FEBRUARY 07, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- The inability of states to provide basic services and security and create jobs across much of Africa, ranging from the Sahel zone in the west to Somalia in the east and Mozambique in the south has made the continent the global epicenter of extremist violence, the United Nations Development Programme said. 

In 2021 sub-Sahara Africa accounted for 48% of all deaths from violent extremism and 21% of attacks, the UNDP said in its Journey to Extremism in Africa report released Tuesday. A third of those deaths were in just four countries — Somalia, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Between 2011 and 2020 more than 50,000 people died as result of extremist violence on the continent.

“In the absence of the state institution providing for the basic services of, you know, security, rule of law or functioning courts, people essentially turn to these violent extremist groups,” Achim Steiner, administrator of the UNDP, said in an interview. “They provide in whichever form an alternative.”

While the spread of extremist groups is creating mounting problems for Africa, with deaths from terrorism rising tenfold in the Sahel since 2007 and economic costs between 2007 and 2016 estimated at $97 billion, the collapse of state services in countries such as Burkina Faso and Somalia threatens the world.

“We are at a point where development is imploding and the conditions that actually drive violent extremism are growing exponentially,” Steiner said. “More and more people are actually, you know, trying to get out of their own country that they call home.”

In addition to migration, both to developed countries and overburdened neighboring states, letting extremist groups flourish could see them export the violence globally, as had happened with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, he said. 

The UNDP report was based on interviews over two years with 2,196 people, three time as many as in a 2017 study carried out by the program. Of those, 1,000 were former members of violent extremist groups, some of whom were forcibly recruited and others who joined voluntarily. 

Recruitment factors included a lack of education, isolation and the brutality of government forces. Most of those interviewed were former members of Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabaab in Somalia and Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, the al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition in West Africa.

Platform, Narrative

Still, while the majority of the extremist groups focused on in the study are Islamists, religion is a secondary factor, providing a “platform and also a narrative,” Steiner said. If more money was directed to development rather than fighting extremists, with sub-Saharan military expenditures amounting to $20.1 billion in 2021, fewer people would be pushed into extremist groups, the UNDP said in the report.

Already the economic impact of the violence can be seen. Much of northern Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso are inaccessible because of the security threat and TotalEnergies SE has halted a $20 billion natural gas project in Mozambique after an attack by Islamist militants. 

“We need to have a much more fundamental reflection on what is working, what is not working,” Steiner said.  “These essentially nation state collapses that we are witnessing are ultimately going to have a cancer-like effect on, on not only neighboring countries, but ultimately the global sense of human security.”

(Updates with desire for security in first paragraph)

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Many Nigerians have criticised the Muhammadu Buhari administration for seeking to start a new national carrier after the former carrier, Nigeria Airways, collapsed largely due to corruption.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

 

Nigeria’s aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, Wednesday insisted the controversial national carrier, Nigerian Air, will soon commence operations.

Mr Sirika, who spoke to journalists after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, said the regulatory approval to get the national carrier flying is at the final stage.

“Nigeria Air will soon start flying, we’ve got the aircrafts ready, they’re painted in the colours. We’ve crossed all the Ts and dotted the Is. We’re at stage five of the AOC issuance by the NCAA. Once that is done, the airline will begin to fly,” Mr Sirika said.

“So there are five stages, we’ve done stages 1,2,3,4 and we are now at stage five, once the AOC is given, the aircraft is ready to start to fly.”

When the minister was asked to be specific on the timeline, he insisted it would be ‘soon’.

“Well, because the issuance of the AOC is in the hands of NCAA, but I know it will be very soon, with an emphasis on soon. So as soon as we get the AOC, then we fly,” he said.

Many Nigerians have criticised the Muhammadu Buhari administration for seeking to start a new national carrier after the former national carrier, Nigeria Airways, collapsed largely due to corruption.

The government, which has only about three months in office, has, however, said the new carrier would only be partly government owned and would be managed by a private partner.

