Africa September 21, 2021 NIGERIA: Goodluck Jonathan’s potential comeback Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt Rumors that former president Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015) may soon be defecting from his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to become the ruling party’s flagbearer for the 2023 presidential election may not be unsubstantiated. However,... Read More...
Africa September 15, 2021 NIGERIA: How FX scarcity, VAT spat point to 2023 Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt As the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues to clamp down on USD sales in the parallel market, the soaring demand for the greenback in that segment may be fueled by the onset of the political campaigning season. In... Read More...
Africa August 19, 2021 NIGERIA: As PIB becomes PIA, fuel subsidy will test reform efforts’ seriousness Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt On 18 August, President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated a steering committee to see through the implementation over the next 12 months of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which he had signed into law earlier this week. The quick formation of... Read More...
Africa July 6, 2021 NIGERIA: Southern governors draw lines in the sand on PIB, presidency Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt Even though both houses of the National Assembly passed the notorious Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) last week, there is a potentially protracted period of suspense in the offing before a harmonized version emerges for President Muhammadu Buhari to sign.... Read More...
Africa June 29, 2021 NIGERIA: More suspense regarding Buhari’s succession Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt President Muhammadu Buhari continues to kick the question regarding his own succession down the road by extending the mandate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s care-taker committee by another six months. Accordingly, the date of the first national party... Read More...
Africa May 24, 2021 NIGERIA: Strategic implications of Boko Haram leader’s alleged death Emerging Markets, Nigeria, Politics Boko Haram Malte Liewerscheidt On 20 May, a usually well-informed local news outlet reported that Boko Haram’s notorious leader Abubakar Shekau had died following a firefight with members of rivalrous splinter group Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP). While Shekau has had a... Read More...
Africa May 17, 2021 NIGERIA: Scrapping official FX rate may signal return to Eurobond market Emerging Markets, Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has tacitly removed from its website information quoting the official exchange rate at NGN 379 per USD, indicating that the CBN may have finally abandoned the official rate. This would be in line... Read More...
Africa May 12, 2021 NIGERIA: Armed secessionists may target the Niger Delta, but obstacles remain Emerging Markets, Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt Over the weekend, 12 police officers were killed in a string of attacks targeting police stations in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. If it can be substantiated that these attacks were indeed perpetrated by the Eastern Security Network (ESN),... Read More...
Africa April 6, 2021 NIGERIA: Tussle over naira devaluation amid grim macroeconomic picture Emerging Markets, Nigeria, Politics Malte Liewerscheidt On 5 April, unidentified gunmen attacked the police headquarters and freed some 2,000 inmates from a nearby prison in Owerri, the capital of the south-eastern Imo State. While the government labelled the attack an act of terrorism and ascribed... Read More...
Africa April 28, 2021 NIGERIA: AFRICOM invitation highlights scale of security challenges Emerging Markets, Nigeria, Politics Afrikom Malte Liewerscheidt On 27 April, President Muhammadu Buhari made a thinly veiled plea to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to relocate the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) from Germany to Nigeria. Regardless of the offer’s actual attractiveness from a US... Read More...
