James Okonkwo

I grew up on Lagos Island. The naira moved. Rent did not wait for it. I still check the pair before I check the building.

Most weeks the desk is a flat in Singapore. The Lagos number still rings. I like the hour before the property pages, when the central-bank release is the only thing on the table. Rates. Reserves. A line I read twice. Chess with my brother is the same habit on a worse connection. Sundays I cook. Jollof, or whatever is in the kitchen. I skip the skyline photos. I still read the London close after dinner. Same figures, later in the day. I keep a small notebook. Four lines, then I stop.

You should leave with four blanks filled, or still blank on purpose. The asset. The currency. The loan. The tax home. Name the pair a rent cheque has to clear. Say whether a non-resident can borrow, and in which currency. Put them inside one gross yield and the page looks finished. Take them back out and it often is not. If the file has only the flattering ratio, the file is short. Send it back.