However, some local airlines in Nigeria have sued the federal government, asking the court to stop the new national carrier as it would get unfair advantages over other airlines.

Last November, a Federal High Court in Lagos issued an order of interim injunction restraining the Nigerian government from proceeding with the establishment of its proposed national carrier.

In the originating summons of the suit, the plaintiffs formulated five questions for the court to determine, one of which is to determine “whether the entire process for the sale and transfer of shares of the 1st defendant to the 2nd defendant and its consortium by the 3rd and 4th defendants is in line with the provisions of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Est.) Act, 2005, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention, the National Policy on Public Private Partnership (N4P), sections 76-81 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, and does not affect the entire process including the selection, approval or grant to the 2nd defendant and its consortium by the 3rd and 4th defendants is not invalid and thereby entitling the entire process to fresh bidding exercise?”

The case is still in court.

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Agusto & Co, Pan-African credit rating agency, projects three percent economic growth for Nigeria in 2023.

The agency’s projection is contained in its recently released report titled ‘2023 Outlook: Nigeria, a Nation on the Precipice’.

This projection is higher than the 2.9 percent growth estimated by the World Bank but lower than the International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) 3.2 percent.

“Agusto & Co has a slightly more optimistic forecast, at 3%, and believes GDP growth will be supported by election spending, improved oil output (to 1.3-1.4mbpd) and still high oil prices ($88pb) but will be constrained by low investment and productivity,” the report reads.

“How quickly Nigeria can stem rampant oil theft and vandalism will be crucial to boosting foreign exchange earnings and providing the CBN with enough ammunition to intensify its interventions in the forex market.

“However, we expect high global interest rates to continue to limit capital inflows and add to currency pressures in 2023.”

The agency said that Nigeria’s insecurity challenge is expected to continue to be a major issue in 2023.

It said the problem would require a two-pronged approach – deploying resources to military artillery, personnel and intelligence; while also confronting the more deep-seated problems of pervasive poverty, high unemployment and extreme levels of inequality.

NAIRA LIKELY TO APPRECIATE TO N650/$ AT PARALLEL MARKET

In the report, Agusto said that all three leading presidential candidates, on the surface, appear willing to ‘allow’ for a more market-determined exchange rate.

It said a successful election would ease frayed nerves and bolster investor confidence.

The agency forecasted a gradual downward adjustment of the official exchange rate to N480-N500/$ and a simultaneous increase in FX supply, which would signal a willingness to shift ground and would likely trigger an appreciation of the naira in the parallel market to N650-N680/$.

INFLATION TO DROP TO BETWEEN I5% and 17>#/b###

Agusto projected that inflation would reduce in 2023 to 15 percent-17 percent because of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy pragmatism as well as the easing of global commodity prices from their peak in 2022.

“This is despite the impact of predicted floods and widespread insecurity on food production, as well as elevated energy prices, election-related spending, exchange rate pressures, and cost-reflective rates (petrol and electricity),” the agency said.

PETROL SUBSIDY PAYMENTS TO GULP N5TRN IN 2023

Agusto forecasted that Nigeria’s total subsidy bill would reach N5 trillion in 2023, thereby limiting expenditure on crucial infrastructure needed to galvanise economic growth in the medium to long term.

It said that doing away with subsidy would be inflationary and is likely to trigger severe backlash from unions and many sections of the wider public.

It, however, encouraged the outgoing administration to eliminate subsidy as it would make way for further and more fundamental fiscal reforms.

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Driving a petrol-fueled car in London costs more than in any other city in the world except Hong Kong, according to a new ranking, partly due to the capital’s congested roads.

Running a petrol car cost £2,512 ($3,070) last year, about £550 more than in 2021, location technology business TomTom said Wednesday. Fuel prices, which surged due to the war in Ukraine, meant that London ranked higher than other European cities like Paris, Oslo and Zurich as well as any city in North America. 

Higher prices at the pump did not deter people from using their cars, however.  

“Despite the rising costs of driving globally, it continues to be a major mode of transport in most cities,” said Andy Marchant, a traffic expert at TomTom. People may have become used to driving over the pandemic, especially those who moved further away from the office.

