Assignment for this weekend: no matter your position at work, I challenge you to use this weekend to think about your job security. Freeze that vacation and the big “toy” purchase. And this applies to government workers: you can be months off salaries in Nigeria. It has happened in Abia state where the government allowed some post-secondary schools to run out of cash – and naturally closed. Abia State College Of Education Arochukwu “natural” closure saw the workers losing their jobs! Add General Hospitals, you get the idea. Coronavirus will scale these paralyses and the next 3 months could be extremely challenging: conserve cash and prepare. Our markets are collapsing as NNPC notes.
In a statement in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, who was speaking at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Round Table discussion, also warned of serious economic challenges as a result of the falling crude oil price.
He called on government at all levels, captains of Industries and the organized private sectors to brace up for the new low regime of global crude oil prices, while he added that realistic estimates must be made to reflect the current realities of the crude oil market.
Despite the global downturn, Kyari, however, stated that the NNPC was working round the clock to increase the countries daily crude oil output to three million barrels per day and shore up the country’s crude oil reserves to 40 billion barrels.
With Europe feeling the pains of travel bans from godzilla America, you will laugh that even coronavirus can make big boys weep. Imagine someone telling German airlines that we do not want you in the U.S. because you are bringing in restricted cargoes! France, Italy and the rest look small today (they’re not happy). Trump does not care – and you cannot blame him because he took the oath to protect Boston, not Berlin!
“Non-Schengen and UK excepted: this is not about containment, this is about sending a political message. In a time where the EU is challenged to its core, the US is closing its borders and turning its back on allies,” tweeted Benjamin Haddad, director of the Future Europe Initiative at Atlantic Council.
Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from London, said: “The EU is absolutely furious about this, bewildered, and trying to work out what the ramifications are. They weren’t consulted apparently before Trump said this in the middle of the night, European time.
“They are trying to understand what it means. There are enormous concerns about trade between the EU and US.
This time is different: prepare. Whenever the Dow suffers like this – 7% off again today – mainstreets across the world see challenging times.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2,000 points Thursday morning after President Donald Trump’s long-awaited response to the coronavirus epidemic triggered a massive sell-off on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 plunged by 7 percent, triggering a circuit breaker, which halts all trading on the New York Stock Exchange for 15 minutes.
All three major averages sank after Trump’s Oval Office address Wednesday night failed to satisfy traders who were hoping for more concrete steps to allay any economic slowdown from the viral outbreak.
This is now the worst week for markets since the 2008 financial crisis, with trading halted twice on Thursday morning. The first time came after all three major averages sank below the 5 percent “limit down” marker in premarket activity
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It started somewhere called Wuhan in China, a city majority of mankind never heard of, until recently.
Now someone in Katangora, Ikire, Arochukwu, Eket, etc is now being asked to brace up, for the hard times ahead!
This world is rigged! In time of crisis, all of us are forced to partake, but in good times, enjoyment is segmented and hijacked.
World of wonders!
It has been long in coming now that the reality of consumption driven economy hits home brutally, concrete plans that fast tracks production and local value creation can’t be over-emphasized.
Our national target will be to use our natural resources as raw materials source for indigenous consumers goods manufacturing and export redundant capacities.
For example, Barite local sourcing will introduce over $1Billion USD to our economy, can any serious nation ignore such opportunities?
We will talk all the diversification ideas until oil recovers!