Allen Onyema (Dr.), the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace Limited, unveiled the airline’s decision to commence Lagos-London flights from Gatwick Airport starting March 30, 2024.

The choice of Gatwick, he emphasised, comes from the UK authorities’ denial of Heathrow, as revealed in his statement on Arise TV.

In the interview, Onyema elucidated, “The BASA we signed with the UK is this: you give me your primary airport; we give you our primary airport. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways come to our country using our primary airports, Lagos and Abuja.”

He expressed disappointment over UK’s refusal to extend the courtesy of Heathrow, which is regarded as the primary airport.

While initially adamant about Heathrow, Onyema noted the practical advantages Gatwick offers, particularly for Nigerian passengers residing in the South East of London.

He highlighted the reduced traffic congestion and the seamless connectivity to Central London from Gatwick, attributing these factors as pivotal in Air Peace’s decision-making process.

Onyema remarked, “Gatwick was not really our choice but in the long run we decided to see some goods in choosing Gatwick.”

He acknowledged Gatwick’s Southern terminal allocation to Air Peace, enabling passengers to swiftly access transportation links to various parts of the UK.

“Many of our people live down South East part of London and there is heavy traffic into Central London from Heathrow, but at Gatwick, they allotted Southern terminal to Air Peace and when you get to south terminal, you get out of immigration, take your luggage, you walk into the Gatwick express train within three minutes and that will take you to Victoria, right into Central London,” Onyema elaborated.

matify83:
Why are all these allegations against Dangote coming out now?

When we were saying this guy may be a front for laundered monies stolen from the coffers of government by politicians , no one believed us.

He is yet to account for all the Fx advanced to him by emefiele and now this weighty allegation !

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is considering limiting the cash payment for buying and selling foreign currencies by Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to a maximum of $500 and ensure payments above the stipulated figure is done digitally.

The apex bank disclosed this in its proposed revised regulatory guidelines for BDC operators in Nigeria published by the bank where it proposed that electronic transfer/purchase of foreign currencies are to be made to BDCs naira account.

It stated,

“Payments to customers for cash purchases of foreign currency, the equivalent of above USD500, shall be by transfer to the customer’s Naira bank account. If the customer is non- resident (whether Nigerian or not), a BDC shall issue the customer a prepaid NGN card.

Where such a card is issued, relevant maximum credit and cumulative limits, in line with relevant Know Your Customer requirements, shall apply.”

“Payments to customers for cash purchases of foreign currency of the equivalent of USD500 and below may be made in cash.”
Permissible and non-permissible activities if BDCs

According to the bank, permissible activities by BDCs include; acquisition of forex from approved sources, sales of FX in line with its guidelines, serve as cashout points for IMTOs etc.

On the other hand, the apex bank prevented BDC from engaging in street trading, account maintenance, accepting deposits and granting of loans, facilitating international outward transfers, dealing in precious stones and metals, establishing subsidiaries and others.

What you should know
The CBN in recent times have blamed the whopping depreciation of the naira to speculation with the Governor stating the naira is “undervalued” and with time return to its true value.

The apex bank in the past few months have introduced a slew of initiatives aimed at boosting liquidity in the forex market and shoring up the value of the naira.

The proposed regulation aims to sanitise the operations of BDCs, ensure the apex bank monitors the bulk of forex inflow and outflow and curb illicit flow of foreign currencies in the economy. The regulation although a proposal is subject to review overtime.

The proposal also aims to curb the perceived “dollarization” of the Nigerian economy where businesses prefer receiving payment for goods and services in Nigeria in USD rather than naira. A behaviour the apex bank has attributed to be responsible for the increase demand for FX in the country.

The Governor of the CBN had earlier called on Nigerians to moderate their demand for FX stating that FX expended on medical tourism and education in the last decade amounting to $40 billion surpass the current foreign exchange reserve.

Naira Devaluation Wipes Off $3 Billion From Dangote's Wealth in One Week, Drops in Ranking

- Aliko Dangote lost about $3 billion in February after the Nigerian government devalued the naira
- The Nigerian billionaire has had over $7 billion slashed off his net worth as the naira lost most of its value
- Dangote's current net worth is about $14.8 billion, and he is ranked 132 wealthiest men in the world

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has lost about $3 billion in the last week as Nigeria embarks on naira devaluation for the second time. The Nigerian billionaire is one of the most affected by the naira devaluation of the federal government, as he has lost about $7 billion since January.

