Hello Sir.

Thank you so much for your response.

The FGN bond option sounds cool and secured to me. I will give it a thought.

Since it's a lump sum investment, perhaps I would save up like 2-3 months equivalent and close my eyes to try it out.

Thank you.

Chreze:


If you are open to other options (Nigeria)

You can buy the FGN savings Bond. You can buy from most banks I believe.

====== Info =====
Interest Payment: Payable quarterly

Redemption : Bullet repayment on the maturity date

Effective yield :
2yrs - 10.706%
3yrs - 11.789%

========

This is government bond so you are guaranteed of your returns and capital at the end. Quite short. Exchange rate is good now. You can change now. Also you can be keeping your pounds for whenever the rate goes up and just throw it in.

Anything federal government bond is guaranteed. No story. Atleast from my knowledge for so many years.

Its a good option and was my life-saver during the pandemic lockdown ...it happened that the period coincided with the maturity and I was just getting alert for the principal sum every month until fully paid.

What I did was every month from my salary, I subscribed to the bond and got like 5 different subscriptions with different rates and the interests were paid almost at the same time so I could compound them and use for something else. Those were the days when agro-investments was a thing. Not now any more.

The cons I have with the bond thing is inflation. By the time you get back your principal sum, would it still be worth what it was before (interests inclusive), so if you just have loose funds you don't mind tying down, its worth trying else, waka pass ...my thoughts though - I am not a financial advisor, always do your due diligence.

TouchOfSpice:
Hello Sir.

Thank you so much for your response.

The FGN bond option sounds cool and secured to me. I will give it a thought.

Since it's a lump sum investment, perhaps I would save up like 2-3 months equivalent and close my eyes to try it out.

Thank you.

This capital market investments ....my thoughts is only throw in what you can afford to lose when the markets come crashing or if you are open to long term investments

ukay2:



I just think of putting my little thoughts on this discussion.....


If you're good in the capital market, invest the funds in equity market in Nigeria via you are stockbroker.

You will achieve both capital appreciation and dividend payments until some selected listed companies.

Some of us invested in Access Bank shares when it was trading at N6 to N8 with dividend payments of 50kobo to 80kobo per share few years ago.

An investor with 1m units of Access bank at N8 and 800k dividend payment 2 years ago is now getting N1.5m dividend in 2022 dividend payment and capital appreciation to N14 per share currently.

If you're not interested in the capital market, make effort to invest the fund in the FGN bonds (not FGN savings bond) through your stockbroker or through your bank ( l use stanbic ibtc bank).

Some investors with 10m invested in FGN bonds 2050 at 18% yield in 2018 are getting 1.8m bonds coupon payments (900k every 6months) till maturity (2050) and get your 10m back.

There's possibility of increase dividend payments and price appreciations in good profitable companies in stock market ( remember to monitor the quarterly performance of the company) while your capital fund and coupon payments in FGN bonds are static till maturity ( remember inflation and naira devaluations..but this may not affect you much since your giving the funds as your naira charity obligations)

You can decide to be paying your naira obligations with either the dividend payments or coupon payments in the above two scenarios.

For me, l go for the stock market since l know how the stock market works (17+ years in the market).

If you feel like investing in NYSE, some good dividend paying stocks with upto 6-10% dividend yield in the NYSE market exit. You can be using the quarterly dividend payments in dollars, convert it to naira and settle the naira charity obligations.

Many ways to play the card....

Chreze:
@justwise

I can see there has been replies already and your confirmation that you got the jerk.

To be honest, there are so many financial institutions in Nigeria quoting magical interest rate. My sister in law who work with an insurance company quoted something to my wife that looks like 50% interest for a 15yrs plan. I told my wife I am not part of it and it’s her decision.

To answer your question, yes you can manage your investment here. Years back my Tbill was processed by my account manager monthly. A good relationship with your account officer will benefit you. You can write to your banks customer care and they will respond with your account officer info as well as get him/her to contact you.

I personally don’t invest in any plan except it is FGN related. This is solely for security reasons. While I like more returns on investment, I don’t ever want to lose my money. I don’t think Nigeria has that financial deposit protection schemes from banks to cater for its customers should anything happen or if the government will reimburse anyone back their money should a financial institution fail in interest. Even in civilized countries, I believe there is a limit to what can be paid back (not too sure), but I doubt if government will pay you back £50m.

