The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced that it will commence full commercial operations of the standard gauge railway service from Lagos to Ibadan on Tuesday, June 15, 2021.

This follows the formal commissioning of the 157-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan rail line by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

It is worthy of note that all the rail line constructions across the country is part of an initiative called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Since Nigeria joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and became a member at a summit in Beijing in 2018, Nigeria has recorded tremendous success for common development as Africa’s largest economy and the most populous nation on the African continent.

Chinese belt and road Initiatives projects in Nigeria

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a Chinese proposal to build a Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in cooperation with related countries. It was unveiled by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Central and Southern Asia in 2013.

Although China and Nigeria are separated by thousands of kilometers, the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative will be felt by both sides with the generation of new exports, including raw materials, from Nigeria to China, and Chinese exports of goods and services to and funding for infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, and China is the second-largest economy in the world. Nigeria accords strategic importance to China because it recognizes China’s importance as an ascending power and the role China is destined to play in international relations in the future. China is Nigeria’s largest economic partner in Asia, and its investments in and transfer of technologies to Nigeria have been increasing.

On the benefits of the Lagos-Ibadan corridor as well as other ongoing railway projects across the country, President Buhari said:President Buhari Thursday inaugurated the commercial operations of Lagos-Ibadan railway project at the Mobolaji Johnson Railway Station, Ebute Metta, Lagos, describing the feat ‘‘as another milestone in the drive of this administration to revitalize the railway system and establish it as a choice mode of transportation for both passengers and freight.

In December 2020, the latest of China’s many industrial investments in Nigeria, the railway between Lagos and Ibadan, became operational. Running 156 kilometers long and costing some $1.5 billion US dollars (USD), its opening was accompanied by public fanfare and Chinese government tweets, celebrating it as another victory

for both Chinese-led development, and for China’s public image in sub-Saharan Africa.

Nigeria became a signatory to China’s international infrastructure development plan known as the Belt & Road Initiative in 2018. Since then, Chinese diplomats have framed the BRI investments as part of a larger mission of Beijing’s support for Nigeria as a nation.

One of the British colonial government’s greatest legacies was the construction of an extensive rail route in Nigeria. The country’s 3,505-km narrow-gauge rail network made it easier for the colonial government to transport agricultural produce from the hinterlands to the port, from where they were shipped abroad.

The British managed the rail lines from 1898 till Nigeria’s independence in 1960. However, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) entrusted with the management and construction of rail lines in the country, ran this colonial legacy aground.

‘‘This vital line establishes an end-to-end logistic supply chain in railway transport within its short corridor, Lagos – Ibadan, as goods to the hinterland would now be transported by rail directly from the Apapa port Quayside straight to the Inland Container Depot located in Ibadan from where it can be distributed to other parts of the country.

Chinese investments in Nigeria are very substantial. According to a 2019 report issued by the Chinese embassy, Nigeria hosts 70 construction, 40 investment and 30 trading Chinese companies. In 2018 alone, Chinese companies were awarded 175 construction contracts in Nigeria, worth $17 billion USD, with 11,088 Chinese workers working in these projects.

Nigeria has benefited from a number of BRI projects. The popular ones include the Abuja/Kaduna Standard Gauge Rail Line linking the nation’s capital Abuja to Kaduna, a trade centre and transportation hub in north-western Nigeria, the Lagos/Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail Line linking Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital to Ibadan, the former administrative capital of southwestern Nigeria, and the Lagos/Kano railway, which is an ambitious project connecting the two most populous cities in southern and northern Nigeria.

The South African government is selling a 51% stake in South African Airways (SAA) to Takatso consortium, which will initially commit more than 3 billion rand ($221 million) to give the struggling airline a new lease of life. Emer McCarthy reports.

South African Airways has been thrown a lifeline.

The South African government is selling a majority stake in SAA to Takatso consortium, which will initially commit more than 3 billion rand – or $221 million – to give the struggling airline a new lease of life.

SAA has been under a form of bankruptcy protection since December 2019.

But its fortunes worsened during the global health crisis and all its operations were mothballed last September when funds ran low.

The airline is one of a handful of South African state companies that depend on government bailouts, placing the national budget under huge strain at a time of rapidly rising debt.

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said the consortium includes pan-African investor group Harith Global Partners and aviation group Global Aviation.

Takatso Chief Executive Gidon Novick said that an IPO for the airline is unlikely to happen within the next three years, and SAA would first need to become profitable.

