World Bank/IMF meetings, March inflation… seven top business stories to track this week

Here are the seven top business stories you need to track this week — April 10 to April 14.

WORLD BANK/ IMF 2023  SPRING MEETINGS

The World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to hold the 2023 spring meetings.

The meeting will take place physically from Monday, April 10, 2023, to Sunday, April 16, 2023, at the World Bank and IMF headquarters in Washington DC.

For one week, policymakers, international organisations, and the private sector — led by the Bretton Wood institutions — will take decisive and coordinated actions to build resilience in the face of rising inflation, food and energy crisis, war in Ukraine, and the worsening global poverty rate.

NIGERIA’S MARCH INFLATION

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release a report on Nigeria’s consumer price index (CPI) and inflation report for March 2023.

In February, TheCable reported that Nigeria’s CPI, which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, rose to 21.91 percent — up from 21.82 percent in the previous month.

VOTING IN TWITTER POLLS TO REQUIRE VERIFICATION FROM APRIL 15

Elon Musk, chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, says voting in polls would require verification from April 15, 2023.

Announcing the introduction of new features in a tweet, the billionaire also said only accounts with the verified blue checkmark will be eligible for features such as ‘For You’ recommendations.

He said the decision would “address advanced AI bot swarms”.

Artificial intelligence bots are chatbots trained to have human-like conversations using a process known as natural language processing (NLP).

“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations,” Musk tweeted.

“This is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle.

“Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.”

FG TO COMPLETE SECOND NIGER BRIDGE, LAGOS-IBADAN EXPRESSWAY

The federal government says the Second Niger Bridge will be fully open to motorists on May 15, 2023.

Babatunde Fashola, minister of works and housing, while inspecting and confirming the completion of the Loko-Oweto Bridge and link roads between Benue and Nasarawa states, also assured that the Lagos-Ibadan expressway will be completed by April 30.

He added that the flag-off ceremony will be formally done by President Muhammadu Buhari.

FG TO DISBURSE $800M TO 50M NIGERIANS AS PART OF POST-SUBSIDY PALLIATIVE.

The federal government says it has secured the sum of $800 million from the World Bank, as part of its post-subsidy palliative plans.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning, disclosed this to state house journalists, after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting held last week.

The federal government intends to cushion the effect of the planned subsidy removal in June as the $800 million funding will be disbursed to 10 million households considered to be most vulnerable.

“These 10 million households is equivalent to about 50 million Nigerians,” Ahmed said.

The minister added that engagements with the newly established presidential transition council (PTC) and the incoming administration have been initiated.

14-MAN COUNCIL INAUGURATED FOR NIGERIA STARTUP ACT IMPLEMENTATION

President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated a 14-member national council for digital innovation and entrepreneurship (NCDIE).

The council’s establishment is based on the Nigeria Startup Act, 2022 (NSA, 2022), signed into law last year.

The NCDIE, chaired by the president, has 13 other members including the vice-president; ministers of finance, budget, and national planning; trade and investment, communications and digital economy; governor of the central bank, among others.

According to Buhari, the importance of the NCDIE is to drive economic growth and job creation as well as consolidate the gains recorded in the sector under his administration.

KMPG NIGERIA PROJECTS 40.6% UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN 2023

KPMG Nigeria says the country’s unemployment rate may rise further to 40.6 percent in 2023.

In its report titled ‘Global Economic Outlook’, the professional services firm said the figure is based on its estimates.

As at the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the country’s unemployment rate stood at 33.3 percent.

“Unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialisation, and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb the 4‐5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year,” KPMG said in the report.

“Although lagged, the National Bureau of Statistics recorded an increase in the national unemployment rate from 23.1 percent in 2018 to 33.3 percent in 2020.

“We estimate that this rate has increased to 37.7 percent in 2022 and will rise further to 40.6 percent in 2023.”