Month: August 2018

4 ways to make yourself employable

Now that you’re counting down to the end of your service year, top on your to-do list must be to get a job right after. That’s fine – but to succeed at that, you need to have something that puts you above hundreds of other job hunters.

Here are ways to make yourself a bit more employable:

Be confident

Don’t slump your shoulders or avoid eye contact, no hiring professional wants to employ someone who appears unconfident in their skills and abilities. When you fail to show sincere self-assurance and the desire to compete at a high level, how do you expect to make much difference in an organization?

Don’t be downbeat

Most jobseekers shoot themselves in the foot by appearing too downbeat. If you have skills and expertise an organization needs, be upbeat and energetic even with your cover letter. Hiring professionals often sense your level of enthusiasm and optimism from the tone of your cover letter and confirm it with a one-on-one interview. Ensure to be bold about what you can do.

Pull up your socks…

Easy never works when you want to land the job of your dreams. Online job boards are easy and may work for some people, but you need to be more aggressive with your search because let’s face it, hundreds of job hunters are doing the same. Pull up your sock, carry out proper research and ensure to network around your targeted industry or field of interest.

When carrying out thorough research, you find what works with maybe recreating your resume, LinkedIn profile and which networking events to attend.

Be a listener and a learner

Don’t be that person who enjoys hearing his/her own voice alone. Learn to listen – not hear, listen. Good listeners are usually quick learners and when you show a hiring manager you possess this skill, they know you’ll be open to self-analysis and growth.

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Instagram should be shut down

Instagram should be shut down. Or maybe it is I who needs to shut down my excesses.

My name is Nengi. Apart from being an incurable fashionista, I also work in a role that requires me to look presentable all the time. As a front desk officer in one of the prestigious consulting firms in Nigeria, my role as the company’s first point of contact demands that my dressing, mannerism, attitude, and more should draw visitors in. I had perfected all these fronts but one of them is costing me so much. My dressing! And Instagram is the culprit.

I love to look good but hate the chore of shopping. Instagram became my new best friend when merchandise sellers became accessible at the swipe of my touchscreen. Every day to and from work, I’ll wade through this addictive social media channel to keep busy. But before the two-hour trip to my destination was over, I would have somehow ordered a make-up kit, shoe, handbag, or piece of accessory or clothing.

It saved me the time of going to shop while giving me the looks I desired. Everyone at work commended my style and class. Even my friends were envious of my wardrobe and always spoke of raiding my closet – but I, on the other hand, knew I was murdering my dreams with my own hands.

With a N250,000 monthly salary, a freelance hustle that paid decently and no dependent, it would bother anyone as to why I couldn’t save up for anything – even a vacation with my girls which I told myself will be a yearly affair once I got a well-paying job. While in the university, I dreamt of having my own car, buying a piece of land, and having a robust investment before I turned 28. I’m 26 now and have worked for 4 years yet none of those dreams are close to being realized.

And I knew why. My unreserved penchant for beautiful, yet expensive fashion items was sucking my finances dry.

Seeing the Kardashian sister Kylie Jenner’s feature as one of America’s billionaires in Forbes magazine last month did something to reset my brain. I mean, a billionaire at 20? While everyone talked about how her sister’s fame pushed her up the ladder, all I could think of was how my own excesses were pulling me to the bottom of the ladder.

While I thought about this and scrolled aimlessly through Instagram, I came upon a video posted by Nollywood actor and model Bryan Okwara. In the video, he talked about an app that helped him save up for his nieces’ birthday present. According to him, this app not only helped him hit his goals, it invested his money without stress and earned him impressive dividends. I listened attentively.

This could be the solution to my problems.

If I intend to take a vacation this year, buy a car, a piece of land soon and start investing, I needed a plan which begins with drawing up a budget.
After drawing up a working budget (which included all my needs and wants), I downloaded the app and set some goals. To ensure consistency in remitting the needed cash, I opted for a certain amount to be directly debited from my salary account on the 25th of every month.

I realize it will be a bit hard adjusting to not buying every hair, clothing, or accessory I see on the gram, but I console myself with the fact that every month my growing balance on the investment app, means my dreams are getting nearer to reality. I’ll have to cope with the few fashion items my budget allows – a worthy sacrifice indeed.

This August, the girls have already hinted at the destination for yearend vacation. They are planning a one-week trip to Zanzibar in December and I am of course on the list.

By the time November 2019 swings by, I should have invested enough to buy myself a car and shortly afterwards, I’ll be the proud owner of a landed property (I’ll keep you updated on how that goes). With things now sorted out, maybe Instagram isn’t such a bad idea.

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4 things to do for your family now

It’s so hard to stay perfect in a world like ours. Every day, situations and circumstances spring up that cause you to wonder if you’re good enough in many respects.

This even happens more when you begin to think of the ones you love and if you’re doing well by them. It’s understandable – in fact, you are not alone. We all feel lost at some point and require gentle nudges in the right direction to do and be better.

