Time for Nigeria’s Big Men to Give Back to Society

Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, recently announced that he is offering one undergraduate/postgraduate scholarship to young Nigerians, to cover study within Nigeria or in a foreign institution. The details of the scheme titled “Education Solutions” are available on his website here.
The scholarship scheme has been attracting mixed reactions on social media so far– applause and condemnation in almost equal proportion. Personally, I am very ambivalent about it. While I will not condemn it, I certainly think more can be done to improve education as a whole in Nigeria, through teacher trainings and workshops, provision of books and study materials, advocacy campaigns and so on, rather than giving out one scholarship. To be fair to the former vice president though, he has emphasised that it is a nascent, pilot scheme, and he does own one of the most reputable private universities in the country, the American University of Nigeria.
Ultimately, there is no harm in our former public officials giving back to society. Giving out scholarships through a competitive process that selects the best and the brightest and changes someone’s life positively certainly beats sitting idly about, making self-serving, inflammatory and polarising press statements threatening that “Power Must Return to the North or Else…” or “Power Must Remain in the South or Else…” whilst sitting on a huge mound of fortune that is either frittered away in obscene and vainglorious consumption, or that lies dormant in Swiss Banks, South African hotels, Malibu mansions and Emirati apartment blocks. Call it the lesser of two evils if you must.
Now imagine if more of Nigeria’s “big men” were to invest in education, advocacy, and productive enterprises at home. We probably wouldn’t be begging the Americans, Europeans and lately the Chinese to do OUR work for us: to come establish labour-intensive manufacturing firms on our shores. If only 10% of Nigeria’s $170 billion stashed in foreign accounts (these are 2003 figures, the current figures must be several multiples of this amount) were to be re-invested back home, the tremendous impact it would have on our economy is best left to the imagination.
I have argued severally that a lot of our former public officials need to make themselves useful. It has been 14 years since the transition to democracy. These 14 years have created many former governors, former ministers, former senators, former ambassadors and others who have held influential positions (I haven’t even included the titans of the military era). These are individuals with the resources and the clout to make a direct positive impact on their communities in numerous ways. A few of them have proceeded to establish consultancies, NGOs, think tanks or are still engaged in politics or policy. Some have chosen to retire in peace. Many others have temporarily skulked back into the depths of obscurity, resurfacing occasionally to rally young Nigerians to their ethno-centric, bigoted and self-serving causes.
There are so many productive ways to get involved.
One way is advocacy and enlightenment campaigns on leadership and good governance to ensure people at the grassroots stop selling their votes to the highest bidder.
Another is advocacy and enlightenment campaigns to ensure young women are enrolled and allowed to complete at the barest minimum secondary school education especially in the North East and North West.
A third could be the establishment of profit-making enterprises (if they can’t find competent local managers, they can hire qualified expatriates – there are many!) which will create value and jobs in their communities and make more money for them.
A fourth could be teaching and lecturing in many of our tertiary institutions that are wallowing in the dearth of expertise and learning equipment. Writing opinion pieces on the pages of newspapers is just not enough. Young Nigerians in tertiary institutions will benefit tremendously from the wealth of their experience in public service.
The list is endless. Most of them are influential. Many of them have the resources. Many of them can make a difference.
It is really tempting to dismiss Atiku Abubakar’s scholarship scheme or to question his motive. Indeed, one might even wonder whether the scheme will last beyond the 2014 elections primaries. Nevertheless, society will definitely benefit from more of the well-to-do giving back in useful ways that will make a real difference to people’s lives.

 http://zainabusman.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/time-for-nigerias-big-men-to-give-back-to-society/
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Women Entrepreneurs Becoming Force in the Developing World

You may not have heard of the "third billion," but you may one day feel their impact. The third billion is a term used to describe the billion women, mostly from emerging markets, who will join the global economy as employees, employers and entrepreneurs over the next decade. From India to Turkey, women entrepreneurs are on the leading edge of this shift, poised to transform their local economies and, in doing so, change the world.
"We believe that women are tremendous, untapped investments that yield huge returns for entire communities," says Natalie Byrne, director of global impact at skincare company Dermalogica. In 2010, Dermalogica and the nonprofit Kiva launched the Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship (FITE) program to help women entrepreneurs start or grow their own businesses. To date, it has provided microfinance loans to 30,000 women across 68 countries.
While the experiences of women entrepreneurs in the developing world are as diverse as the countries they inhabit, since the difficulties facing a small woman-owned business in Vietnam looks nothing like that of a new venture in, say, Turkey or India, there are some common challenges.
For example, Melek Pulatkonak, founder and curator of the Turkish Women's International Network, says education and training play an important role in improving the economic position of women. While about two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are female, research shows that educated mothers are more likely to participate in the labor force.
The La Pietra Coalition, a group of leaders advocating for women's advancement that last year launched The Third Billion campaign to support the scores of women entering the workforce, identifies four challenges that stand between women and equal opportunity. In addition to access to education, these issues include access to legal protection, access to capital, and access to markets. In many cases, they overlap or compound one another.
"The fundamental difference between entrepreneurs in developing countries and in the U.S.," says Byrne, "is that in many parts of the world, women don't have access to banking systems and often can't receive loans without permission from a man such as their husband or brother."
Last month, tech company Dell announced the results of its gender-focused Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index, which ranks 17 countries based on a wide range of indicators, including some of those identified by the La Pietra Coalition above. Unsurprisingly, the U.S., Australia and Germany ranked at the top of the list, while India, one of the fastest developing economies in the world, ranked at No. 16. India scored relatively high in the category of "opportunity recognition," which measures the number of women who can identify a good climate to start a local business, but low in "institutional foundations," or the established support and infrastructure they need to pursue their goals.
Stuti Jalan started Bombay and Delhi-based public relations firm Crosshairs Communication in 2002 when she was 23. "I've matured as the market matured, and I had a mentor who told me that I had nothing to lose," she says. Still, she recognizes two sides to India. "We have powerful women leaders and an urban population that is very forward thinking," she says, "but there is still a mindset that is not very accepting."

