Gokada, a motorbike hailing service, has partially put operations on hold to strategize after their CEO faced 'operational' hurdles during a ride. Gokada CEO and Co-founder, Fahim Saleh, said, “all Gokada pilots will be off the roads and the Gokada app will be shut down, ” within the period, and expressed his disappointment that a trip of 5 mins turned out to take more than 15 mins from the Mainland Bridge to Victoria Island. While narrating his ugly experience with a Gokada rider, he is quoted to have said “How could I be the CEO of Gokada, the company that pioneered motorcycle ride-hailing in Nigeria and be experiencing this? “...I was disappointed in Gokada but most of all, I was disappointed in myself. I told the pilot to pull over to the side of the road, I would hop over the median and wait for an Uber. 'This is what it has come to,' I thought. ” The temporary shut down takes effect from Wednesday, August 14th, 2019 to Monday, August 26th. 

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 Ahead of the deadline given by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for insurance firms to recapitalize, Consolidated Hallmark Plc has revealed its plan to raise its capital base from N6.1 billion to N10 billion. It is seeking an additional N3.9 billion to meet the new capital requirement, after it's capital base has been increased from N3 billion to N10 billion. While maintaining that its first line of action would be to issue additional share by way of a rights issue, Consolidated Hallmark made known that it is important it shares its plans with shareholders and stakeholders to get their support to realize the new target. 
According to the insurance firm, the rights issue would give existing shareholders the opportunity to increase their stakes in the company and take the benefit of a lower offer price than that of a public offer. Consolidated Hallmark, however, hinted that other options available to the company to achieve the additional capital required were private placement, public offer or merger, and acquisition. 
Recall that NAICOM of recent announced an increment in the minimum paid-up share capital of insurance and reinsurance firms. 

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43-year-old Super Eagles of Nigeria, and global football legend, Nwankwo Kanu has been appointed  as the Senior Special Assistant on Sports matters to the Imo state government. Kanu, who began his football career in the state is expected to help the Imo state government with his knowledge in football to develop the sports sector. At the announcement of his appointment, Kanu Nwankwo presented a Super Eagles jersey to the Governor of Imo state, Emeka Ihedioha. The ex Arsenal striker made the third-most substitute appearances in Premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times. He won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup Winners Medals and two African Player of the Year awards amongst others.  
He is one of few players in the world to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA
Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. 

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Super Eagles legend, Kanu Nwankwo gets political appointment in Imo state ; Gokada temporarily suspends operations; In view of NAICOM’s recapitalisation deadline, Consolidated Hallmark plans N3.9 billion capital raise; Governor Fayemi pays a visit to the Nigerian Stock Exchange; London Stock Exchange experiences delay in opening.

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Africa’s richest man and the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has called for the need to adopt proper mortgage financing and consumer credit in Nigeria. According to him, the availability of these is important in tackling corruption, alleviating the sufferings of people and reducing the hardship encountered by buyers when purchasing goods in the country.
He was speaking during a visit to Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dangote said, “ I believe what will help us the most is mortgage financing or consumer credit. Most
people go into corruption because they are worried about how to get a roof over their head, or how to buy furniture because we live in a society where everything you’re buying you pay cash.”
The business tycoon had previously stressed the need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks to develop consumer credit products in order to encourage low income earners to engage more in loan taking. 

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In a bid to revamp the country’s power sector, the Federal Government (FG) is considering repossessing no fewer than 10 electricity distribution firms. The acquisition, if successful, will cost the Federal Government about N736 billion. There are indications that the Federal Government could reacquire the distribution assets from core investors, as the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, in a document, described the co-owners of the distribution companies in Nigeria as ‘failed investors.’ While considering this option, the ministry said. To do so within the provisions of the Share Sale Agreement will require a sum in the region of $2.4 billion (736 billion), some of which will be paid as compensation to the failed investors. This is not a desirable outcome. It is noteworthy that the government is yet to pay the investor in Yola DisCo for its negotiated return to government.

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US national security adviser John Bolton made an extraordinary promise while on a visit to London Monday, pledging that the United Kingdom would jump to the “front of the queue” for trade with the United States if it went ahead and left the European Union. With the British economy suffering a battering in recent days due to the country’s impending exit from the European Union. At a briefing with British reporters Monday evening, Bolton said Britain would be “front of the trade queue” for a new trade deal with the United States, adding that any agreement could be worked out “sector by sector” to speed up the process. Already, some are concerned that the promise of such trade favoritism might prompt an inevitable no-deal Brexit, the kind U.K. officials have long hoped to avoid. 

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President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a change of name for the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi in Benue State. The new name for the institution is Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi. The approval follow the president’s decision to sign a bill amending the law that set up the university. Mr Buhari also approved a separate bill that changes the name of the Nigeria Prisons Service to Nigeria
Correctional Service. Details of the two approvals were contained in a statement sent to reporters by the presidency. Senior
Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists covering the State House in Abuja on Wednesday. The move was meant to give Nigerian prisons a new image and make it function more as a correctional institution rather than mere shelter for persons serving jail terms. 

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President Buhari approves bills that change names of two major Nigerian institutions; John Bolton Promises Britain Will Be ‘Front of the Trade Queue’ After Brexit, Says EU Treats Citizens Like Peasants; Failed investors may sell power distribution assets back to FG at N736 billion; Dangote seeks mortgage financing in Nigeria; Ivory Coast cocoa season grindings up 8% to 455,000 T- exporters; Lion King now highest grossing animation movie at $1.3 billion.

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The Namibian 2004 small stock marketing scheme has failed to discourage live exports of sheep to South Africa, and to promote value-addition in the sector. The government finally succumbed to the failed scheme, and accepted the recommendation from the
high-level panel of the Namibian economy to suspend the scheme. The Meat Board of Namibia (MBN)'s chief marketing officer, Desmond Cloete, said that the small stock marketing scheme was implemented in 2004 with the main objective of value-addition in the secondary industry sector and employment-creation. He added that the implementation of the scheme led to the establishment of four sheep export abattoirs, but farmers responded negatively to the scheme, decreasing their production, and farming with different livestock. "The export and local slaughtering ratio was 1 to 1, however, producers changed their production systems from sheep to cattle or game farming due to the quantities' restrictions. Many farmers also converted from Dorper sheep to fat-tail breeds that were not part of the scheme. Over time, the production of sheep declined dramatically from around 1,4 million marketed in 2004 to 825 000 in 2018," Cloete said. 

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