🔅 Who's Who in Nigeria's Elections
Plus: EU accused of dumping junk plastic clothing in Kenya, DRC and Botswana renegotiate their mining rights, A Nigerian governor is ordered to return $1m, And more... ☕
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Markets:
🔺 Nigerian SE: 54,224.35 (+0.78%)
🔺 Johannesburg SE: 79,829.39 (+0.70%)
— Ghana SE: 2,414.77 (0.00%)
🔻 Nairobi SE: 127.11 (-0.71%)
🔻 US S&P 500: 4,079.09 (-0.28%)
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*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
INFRASTRUCTURE
Who's Who in Nigeria's Presidential Election
It’s a bit of high stakes in Nigeria, as Africa's most populous country gears up for its presidential election at the end of this week.
There are 18 candidates on the ballot, but only three are considered the top contenders.
So who are they?
Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the flagbearer for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). A Lagos governor between 1999-2007, the 70-year-old is an influential figure in the southwest, earning him the nickname "Godfather of Lagos."
(Nickname aside) what's his platform?
Tinubu aims to continue Buhari-era policies like building public infrastructure and greater central bank intervention in the economy, but end a costly fuel subsidy and channel the money to agricultural and social welfare programmes while expanding the military.
Atiku Abubakar is running on the ticket of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP). The 76-year-old former vice president has been dogged by allegations of corruption, which he rejects.
What're his plans?
Atiku plans to privatise the state oil company, ensure a greater role for the private sector in the economy, liberalise the exchange rate, and provide more equipment to the military. He hails from the Fulani ethnic group and is a Muslim.
Peter Gregory Obi is the wildcard in the race. The 61-year-old former governor and banker is running on a third-party ticket and is looking to harness Nigerians' anger with the status quo.
What are his goals?
He wants to triple power generation, dismantle a multiple-rate naira exchange rate regime, gradually wean the economy off its reliance on oil by ramping up agriculture output and exports, and better fund the military. Obi is a Christian from the Igbo tribe in the volatile southeast.
Whoever takes the helm will have to confront the knock-on effects of the pandemic.
They'll also need to tackle ongoing issues such as overpopulation, poverty, and corruption.
It's a monumental task, and we'll have to wait and see who Nigerians trust to take on the challenge.
Tomorrow we'll take a look at why winning the battle for Lagos could mean victory for the candidates.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇰🇪 The EU's Dumping in Kenya | The EU is facing some serious accusations: It’s exporting 37 million items of “junk plastic clothing” to Kenya every year. The investigation, conducted by Clean Up Kenya and Wildlight for the Changing Markets Foundation (CMF), says the low-quality clothing can’t be reused and is creating health and environmental problems in the country. The problem, they say, is fast fashion’s reliance on cheap plastic fabrics, and this hidden stream of waste should be illegal. The clothing is so bad that it often gets dumped or burned to heat water, cook, and allegedly fuel a power station. The CMF found that 95% of the clothing exports to Kenya in 2021 came from Germany, Poland, the UK, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Lithuania, Estonia, France, and Ireland. The investigation says that exporting this junk clothing to poorer countries has become an “escape valve” for systemic overproduction.
🇨🇩 China's Congo Conundrum | China’s “win-win” deal with Congo’s former president Joseph Kabila to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68% stake in a cobalt and copper joint venture is being renegotiated, and Congo’s state auditor is calling for an additional $17 billion investment from the Chinese investors. China’s embassy in Congo called the auditor’s report “full of prejudice” and not corresponding to reality. Sicomines, the company that holds the joint venture, has only spent $822 million of the $3 billion it committed to the deal, and the auditor is calling for an “immediate” $1 billion investment and a 50/50 split between Chinese and Congolese employees. The auditor also wants to increase Gecamines’ stake in the joint venture from 32% to a bigger share. Congo’s finance minister Nicolas Kazadi said the government expects to reach an agreement on the Sicomines deal this year, and in the meantime, the company is still suspended from paying import taxes.
🇳🇬 Corrupt Politician Repays His Debt to Society | Here’s an example of karma that even non-believers can get behind: Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the former governor of the oil-producing state of Bayelsa in the Niger Delta, has been ordered to return nearly $1 million to Nigeria, according to the US Justice Department. He was accused of corruption in 2005 when he was caught with almost a million pounds in cash in his London home. He was briefly jailed in Nigeria after pleading guilty to embezzlement and money laundering charges two years later. As part of the agreement between the US and Nigeria, the stolen money will go towards improving healthcare centres in Bayelsa.
🇧🇼 De Beers' Negotiations with Botswana | De Beers is currently in talks with the Botswana government to extend mining rights and a diamond sales agreement, but Botswana’s President Masisi has warned that they’ll walk away unless they get a bigger share of the revenues. De Beers' VP of Corporate Affairs, Otsile Mabeo, says the company is “confident that our successful partnership will continue”, but that the negotiations are “material” and “complex”. Botswana supplies 70% of De Beers' rough diamonds, and diamond sales make up two-thirds of the country’s foreign currency receipts and a fifth of its GDP. It’s in both parties’ best interests to reach an agreement before the June deadline, and Mines Minister Lefoko Moagi is optimistic that it can be done. Here’s hoping the talks end with a win-win situation!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“A child is like an axe; even if it hurts you, you still carry it on your shoulder.”
— Bemba Proverb.