VenturesNow

Exit by multinational companies to cost Nigeria $335 million in FDI

Published

12 months ago

December 7, 2023

Nigeria’s economy is expected to lose $335 million (about N310 billion) in foreign direct investment (FDI) owing to continued exit by multinational companies.

Recently, the country has suffered the exit of high-profile firms amidst rising operation costs. The sum reflects the combined asset value of the most recent exit announcements made by Equinor, a major global player in the upstream oil sector, and Procter & Gamble, a major global player in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods, or FMCG, segment.

The American multinational consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble (P&G), is winding down its on-the-ground presence in Nigeria, while Equinor is also leaving after selling its Nigerian business, including its share in the Agbami oil field to Nigerian-owned Chappal Energies. P&G plans to switch from local production to solely importing its products.

Explaining the decision, Andre Schulten, chief financial officer, P&G, said the decision was a result of “the challenging business environment in Nigeria, as well as the difficulty in creating US dollar value”.

Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Africa Operations, Nina Koch, maintained, “Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, but the transaction becomes necessary as it would enable it to “realise the value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas portfolio and focus on core areas.”

A few months ago, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, a company that developed and manufactured innovative pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products, shut down its operations in Nigeria, leading to the loss of jobs and ultimately causing a surge in the prices of drugs.

Nigeria’s underdeveloped power sector is a bottleneck to broad-based economic development and forces most businesses to generate a significant portion of their electricity. It has also been a major factor in capital flight from the West African country, Africa’s largest economy.

VenturesNow

Mozambique drops interest rate for 6th time in 2024

Published

6 days ago

November 29, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As inflation remains low in southern African Mozambique, its central bank has lowered its main interest rate by 75 basis points, the sixth straight drop.

Mozambique’s MIMO interest rate dropped from 13.50% to 12.75%. Since July, Mozambique’s inflation rate has stayed below 3%; in October, it was 2.68% annually.

In a statement, the Bank of Mozambique stated that, despite concerns about post-election demonstrations and their effect on the cost of goods and services, its most recent monetary policy decision was consistent with maintaining inflation in the single digits over the medium run.

With a moderate inflation forecast, the policy rate was lowered for the sixth straight time.

Despite concerns about post-election demonstrations and their effect on the cost of goods and services, policymakers said the decision was compatible with keeping inflation in the single digits in the medium run.

Although headline inflation increased slightly to 2.68% in October from 2.45% in July, it has stayed below 3% since then. Banco de Moçambique is the source.

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Hackers stole $17 million from Uganda National Bank— Report

Published

7 days ago

November 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The state-owned New Vision newspaper has reported that offshore hackers had stolen 62 billion Ugandan shillings ($16.8 million) from Uganda’s central bank.

Earlier this month, the hackers, who went by the name “Waste,” allegedly gained access to the Bank of Uganda’s IT systems and moved the money illegally.

According to New Vision, which cited anonymous bank sources, the Southeast Asian hacker collective moved a portion of the pilfered funds to Japan.

A request for comment on the issue from Reuters was not immediately answered by Bank of Uganda. A request for a response from the Ugandan police was likewise not answered.

More than half of the funds had been successfully retrieved by the central bank from the hackers, according to New Vision. It stated that President Yoweri Museveni had ordered a probe into the cyberattack.

Separately, the Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent daily, stated that insider collaboration could have played a role in the crime.

In Uganda, there have been several instances of cyber thefts from banks and other financial service providers, including telecom companies. However, according to police authorities, several banks are reluctant to openly admit such events for fear of upsetting their clientele.