Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Going home for the holidays can be more than just
Speaker 2: about seeing your family. It can be about finding your roots.
Speaker 1: For some that connection that's wherever it leaves that person
Speaker 1: you know who have been struggling of years to know
Speaker 1: where do I come from? Why am I of Thescala?
Speaker 1: Where could my great great grandparents have come from?
Speaker 2: But it can also be an excuse for many to
Speaker 2: have fun. What's known as Debty December has grown into
Speaker 2: a huge party, with many traveling from all over the world,
Speaker 2: bringing money and boosting some local economies.
Speaker 1: And to to leg city to Lega city.
Speaker 2: On today's episode of The Next Africa Podcast, we'll ask
Speaker 2: whether the Big December event is giving struggling economies and
Speaker 2: places like Nigeria and Ghana the boost they actually need,
Speaker 2: or just making things tougher for locals who won't see
Speaker 2: the benefits when the party's over. I'm Jennifer Zaba Saja
Speaker 2: and this is the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one
Speaker 2: story each week from the continent driving the future of
Speaker 2: global growth with the context only Bloomberg can provide. Joining
Speaker 2: us this week is Bloomberg's tiwa Adebayo, who has spent
Speaker 2: much of this past December in Nigeria and has done
Speaker 2: quite a bit of reporting on this. She's joining us now, Tia,
Speaker 2: Happy New Year to you, so talk to us about
Speaker 2: what exactly debty December is and what you saw when
Speaker 2: you were in Legos.
Speaker 3: Wow, as the legend has it, debty December, that's dee
Speaker 3: tty by the way. As a phenomenon, it started back
Speaker 3: in twenty sixteen when if the singer missed the Easy
Speaker 3: he used the phrase to refer to one of his
Speaker 3: concerts on a hashtag and social media and since then
Speaker 3: the meaning of the phrase has really metamorphosized. I mean
Speaker 3: it now refers really to a time of year when
Speaker 3: a large volume of diasporans and other visitors descend on
Speaker 3: African cities, particularly Akra and Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria,
Speaker 3: and they come to see family, to catch up with friends,
Speaker 3: and crucially to party a lot of the time. But
Speaker 3: what struck me about Lagos this year was the real
Speaker 3: presence of non diaspora Nigerians. So there was even a
Speaker 3: host of celebrities international artists like Sweety Chloe Bailey for example.
Speaker 3: It seems to have become this real cultural moment which
Speaker 3: has gone from people simply coming back home to see
Speaker 3: their families to a huge tourist destination being created out
Speaker 3: of cities like Legos and Akra and a huge time
Speaker 3: of celebration of cultural innovation and of course provide perhaps
Speaker 3: an economic boost to these cities too.
Speaker 2: And TA talk about where we're seeing the biggest influx
Speaker 2: or where we did see the biggest influx this past
Speaker 2: holiday season. You mentioned the economic benefits. What sort of
Speaker 2: numbers are we talking about here if you can quantify
Speaker 2: it for us.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean it's been focused really around cities like
Speaker 3: Legos Nicra.
Speaker 4: However, actually yesterday I was.
Speaker 3: Speaking to the Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and
Speaker 3: Diaspora Affairs in Edo State, Nigeria. That's doctor Uyi Dua
Speaker 3: Malacca and her state is in southern Nigeria actually, and
Speaker 3: she told me that they too have seen increased number
Speaker 3: of visitors, so it's perhaps not just all about the
Speaker 3: cities at the moment. They've particularly seen increased visits to
Speaker 3: cultural sites like their newly completed Museum of West African
Speaker 3: Art in Benin City. In terms of the numbers, we're
Speaker 3: still awaiting the official stats for twenty twenty four, but
Speaker 3: all of the indicators so far to this year having
Speaker 3: been the biggest yet in terms of dirty December.
Speaker 4: Here's what she said to me. Statistics and readily available,
Speaker 4: but I can tell you for Freeda at tim about
Speaker 4: twenty twenty three.
Speaker 5: My Koda's Economy GDP had it about fopising boosts from
Speaker 5: dirty tom by activities and twenty twenty four was even bigger.
Speaker 3: And just to give you a bit of a flavor
Speaker 3: of what that means, if you look back at twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three, the official statistics show that Legos, just Legos
Speaker 3: alone welcomed one point two million tourists, and experts forecast
Speaker 3: of fifteen percent surge from that number in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: So it's a significant number of people. And there have
Speaker 3: also been some adjustments made which would perhaps point to
Speaker 3: there being more tourists. And that's because some of the
Speaker 3: governments in Ghana, for example, are actually making things easier
Speaker 3: for tourists that they're trying to entice them. So this
Speaker 3: year in gard from the first of December twenty twenty
Speaker 3: four right up until January fifteenth, twenty twenty five, tourists
Speaker 3: are able to enter without the need for visa pre approval,
Speaker 3: and that's really been done as part of an effort
Speaker 3: to make the overall process of travel to Ghana easier.
Speaker 3: They know that December is a hot spot, is a
Speaker 3: time when a lot of tourists want to come and
Speaker 3: visit Garana from all over the world, and they want
Speaker 3: to make that as easy as possible.
