fintech and Micro-finance bank offer as low as 2.8%, the move by GTBank will stimulate competition that will lead to faster and more affordable loan facility for short time borrowers.
- African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) offers 2-year $500 million support to creative sector – To raise the standard of infrastructure for African entrepreneurs to flourish, Afreximbank, has proposed a $500 million support for players in the music, literature, arts, film, and theatre segments of the creative industry. This is to help drive massive commercialisation and monetisation of the products and ideas emanating from African creative talents.
- CBN’s 2020 loan schemes receiving applications – In an aggressive bid to quickly diversify the economy, the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is putting in place support networks that will serve as incentives to drive entrepreneurship in the country. The CBN collateral-free loan application for 2020 is one of such support networks and incentives. To the tune of N10 million, the Agric Small and Medium Enterprise Scheme (AGSMEIS) allows entrepreneurs to take loans without collateral but at 5% interest per annum.
To learn more about the scheme visit https://www.cbn.gov.ng/out/2017/dfd/guidelines%20on%20agsmeis.pdf
To apply through Union Bank click https://www.unionbankng.com/forms/agsmeis-fund/
- UK to inject 320 Pounds into Africa to aid businesses – United Kingdom’s support agency, UKAID, is plowing 320 million Pounds into not less than 9 Financial Sector Deepening Programmes (FSDs) in select African countries, including Nigeria, to help nourish micro businesses, the youth and other enterprises. The announcement was made during the UK-Africa Summit holding in London.
- Mobile spend to hit $380 billion in 2020 with implications for businesses – As consumers reportedly averaged 3hrs 40minutes on their mobile devices in 2019, 35% more than recorded in 2018, this year is expected to be higher. Consequently, global analytics firm, Annie App, estimated that consumer and ad spend on mobile devices in 2020 will rise to $380 billion. The implication for companies with mobile focus is huge. The analytics firm already portrayed mobile-focused companies as having higher valuation than firms relying on brick and mortar. Citing Uber, Amazon and Alibaba, e-commerce based companies are expanding at a higher rate than the rest.
Thank you for reading. See you again next week.
