Stronger naira, cheaper master’s degrees, Trump… 7 possible consequences of Brexit

Against the grain, the UK  voted to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016, and saw the crash of the British pound to 31-year low, and spiralling frenzy in global markets.

Pundits who put their money on the UK staying in the EU were utterly disappointed by the outcome of the referendum, which is said to be the biggest betting event in history.

According to betting exchange Betfair, about £50 million is expected in betting, which surpasses the 40 million pounds placed on the 2012 US presidential race, which was its previous record for a political event.

The referendum also outmatches the £35 million placed on the 2014 World Cup final. But what does this mean for the rest of the world?

STRONGER NAIRA

Brexit immediately means a stronger Nigerian currency against the pound. Before the vote on June 23, the naira was trading at 400 to the British pound, but the local currency firmed to 392/£1 at the interbank market. The naira is expected to get stronger before the end of the day. But for how long?

CHEAPER TO STUDY IN UK

In the short term, with a weaker pound, it would be cheaper to study in the UK, if the pound does not regain its top-notch position soon. Cheaper, of course, compared to pre-Brexit.

On the average, a master’s degree in the UK has a tuition fee of about £15,000, which translated to N6.3 million ($22,074) on Wednesday, but After the Brexit vote £15,000 is only about N5.7m ($20,400) — N600,000 cheaper. If the pounds crashes further to the predicted 15% mark, this may get a lot cheaper.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND EPL

The Brexit vote does not immediately stop English clubs from playing in the Uefa Champions League (UCL), but it would raise complications in the conduct of the game.

European players in England will  now need work permit to play for English clubs, English fans will now  — most likely — need a visa to go watch a match in France, which is two hours away (by train). English fans will need a visa to watch Chelsea versus PSG or Leicester versus Lyon.

According to the UK Guardian, 50 of 161 European players in the premier league do not meet the criteria for a work permit. Some of these players are Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, David de Gea; Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin; Manchester City’s Samir Nasri, just to name a few.

Brexit may change the face of English football forever.

DONALD TRUMP

Yes, Donald Trump has a physical semblance with Boris Johnson, the leader of the leave campaign, there is now more that connect both men — political realities.

The result of the referendum has shown that voters are now tired of the conventional politics. They are tired of doing the will of the political “establishment”.

Despite the support of Barrack Obama, Matteo Renzi, Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande, Sadiq Khan, leaders of America, Italy, Germany, France and London respectively, the British still voted against staying in the EU.

The reasons for the Brexit vote are the same reasons Trump is putting forward as his argument for the White House.

Like the Brexit winners, Trump is leveraging on the deep-seated resentment of the people against existing immigration laws, exporting home jobs and the havoc of globalisation — terrorism and invisible borders.

SCOTLAND/ NORTHERN IRELAND LEAVING UK

Considering the voting pattern, a bigger chunk of Scotland and Northern Ireland do not share the sentiments of the  rest of UK. 62 percent of Scotland voted to stay, after losing a bid to leave the UK in 2015. 55.7 percent of Northern Ireland also voted to stay.

With Scotland and Northern Ireland favourably disposed to stay in the EU,  both regions may seek a referendum to leave the UK, and be members of the EU. Like The Economist said before the poll: “United we stand, divided we fall”.

GLOBAL STOCK MARKETS

Every market across the globe opened with a red note. From Japan to China, to France to Frankfurt to Zurich and most interestingly — to Nigeria. In Nigeria, the market opened 1.1 percent lower than its closing results on Thursday.

The frenzy is immediately taking it due cause on the global economy, forcing the Japanese market to apply a circuit breaker, in order to cut losses. This may continue on the short term, but the world would need strategic decisions to absorb the impact of the Brexit vote.

UK GDP COULD FALL BY 9%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned earlier that the economy of the UK may see a fall of about 1 percent to 9 percent — the worst case scenario would be catastrophic for the UK.

“The outcome of the referendum continued to be the largest immediate risk facing UK financial markets, and possibly global financial markets,” Lagarde IMF managing director said in Vienna.

The fall in British economy may be the beginning of the end of the Great Britain.