In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan is expanding a zone that charges drivers of high-polluting cars, in an attempt to improve air quality. Congestion and vehicle types meant that Londoners commuting by car emitted more than drivers making comparable journeys in other cities, TomTom said.

Claire McDonald from Mums for Lungs, a campaign group in south east London, urged people to ditch their cars. “It’s always better not to drive and to take alternative forms of transport,” she said.

Electric Trends

Electric cars cut running costs in half if drivers use slow charging, while still saving about £500 per year for fast charging, the data showed.

“If you just take the pump price and the plug price, EV is the cheaper option but if you take into account the price for EV cars then the trend switches,” said Marchant.

Congestion was also the driving force in Hong Kong topping the overall ranking.

When it comes to diesel cars, however, London tops the list with a yearly cost of £2,334. The report also showed that people lost 5.5 days to congestion driving in the UK capital with an average speed of 14 km/h in the center.

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG is returning to normal flight operations after widespread software problems linked to damaged Deutsche Telekom AG broadband cables grounded hundreds of planes.

The situation at Lufthansa’s main base in Frankfurt is normalizing, a spokesman said Wednesday. Lufthansa expects the IT issues that affected systems including check-in operations to be fully resolved by early evening.

Still, more travel disruption is around the corner. Ground staff at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs are planning strikes on Friday in a move that’s likely to lead to hundreds of additional flight cancellations. The Verdi services union has called the one-day walkout due to slow progress in talks over pay and conditions for security and other staff. The strikes complicate travel for delegates attending the Munich Security Conference, a major annual event for defense and foreign-policy makers.

Wednesday’s disruption, caused by damage to broadband cables at a rail location in northern Frankfurt, forced Europe’s biggest airline by fleet size to ground hundreds of flights worldwide. Lufthansa’s global flight operations center is located on the outskirts of Frankfurt’s airport, so damage to the communications links there ripple through Lufthansa ground IT systems across the world. In Germany, air traffic control had to divert landings in Frankfurt to prevent an overflow.

Deutsche Telekom spokesman Peter Kespohl said that since Tuesday, four broadband fiber cables had been damaged at a Deutsche Bahn railtrack by drilling work neither commissioned nor conducted by the telecommunications company. Deutsche Telekom has repaired two of the cables and is working on the others, Kespohl said, adding the company couldn’t immediately say how long it will take to finish the repairs.

In total, Lufthansa has around 700 aircraft. Its stable of airlines includes its namesake brand and the national flag-carriers Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss. The company also operates low-cost carrier Eurowings as well as other smaller brands.

Lufthansa declined 0.44% as of 3:48 pm in Frankfurt. The shares are still up around 24% this year.

The German company is scheduled to report earnings for 2022 next month. In December, the carrier raised its full-year earnings target on rebounding air travel.

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Flybe Group Plc, the distressed British carrier, is to be wound down after attempts to sell the struggling business failed.  

The regional airline had already ceased operations and canceled all of its flights in January after collapsing into administration, a form of insolvency proceedings. It was the second failure for Flybe which previously halted operations in 2020 when the pandemic wiped out demand for air travel. 

Although there were sale discussions with a number of “credible parties” it was not possible to conclude a deal “in the available timeframe,” said administrators at Interpath Advisory in a statement Wednesday. 

Read More: Lufthansa Grounds Fleet After Fiber-Cable Damage Crippled IT

Part of the problem with the sale was complexity around “use it or lose it” rules related to landing slots. There were also challenges with European authorities regarding a temporary operating licence for the airline, once the UK’s largest domestic carrier, that would have been issued by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority. 

Interpath said it will now look at options for selling any assets and specific rights that Flybe owns. A further 25 employees of Flybe have lost their jobs with immediate effect. 

Flybe operated flights from Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, to places such as Amsterdam and Belfast.

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

President Muhammadu Buhari is considering extending the validity of old naira notes by 60 days, TheCable understands.

