News
Nigeria, Ghana Smartphone Markets in Good Shape in 2019 as COVID-19 Casts a Dark Shadow

Nigeria’s smartphone market grew 5.3% quarter on quarter (QoQ) in Q4 2019, according to the latest figures from global technology and consulting services firm International Data Corporation (IDC). This growth comes on the back of a 3.2% QoQ increase in Q3 2019 after the market suffered a slow H1 2019, which translated into a 3.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline for 2019 as a whole. Meanwhile, Ghana saw smartphone shipments increase 6.1% QoQ in Q4 2019 and 9.1% YoY for 2019. Combined, these two countries saw shipments of 12.6 million units in 2019.
The decline in Nigeria in H1 2019 was caused by the closure of airports February, which led to a considerable slowdown in imports. The extended campaigns for the 2020 general elections also impacted the market, while the dollar was also unstable during this same period, which had the effect of reducing smartphone shipments to the country.
Together, Transsion brands (i.e., Tecno, itel, and Infinix) held the biggest market share in 2019 as they launched a number of successful models with big screen sizes and mid-range prices, including the Spark 4, Phantom 8, and Camon 12, among others. In addition, Transsion experienced strong demand for its wide range of models in low price bands ($0<$100).
Huawei had a major comeback to the market, benefiting from an increased marketing budget and the launch of new products in the mid-range price bands. Samsung benefited from its A series models, which had a wide market audience due to the affordability and rich features of these devices.
The Nigerian government raised VAT from 5% to 7.5% effective from February 1st, 2020. This new regulation is likely to lead to an increase in smartphone prices, leading to slower smartphone adoption in the market. With VAT averaging 5% in the markets directly neighboring Nigeria, gray market re-exports of smartphones into the country are likely to increase.
Anticipated Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak
As per the most recent Situation Report (#56) from the World Health Organization, there are now 167,511 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus worldwide, with 6,606 deaths. In response to the pandemic, IDC has developed three possible scenarios – Optimistic, Probabilistic, and Pessimistic – and currently believes that the Probabilistic scenario is the most likely to occur, with both supply- and demand-side concerns alleviating by the second half of 2020. Under this Probabilistic scenario for Nigeria and Ghana combined, IDC expects smartphone shipments to decline 15.4% in QoQ in Q1 2020 and 3.9% in Q2 2020.
As most consumer devices in West Africa are imported from China, the disruption to supply chains caused by the COVID-19 outbreak will have a particularly severe impact on this sub-region. Most of the major smartphone brands (i.e., Tecno, Itel, Infinix, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo) are of Chinese origin and they control over 85% of the regional market. Other brands such as Nokia and Samsung, with their partial production outside China, cannot fill the gap as they also source parts and components from China.
The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Nigeria is double sided. While the supply of smartphones will inevitably be restricted on the Chinese side, Nigeria’s oil revenues are also likely to suffer as China is Nigeria’s the largest customer for crude oil and other raw materials.
“While the spread of COVID-19 presents a significant threat to Nigeria, a country with insufficient health infrastructure, the negative impact on oil revenues poses a larger threat in the short to medium term, and this will negatively impact the country’s fragile economic development and the purchasing power of consumers,” says Dr. Ramazan Yavuz, a senior research manager at IDC.
“While the impact of the spread of the virus is expected to lessen and a return to normalcy is awaited in H2 2020, the volatility and uncertainty in oil markets will continue to take a bigger toll on the Nigerian economy, which will subsequently stifle demand for consumer devices, including smartphones.”
IDC expects that the shortage of smartphone supply will drive an increase in gray market imports from other markets. “If the supply chain is not back to normal and distributors run out of stocks, the average selling prices for smartphones are likely to go up because of the shortage in supply,” says George Mbuthia, a research analyst at IDC. “The increase of VAT to 7.5% in Nigeria will push costs further upwards, slowing smartphone penetration in the short term.”
News
FG May Forfeits $4m from World Bank Loan over Audit Flop

Federal government may lose $4 million from a World Bank loan after failing to get a pass mark on key audit standards in its revenue-generating agencies, such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service.
This is according to a World Bank restructuring paper dated June 2025.
The amount, which is the equivalent of around N6.2 billion with an exchange rate of N1,568 per dollar, could have helped to address one of Nigeria’s infrastructural deficits.
The fund formed part of the $103 million Fiscal Governance and Institutions Project, a public financial management initiative financed through a credit facility from the International Development Association.
Accordingly, the revenue assurance audit covering the FIRS and Customs for the 2018 to 2021 financial years was assessed as not achieved because the reports submitted did not meet international auditing standards.
“Revenue assurance audit of Main Income Generating Agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service for FY 2018–2021, with an allocation of $4m.
“These Intermediate Results to be implemented by the Office of Auditor-General of the Federation were assessed as not achieved by the Independent Verification Agent because the reports submitted for verification did not meet the requisite international auditing standards.”
Also, the unsuccessful audit was one of ten performance-based conditions under the project that the government could not deliver before the closing date of June 30, 2025. Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Finance formally requested the cancellation of $10.4 million in project funds.
“The FMF has requested cancellation of $0.9m of unused funds for technical assistance and $9.5m, which is the amount allocated to 10 performance-based conditions, which will not be achieved by the close of the project on June 30, 2025,” the document read.
Further analysis shows that $4.5 million was tied to the uncompleted Revenue Assurance and Billing System, while $1 million was allocated to the development of a National Budget Portal.
According to the document, the Budget Office of the Federation, which was responsible for the portal, did not submit any evidence of achievement. In addition, $0.9 million in technical assistance funding was left uncommitted and has also been cancelled.
News
CDCFIB Warns against Recruitment Racketeers

Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) has warned job seekers to be wary of fraudsters circulating inappropriate recruitment information.
The warning came against the backdrop of social media publications that President Bola Tinubu has ordered massive recruitments into some government agencies.
The agencies listed in the report were the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) and the Federal Fire Service (FFS)..
The agencies are all under the Ministry of Interior, headed by Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
However, while responding to the reports, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) cautioned Nigerians against falling into the traps of job racketeers.
The Board acknowledged a Presidential approval for the recruitment of personnel in the four (4) Paramilitary Services under its purview, but insisted that due process would be followed on the matter.
Major Gen. Abdulmalik Jibrin (rtd), board secretary, said in a statement that “there are series of processes which leads to the actual recruitment exercise.”
“The Board wishes to reiterate that for all its recruitment processes, appropriate notifications would be done via adverts in the national dailies and it would be carried out in a fair and transparent process devoid of payment of any fee.
“To this effect, members of the public should be weary of the activities of recruitment racketeers who may want to take advantage of unsuspecting job seekers to rob them of their hard-earned resources”, Gen Jibrin said.
News
Concerned Nigerians Ask EFCC to Release Abiodun, CBEX Promoter

Adefowora Abiodun, one of the alleged promoters of the CBEX investment scheme, who voluntarily surrendered to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April following a ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, is still languishing in the custody of the anti-corruption agency.

Adefowora Abiodun, one of the alleged promoters of the CBEX investment scheme,
Concerned Nigerians who have been following the matter have urged the EFCC to release him unconditionally since he honoured their invitation without being arrested.
The court had approved the EFCC’s request to arrest and detain six individuals connected to the scheme, including Abiodun.
Alongside Abiodun, five other individuals—Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede, Avwerosuo Otorudo, and Chukwuebuka Ehirim—were declared wanted by the EFCC for their involvement in the alleged fraudulent investment scheme, which was valued at over $1 billion.
Fadila Yusuf, EFCC’s legal counsel, had submitted evidence that led to their public declaration as wanted individuals.
After the announcement, Abiodun, who was shocked by the declaration, alongside his legal team, presented himself to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, expressing his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
Babatunde Busari, his legal counsel, explained that Abiodun’s decision to submit voluntarily was made in order to clear his name and address the media narratives circulating about the case.
Despite the return of investor funds and CBEX’s assurance that withdrawals would be allowed by June 25, Abiodun has been in detention for over a month, triggering speculation about the EFCC’s high-handedness and rights abuse.
His legal team is now advocating for his release on administrative bail, emphasizing that the ongoing detention is unwarranted under the circumstances since he submitted himself for investigation.
According to one of the family sources, “Keeping him in a cell for over one month would send a negative signal to other Nigerians who would be declared wanted by the EFCC in the future. It would discourage Nigerians who have clear cases from surrendering themselves voluntarily to security agencies if, at the end of the day, they don’t receive mutual respect for surrendering themselves.”
He added that CBEX is not a Ponzi scheme.
Reacting to the agitation by concerned Nigerians, Dele Oyewole , EFCC spokesman hinted that the agency obtained a remand order to keep him beyond 48 hours.
According to him, “Anybody that we are holding beyond 48 hours, be rest assured that we have a lawful remand order from the magistrate court to hold him beyond 48 hours.
“We are a law-abiding commission. Concerning that suspect, we are holding him on the basis of that remand order.”
- General News2 days ago
Wema Bank Workers, Others Arraigned over Alleged N8.9Bn Cybercrime
- E-Financial2 days ago
Cyber Crime: Hackers to Hold Secret Conference 3.0 July 25
- Telecom2 days ago
Gaps on Phone Number Recycling Fuel Identity Theft, Data Breaches- ICIR
- General News2 days ago
Music Stars, Comedians Light Up “Evening with Glo” in Ijebu Ode
- E-Business2 days ago
FG Enrolls 59,786 Inmates on NIN Platform
- E-Financial2 days ago
SEC Flags ‘Punisher Coin’ As High-Risk Scheme
- Telecom1 day ago
Telcos Hit by Major Outages across Lagos, Enugu, Others
- News1 day ago
Beware!, Fraudsters Using our Name to Defraud Investors- NNPCL