If anyone knows about any financial protection scheme for customers in Nigeria to pay back investment if the financial institutions fails, please share this info, as I have a feeling my wife and sister will enter one wrapper in years to come.

Deposits in Nigerian Banks and Licensed "Deposit-taking" Institutions are protected by NDIC. We're not that bad in Naija. However, I would be wary of investments with random firms especially when they offer rates far above TBills which had just reduced from 14% to 11% some months back.

Chreze:


Don’t know the plan name itself as I was avoiding getting involved, but it’s sold by Leadway and she quoted for 10yrs and 15yrs respectively. The 15yrs has almost 50% (if not more than) interest. you can’t withdraw till the end of the plan. I think interest is paid in full at same time too.

I personally don’t invest in anything outside government getting loan from me (in Nigeria) and my wife has known that for so many years. Give me small interest and peace of mind. I won’t even buy if my fav brother is the one introducing me to it. That’s how far I like to stay away from over enticing investment plans.

If it's indeed Leadway, it should be fine. Again, I think they may not be understanding the fine lines. 50% over 15 years is different from 50% APR. The former may be as low as 3% APR

Lexusgs430:


Are you saying, the company offering the investment vehicle ......... Is covered by leadway insurance or this investment vehicle, is provided by leadway assurance..........

Another important point. Many firms have some useless insurance cover by a reputable company but the firm offering the investment itself is featherweight and can disappear anytime. Many of the Agro and Real Estate Firms in Nigeria are culprits

Santa2:


lol @payroll system, pillar of our african culture

Lol it can be draining

ukay2:



I just think of putting my little thoughts on this discussion.....


If you're good in the capital market, invest the funds in equity market in Nigeria via you are stockbroker.

You will achieve both capital appreciation and dividend payments until some selected listed companies.

Some of us invested in Access Bank shares when it was trading at N6 to N8 with dividend payments of 50kobo to 80kobo per share few years ago.

An investor with 1m units of Access bank at N8 and 800k dividend payment 2 years ago is now getting N1.5m dividend in 2022 dividend payment and capital appreciation to N14 per share currently.

If you're not interested in the capital market, make effort to invest the fund in the FGN bonds (not FGN savings bond) through your stockbroker or through your bank ( l use stanbic ibtc bank).

Some investors with 10m invested in FGN bonds 2050 at 18% yield in 2018 are getting 1.8m bonds coupon payments (900k every 6months) till maturity (2050) and get your 10m back.

There's possibility of increase dividend payments and price appreciations in good profitable companies in stock market ( remember to monitor the quarterly performance of the company) while your capital fund and coupon payments in FGN bonds are static till maturity ( remember inflation and naira devaluations..but this may not affect you much since your giving the funds as your naira charity obligations)

You can decide to be paying your naira obligations with either the dividend payments or coupon payments in the above two scenarios.

For me, l go for the stock market since l know how the stock market works (17+ years in the market).

If you feel like investing in NYSE, some good dividend paying stocks with upto 6-10% dividend yield in the NYSE market exit. You can be using the quarterly dividend payments in dollars, convert it to naira and settle the naira charity obligations.

Many ways to play the card....

Thanks for this detailed response

Chreze:
@justwise

I can see there has been replies already and your confirmation that you got the jerk.

To be honest, there are so many financial institutions in Nigeria quoting magical interest rate. My sister in law who work with an insurance company quoted something to my wife that looks like 50% interest for a 15yrs plan. I told my wife I am not part of it and it’s her decision.

To answer your question, yes you can manage your investment here. Years back my Tbill was processed by my account manager monthly. A good relationship with your account officer will benefit you. You can write to your banks customer care and they will respond with your account officer info as well as get him/her to contact you.

I personally don’t invest in any plan except it is FGN related. This is solely for security reasons. While I like more returns on investment, I don’t ever want to lose my money. I don’t think Nigeria has that financial deposit protection schemes from banks to cater for its customers should anything happen or if the government will reimburse anyone back their money should a financial institution fail in interest. Even in civilized countries, I believe there is a limit to what can be paid back (not too sure), but I doubt if government will pay you back £50m.

If anyone knows about any financial protection scheme for customers in Nigeria to pay back investment if the financial institutions fails, please share this info, as I have a feeling my wife and sister will enter one wrapper in years to come.

