American workplaces talk a lot about diversity these days. In fact, you’d have a hard time finding a company that says it doesn’t value the principle. But despite this – and despite the multibillion-dollar diversity industry – Black workers continue to face significant hiring discrimination, stall out at middle management levels and remain underrepresented in […]
Nigeria’s 2023 budget is a plan of despair and won’t change the tempo of the economy
Nigeria’s 2023 budget, recently presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly, has generated a furore. There are concerns about the impact on the country’s rising deficits and debt, as well as its failure to address some of the structural deficiencies behind declining revenues and rising inflation. The 2023 budget expenditure of 20.51 trillion […]
COVID lockdowns in Nigeria brought the fear of crime closer to home. What communities did next
The COVID pandemic changed people’s lives in many ways. For instance, lockdowns and curfews drove people from their cities’ streets and kept many at home. Nigeria was no different. Many studies about COVID have focused on economic losses, disrupted livelihoods and changes in social relations. But there’s been little research into changes in criminal behaviour. […]
How to understand what’s going on with UK mortgage rates
The UK mortgage market has tightened as confidence in the economy has faltered in recent weeks. Lenders withdrew more than 1,600 homeloan products after the (then) chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s September mini-budget sent the UK economy into a tailspin. Rates on the mortgage products that are still available have risen to record levels – average two-year […]
debt restructuring must go hand-in-hand with managing finances better
Ghana is struggling with managing its debt, 20-year high inflation, a weak currency, and rising inequality. For example, inflation rose to 33.9% in August 2022 from 9.7% a year earlier, while the cedi has depreciated by 41% year-to-date against the US dollar. These vulnerabilities have been worsened by the aftershocks of the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war […]
A provincial sales tax is the solution to Alberta’s fiscal roller-coaster
With a new Alberta premier taking office in October and a general election required by the end of May 2023, fiscal policy may become a wedge issue between Alberta’s United Conservative Party and the NDP. A key issue for analysts who study Alberta’s finances is the erratic behaviour of the province’s revenue stream, which is […]
Blaming poor labour conditions in Ghana’s transport sector on ride-hailing companies misses the deeper issues
Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft have become ubiquitous in many parts of the world over the past decade. Criticism of their business model has also become commonplace: ride-hailing companies are frequently accused of destroying traditional taxi businesses, undermining wages, and creating the digital equivalent of sweatshops. Though many of the complaints have emanated from […]
rights and freedoms may be one reason
Nigeria has always managed to attract foreign direct investment despite its poor economic outlook. This is thanks to its oil reserves and the consumption potential of its large population. But these inflows of foreign investment have been in decline and now seem to have hit a halt. Over the past five years, foreign direct investment […]
‘We’ve seen the squeeze.’ Johann Rupert warns inflation is hitting even wealthy shoppers
The chairperson of Richemont, the Swiss owner of Cartier and watchmakers, including IWC and Vacheron Constantin, said inflation is starting to hit luxury demand in Europe. Persistent higher prices are prompting even well-heeled European consumers to scale back buying, according to Johann Rupert, the leader and controlling shareholder of the luxury conglomerate. “We’ve seen the […]
four priorities president-elect Bola Tinubu must deliver on
Bola Tinubu, the winner of Nigeria’s keenly contested presidential election, will have a daunting task fixing a near comatose economy. His administration will encounter monumental economic, security and political challenges. They will be greeted by a distraught populace bedevilled by rising poverty, inflation, unemployment and unprecedented levels of insecurity. The high poverty and unemployment rates […]