corvusalbus

Bureau chief W/Africa @cnbcafrica | former editor @BusinessDayNG, Padawan photographer, art from Africa enthusiast

[corvusalbus @FagbuleTayo]

What would you do if you were not afraid?

[Africa Finance Corporation @africa_finance]

Africa’s mineral wealth is not abstract.

From iron ore and manganese to graphite, rare earths and uranium, the continent holds globally significant scale across strategic minerals.

This map from the Compendium of Africa’s Strategic Minerals 2026 shows precisely where that endowment sits — and where the next industrial value chains could be built.

See full analysis: https://t.co/XIvn9zWCUX

[Gbénró Adégbolá ن @GbenroAdegbola]

I’m totally sold on the emerging trend of Afrobeats artists performing with full orchestral ensembles.

It offers a totally new listening experience.

Been watching two such concerts with symphonic instrumentation.

They push popular music beyond its usual live conventions.

[signüll @signulll]

i have a lot to say about these ads but holy fucking shit… this might be the most tasteful & brutal takedown of a category leader i’ve ever seen. & during the fucking super bowl? insane.

usually these things almost always fall flat (see: slack “welcoming” microsoft teams with a fucking newspaper ad & how cringe that was), but this one lands dead center.

even normies will clock the subtlety. the capturing of chatgpt’s drift in personality, tone, & vibes is absolutely unreal. almost surgical. normal ppl i know make fun of how chatgpt talks.

imo openai made themselves vulnerable here by simply trying to do so much (enterprise, codex, consumer, etc) & lacking a singular cohesive narrative other than they have 800m users. like even google is taking shots about openai being forced to run ads.

anyway i’ll post more but this was an absolute master class (i have posted about how openai competitors should handle their ads play, & this is a great start). also i would not count anthropic out of the consumer race yet (they have a lot of room to grow & even potentially acquire small startups).

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

In the course of six deliriously good solo albums, Bad Bunny established himself first as Latin trap’s breakout success and then as something else altogether: “a stylish and unpredictable star with no real precursor or peer,” Kelefa Sanneh writes. Ahead of the artist’s Super Bowl performance this Sunday, read about how Bad Bunny became a global phenomenon: https://t.co/VWm0IVb1mX

[Carlos Lopes @LopesInsights]

Correct The Map: resetting global view of Africa, by Carlos lopes for #CNBCAfrica
https://t.co/qSg0qlnEal

[Fu'ad ❤️‍🔥 🧠🥊 @FuadXIV]

We need more knowledge production for the sake of knowledge production in Nigeria.

Let people write the essays. Make the videos. Do the podcasts. Do the gatherings. Let people do everything.

We don't have nearly enough.

[BusinessDayNG @BusinessDayNg]

Nigeria’s Ajaokuta Steel was designed to power industrial growth.
Instead, it has absorbed tens of billions of naira without producing steel.

This story examines how years of spending failed to deliver results, and why the country still relies on steel imports.

Do you think Ajaokuta can still work, or has Nigeria waited too long?
Share your thoughts in the comments.

Read the full story on here: https://t.co/THykEj2L4l

[tyro @DoubleEph]

A good way to anchor all this Epstein information floating around is to read the New York Times long read from December on his origin story. It is excellent and once you understand the sort of person he was, the information overload is easier to understand

[Financial Times @FT]

Xi Jinping has called for the renminbi to become a global reserve currency, in some of his clearest comments on his ambitions for China’s currency as Beijing seeks to play a greater role in the international monetary system: https://t.co/qvIgOzMkmi

[Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi @OreOgunb]

I love Push 2 Start (so much so that it was on my Spotify wrapped) but that award was cleeeearly Davido’s

[Rufybaba @Rufyb]

A bank’s valuation is a lot more assessed via price to book. Sometimes, you see a bank that is seemingly doing well, and you wonder why its P/B multiple is incredibly low. You’d see figures like 0.2x, 0.3x.

The reason is “asset quality”. Typically, banks trade at ridiculously low P/B multiples when investors believe the asset quality is much lower than reported.

Because of the assumptions involved, it is often very difficult to gain a clear understanding of a bank’s asset quality. Therefore, you mostly have to rely on the corporate governance, management quality, and your intuition.

An example is when a bank continues to grow its loan book in a very difficult macroeconomic environment. Who are you lending to? I am not saying it is impossible, but I must understand what you are doing differently, and that it adds up.

