Story, Story

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Order Big Girl and Big Boy.

Order Lovebirds now, to get it before Valentine's Day.

And now, for the story: The Goldman Sachs Effect, an American tale.   Enjoy. 

Linda Ikeji went through a lot

A lot of needless hardship.

It's a long story, juicy, inspirational, ...

 and I hope it makes you say, on behalf of struggling people all over Africa and the world: 

* NEVER AGAIN *

Please read:
What inspired 'I'd Rather Be Self Made'...the day I was picked up by Special Fraud Unit...:-), at LindaIkeji's blog
"Before I became the popular blogger that I am today, I was a struggling entrepreneur. I started my modeling career in 1998 before I turned 18 and started my company Blackdove Communications in 2004 when I was just 23+. Blackdove was a modeling agency/events company and I operated from a 2-room office in Jibowu, Yaba for almost three years.

In 2006, I decided to try something that I'd always wanted to do - become a magazine publisher... [MORE]"

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Leading at the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria

During his screening for the AMCON job in 2010, Chike-Obi promised to stick to the three cardinal objectives of the company. He said the three objectives were to acquire the toxic loans, manage them, and dispose the acquired assets at a profit. He pledged that under his management, AMCON would not stray into other challenging areas in the banking system. So far, he has successfully kept to his promise and forestalled major crisis in the banking sector.

The three Nigerian banks acquired are on course to being sold to worthy buyers. AMCON has also restructured and recovered over 10 per cent of NPLs it acquired. In the process, AMCON has admirably balanced maximum recovery with minimum disruption of viable businesses, helping to save a lot of employees’ jobs.

 Source: This Day Live - When Intellectualism Runs in the Family

Mustafa Chike-Obi is the CEO of AMCON

Read his interview on growing up with mathematics, his love of sports, and his commitment to the 'common man' HERE.

SLS is The Man!

One of the world's most respected Central Bankers is CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.  That is a fact. 

He has received an unprecedented level of recognition (winning best Central banker multiple times apiece) from Emerging Markets magazine, African Banker, and so on. 

Cashless Lagos

Now that the cash-transaction limits are operating in Lagos, folks are adapting.  According to the Central Bank, the "cashless" policy was originated for the good of customers and of the banking system, and is being tested out in Lagos first.
However, BusinessDay reports that "customers [have] embarked on counter-measures through opening of multiple accounts...banks and their customers are in a battle of wits to outsmart each other on the impact of the penalty." 

I just had to steal this cartoon:

References: cbn.gov.ng/cashless , BusinessDay and cashlesslagos.org

Clap for the Central Bank of Nigeria

In this article, CBN is praised for sanitizing banks (since 2009 actions) and also for stabilizing exchange rates. 

The next challenge for Nigerian banks: higher-risk lending and access to low-cost funding, as “long-term success for Nigerian banks will chiefly depend on them enhancing their risk management, improving their governance, diversifying their loan portfolios, and securing their funding profiles”. 

Has lending to the real sector increased/improved? 

Ginger's Gist

Do you think banking is "where the money at"?
First read this hilarious account of the real deal in three parts:
So you want to be a banker? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

The girl can gossip!
Know your KPI.
August 2011 on Ginger's blog at www.mak2chi.com

Analyse the global economic crisis

The third monthly WikiLeaks Central Essay Competition 2011 solicits an answer to the question: What are the root causes of the global economic crisis?

The winning essay will be selected based on newsworthiness; supporting research; organization and writing style; and also the essay's capacity to engender online discourse in the form of comments and retweets.

Winner will be published and paid a few bucks. Interested? Visit the Wikileaks Blog.

How can I get my dollars direct?

I noticed that there is a gap of over 10% between the official exchange rate and current black-market rate. While the official rate crashed around July 1st to 150naira per US Dollar, your mallam will sell to you not at 153 (for a typical 2% spread) but around 166 (a very atypical 11% difference).
It makes sense that the official rate is low; the dollar is so poorly that no currency has a right to do worse, but how do you explain the high dollar price on the streets? The newspaper (ThisDay) is reporting that this is due to a shortage of dollars created by a Central Bank policy pegging dollar supply to Bureaus Des Change.


If only we could automatically change currency at the points of use, like I used to do with my U.S. Visa debit card. It basically got you any currency - even Naira, at local ATMs - at the best possible exchange rate. But now I have a Nigerian visa card that accomplishes much less. The bank offers a "dual-currency" debit card as well, but the processing time for that application is about four months. They assured me they were not kidding about the length of time, no, it's not a joke. Four month wait for two currencies. Four week wait for 100 currencies --> Let's just say America has a more developed financial services sector than Nigeria.
Meanwhile, with the same currency selling for 150 one way and 166 another way, there is arbitrage, or what my brotha Mr. Bismarck-Rewane termed "a round-tripping paradise."