Thursday brief: Nigeria’s debt problem
+ State of emergency in Anambra & World's first malaria vaccine
* The Naira/Dollar rate was calculated by averaging buying rates from several Nigerian FinTech startups.
** No data for Wednesday from the NCDC as of 6:20 am today.
Good morning.
Welcome to the Thursday briefing. This newsletter keeps you updated with the latest news from Nigeria. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive it in your email before 7 am (WAT) every weekday.
Nigeria’s debt problem
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to present the 2022 budget to the National Assembly today amid rising worries that the country’s debt profile is about to get worse.
On Wednesday, the Federal Executive Council approved a N16.39 trillion budget. At least, N5.012 trillion is to be financed by debt.
If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you’ll know I am not against more government borrowing, but what exactly we are borrowing for.
However, another concern is how much revenues we are spending on debt servicing. For example, the government spent N1.8 trillion on debt servicing in the first five months of 2021, which is about 98 percent of total revenues for the same period. That’s something to worry about.
Obviously, Nigeria needs to make more money. And not just from oil. But it also needs to cut down on government spending, as even the Finance Minister has noted. But considering we are closer to an election year, expect many of the economic considerations to be dictated by retrograde politics.
Response: Experts interviewed by the Punch Newspaper are warning the federal government not to endanger the country’s future with its economic decision-making.
Related: The World Bank has raised its 2021 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projection for Nigeria to 2.4 percent, from 1.8 percent.
A state of emergency in Anambra?
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami on Wednesday said the federal government will not rule out declaring a state of emergency in Anambra to ensure the peaceful conduct of the November 6 governorship election in the state.
“When our national security is attacked, and the sanctity of our constitutionally guaranteed democracy is threatened, no possibility is ruled out,” Malami said.
Anambra has witnessed rising tensions, headlined by the murder of Dr. Chike Akunyili last week, but a state of emergency is unlikely except the situation quickly and significantly deteriorates.
Response: The Anambra state government has described the notion of a state of emergency as “politically motivated”. Senior lawyer, Femi Falana said the federal government’s plan was to “remove the Governor of Anambra State and impose a Sole Administrator on the eve of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the State.”
Context: The last time the federal government declared a state of emergency on a state was in 2013 after intense terrorist attacks in the North-East. But much of the country can be said to be in an unofficial state of emergency because of the pervasive presence of military troops deployed in many states.
Related: Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, has threatened to arrest parents of ‘unknown gunmen’ causing violence in the state.
WHO approves first malaria vaccine
In what has been described as a historic moment, the World Health Organisation said it was “recommending the broad use of the world’s first malaria vaccine.”
This is significant because more than half of malaria deaths worldwide are in six sub-Saharan African countries and almost a quarter are in Nigeria alone, according to 2019 WHO figures.
The decision to approve was made after the review of a pilot programme deployed since 2019 in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, in which more than two million vaccine doses were administered.
According to the Director of WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Kate O’Brien, the vaccine “significantly reduces severe malaria, which is the deadly form, by 30 percent.”
The vaccine was first made by the pharmaceutical company GSK in 1987.
What else is happening?
Insecurity: Despite recent gains by security forces, bandits are still on the rampage in the North-West. At least 19 people were killed in a Zamfara raid on Tuesday and another 10 persons were murdered in Katsina.
Resident doctors: After calling off their strike, they resumed work on Wednesday. The federal government now has six weeks to implement their demands to avoid another needless strike.
Google: The tech giant is set to invest $1billion over five years to support digital transformation in Africa. The investments include a subsea cable, Equiano, which will run through Nigeria and is expected to raise the quality of Internet connectivity and reduce data costs significantly.
Telecoms: The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is seeking to bar persons below the age of 18 years from registering and owning a SIM card in Nigeria.
VAT Dispute: Attorney-General Malami says the federal government is considering, among other options, taking states to the Supreme Court over the collection of Value Added Taxes.
Maritime security: A UK navy patrol ship is setting sail across the Gulf of Guinea as part of the British government’s efforts to help improve security in West Africa. The HMS Trent will conduct maritime security patrols as well as support partner navies, including Nigeria’s, by helping them to develop key maritime skills and develop plans for future operations in the region, according to a government statement.
Controversy: The Senate has approved the EFCC board appointment of a man who apparently resumed primary school a year before he was born. After backlash on social media, the Senate clarified that the man’s date of birth had been misstated.
That’s it for today. And, yes, the weekend is almost upon us!