This is to avoid disobeying the order of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which ruled that the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes remain valid until it delivers judgment in the case filed by some states against the federal government.

The CBN had insisted that the deadline of February 10 would not be changed but a senior government official told TheCable that Buhari was worried about the hardship faced by Nigerians as well as the legal implications of disobeying the order of the constitutional court.

The official told TheCable that this was the focus of a meeting between Buhari and the leadership of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) as well as the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) until the early hours of Wednesday.

The governors were then expected to withdraw their case at the apex court.

“The resolution was to give room for President Buhari to make concession on the monetary policy and make the following announcements public,” the official said.

“One, that the old naira notes of N200 be allowed free movement in and out of the banks for the next 60 days.

“Two, that all three notes will be legal tender during this period, but that any old N500 or N1,000 that goes into a bank will not be sent back into circulation.”

The official said that while others were “on the same page with the president”, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, insisted on total cancellation of the policy.

Buhari, who had earlier delayed attending the federal executive council (FEC) meeting by 40 minutes to monitor the development at the Supreme Court, was disappointed that the governors reneged on their promise to withdraw the case.

He had, after the meeting on Wednesday, met with Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, and Modibbo Tukur, the director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), on the need to allow all old notes circulate in the system to ease hardship on ordinary Nigerians.

“The president will not disobey the court. But he is also concerned about the suffering of Nigerians and wants the to find lasting solution to it,” the official further explained to TheCable.

“It is clear that some militancy is being propagated against the people by the elite who have the means to secure the new notes no matter what while the people continue to suffer.

“The president will continue to engage and see the way out of the logjam.”

Editor’s note: A slight correction has been done to the story to reflect that only old N200 notes will be allowed to go in and out of the banking system till April 10. Old N1,000 and N500 notes will not be dispensed by banks under the imminent concession. 

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

The Managing Director of an aircraft management and charter flight company, Leading-Edge Aviation Company, Mr Victor Mgbachi, speaks with FUNMI FABUNMI on the prospects of business aviation and private jet charter sub-sector in Nigeria, among other key issues

What would you say are the factors driving business aviation and private jet charter in Nigeria?

I would say that the industry has never been very profitable. The sub-sector is not a robust one in Nigeria or in West Africa. However, in the African region, I would say Nigeria is among the top five. South Africa is far ahead of us, Kenya is catching up or exceeding our capacity already.  I would say that what drove business aviation in recent times was the COVID-19 pandemic that happened in 2020. It was the period people saw the need for business aviation. Before now, it used to be for pleasure and class. But now, post-COVID, many people now have a business to do with it. With the recurring delays with the scheduled commercial flights, several people now want to have a tab on what time they want to arrive at their meetings in different locations. They also want to have a tab on the time they want to return back to base to continue their businesses. I recall that during the COVID, there was an increase in the passenger-sharing model of private jet ownership. So a few brokers came together and said, you know, we have people who want to go and do business in Abuja, Port-Harcourt and other locations, but they are not willing to pay as much as $7,000 per hour for an Embraer Legacy private jet charter, for instance. So, what do we do? So, these brokers started pulling individual clients together. They work together to pull seven people together who will pay $1,000 each. That way, you get seven people who will pay $7,000 to cover for a sector of the flight. And if it is meant to be a return sector, each passenger pays $2,000, for example, and that covers for both sectors; and all these passengers agree that they are going to return back to Lagos at a specific time. So, business continued even while the pandemic was still on but the lockdown was lifted, and people became a bit skeptical to sit next to someone who they were not sure of their health status as per COVID. So, we saw that but that has suddenly fizzled out because COVID is now over, and life has returned to normal. However, most people who enjoyed the private jet charter service have now seen that business aviation basically was not for luxury, but for ease of movement or ease of business, depending on where they want to go. So, it is picking up and I would say a whole lot of people are beginning to understand that this is basically for business. There are a few owners in Nigeria who own their private jets, specifically for private use-they don’t use it for charter. They are purely Part 91. But for those who are Part 1, 3 and 5, they keep their aircraft out and there is regular cleaning of the aircraft interior to ensure that the aircraft is sterile for flights.