I have to agree with your point about having a good relationship with your account manager but sadly my bank takes ages to reply messages and very frustrating dealing with them.

Totally agree with some of points you raised and I will work on them as I’m planning to start making some low risk investments in Nigeria.

BuildingProject:


See am. Or you've been able to book one?

Thank you bros.

I booked for Denmark 27th July and cancelled because on the appointment form, they wrote my date of birth as 21/6/2022 .. I don't know if that's possible to be overlooked. I no wan stories. Was it because I booked same day?

This whole waka is just annoying!!

Hello all,
I just got a mail for the council tax. My wife is a student which means she has an exemption from payment of council tax.
Pls, I need advice on how to approach this issue.
Thanks

Send a mail to them and attached your wife BRP and her passport and let them know she is on student dependent visa and she can’t access public fund.

Midex88:
Hello all,
I just got a mail for the council tax. My wife is a student which means she has an exemption from payment of council tax.
Pls, I need advice on how to approach this issue.
Thanks

hayesconcept:
Send a mail to them and attached your wife BRP and her passport and let them know she is on student dependent visa and she can’t access public fund.

Thanks but she is actually the student and am the dependent.

Please how do i book for practical test date? search functionality on this site is somehow? all the dates I'm seeing is for november.

Midex88:


Thanks but she is actually the student and am the dependent.

Had Same issue before, let her can go to their office with her brp nd urs , they will make the necessary correction

Midex88:
Hello all,
I just got a mail for the council tax. My wife is a student which means she has an exemption from payment of council tax.
Pls, I need advice on how to approach this issue.
Thanks

Let your wife give them a call and your household will be given discount of council tax as oboy you will pay and she won't pay

OmichaelO:
Please how do i book for practical test date? search functionality on this site is somehow? all the dates I'm seeing is for november.

Seems those are the available dates as at when you searched. You have to keep searching, an instructor told me the system is refreshed Monday mornings, so maybe check on Monday morning. You can also use consultants who swap dates for a fee.

Unarguably, 10% (Naija) looks better than 3% (UK) but actually, it's not due to currency valuation at the entry and exit point.

Converting a large chunk of GBP for a NGN investment "with the hope of repatriating the proceeds back to GBP" is a no, no for me. No thanks to Nigeria's currency volatility.

For example: In May 2022, GBP was sold for N750.
Chidinma who was travelling to the UK bought £1000 for N750,000. Same month, UK-based Ajoke exchanged £1000 for NGN and got N750,000.

Chidinma saved the £1,000 in a UK bank with a 2% APR, while Ajoke invested her N750,000 in an 8% Mutual Funds/Tbills in Nigeria.

By May 2023, Chidinma's money had become £1020 (£20 interest) while Ajoke had N810,000 (N60,000 interest)

Still in May 2023, GBP is now sold for N950. Ajoke has withdrawn her MMF capital and profit of 810k and wants to exchange to GBP for use in the UK. Guess how much she gets; £853. Chidinma, however, now has £1020 which she converted to GBP and guess how much she got; N969,000.

Apparently, Ajoke has made profit from Naira investment but lost almost 150 in pounds because she converted to Naira. Yes, the interest was 8% which is higher than 2% but Chidinma got a better deal.

Nigeria's devaluation rate, in the last 5 years, higher than the returns on the best market NGN-dominated money market instrument.

There was a time when it was lucrative to exchange to foreign currency and invest in Naira instruments, but it's not been since COVID-19 hit. Loads of my colleagues who exchanged their earnings to Naira for Bonds and Tbills regretted during the lockdown with the scarcity of FX and higher demands. Eurobond positions were sweet😂 then. Prior to COVID-19, Tbills were also crazily attractive.

My personal standpoint is that I won't exchange a large chuck of my foreign currencies to NGN to invest in Nigeria except I know I'm not interested in getting the money back in hard currency. More like I'll use the proceeds to finance other issues in Nigeria.

There might be some ray of hope around the corner, one needs to be calm to observe the policy trajectory of the new government before digging in. Money dey Nigeria if you wan spend am there.

I'm keen to read the thoughts of those that have property or business Naija, how they repatriate the funds here and coping strategies with devaluation and all.

