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Today’s edition is a 4.6 min read:

• 🇳🇬 Nigeria’s contested new president.

• 🇲🇽 Tesla becomes the latest carmaker to invest in Mexico.

• ➕ Plus: Germany isn’t as dependent on China as previously thought, how the papers are covering Lukashenko’s visit to China, and a pleasantly surprising poll result.

– VC & EP

🗺️ AROUND THE WORLD

1. 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this week to meet leaders from all five Central Asian countries. The former Soviet states have neither backed Russia's invasion of Ukraine nor opposed it at the UN.

2. 🇹🇷 Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has indicated to members of his party that Turkey will hold elections on 14 May as planned. Some analysts had worried Erdoğan, in power since 2003, would use the recent earthquakes to delay his toughest election battle yet.

3. 🇹🇭 Thailand: Thailand’s annual Cobra Gold military exercises began on Tuesday, with participants from two dozen countries including the US, China, and India. Nearly 6,000 US military personnel will be in attendance this year, by far the most in over a decade.

4. 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago: A human rights watchdog is calling on the Caribbean nation to repatriate around 100 of its citizens being held in Syrian prisons for alleged ISIS ties. Nearly a dozen countries have repatriated ISIS-affiliated citizens to stand trial in their countries of origin.

5. 🇬🇦 Gabon: French President Emmanuel Macron began the first leg of his four-stop Africa tour in Gabon on Wednesday. Macron’s trip is designed to reset relations with France’s former colonies after Mali and Burkina Faso expelled French troops last year.

🇳🇬 NIGERIA | ELECTION

Nigeria’s new president is elected on shaky ground

Briefly: Bola Ahmed Tinubu from Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party was announced as the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election on Wednesday (28 February). Tinubu won 37% of the vote, while Atiku Abubakar and underdog candidate Peter Obi came in at 29% and 25% respectively.

Don't dream it's over: Opposition parties have labelled the vote a sham and are calling for fresh elections. Interestingly, Samson Itodo, from respected democracy NGO YIAGA Africa, also suggested the results were “questionable”.

Logistical problems on the day, rather than voter apathy, seem to have led to a surprisingly low number of votes cast. Taking turnout into account, less than 10% of Nigeria's eligible voters backed Tinubu, so his mandate is slimmer than Adrien Brody on a juice cleanse.

Intrigue’s take: The streets of Nigeria are calm for now, and it's hard (but not impossible) to see these results being overturned in the courts. So we have two initial conclusions:

1. The upstart Peter Obi didn't win, but he ended Nigeria's two-party system, and

2. Having a well-oiled political machine is still key to becoming president.

As for Mr Tinubu's tough road ahead, another two bonus thoughts:

1. Nigeria spends most of its revenue servicing debt, and it's going into more debt each year by providing costly fuel subsidies for the people;

2. This ain't sustainable, but ending the fuel subsidies will likely bring protestors into the streets. Just ask Ecuador, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Haiti, etc…

Also worth noting:

• Nigeria accounts for ~3.1% of global oil exports, making it a top 10 oil exporter.

• Mr Tinubu was Governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007, when he was credited with transforming Nigeria's largest city into West Africa's economic hub.

📰 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

How different newspapers covered: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s trip to China.

Links: China Daily, The Hill, BelTA.

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🇲🇽 MEXICO | BUSINESS

Mexico’s electric car industry is charging

Briefly: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (of Mayan elf fame) announced on Tuesday that Tesla will build a plant in the industrial city of Monterrey. Tesla subsequently confirmed plans for the $5B plant, reportedly the world's largest, during an investor day.

Mexico’s electric car industry is booming. American carmakers GM and Ford are spending billions to retrofit existing factories for EV production, and BMW announced an $848M EV investment there just last month.

The boom is being driven in part by 'friend-shoring', as carmakers diversify away from over-dependence on China. It's also being nudged along by US policy: the Inflation Reduction Act offers billions in subsidies for EVs produced in North America (including Mexico).

Intrigue’s take: Throw in Mexico's low manufacturing costs (up to 20% below China's), proximity to the US market, and its integration with US supply chains (the two neighbours do a million dollars in trade every minute), and you can see why Mexico's auto-industry fiesta makes sense.

Also worth noting:

• Mexico already had a strong car industry before the Inflation Reduction Act: in 2021, it was the seventh-largest producer in the world.

• Chinese companies are also moving production to Mexico in order to circumvent US restrictions.

📚 REPORT OF THE DAY

China, let's be frankfurt…

According to a new report by the Kiel Institute, the German economy isn’t as dependent on Beijing as previously thought.

Though that's pretty academic if you're in Germany trying to buy a laptop (80% come from China), or if you're in China looking for a crisp Pilsner (Germany is China's top source of foreign beer).

👀 EXTRA INTRIGUE

What we’re reading about Brexit after the Windsor Framework agreement on Northern Ireland earlier this week.

• How Boris Johnson’s departure paved the way for a grand Brexit bargain

• The new Brexit deal is the best Britain can expect

• Why Brexit’s immigration politics have fizzled out

• The last thing Brexiters wanted was to get Brexit done

• ​​US firms aim to pour billions into Northern Ireland after Brexit deal

🗳️ POLL TIME!

Yesterday's poll: Have you checked out Intrigue’s new podcast?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 😍 Yes, I love it! (64%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😅 Yes, but it’s not for me (2%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🙂 Not yet, but I’m planning on it (18%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😯 Intrigue has a podcast? (16%)

Your two cents:

• 😍 H.J: "Absolutely adore the podcast! Perfect length for regular episodes, and have been really appreciating the guests on the longer Friday episodes."

• 😯  F.C: "Not much elaboration is necessary. I just didn't know Intrigue had a podcast."

'Nuff said! Find episodes of Intrigue Outloud on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast fix!