Dear Friend,

As an financial advisor, I look into different aspects of the economy.

Government should restructure its finances to give more support to agriculture, mining and other sectors that can create jobs to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the Nigerian economy.

Before now, the government have been trying to move the economy from an export driven economy to a consumption driven one. There should be more local aggregate demand to drive the economy.

Government has heavily invested in supporting the agricultural sector. With lessons that we have learnt during the COVID-19 crisis, it makes sense to deepen internal competences across different sectors.

Agriculture has the capacity to employ a lot more people. Our first problem in Nigeria is unemployment, if we can develop our agriculture value chain, a lot more people will be employed.

Almost 100 million Nigerians live in abject poverty, but remember, poverty isn’t just the lack of money, and it is also lack of access to information that can lift you out of that poverty.

Agriculture can increase aggregate demand and we can generate more tax revenues, which can make our GDP more liquid. We have a GDP of $360 billion, but we don’t make up to $20 billion in tax revenue. We can make our GDP more liquid by ensuring that people get to work.

Your thoughts?

Dear Friend,

I'm a financial advisor and I would like to share this story.

Don't be like Aunty Maggie who always wants to keep up and fit in with the crowd. As a sociable bank manager, she has different categories of friends including old classmates to celebrity friends, club members, colleagues at work amongst others. One thing Aunty Maggie is well known for is her party rocking skills. When it comes to storming events with all the glitz and glamour, she no dey carry last.

Her quest for luxury accessories to match every aso ebi is second to none. She always seeks to be the cynosure of all eyes with her dressing when she steps into the party and doesn't mind taking a quick loan to get the appropriate complimentary jewelry for her weekly parties.

Aunty Maggie's major assets are the aso ebi, bracelets, necklaces, wrist watches and other accessories she heavily spent money on. She disclosed to me yesterday that she now owes three lending firms more than six months of her net pay and can't keep up with all the party invitations she receives these days.

On the other hand, Aunty Rita, her close friend recently moved into her newly bought house in Kaduna Nigeria. She took a loan from a new Zedvance branch in Kaduna State to furnish the house before moving in.

Wherever you choose to get a loan from, be like Aunty Rita. Use your loan wisely. You can enhance your lifestyle by getting that dream car, settling your wards’ school fees, funding your small business etc with collateral-free loans.