News
Tourism Revenue: Why Nigeria is 25 Times Less Successful Than Ghana

Tourism should be an easy win for emerging market (EM) and frontier market (FM) economies with weakened currencies, and cheap jet fuel; an opportunity that we think is being missed.
When in the last decade did Iraq do better from tourism than Russia or India?
Why did you go on holiday to France, Spain or the US this year, rather than Russia? Why is Nigeria the second worst out of 43 countries in Africa at attracting tourist receipts, while nearby Ghana is 25 times more successful?
How is it even possible that as recently as 2010, Iraq was benefiting more from tourism than India, Russia, Nigeria or Bangladesh? In analysing tourism’s winners and losers, from the developed markets (DM) to beyond FMs, we suspect one common factor linking those who do poorly is the visa regime. Many EM or FM countries with difficult visa regimes collect less than 1% of GDP in tourism receipts, even as IMF data show their citizens spend far more than that abroad.
By contrast, easy visa regimes over the past 20 years have helped tourism numbers rise from 14k a year in Laos to not far off 14k a day, while tourism revenue in Cambodia has soared from $100mn to $3bn a year. In Georgia, tourism brought in 4% of GDP in 2005 and revenue reached 14% of GDP in 2015. Easy visa regimes from Rwanda to Cape Verde, and from Singapore to Thailand, help to drive GDP growth and make citizens better off. Nigeria, by contrast, runs a significant tourism deficit, which we estimate at around $4-5bn; the highly expensive visas do not come close to covering that gap and per-capita GDP is suffering.
Pride Before Economics (For Some)
Global media may have strangely overlooked the breakthrough visa-free reciprocity deal between Russia and Laos earlier this month, but it does highlight two very differing views on visa policy.
To Laos, cancelling visa requirements for Russians is another hook with which to attract tourists from a richer country. It hopes to use tourism, as neighbouring Thailand has done, to lift growth. For Russia, which can expect no significant economic boom from Lao tourists, the deal is another example of visa reciprocity; if a country treats Russia with respect by allowing easy visa access, it will get Russia’s respect in return.
But if EU countries and the US do not treat Russia with respect, by imposing complex visa requirements on Russians, then Russia will likely impose similarly complicated visa produces on EU and US citizens. We have heard similar views from India and Nigeria.
This is an understandable emotional reaction – and woe betide the economist who thinks money is more important than feelings. Yet other strongly patriotic countries, such as Croatia or Turkey, have not equated national pride with visa access. They instead prioritise tourist cash. While high-income countries can afford to forsake tourism revenue, lower-income countries can gain a great deal by encouraging tourism.
We estimate Russia is missing out on at least $6bn of tourist receipts (and as much as $18bn if it could get tourists as interested in St Petersburg and Russia as they are in Paris and France), as well as the jobs and much-needed GDP diversification that a larger tourism sector would bring.
Terrorism, post-conflict booms, the Olympics and the World Cup
There are of course more important drivers of tourism than just visas. We also show the negative impact of political instability and terrorism.
Tourism receipts as a percentage of GDP are down by more than 33% in Morocco since 2007 (despite no terrorist-related fatalities in five years), by over 50% (3% of GDP) in Tunisia and by nearly 75% (5% of GDP) in Egypt.
The rebound potential if politics improve is very substantial. Since the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka, tourism receipts have quadrupled from 0.8% of GDP in 2009 to 3.6% of GDP in 2015.
Meanwhile, it surprises us that the EM that underperforms the most on tourism is Brazil – and neither hosting the World Cup nor the Olympics is likely to improve that much in the future. But for others, tourism is an opportunity that we think more governments should grasp with both hands.
Charles Robertson is the Renaissance Capital’s Global Chief Economist
News
Legend Internet Repays N10Bn Commercial Paper

Legend Internet Plc has announced the full and timely repayment of its Series 1 Commercial Paper under its N10bn multi-layered issuance programme, marking a key milestone in the company’s engagement with Nigeria’s debt capital market.

Aisha Abdulaziz, chief executive officer, Legend Internet Plc,
The repayment, completed on schedule and in full, underscores the company’s financial discipline and its continued commitment to maintaining strong investor relations in a tightening funding environment.
The Series 1 issuance had earlier attracted significant demand, recording a 119.7 per cent oversubscription at launch, reflecting strong investor appetite and confidence in the company’s credit profile, operational performance, and long-term expansion strategy.
Speaking on the repayment, Aisha Abdulaziz, chief executive officer, Legend Internet Plc, said the outcome reinforces the company’s credibility and operational strength.
“The successful repayment of our Series 1 Commercial Paper demonstrates Legend Internet’s unwavering commitment to meeting its financial obligations and maintaining the trust of the investment community.
This milestone further reinforces the strength of our business model, operational discipline, and long-term vision for building resilient digital infrastructure across Nigeria,” she said.
She added that investor confidence has remained central to the company’s funding strategy, saying, “We remain deeply appreciative of the confidence shown by our investors, advisers, issuing houses, and market partners during the issuance and throughout the tenor of the programme. Their support continues to position Legend Internet for sustainable growth and expansion.”
The Commercial Paper programme forms part of Legend Internet Plc’s broader capital strategy aimed at supporting broadband infrastructure expansion, strengthening working capital efficiency, and accelerating investment in Nigeria’s digital connectivity.
Legend Internet Plc operates as a digital infrastructure and broadband services provider, with a focus on fibre connectivity, enterprise solutions, and next-generation digital services designed to expand access and support economic inclusion across Nigeria
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
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