Smart Investing with Nosa

“Without prejudice to subsection (1) of this section, any employee who disengages or is disengaged from employment before the age of 50 years and is unable to secure another employment within four months of such disengagement may make withdrawal from his retirement savings account in accordance with the provisions of section 7(2) and (3) of this Act” – Pension Reform Act, 2014. I have not had to quote the provisions of any Acts or Laws since I made the switch from being an International Tax consultant to being a Strategy and Transactions (M&A / Corporate Finance) advisor in 2016. It feels like a lifetime ago, and it was only about 13 months after the switch that I left Lagos for Stuttgart. Amidst the thoughts of uncertainty that plagued me as I prepared to leave home in August 2017, for a country where I did not know anyone or speak the language, I also wondered “what would happen to my pension when I leave?”. I managed to convince myself to deal with the present and onl...

In the spring of 1997, Thailand spent billions in defending its currency (the Thai Baht) against speculative attacks, finally capitulating and devaluing the Baht in July 1997. This triggered moves throughout the region to defend currencies against speculators. Ultimately, these efforts were not successful and many countries abandoned the effort and allowed their currencies to float freely. The Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea abandoned their pegs against the US dollar. The currency crisis resulted in each of these four countries having negative GDP growth in 1998, as follows: Thailand (-7.63%) Philippines (-0.58%) Indonesia (-13.13%) South Korea (-5.47%) By the following year (1999), all of these countries experienced positive GDP growth, and in the 10 years that followed (2000 to 2009) average GDP growth rates were as follows: Thailand (4.32%) Philippines (4.46%) Indonesia (5.11%) South Korea (4.68%) Granted, the average GDP growth rates before 1997 ...