Chreze:


If you are open to other options (Nigeria)

You can buy the FGN Savings Bond. You can buy from most banks I believe.

====== Info =====
Interest Payment: Payable quarterly

Redemption : Bullet repayment on the maturity date

Effective yield :
2yrs - 10.706%
3yrs - 11.789%

========

This is government bond so you are guaranteed of your returns and capital at the end. Quite short. Exchange rate is good now. You can change now. Also you can be keeping your pounds for whenever the rate goes up and just throw it in.

Anything federal government bond is guaranteed. No story. Atleast from my knowledge for so many years.

Hi,

Has anyone here gone through a Security Clearance and how did you go about obtaining a police clearance certificate from the Nigeria High Commission? Thanks in advance.

Bodacious1:
Hi,

Has anyone here gone through a Security Clearance and how did you go about obtaining a police clearance certificate from the Nigeria High Commission? Thanks in advance.

https://possapdotgovdotng/

Replace the 'dot' with '.'
That's the official site to get Nigeria Police clearance....the site is user friendly.

idee91:


Seems those are the available dates as at when you searched. You have to keep searching, an instructor told me the system is refreshed Monday mornings, so maybe check on Monday morning. You can also use consultants who swap dates for a fee.

Thank you boss.

Please, the consultant part do you mean the driving lesson instructor?

How do you guys get mind to invest for 15, 20, 30 years?

The thoughts of why I won't do it is just too many.

In 20yrs time the capital is as good as useless.
What if the company folds up before 20yrs (excluding FGN).
I may have good business to execute within that time frame. etc

Midex88:


Thanks but she is actually the student and am the dependent.

Maybe you rented the house in your name and not hers.

Henix:


Why not invest the money in real estate and resell after that 15yrs

For the Leadway, is it 50% per Annum, or 50% ROI for the whole 15yrs? I hope she factored in the rate of inflation in Nigeria while making such a long term investment decision shaa

Real estate is good to others but not to me. The fight we fought with Omonile’s in 2011 - 2012 resulted to PTSD for real estate. There is a big problem with omonile in Lagos. Can’t do that from far away UK.

I see lots of people making profit from it, I just concluded it’s not for me and let those who know how to do it, do it.

TouchOfSpice:
Hello Sir.

Thank you so much for your response.

The FGN bond option sounds cool and secured to me. I will give it a thought.

Since it's a lump sum investment, perhaps I would save up like 2-3 months equivalent and close my eyes to try it out.

Thank you.

Yeah, just take your time to think about it. If you like the option, then you really don’t have to wait to lump the money. In your first message you quoted £1000 - £1500 monthly. #1M monthly will give you some #100k+. Also remember it’s tax free as it’s a loan to the government.

Please do your own research. Should be for money that you don’t need back in UK. Return process will look like a loss.

Regards

Solumtoya:


If it's indeed Leadway, it should be fine. Again, I think they may not be understanding the fine lines. 50% over 15 years is different from 50% APR. The former may be as low as 3% APR

To be honest, I don’t have much information. The only thing I did was to calculate the total deposit (monthly for 15yrs) and the payment at the end of the 15yrs (deposit + interest) and I just felt uncomfortable cos even tbills ain’t giving up to that. Don’t want to spoil the company’s business as there might be people interested here, but I like to lean more on security than interest. When I told my wife to ask her the interest and all, she said there is a way to calculate it. She did the calculation and that was where I got the assumed 50% interest from.

I had to ask myself what the company will invest the money in to get a profit that will be enough for them to take out theirs and still have that much to give to me. Couldn’t come up with any secured investment to give them that returns, hence why I back out from over enticing interest rate.

[quote author=lightnlife post=123950438

Apparently, Ajoke has made profit from Naira investment but lost almost 150 in pounds because she converted to Naira. Yes, the interest was 8% which is higher than 2% but Chidinma got a better deal.

Nigeria's devaluation rate, in the last 5 years, higher than the returns on the best market NGN-dominated money market instrument.

There was a time when it was lucrative to exchange to foreign currency and invest in Naira instruments, but it's not been since COVID-19 hit. Loads of my colleagues who exchanged their earnings to Naira for Bonds and Tbills regretted during the lockdown with the scarcity of FX and higher demands. Eurobond positions were sweet😂 then. Prior to COVID-19, Tbills were also crazily attractive.

