$98bn
For many Nigerians who continue to claim that Nigeria is a rich country perhaps they should pause and consider South Africa. While Nigeria has set a total Federal revenue target at $16.45bn including oil revenues, South Africa on the other hand has a tax revenue target of a staggering $98bn for the 2107/18 fiscal year. This extra-ordinary revenue target has been set in a strained economic environment.
2040
The global push towards eradicating diesel and petrol guzzling automobiles on the road is unrelenting and poses great threat for oil dependent economies like Nigeria’s. Volvo will by 2019 manufacture at least a hybrid version in all model class and France plans to ban the distribution and sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040. However, the environmental footprint of mining raw materials used in car batteries and their eventual disposal are now emerging as a flash point for environmental campaigners.
11m Tonnes
Still on electric cars. Analysts now say that to offset the environmental impact of mining materials used for making car batteries and their disposal, there will have to be a large build out in recycling facilities to meet the first wave of electric vehicles. Currently more than 90 per cent of lead-acid batteries used in conventional gasoline cars are recycled, versus less than 5 per cent of lithium-ion batteries. An estimated 11m tonnes of spent lithium-ion battery packs will be discarded between now and 2030.
109th
Egypt which is reeling from a bold move in November last year to float the pound now must make it easier for firms and individuals to file for bankruptcy. The cabinet has just approved the draft of a new law which will eliminate the penalty of a prison term for firms that go bankrupt. The World Bank, in its “Doing Business Report 2017” ranks Egypt 109th among 190 countries in “resolving insolvency,” noting that creditors recover an average of 27 cents for every dollar lent, compared to 73 cents in OECD countries. The cost of going under in Egypt sucks up around 22 percent of distressed companies’ assets, compared to 9.1 percent in advanced economies
$548m
Zambia, Africa’s No.2 copper producer will build a $548m cement plant in a joint venture between the nation’s mining investment arm and China’s Sinoconst, as it aims to diversify the economy to reduce reliance on copper mining. Zambia’s Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) and Sinoconst will raise financing for the project from local and international financial for the plant to be built in Ndola in Zambia’s copper belt. It would be completed in three years and create roughly 1,000 jobs at construction stage.