Dangote's net worth shrinks Data from the Bloomberg Billionaire Index shows that Dangote's net worth is now estimated at $14.8 billion, $3 billion less than his net worth in the second week of February 2024.

Dangote began climbing in the billionaire ranking in January, gaining a whopping $7 billion in weeks, ranked 82nd in the world, and later plummeted to 132nd wealthiest men after Nigeria devalued its currency to par with the parallel market. Despite the excellent performance of Dangote Cement, his primary source of wealth, Nigeria's richest man could not recoup the losses.

Dangote loses about $7 billion in one month

At the end of January 2024, Dangote's wealth stood at a staggering $22 billion, his highest in 10 years.

Still, he lost almost a quarter of his wealth due to the policies of the Nigerian government, which eroded the gains made by the cement firm. Dangote Cement emerged as Nigeria's most profitable company after gaining N13 trillion in market value in February 2024.

Dangote Cement is Nigeria's most valuable brand

Legit.ng reported that the market capitalisation of Dangote Cement hit N13 trillion on Monday, January 22, 2024, becoming the first Nigerian company to achieve the feat on the Nigerian Exchange. The development comes as billionaire and Nigeria's fourth richest man, Femi Otedola, made a significant share acquisition of the Dangote Cement. Dangote Cement closed trading with an N10.098 trillion cap after gaining N917, following a 9.99% increase in its stock. The company ended 2023 with a market cap of N5.451 trillion.

The firm's share price closed on Monday, January 22, 2024, at N590.60 per unit. The company displaced Airtel Africa as the most capitalised stock on the NGX. Regarding capital gains, Africa's biggest cement producer's investors have seen an 85.25% rise in their investment. After acquiring the company's shares, Otedola said the reason for his action was the potential of Dangote Cement to earn Forex and its compliance with Environmental, social and Governance principles, which made it an ideal investment for him.

List of top 10 wealthiest men in the world

Legit.ng reported that the ten wealthiest people in the world, as of Wednesday, February 21, 2024, are worth over $1.52 trillion. This is $9.5 billion lower than the combined net worth of $1.53 trillion that the top ten wealthiest people started with in January 2024. According to Forbes data, French billionaire Bernard Arnault has become the world's wealthiest individual, with a net worth of $223.3 billion as of Wednesday, February 21.

Chicagograduate:
Wicked Wike.

The Governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has allayed the fears of residents of the state who complain about the state’s high debt stating that Lagos has the capacity for a debt burden of N20 trillion.

He made this known during a media chat with newsmen today as part of efforts to brief citizens on the policy actions of the state amidst the high cost of living crisis being witnessed.

When asked about the state’s high debt which tops the state’s 2024 budget and efforts to reduce it, the Governor said the important fact is sustainability noting that debts are not bad but future investment.

He referenced the rail projects embarked upon by the state which was funded by debt stating that without the government taking the risk, the benefits would have eluded Lagosians and Nigerians in general.

He said, “I never get scared of what borrowing is. The question around the debt burden is what is your sustainability and what lines of investment are you putting those burdens to?”

“So the challenge around this N2 trillion is just a number. Indeed, the capacity of Lagos, we should be doing N20 trillion. In the last budget, when we pulled all of our numbers together, my people were saying to me that they wanted a budget of N6 trillion, but we could only do N2 trillion. That goes to show you the strength and capacity that the state has.”

“We need to double our civil service, we need to be able to build all those roads that we are talking about. So we shouldn’t be scared of those numbers.”

What you should know
For the year 2024, the Lagos state government had a budget of N2.267 trillion which N952.43 billion represented recurrent expenditure. The figure will cater for personnel cost, overhead cost and recurrent debt service.

As of the third quarter of 2023, Lagos state had a domestic debt burden of N960.50 billion while its external debt was $1.26 billion as of Q2 2023.

This made it the highest among all sub-nationals in the country in both domestic and external debt.