Speaker 4: They want to welcome as many tourists as possible.
Speaker 3: And that initiative in Ghana is part of something called
Speaker 3: Beyond the Return, which is linked to the famous Year
Speaker 3: of Return twenty nineteen initiative, which sort of tried to
Speaker 3: celebrate the historic links between Africa and its daspora, inviting
Speaker 3: a lot of Black Americans, for example, to come to
Speaker 3: Gharna and discover their roots, and some were even given citizenship.
Speaker 2: And I remember when the Year of Return really took off,
Speaker 2: when I was back in the States. It was really
Speaker 2: a moment for people. We were mentioning going back to
Speaker 2: your roots. When we talk about today though, and what
Speaker 2: happens in dirty December, what sort of things do people do.
Speaker 2: You were mentioning museums and memorials, I mean, how do
Speaker 2: you make the most out of the time there what
Speaker 2: did you do, Tuua?
Speaker 3: Well, there are lots of things to do, and I
Speaker 3: think that's what people are realizing. It's not just about
Speaker 3: the partying, which has perhaps been the narrative that's been
Speaker 3: spread about Dirty December in previous years. I think what's
Speaker 3: been really interesting this year is the cultural benefits that
Speaker 3: have come from so many tourists coming to Nigerian Ghana,
Speaker 3: but also the attention in the cultural zeitgeist that's been
Speaker 3: placed on these countries. So artists, especially in Nigerian and
Speaker 3: Ghani and artists are using this opportunity not just to
Speaker 3: perform to new audiences physically, but also they're making the
Speaker 3: most of the attention that's being placed on them globally,
Speaker 3: and they're using that opportunity to perhaps launch new artistic
Speaker 3: projects because they know that December is a time not
Speaker 3: just when people visit their countries, but when people pay
Speaker 3: attention to their countries online. You will have heard at
Speaker 3: the beginning of the podcast a song about Lagos called
Speaker 3: come to Eco. It's by Nigerian duo Oiza and May
Speaker 3: and I spoke to them a bit about this song
Speaker 3: that they have, which talks about legos and everything that
Speaker 3: there is to offer in the bustling city, and they
Speaker 3: said to me that they actually chose to release the
Speaker 3: song close to December to capitalize on that sort of
Speaker 3: cultural opportunity.
Speaker 5: So December is a really really good time. There's a
Speaker 5: lot of shows, a lot of activities, and they are
Speaker 5: looking for a lot of artists upcoming, big middle class artists. Everybody,
Speaker 5: as far as you're in the musical or entertainment space.
Speaker 4: This is a Greek time.
Speaker 3: So really everyone is trying to take advantage of the
Speaker 3: debty December phenomenon, and even the government, for example in Nigeria,
Speaker 3: they're also trying to capitalize on the attention in an
Speaker 3: economic sense. So there's something called the Nigerian Interbank Settlement
Speaker 3: System which has been introduced from December twenty twenty four,
Speaker 3: and that means that there'll be a non resident bank
Speaker 3: verification number platform. And what all that means is that
Speaker 3: it's going to be much easier for Nigerians living outside
Speaker 3: of the country to manage their local bank accounts and
Speaker 3: conduct business. And officials when they're talking about this policy,
Speaker 3: they've said it's to ensure that Nigerians, regardless of their location,
Speaker 3: can engage seamlessly with the economy and expand their business opportunities.
Speaker 3: And it's no coincidence that that initiative was started in
Speaker 3: December twenty twenty four. So what we can see is
Speaker 3: the government really trying to take advantage of this economic opportunity.
Speaker 2: Stick with us to because it's not our winners involved.
Speaker 2: When we come back, we'll talk about why not everyone's
Speaker 2: happy with Dirty December. Will be right back, Welcome back today.
Speaker 2: On the podcast, we're talking about Dirty December and how
Speaker 2: cities in West Africa encourage the diaspora to come home
Speaker 2: for Christmas and for the holidays. Tia Atebaio is still
Speaker 2: with us, so talk about some of the downsides that
Speaker 2: people have been alluding to when it relates to Dirty December.
Speaker 3: Well, this year, Dirty December has been quite the controversial
Speaker 3: topic online as well.
Speaker 4: There's been a.
Speaker 3: Huge discourse really between the people that live in these
Speaker 3: countries full time, in Akra and in Lagos and people
Speaker 3: that they're calling IJGBS or I just got back, So
Speaker 3: that's the term for parts of the diaspora that come
Speaker 3: seasonally to these cities and some people aren't happy. They
Speaker 3: say the country's infrastructure can't handle the influx of tourists.
Speaker 3: There's been huge problems with traffic, especially in Lagos, and
Speaker 3: they say that people with their foreign currencies are also
Speaker 3: driving up the prices of goods, making them even more
Speaker 3: unaffordable for local residents. And that's something that's been very
Speaker 3: prevalent on social media. Here are some clips of what
Speaker 3: people had to say, IgGs to go because why there's
Speaker 3: so much affric on the island.
Speaker 5: I couldn't even make it.
Speaker 1: To my plans like this.
