And Four Other Things...
The news that Nigeria’s $1 billion Eurobond was eight times oversubscribed sent a chill down my spine. So the outside world still has faith in Nigeria despite all the mess we have got ourselves in? You can argue that the 7.875% yield is very enticing to investors, but any interest in Nigeria at all is worth celebrating. I’m somehow sad thinking of what might have been. Many foreign investors were ready to swoop on Nigeria when President Buhari assumed office in May 2015 but lost interest and went elsewhere because of “ponderous policymaking” (copyright FT). Just imagine what could have been. Going forward, I trust Buhari to spend the Euro bond on infrastructure. Promising.
I’m certainly no longer a fan of media trial, but I just have to comment on the huge cache of foreign currencies allegedly recovered from Mr. Andrew Yakubu, former managing director of NNPC. In all, $9.8 million and £74,000 were reportedly recovered in cash. When I was told that many Nigerians are still keeping billions of dollars in raw cash or abandoned in bank accounts (no thanks to the BVN virus), I found it hard to believe. Now I believe. But how can we get the money back into the system? Are we going to get more whistle blowers? Or are we going to declare “go and sin no more” to make more substantial recoveries? Billions of dollars! Mindboggling.
The Nigerian elite will always take care of themselves. Have you noticed their staunch opposition to the closure of Abuja airport runway for reconstruction and the diversion of flights to Kaduna for six weeks? You would think the world is about to come to an end! They are afraid to travel between Kaduna and Abuja by land because of bad roads and insecurity. This is the road thousands of non-elite Nigerians take everyday without anybody complaining on the floor of the national assembly. Thank God, the ministry of works is working day and night to repair the road for our elite to use during the six-week closure. You see, they will always take care of themselves. Naija!
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) — you can call it the “bad bank” — has finally intervened to save Arik Air from a certain death. With reported debts of over N300 billion, and thousands of cancelled or delayed flights, it was so glaring that something had to give. Since the federal government is looking for a national carrier (which doesn’t make sense to me), Arik may have offered them an easier way out. Convert the debt to equity and get world-class managers and partners to run it. It would make no sense if the government saves Arik with such massive capital and still goes ahead to set up another airline. Options.