How has rising inflation and volatile exchange rate affected private charter service pricing in Nigeria?

One of the parts of business aviation is charter. One of the challenges that business aviation has faced is basically the price of fuel pre-COVID and then post-COVID when everything went up. In the past 12 months, there has been an increase of over 200 per cent in the price of jet fuel. However, the advantage is that the price of jet fuel is in naira, so we can always manage it. Well, for business aviation and charter, the prices are always in the United States dollar, so it is left for the operators and the aircraft management company to assess their operating costs against their charter prices and fix a price for their clients. But for Leading-Edge Aviation Company, we are also into charter services and with the type of aircraft we manage, we have kept our prices very competitive compared to other operators; this one of the cutting-edge for us. So, we also look at the middleman between the end user and the charter company. We usually give rebates to the middleman; the middleman is called the broker in this business. This also gives us an opportunity to get more business from the end users. However, the price of fuel has not really affected business aviation because it is usually charged in USD. However, we have seen some operators that increased their prices just to accommodate the extra cost of operation.

Are there challenges with running a private charter with foreign-registered private jets?

It is always a bit difficult to run a charter business with foreign-registered airplanes, and that’s why the regulatory authorities would always encourage any investor in business aviation to deregister their aircraft and put it in Nigerian registration. This will help them to cut down on the cost of landing and en-route navigational charges. I will give you a very good example. If an aircraft is registered as Five-November (5N), the operator of such an aircraft will pay their charges at a particular index, which is over 90 per cent lower than what the operators of the foreign-registered aircraft will pay. However, there is also the fear that if an operator registers their aircraft in Five-November (5N), the aircraft will lose its value in the global market. Well, all that has changed over time. We now have more aircraft Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul (MROs) facilities and Aircraft Maintenance Organisations (AMOs), coming into the Nigerian market. We have the likes of ExecuJet, Air First, Seven Star Global and a whole lot of AMOs. They are giving first-world services to these airplanes as per maintenance. However, the fears are still there. Most insurance companies try to shy away from 5N-registered aircraft. Again, we also try to make our brokers smile because they are the ones who know the end users. They bring the end users to us, while we do the charter. They are often given a rebate of what the fee is. Basically, we are competitive and we can offer more services. We have had a few of our clients use our airplane and the feedback has been phenomenal. They say to us, “your in-flight service is off the roof.’’ We serve proper meals within the first 35 minutes of the flight.

Talking about elections, it is believed that politicians often fly private jets to attend campaigns and political meetings during electioneering. Is the sector not expected to record more sales during this period?

There is always an upsurge before every election, but this upsurge would always declines two to three weeks before the real election period and I will tell you why. Most private jets have their insurance cover, particularly foreign-registered aircraft which often have their insurance covered by foreign insurance companies. As a practice, private jet operators often get a red flag or an alert from the insurance company warning them against flying to certain states in Nigeria. They often state that aircraft operators can’t operate in some states because of unrest and the activities of insurgents in those areas. But generally, before an election, we always have an upsurge and increase in the demand for private jets. However, private jets are still limited in terms of number in Nigeria. We have a few individuals who always want to take advantage of that period to bring in an airplane, especially on a lease purchase, to operate within that period and then exit.  But it has been very difficult doing that because you really cannot hold the market. You cannot tame the market. And part of the reason you cannot tame the market is that some of these airplanes can be due for maintenance within and around the election period, you can’t skip that.  On the other hand, part of the issue may have to do with certain restrictions like crew duty hours. A few operators do not stick to this rule, and they often run into trouble with regulatory authorities like the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the rest of them. For Part 91, which is the private jet part of business aviation, a pilot or a set of the crew are only expected to fly for eight hours; or between eight to 12 hours maximum; and they must have their minimum rest before the next flight. So, the restriction there is that the demand will be there but there are a lot of restrictions that have to do with aircraft maintenance, crew rest period, and other factors. Another downside could be the airport operating hours. For example, if a politician has an evening rally, there is always a restriction for most airports that do not operate for 24 hours. There are airports that operate sunrise and sunset-7:00AM to 6:00PM. So, there is a restriction of arriving and departing such airports within that period, otherwise the aircraft will be grounded. Alternatively, they may be asked to pay for an extension. So yes, there are increases in demand during election period but there are also limiting factors during an election period. While there is an increase in demand, the limiting factors must also be considered.