In what ways can you do better by the people you love?

Appreciate them more

Even the meanest of people appreciate a compliment every now and then. Don’t hold back your appreciation or show of love to those that matter to you. Life is too short to hold on to something that could lift another’s spirit. Show love, praise efforts, understand more, be there often and when all that is needed are gentle words, offer them. You never know when they breathe life into a person.

Set a precedent of financial freedom

Lack of finances remains the number one bottle-neck people experience and mostly the bone of contention in most marriages. This can be dealt with if you take steps to live financially free. Doing this keeps you debt free while setting an example for your family and children to follow when they grow older.

Imagine leaving a legacy of wealth to the generation that comes after – both in actual finances and knowledge to acquiring wealth.

Plan a good future for them

With so much to do, expenses to deal with, and life to breeze through, it is very easy to forget that there is a future especially for the ones that depend solely on you.

Don’t take chances with life – many did and the ones they care about are suffering for their inaction. Plan a future for the ones that depend on you so that regardless of what happens, that future remains unshaken. Invest, write a will and most importantly, get an insurance of some sort. If you are the breadwinner with a family that depend on your income, you should consider getting Life Insurance to protect yourself and them against life’s uncertainties.

Stay healthy for them

Many people neglect the effect their ill-health or unexpected absence will have on the people that love them. That is why it is common to see a reluctance to exercising, eating well, resting more and getting regular medical check-ups among most individuals.

You need to understand that for instance, as a parent, your ill health will not only cause your family to spend more but will also rob them of the peace and joy they ordinarily are used to with your sound health. This makes it necessary that you take good care of yourself especially for the sake of those that their lives will be disorganized by your illness.

Consider doing these four things now. Don’t allow procrastination to push you into relegating them things to the background.

Doing all of these will greatly reduce your worry while solidifying a good future for your family.

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Will he?

The scene showed Baba Folu shouting at Iya Folu. He couldn’t understand why she would even suggest that he should write a will. At 56, this woman seems to think he is headed for a reunion with his ancestors.

Franca sighed and turned to her husband Dan. “Darling, please change this channel. Why the man is being unreasonable is beyond me.” But her husband stares at her in disbelief.

“Hold on Fran, are you saying you agree with the woman? I mean, who writes a will unless they know they’re ready to die?”. Franca’s mouth opens in shock. With all his education, how could her husband of 8 years think like this?

“Darling, a will is not a preparatory rite of passage but a contingency plan for the people you love who in this case will be I, the kids and your immediate family. Now that we’re on this topic, you and I should consider writing our will too.”

But her last words were said to an empty room. Dan had walked away angrily.

This action got her worried and puzzled. If Dan wasn’t willing to do something to protect the children, she would. Maybe this is a sign. Perhaps it’s time to write a will for her children’s sake.

With that decision, Franca began to list her assets. RSA account, the land she bought with her savings and 13^th month salary her first year working, her car, jewelries, bank accounts, Money Market Fund account and her hair business.

After making the list, she considered how to proceed. Then she remembered the Easy Will discussion on the radio the previous week on how using the portal, anyone could easily write their will from the comfort of their home. Quickly, she brought out her laptop and instinctively looked at the clock. 12 am it showed. Time to take little Sarah out to pee.

She dropped the laptop and went to pick Sarah up. One look at her three children as they slept peacefully, and her resolve to complete the process of writing her Will got stronger.

Two minutes later, she was back to the task at hand. Before 1am, she had successfully completed her will and had it sent to her email for signing.

She would print the Will and sign it tomorrow, she thought. Packed up and ready to call it a night, Franca experienced a strange peace. One she knew Dan would appreciate as well if he took this step. Franca knew her husband well. He loved his family too much and would succumb when he sees a Will is more for their protection than a death sentence for him.

She’ll try explaining to him again after three days, she thought as sleep stole her consciousness.

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Nigerian Inflation: Approaching an Inflection point

Executive Summary

In our H1 18 strategy report, we projected a drop-in headline inflation, anchored on the blend of soft domestic food prices and base-effects (H1 17) with the scale of moderation trimmed by higher transport inflation – hinged on rising crude oil prices. Indeed, our view of a downturn in consumer prices panned out with headline inflation declining by 285bps over H1 18 to average 13.02% year-on-year (YoY).

However, the scale of moderation was steeper than what we had envisaged, as NNPC stepped up its fuel imports over the period to support market supply and price – at N145/litre. Consequently, core inflation dipped 101bps to average 11.17% YoY over H2 17 while food inflation declined markedly by 451bps over the review period to 15.63% YoY with the sharp decrease resulting from the impact of favorable base effect and increased market supplies.