Speaker 2: Ers are just like, oh God.
Speaker 3: Everybody that is coming to Nigeria is going to Legos, Legos.
Speaker 2: There is module of Nigeria.
Speaker 4: Prices are increasing like crazy.
Speaker 3: And so really we can't talk about the economics of
Speaker 3: Debty December without mentioning the context. Using Nigeria for an example,
Speaker 3: the Nayra hit record lows in twenty twenty four. Inflation
Speaker 3: was at a twenty eight year high of thirty four
Speaker 3: point six percent in December twenty twenty four, and drilling
Speaker 3: into that far food inflation. Food is really a core
Speaker 3: part of Derty December, with many tourists going out to
Speaker 3: eat at local restaurants, but looking at that picture, for
Speaker 3: local residents, food inflation quickened to thirty nine point nine
Speaker 3: percent in November.
Speaker 4: So that's the backdrop that we're working with. But in
Speaker 4: Lagos in.
Speaker 3: Particular, actually, something that I noticed whilst I was there
Speaker 3: is that perhaps the trickle down economics of dirty December
Speaker 3: isn't really playing out how many people think it should
Speaker 3: or would like it to in a geographic sense. So
Speaker 3: Lagos is really split into the mainland and then Lagos Island,
Speaker 3: which is typically more affluent, and that's really where a
Speaker 3: lot of the tourists have been concentrated, where most of
Speaker 3: the bars and clubs and restaurants and theaters are that
Speaker 3: have been really popular over the month of December.
Speaker 4: And just being there over that period you can see.
Speaker 3: Really a price difference between those two places. Things on
Speaker 3: the mainland often very much cheaper than on the island,
Speaker 3: where prices are being driven up. So if all that
Speaker 3: foreign currency and all that economic power coming in is
Speaker 3: being concentrated on the island, you have to wonder are
Speaker 3: the locals really benefiting from this?
Speaker 2: See when we talk about support from the diaspora in America,
Speaker 2: across Europe, in the UK, is anyone on social or
Speaker 2: on any of the officials that you've spoken with have
Speaker 2: suggestions for what support could look like.
Speaker 3: Well, when I was speaking to someone that works a
Speaker 3: lot with their diasper, that's the Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture,
Speaker 3: Tourism and also Diaspora Affairs in Edo State.
Speaker 4: She told me that the diasper is a key pillar
Speaker 4: for her work.
Speaker 3: She's been able to reach out to people in the US,
Speaker 3: in the UK for example, to help fund the work
Speaker 3: that she's doing in the state, and that's something that
Speaker 3: she's says to me she really wants to continue to
Speaker 3: do going forward, not just around December. They're also trying
Speaker 3: to build other touch points around the year, particularly in Easter.
Speaker 3: There's also due to be Lagos Fashion Week celebrations, so
Speaker 3: they're trying to make this a more regular thing and
Speaker 3: keep that line of communication open with the diaspara. And
Speaker 3: I think that's also evidenced by policies such as making
Speaker 3: it easier to manage your bank account in Lagos remotely
Speaker 3: or in Nigeria remotely if you're in the diaspora. So
Speaker 3: there are things like that that the government is trying
Speaker 3: to make easier to try and make that process and
Speaker 3: that link, that bridge between the diaspora and Nigeria smoother
Speaker 3: and it's definitely something will probably continue to see going
Speaker 3: forward in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining us and bringing us
Speaker 2: the story and you're reporting. Great to get you on.
Speaker 2: That's Tua Adebayo. Here's some other stories we've been following
Speaker 2: across the region this week. M twenty three rebels appear
Speaker 2: to be planning a long term occupation of mineral rich
Speaker 2: territories in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. United Nations experts warned,
Speaker 2: and a report released Wednesday, since April m twenty three
Speaker 2: has been seizing Congolese towns with the help of Rwandan
Speaker 2: forces and setting up parallel government administrations to control key
Speaker 2: minds and trade routes. That's what the report said. Rwanda
Speaker 2: denies supporting the rebels and says it's committed to a
Speaker 2: ceasefire and peace talks with Congo. Also, Hershet's company is
Speaker 2: asking the US's top derivatives regulator for permission to buy
Speaker 2: a huge amount of coco through the New York Exchange
Speaker 2: after global shortages sent prices to a record that's according
Speaker 2: to people familiar with the matter. The move comes as
Speaker 2: the global market is forecast to face a fourth year
Speaker 2: of supply shortages after the spread of disease and poor
Speaker 2: weather hurt crops in the Ivory Coast and Ghanam, which
Speaker 2: usually account for more than sixty percent of global supplies.
Speaker 2: Prices have already broken record after record, prompting Hershey's chief
Speaker 2: financial officer to warn that the company would face higher
Speaker 2: cocoa costs this year. And you can follow these stories
Speaker 2: across Bloomberg, including the next African Newsletter. We'll put a
Speaker 2: link to that in the show notes. This program was
Speaker 2: produced by Adrian Bradley. Don't forget to follow and review
Speaker 2: the show wherever you usually get your podcasts. I'm Jennifer
Speaker 2: Zaba Saja. Thank you for listening.