I am Happy... Policy makers are listening

Dear Africa Interested Individuals:

                                                          I am going to give a rundown of some of my major policy opinions with insights on certain matters and decisions taken by policy makers thus far.  All these insights are contained in one or more of my 64 articles (and counting) on this blog.

1. I said that Nigeria should do crude oil swaps (total overhaul of the existing system) in exchange for imported petroleum products.  This will save foreign exchange that is dwindling in supply given the steep drop in crude oil prices over the past twelve months.  Nigeria is aggressively working on this as we speak.  The Nigerian oil company also wants to be the major importer of gasoline into the country to reduce subsidy fraud by diverse downstream oil marketers.  Foreign reserves have been on a consistent increase over the past three month and counting as leakages are being plugged.   

2.  I said that the fuel subsidy should not be removed now given the immediate and drastic impact it will have on the costs of living of one hundred and eighty million people.  Power generation from renewable energy and gas-fired power plants and distribution network needs to be brought up to the level necessary to keep the lights on twenty-fours a day.  No country should expose its citizens to the hardship of buying gasoline for generators to power their homes and offices in addition to their vehicles.  More money is actually spent on gasoline for generators (I say 3 - 1) than for cars.  Once we join other parts of the world in having constant power supply, then, we can also join them in removing the subsidy on gasoline.  The citizens will save as the increased financial outlay on unsubsidized gasoline for cars will be less than that spent on subsidized gasoline for power generation and cars.  The President of Nigeria has said that he does not see any reason presently to remove the subsidy for a myriad of reasons including hardship on the masses.   This was my major argument also.  My view is once again upheld by the policy decision maker. 

3. On Monday, I wrote an article titled: "The clamor for devaluation of African currencies reeks more and more of selfish interests."  On Tuesday, J.P. Morgan announced that it would phase out Nigerian Bonds from its Government Bond Index for Emerging Markets (GBI-EM).  At the tail end of my article (I believe this article achieved the second highest number of visits on the day of release since I started tracking this indicator,) I wrote that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria should ensure he makes decisions to protect pockets of people and not pockets of interests.  I told him to hang in there that the devaluation so far achieved is enough.  I hereby quote the last two sentences from the joint statement on this issue from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank and the Debt Management Office.  "For the avoidance of doubt, the Federal Government sees Nigeria and the interest of Nigerians as paramount.  It will therefore only continue to take economic decisions that will impact positively in the lives of ALL Nigerians."  Nigeria is and will remain a country and not a corporation; they are suppose to be run somewhat differently.  

Everything is not supposed to always be about private monetary gains when it comes to countries.  USA has kept its Federal Funds Rate at close to zero for multiple years; it has forced holders of dollars to seek rental value outside of the USA (and expose the corporates to exchange risk) as value could no longer be found at home.  The economy of the USA has improved and job growth continues to improve on an almost monthly basis in 2015.  The corporations adjusted and pursued other areas to make their money and life went on.  All these corporates should also get with the program in Nigeria and seek money elsewhere if this fixed income window of opportunity has closed.  When one window of financial opportunity closes, find another one.  It s said that "necessity is the mother of invention."  Pension funds, insurance companies and fixed income dealers, it is time to stand up for the fixed income market and drive activity in the government bond market.  The money is there.  The guests have left, it is time for the housekeeper/landlord to clean house.  A country should not become a for-profit corporation in all its major defining actions.     

4. I spoke about renewable energy, its importance to Africa and recent developments in this area by various African countries in one of my July articles.  I said "when Africa lights up, it will rise up and have astronomical growth."  The new President of the Africa Development Bank recently said upon inauguration that his number one priority is POWER.  This is the defining performance metric for Africa's renascence in my opinion. Power leads and everything else follows.  Africa's economic development cannot attain the desired height if regular power supply does not pervade the entire continent.  When Africa fully lights up, nothing can stop its industrial and infrastructural revolution.  The world will take notice.    

I am feeling good about these developments and my minor contributions to them.  Posterity remains my best friend; it is never prejudiced.  Well done to the policy makers.  Stay on course and ride out the turbulence whenever it occurs.  I will keep speaking and making sense; those that have ears should listen.  So far so good; the policy makers are listening and acting.  I am happy.  The journey continues.  

    Tell others to tell others about this Africa Research Blog; the economic truth is here.   

                                        DialecticAfricaAnalyst@gmail.com