In terms of our outlook over the second half of the year, we considered currency and liquidity concerns over the rest of the year. On the currency front, we believe increased interventions from the CBN will keep the Naira stable in H2 18. With regard to liquidity, particularly from the implementation of the approved 2018 budget (N9.12 trillion) and, most importantly, spending against the 2019 elections, we do not envisage any price pressure, taking a cue from precedents which shows muted pressures over H2 18 as well as in the months leading up to elections.

Overall, our analysis suggests that while base effects although minimal would drive lower CPI, structural bottlenecks from elevated transportation costs should limit scale of moderation in inflation. Summing up developments across both core and food inflation sub-components, we project mean headline inflation to hover around 12.04% YoY over 2018 (2017: 16.55%).

Headline inflation nose-dives over H1 2018, hits 28-month low

In our H1 18 strategy report, we projected a drop-in headline inflation with downside curtailed by elevated transport inflation. Precisely, our expectation of softer inflation was anchored on the blend of soft domestic food prices and base-effects (H1 17) with the scale of moderation trimmed by higher transport inflation, hinged on higher crude oil prices.

Indeed, our view of a downturn in consumer prices panned out with headline inflation declining by 285bps over H1 18 to average 13.02% year-on-year (YoY). However, the scale of moderation was steeper than what we had envisaged. To be precise, due to rising crude oil prices, we had expected independent marketers’ inability to import fuel to give rise to episodes of fuel scarcity which would pressure PMS price.

However, in a bid to boost supply, NNPC stepped up its fuel imports over the period thus supporting price at regulated level of N145/litre. Consequently, core inflation dipped 101bps to average 11.17% YoY over H2 17 with the decline stemming from the HWEGF1, education and clothing divisions. In the review period, food inflation declined markedly by 451bps to 15.63% YoY with the sharp decrease resulting from the impact of favorable base effect and increased market supplies.

VIEW FULL REPORT HERE

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ECONOMIC UPDATE: Currency – The Battle for Naira Stability

In our H1 18 Nigeria Strategy Report, we projected a blow in FX outflows that will impulse the CBN to step up its intervention across FX markets. Our projection was based on the confluence of policy normalization in developed markets, flight to safety across EMs, lower domestic interest rate environment, and political risk in the domestic clime. True to our prognosis, average monthly FX outflows rose 15.4% over H1 2018 to $3.6 billion (forecast; $3.3 billion), which prompted an accelerated pace of intervention by the CBN.

For context, CBN sales expanded at the IEW1 and interbank markets over H1 18 – IEW (+122% to $1.96 billion), BDC (+83% to $2.89 billion) and Interbank sales (+56% to $11.4 billion) to drive overall intervention to $16.3 billion (+66.5%). Consequently, the NAFEX2 and BDC rates remained relatively stable over H1 18, closing the period at N360.5/$1 and N362.3/$1 accordingly.

Coalescing our adjusted CBN outflows and inflows, we estimate monthly average reserve drawdown of $310 million (average accretion of $1.3 billion in H1 18) which summed up to $1.9 billion over H2 18 (vs. $8.0 billion accretion in H1 18) – notwithstanding Eurobond issuance – which should dwarf any significant accretion in the foreign reserve to $45.7 billion. Consequently, we expect the apex bank to put its full ammunition to use to keep the Naira at current bands, which would maintain stability in the short term to keep the interbank at N361/$ for the rest of 2018.

Further down, the distortion of the free interplay of demand and supply at the IEW with the lag expected from CBN intervention – amidst pressure at other windows as in May 18 – would drive short-term volatility in rates and an eventual adjustment to our fundamental driven purchasing power parity estimate of between N391.17/$ to N402.48/$ (7-10% down-leg from current NAFEX rate of N361.00/$ at the end of June 2018).

CBN fires up as Hot Money lose steam

In our H1 18 Nigeria Strategy Report, we projected a blow in FX outflows that will impulse the CBN to step up its intervention across FX markets. Our projection was based on the confluence of policy normalisation in developed markets, flight to safety across EMs, lower domestic interest rate environment, and political risk in the domestic clime. True to our prognosis, average monthly FX outflows rose 15.4% over H1 2018 to $3.6 billion (forecast; $3.3 billion), which prompted an accelerated pace of intervention by the CBN.

For context, CBN sales expanded at the IEW3 and interbank markets over H1 18 – IEW (+122% to $1.96 billion), BDC (+83% to $2.89 billion) and Interbank sales (+56% to $11.4 billion) to drive overall intervention to $16.3 billion (+66.5%). That said, while we had expected the accelerated sales to drive a drawdown in external reserve, the combination of strong foreign flows in the first quarter, which provided room for the CBN to shore up its reserve4, combined with Eurobond issuance earlier in February, and improved oil inflows (+20.6% to $9.0 billion) triggered robust net flows with $7.4 billion accretion striding the FX reserve to $47.8 billion at the end of H1 18. Consequently, the NAFEX5 and BDC rates remained relatively stable over H1 18, closing the period at N360.5/$1 and N362.3/$1 accordingly.