My personal standpoint is that I won't exchange a large chuck of my foreign currencies to NGN to invest in Nigeria except I know I'm not interested in getting the money back in hard currency. More like I'll use the proceeds to finance other issues in Nigeria.

There might be some ray of hope around the corner, one needs to be calm to observe the policy trajectory of the new government before digging in. Money dey Nigeria if you wan spend am there.

I'm keen to read the thoughts of those that have property or business Naija, how they repatriate the funds here and coping strategies with devaluation and all.


[/quote]

There are numerous reasons why people send money to naija. For people who do that for business to convert back to foreign currency, I believe they may have to explain that as I don’t get it myself. That said, most people who send money to Naija don’t have plans of bringing it back to UK/US or wherever they are. The only reason why those people will need the money here is when there is a difficult situation. And we all know when that happens, exchange rate is our last concern as people even sell off property at a give away price just to resolve problems.

Some reasons why people send money home:
1. Earn far more than what is needed here.
2. Still to decide if abroad is a long term thing.
3. Having investment in other currency.
4. Convenient money movements.
5. Ongoing projects.
And the list goes on.

To be honest those are my reasons (exc. no. 5). Some people can spare £2k monthly and still be very very ok here. Some family £5k and still be well. I am still trying to get my long term picture in the UK, and it’s still not clear/satisfying.

So for most of us (the Ajoke’s), the money is not coming back and the 10% interest made is a win as the money is meant to be there till we decide what the future will be. Obviously leaning towards retiring in Naija and living a happy and free life. Don’t think I will have the strength to debate with someone about where I am originally from and how I have contributed to the growth of UK as a defense to proof my stay in the UK (please don’t misunderstand this statement).

For no. 4 on my list, when I make profit in crypto, can’t send it to my UK account for numerous reasons stated here in the past. My best bet is send it to Naija (interest 1 from conversion/exchange rate), then invest in bond (interest 2) while I decide on my retirement location. We just keep praying no challenge/problem warrant us bringing the money back here, but if any, it’s not a loss, but the beauty of savings/security.

Viruses:
How do you guys get mind to invest for 15, 20, 30 years?

The thoughts of why I won't do it is just too many.

In 20yrs time the capital is as good as useless.
What if the company folds up before 20yrs (excluding FGN).
I may have good business to execute within that time frame. etc

1. We are still gonna be alive in 20 - 30yrs time.
2. Even the best financial advisor can’t predict time.
3. The business you intend to execute might return loss making you lose the said capital.
4. Most people play long term with money they don’t have immediate plans for.
5. The 20yrs time is the time they will have to do business when they quit their current job or retire.
-
-
-
-

And yes, you are right, we are security conscious too and only invest long term on security investments like FGN Bonds.

Chreze:


If anyone knows about any financial protection scheme for customers in Nigeria to pay back investment if the financial institutions fails, please share this info, as I have a feeling my wife and sister will enter one wrapper in years to come.

There is, actually, the NDIC - but it only covers banks and mortgage institutions, not other financial institutions such as insurance companies, fintechs etc, and the the maximum specified limits for the MFB and PMB sub-sectors are N200,000.00 and N500,000.00 per depositor per bank, respectively, sha. No matter how much you have in there.

How useful those figures will be is another question entirely though

For anyone curious, the UK's is £85,000 via the FSCS, and the US is $250,000.

Chreze:


Real estate is good to others but not to me. The fight we fought with Omonile’s in 2011 - 2012 resulted to PTSD for real estate. There is a big problem with omonile in Lagos. Can’t do that from far away UK.

I see lots of people making profit from it, I just concluded it’s not for me and let those who know how to do it, do it.

Plus most real estate nowadays is immensely bloated in price since it became the next shiny thing for everyone and their cousin to begin selling. You'll be paying more for the razzmatazz and commissions upon commissions than any value of the actual property.

If one can find good properties and purchase directly, though, there is likely to be real long-term value in that.

I believe that for some time now, Money Market Fund (MMF) has outperformed Federal Government Bond. About 10 to 18% AER is offered by MMF, and profits are paid out either monthly or quarterly. The lowest interest rate I've sedn recently is 11%, despite the fact that it varies. Check out Axamansard, Stanbic First Bank, and other institutions. Each one provides MMF.