Newly registered exporters in the Port Harcourt zone have been warned to be mindful of the kind of things they say and the friends they keep on social media as such could cost them dearly.

Speaking in Port Harcourt recently, Ofon Udofia, an expert in export business and the executive secretary, Institute of Export Operations Management, said some persons have been denied visas to enter some countries because of what they said on Facebook and other social platforms.

He told the budding exporters that their social media footprint is liable to investigation during application for visa for business trips.

Udofia, who spoke during training for new exporters in Port Harcourt organised by the Nigerian Export Promotions Council (NEPC), urged them to be in touch with the world and make their companies present on the internet.

He reminded the new exporters that their social media records could deny them visa and customers in some parts of the world, saying, “Cut a clear identity and be consistent.”

While CEOs in other parts of the world recognized COVID-19 as the top threat to their business growth in 2021, CEOs in Africa say the pandemic and other health crises are the least of their worries.

CEOs in the world’s second-largest continent are more concerned about the threat from the perennial challenges of policy and tax uncertainty, over-regulation, and the fast-evolving reality of cyber risk, according to the findings of PwC’s 24th Annual Global CEO Survey released last Thursday.

The proportion of CEOs in Africa extremely concerned about the top 10 threat that did not include COVID-19 was significantly higher than the global average, not just in this year’s survey, but in previous years. Compared with the global average of 34 percent (28% in 2020), 49 percent of CEOs in Africa, up from the 43 percent reported last year, were very concerned.

This likely means that the ease of doing business in Africa has not made much progress as the PwC report shows it is increasingly difficult for CEOs in Africa to successfully run their businesses.

From kidnappings and jihadist rebellion by Boko Haram to homicide by notorious “unknown gunmen,” the growing rate of insecurities and increasing political risk under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is causing more uncertainties in Nigeria’s energy sector, the economic heartbeat plagued with teething challenges.

An active oil and gas sector draws investments and acts as an economic enabler, creating jobs and improving the standard of living, but when oil exploration declines due to a lack of investment, economic growth is stymied.

While most investors agree good governance is the ultimate secret to securing Nigeria’s corporate existence, the country’s present political risk appears to be worsening, a situation marring the country’s investment climate similar to oil-producing countries such as Libya and Mozambique.

In Nigeria, analysts say the suspension of Twitter in Africa’s most populous country, two days after the social media platform deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account for violating its rules, is not among a million and one respectable ways a government can react.

Nigeria’s increasing political risk is also coming at a time there is mounting global advocacy aimed at halting all-new Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) for fossil fuels, especially oil and gas, a scenario that may create serious hurdles for new fields development as over $150 billion worth of projects risk getting stranded in Nigeria.

An analysis of institutional acquisitions and disposals in real estate investissement valued at $1.8 billion across Africa in le passé two decades reveals that Nigeria has the largest real estate investissements by country.

The country has, within this period, attracted $523 million investissement into the sector, ranking ahead of Mozambique and Mauritius that were ranked second and third with $268 million and $256 million investment, respectively.

What this means is that opportunities abound in the Nigerian real estate market and savvy investors are not glossing over that. The country is almost a green field for investors. The size/value of real estate opportunity in the country is estimated at $56 billion.

This is, however, understandable in a country of 200 million population where housing demand-supply gap is well over 20 million while annual housing output is between 50,000 and 100,000 units. Homeownership level in the country, according to experts, is a little above 20 percent.

The investment analysis looks further at the value of investments by cities and reveals that Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, tops the list with $523 million, followed by Accra, the Ghanaian capital, with $230 million while Maputo in Mozambique comes third with $201 million investment.

Bismarck Rewane, CEO, Financial Derivative Company (FDC), who provided this information in his June Breakfast Conference in Lagos, also hinted that in terms of market segment and value, retail was most preferred, attracting $687 million investment and offering 8.6-10 percent yield.