I so much appreciate First Holdco's decision to bite the bullet and write off all the legacy loans. I also appreciate the regulatory framework of the Central Bank that made moves like these happen (there are other banks that did this too when they seized the moment to write off some loans because FX gains allowed them to stomach the loss).

It is not easy to explain to shareholders that you are swallowing such a huge loss. Your income statement can not take it. Sometimes, your balance sheet too can not take it

These exposures, however, had been on the books for years. As far back as 2016, during the recession and oil price collapse, the bank was on the edge. Non-performing loans rose to about 24%.

With this move, First Holdco can effectively restart. You can not do banking sustainably if your balance sheet is not healthy.

By the way, the bank's decision to write off these loans does not mean that the money is gone forever. They have only applied one of the accounting standards (take your time before you recognise income, but immediately register the expense as incurred, even just by thinking about it). The bank may still recover those debts, and they will be recorded as “other income”.

Going back to the P/B multiple, for other banks with very low P/Bs, investors may not be fully convinced about asset quality. This ₦700bn+ impairment has hit equity and will naturally reduce net assets, implying a higher effective P/B.

Meanwhile, what is that opex growth I am seeing??

As a rule of thumb, your opex as a percentage of total assets should not exceed 3%. I am seeing 5% here. That needs to be worked on. The details show a significant increase in advertising and corporate promotion expenses. Sounds like a one-off to me. We’d see.

Shareholders may need to calm down on any dividends this year. The board may declare something, though you may want to look ahead.

Small deviation: I really, really fancy/respect Olusegun Alebiosu, the CEO of the banking subsidiary (and a former Chief Risk Office

[Remi Adekoya @RemiAdekoya1]

Overdue. Fela didn’t just make great music. He said things about the realities of life in Nigeria (and Africa) that moved us to bits.

Moved our spirits, moved our hearts. Because they were true. And because we knew he was paying a price for saying these truths. He was a giant.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

I encourage you to join my World Prayer Network, which unites diverse cultures, languages, and charisms in the common mission. I especially invite young people to take part, so that they may form the next generation of intercessors for the needs of the whole world. https://t.co/VVI6MfQLWx

[Oluwaferanmi @Snap_venus]

5:59 AM

[Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi @OreOgunb]

Very niche journo request that I hope reaches the right audience:

I am on the hunt for old fans of Weird MC / the ‘Weirdos’ back when they used to tour Nigerian university campuses in the late 1980s

Please ask your parents 😭

#afrobeats #Nigerianmusic #Nigerianhistory

[NoteS. @NoteSphere]

These two presidential streetwear co-signs will always be iconic.

• John Mahama receiving his Free The Youth x Air Jordan 1 sneakers.

• Olusegun Obasanjo wearing a shirt that has the inscription of the first-ever streetwear brand in Nigeria — WAFFLESNCREAM.

[Ebenezer Boluwade @Ebenbolu]

FG SELECTS EKITI FOR SPECIAL AGRO-INDUSTRY PROCESSING ZONES PROGRAMME

https://t.co/76DG6QEmih

[Tamara Winter @tamarawinter]

1/ Today @stripepress publishes one of my favorite books to date: Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One by @stewartbrand, about the unglamorous yet civilizationally important work of maintenance and repair. 

https://t.co/XEE0fUHsVA

[Farnam Street @farnamstreet]

"Wealth is what you have minus what you want."
@morganhousel

That single idea can reshape how everyone thinks about their money.

In this episode of Morgan goes deep on why money’s real power isn’t happiness or status. It’s independence.

He talks about:
- Why money gives you fewer bad days but not more great ones
- How expectations are the real controllers of your sense of wealth
- Why simplicity beats sophistication in investing for the vast majority of people
- How saving is really about buying endurance
- And why chasing status is often just filling a psychological hole

This 2 hour conversation is about using money to design a life you don’t want to escape from, and learning what’s worth wanting in the first place.
https://t.co/zh6aLXfL6Q

[Dr. Arthur Brooks @arthurbrooks]

The 7 factors that most reliably predict happiness and health as we age are:

• Don’t smoke
• Limit alcohol
• Eat well
• Exercise regularly
• Keep learning and stay mentally curious
• Have a practiced way to deal with suffering
• Love