DisCos Want to Increase Electricity Prices & more –20th July 2023

Bawo Ni from BA ! This is the Rorshok Nigeria Update from the 20th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Nigeria.

On Friday the 14th, The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (or NERC) announced that eleven distribution companies (best known as DisCos) have applied for a review of prices. According to NERC, the DisCos needed to adjust to the economic changes to continue operations effectively. Recall that some DisCos said they would increase by forty percent electricity prices from the 1st of July.

But electricity prices are not the only thing that is going up in the country. On Monday the 17th, the National Bureau of Statistics (or NBS) said that inflation in the country has risen to twenty-three percent year-on-year. This is the sixth consecutive rise in inflation this year. The NBS said the soaring inflation was the cause of high food prices. On Thursday the 13th, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency because of food insecurity and ordered the distribution of grains and fertilizers to households so that people wouldn’t suffer the food insecurity effects so much. According to the NBS report, some of the states that paid less for food are Sokoto, Zamfara, and Borno while Kwara, Abuja, and Ogun paid the highest.

In other news, on Monday the 17th the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that it has confirmed cases of anthrax in some farm animals in Niger state. However, the name of the affected farm was not mentioned. Recall that the Ministry of Health and Agriculture warned that anthrax, an infection that affects ruminants such as cows, sheep, and goats, had been detected in the country. The infection is also a zoonotic disease which means it can be transmissible from contaminated animals to humans. The Ministry of Agriculture warned the general public against slaughtering and eating sick animals.

While we’re on the subject of health, on Wednesday the 19th, the Canadian government will give a ten million dollar grant to fifteen states in Nigeria that have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country. Although Walter Mulombo, the WHO country representative, said that Nigeria has made progress in the fight against COVID-19, he added that the grant would ensure that there is full coverage.

Speaking of the WHO, the health agency has warned that a batch of contaminated cough syrup called Naturcold has been identified in Cameroon. In the warning, which was issued on Thursday the 20th, the WHO said that the product is unsafe, especially for children. Some other effects include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury. Utmitaley, it can lead to death. The WHO said the product may have been distributed to neighbouring countries, like Nigeria, and warned citizens and other government health agencies to be on the lookout.

Let’s refresh your ears with some good news.

On Saturday the 15th, the International Labour Organisation (best known as ILO) said that it will help the government by creating over two million digital jobs to reduce unemployment. Vanessa Phala, ILO’s country director for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, said that the digital economy has become a key part of Nigerians’ daily lives and has provided citizens with more opportunities.

In another foreign development, on Tuesday the 18th, the Central Bank of Nigeria (best known as CBN) announced that it has signed financial technology collaboration agreements with the Central Bank of Egypt. The CBN said that the partnership aimed at deepening cross-border regulatory collaboration, information sharing, innovation boost, and regional technology investment growth.

Meanwhile, it's been rocky in the world of politics. On Thursday the 13th, the Senate and House of Representatives allocated seventy billion naira (about ninety million dollars) to themselves, saying that it was in favor of a new law. The decision was called into question especially as it was taken a few days after President Tinubu got approval to borrow 800 million dollars as a form of palliative to be distributed to twelve million poor households to lessen the burden of the petrol subsidy removal. Recall that Tinubu said each household would get 8,000 naira each (roughly ten dollars). However, on Sunday the 16th, the senate spokesperson said that the newly approved money for the House of Representatives was for purchasing furniture and carrying out repairs in lawmakers’ offices, not an allowance for their pockets. However, many Nigerians have still continued to frown on the actions of government officials, saying that it is a misappropriation of funds and that more important things need to be done for the country with such a huge amount of money.

Since we mentioned the palliative for poor households, Tinubu has ordered the immediate review of the proposed 8,000 naira cash transfer to poor Nigerians. On Tuesday the 18th, the presidential spokesperson said that Tinubu ordered the review because of the anger Nigerians had expressed and that food grains would also be released in the meantime to help deal with the situation.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday the 18th, oil marketers increased the pump price of petrol at filling stations to over 600 naira (about seventy-seven US cents) per liter in Abuja and over 500 (about sixty-four cents) in Lagos. The product’s new cost was significantly higher than the previous pump price of about 500 naira per liter in Abuja. Recall that transport costs rose by over 100 percent in May when Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy. Reacting to the recent development on Tuesday the 18th, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said that the increase was due to market forces and not a shortfall in the supply of petrol. ⁣

Also on Tuesday the 18th, the global passport ranking index rated Nigeria as the 90th country on the list with visa-free access to other nations. The report released by Henley and Partners was based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association. According to the report, Nigeria ranked 90th alongside South Sudan with visa-free access to only forty-six countries. Nigeria also ranked fifth lowest on the list of African countries with visa-free travel access while Singapore was rated as the most powerful.

And to wrap up this edition, Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (or TETFund), said that over 137 scholars sponsored abroad by the Fund haven’t returned to Nigeria. Recall that the House of Representatives began an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of 2.3 trillion naira (about three billion dollars). Appearing before the government officials on Tuesday the 18th, Echono said that some students who are sponsored abroad for education take the opportunity and drop out of the program and never return, instead of going back to Nigeria when they finish their studies, which is what the program mandates. The executive secretary said this had become a major problem and that the agency would write to the host countries of the students to declare them as fugitives if they drop out of their studies and do not refund the scholarships. Echono also said that TETFund may suspend foreign scholarships due to the exchange rate problem and the difficulty of doing business.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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O dabo!