Novick said Takatso would seek to relaunch SAA as soon as possible, prioritizing domestic services, first followed by regional destinations.

International long-haul routes would follow but would be selected carefully, and SAA would also work to forge partnerships with major carriers.

The South African government will have a “golden share” of 33% of the entity’s voting rights and certain areas of national interest.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently in Lagos said that its digital currency might be launched by the end of 2021.

Rakiya Mohammed, an Information Technology Specialist with CBN, made the disclosure at an online news briefing at the end of Bankers Committee meeting.

According to her, the apex bank has for over two years been exploring the technology and has made tremendous progress.

“Before the end of the year, the Central Bank will be making special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to the populace,” she said.

Mohammed said when eventually operational, the currency would complement cash notes.

According to Muhammed, another reason the apex bank plans to come up with digital currency is to make remittances travel easier from abroad to Nigeria.

Mix reactions have trailed an announcement by the Apex bank on the ban of crypto currency transactions, however the central bank has debunked misconception by Nigerian who decried the move.

The rules around cryptocurrencies in Nigeria have become clear as a senior official from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) clarified that digital currencies are not banned in the country.

According to local publication TodayNG, Adamu Lamtek, the Deputy Governor of the monetary regulator, said that the CBN did not ban Nigerians from buying, selling or holding cryptocurrencies but protected the banking sector from the activities of cryptocurrencies.

Additionally, he clarified that the central bank did not place any restrictions on cryptocurrencies in general and is not discouraging people from trading them.

“What we have just done was to prohibit transactions on cryptocurrencies in the banking sector,” the deputy governor said.

Global shares held near record highs on Monday while U.S. bond yields flirted with three-month lows as investors expect the Federal Reserve to stick to its dovish mantra later this week.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7% while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2%. Activity was limited with the region’s largest markets – China, Hong Kong and Australia – closed for a holiday.

Globally, markets were basking in the prospect of a broadening economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and anticipation of continuity in dovish monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Oil stood at multi-year highs.

The MSCI world equity index, the U.S. S&P 500 and the pan-regional STOXX Europe 600 index all closed at record highs on Friday. EuroSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.2% on Monday. S&P 500 futures nudged up 0.1%

The rally came even as U.S. inflation data on Thursday exceeded market expectations and amid surging factory prices in China – both of which investors appeared to regard as temporary or manageable.

“Strip used cars, hotels, and other leisure-related reopening plays out of the (U.S.) CPI, and I am not sure the inflation outlook is the end of days many are predicting,” said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley in a note on Monday.

“Yes, PPIs are racing higher, but will that be reflected in higher consumer goods prices from China? I am not so sure on past experience…the honest answer is that we just don’t know yet. Certainly, that’s what the U.S. bond market is saying to us.”

Ample funds are finding their way to bonds, where the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries stood at 1.4602% ahead of the Fed’s policy meeting this week, having fallen to a three-month low of 1.428% on Friday.

All eyes and ears are on the Federal Reserve in the coming week as policymakers meet amid a surge in inflation and an economic rebound that’s gathering steam. Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve’s Chief June meeting tops Business Calendar for the new week.

The Federal Reserve will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday amid signs that the economic rebound is gaining traction, and inflation is showing little sign of slowing down.

The Fed’s favorite inflation reading recently posted the biggest year-over-year surge since 1992.

Some Fed watchers want Powell to use Wednesday’s press conference to tweak his message to Wall Street.

But Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber isn’t one of them.

“I think the Fed should be very, very careful on the short term about what they say and should be really focused on letting things run like they’ve talked about for at least the next six months. And I do think that’s a discussion we’ll need to have around Fall about stimulus and pulling back, like the bond purchases first.”

Two pieces of key economic data are released on Tuesday, just as the Federal Reserve starts its meeting.

The Producer Price Index for May comes fresh on the heels of the biggest 12-month jump in the Consumer Price Index in over a dozen years.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the PPI to show a month-to-month rise of 0.6 percent. But it’s the year-over-year number that will matter most. That’s expected to show a surge of 6.4% after April saw the biggest rise in more than a decade.

And official retail sales figures are also released on Tuesday. Economists forecast a drop of 0.4 percent for May after a flat reading the month before.

International issues take focus on Wednesday. That’s when U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland.

Biden is expected to bring up the numerous cyber hacks against U.S. interests that intelligence officials say are coming from Russia’s borders.