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian home prices fell for an 11th straight month as rising interest rates continued to limit what prospective buyers can afford, ramping up pressure on the country’s housing market.

The national benchmark price for a home declined 1.9% to C$714,700 ($532,060) in January from December, according to data released Wednesday by the Canadian Real Estate Association. It’s down 15% from last year’s peak.

The Canadian housing market has seen an abrupt reversal from its frenzied pandemic days as the central bank raises interest rates last year to combat inflation. The fast rise in borrowing costs has priced out buyers, squeezing affordability even with prices down.

Sales fell 3% in January from the previous month, while the number of new listings rose 3.3%, keeping downward pressure on prices, the real estate board data show.

That came as the Bank of Canada kept up pressure when it raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.5% at its January meeting. The benchmark rate was just 0.25% last March, making for one of the quickest increases in borrowing costs in Canada’s history. But the central bank has signaled that it might now pause to see how the country’s economy and its consumers are handling the increases.

Despite the increase in supply in January, the number of houses available for sale across the country remains constrained. The number of homes that hit the market last month was the lowest for the month of January since 2000, and the 4.3 months worth of inventory currently available for sale nationwide is still about a month less than that measure’s long-term average, real estate board data show.

“We may have to wait another month or two to see what buyers are planning this year since new listings are currently trickling out at near-record low levels,” Jill Oudil, chair of the national real estate board, said in a press release accompanying the data. “But that should change as the weather warms.” 

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to stop the general election over the exclusion of Nigerians in diaspora from voting.

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, held the suit lacked merit.

The judge also held that the right to vote in elections was not guaranteed by the country’s laws for Nigerians living abroad.

“The court does not enact laws. It cannot also expand the law in order to accommodate an issue before it no matter how sympathetic or humanitarian the cause or situation is,” the court held.

“It only interprets and expounds the laws, and it is the law as stated before in this judgment, that when interpreting the provisions of a statute, the court must not ascribe meanings to clear, plain and unambiguous provisions in order to make such provisions conform to the court’s view of their meanings or what they ought to be.”

The judge said by the provisions of sections 77(2) and 117(2) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), the right to vote is reserved for Nigerian citizens resident in Nigeria.

“The right to vote for a president or governor is tied to the right to vote in an election of any legislative house, going by the provisions of sections 132(5) and 178(5) of the 1999 constitution (as amended),” the judge added.

Ekwo also raised concerns over the filing of the suit three months to the general election.

“The applicants can only be commended for bringing this matter to the fore. However, the court is not where the solution lies for now,” he said.

“What this case has revealed is that there is lacuna in the existing law with respect to the right of Nigerians in the diaspora to votes in elections in Nigeria.

“The lacuna here is not such that the court can fill by pronouncement or by importing statutory provisions from anywhere.

“There is a situation whose solution is by legislative and not judicial process.”

Chikwe Nkemnacho and Kenneth Nkemnacho, the plaintiffs who live in the United Kingdom, instituted the case on behalf of Nigerians in the diaspora.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the INEC chairperson, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria are listed as the first to fourth defendants, respectfully.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2119/2022, the plaintiffs asked the court to order INEC and the federal government to suspend campaigning for the 2023 elections until they are included as registered voters for the polls.

Additionally, they asked the court to rule thatin accordance with sections 13, 14, 42, and 17 of the 1999 constitution, those of them who are of voting age are entitled to take part in the electoral process by registering to vote in all elections, regardless of their places of residence.