The biggest difficulties, Jalan says, come when navigating bureaucracy. "When I walk into a government office, I have to make sure I'm dressed a certain way," she says. "I take a male colleague or consultant along so I'm taken seriously."
Turkey, which ranked No. 11 on Dell's gender index, has a young population that's driving its economic growth. And while the labor force participation of women there is just 29.5 percent, they hold 12 percent of chief executive positions -- triple the percentage of women running the largest 500 companies in the U.S.
"I don't think I'm a woman when starting a business or running a team," says Pulatkonak, in Turkey, "unless someone makes me feel like a woman in the workplace."
Turkish women entrepreneurs, especially in the country's less-developed eastern half, need better support systems in their families and adequate financial opportunity, Pulatkonak says. "One of the biggest challenges for women is to get access to capital so they can get a license to build a business." That access, she says, starts with a bank account, which only 33 percent of Turkish women have, according to the Dell study. It paves the way to bank loans and credit lines and, ultimately, to credibility in the eyes of local and state authorities who grant permission to operate.
Still, Pulatkonak sees great potential for the young women entrepreneurs coming into the pipeline to continue Turkey’s progression toward equal rights, which has not only led to greater visibility for women leaders but has also recently paved the way for more egalitarian divorce laws. “Things are changing,” she says.
It's a sentiment echoed by Jalan, in India. "Those of us who are responsible for the change," she says, "are responsible for bringing other [women] with us."

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227163#ixzz2Yawnp6WP

The Shame of an Importing Nation.

Nigeria is known to import many goods,some include textiles, tooth picks, bottled water, to mention a few. We also import refined sugar,98% of brown sugar used in Nigeria is being imported. According to the minister of trade, Mr Olusegun Aganga, Nigeria lost a revenue of over N500bn, in 2011 to other economies due to the importation of brown sugar, yet we have sugar cane plantations in the northern part of the country that if properly harnessed could produce an excess for the consumption of more than just the Nigerian populace. The loss accrued from importation includes the potential to create jobs and employment locally and develop modern skills to make the country economically relevant on the world stage, but of course the farmers, varied small medium enterprises don't get approved loans from the banks to invest in their business because of the lack of collateral and the frustration to the production chain process from start to finish including epileptic power shortage, the inadequate storage process ,the infrastructure, bureaucracy in the system, all point to the facts why they might be producing below capacity.

The Asian Tigers for example, are four economies in Asia notable for maintaining an exceptional high growth rate of over 7%  annually from the 1960's to 1990's. They include Hong Kong,Taiwan,Singapore and South Korea. In this period they became industrialized even though they are not rich in natural resources.
Their economies are successful because they focused on developing it from their comparative advantage; Hong Kong and Singapore focused on being international financial centers, Singapore specialized in becoming a port hub, while Taiwan and South Korea on the other hand focused on manufacturing, with an emphasis on information technology. Today they are all leading exporters to the US and Europe, including Malaysia on the other hand, well known for a thriving agricultural export economy.

What we can also learn from the Asian tigers is the establishment of a banking system that favored  them, in addition to limiting their foreign spending and solely investing in their own nations as opposed to capital flight and  investing hugely abroad by Africans ie buying of holiday homes and other luxury goods. Recently also, the BRICS, four prominent and emerging economies; Brazil,Russia,India,China and its most recent member South Africa unveiled their plans to establish a development bank, even though the modalities are  far from concluded, it is a welcoming idea as expressed by the president of the African development bank.

Building of political will, the goal of developing local production, indigenous businesses and manpower all entail a visionary leader leading to instill in the minds of all and sundry that a manufacturing, industrialized, producing culture is the only way we can develop and become a formidable economic power on to the rest world. This national drive must also be backed by laws, policies to enforce the culture in no time.

So back to Nigeria, to begin with there are only 24 items on the prohibitive list of imported goods and services of the nation. Nation with a staggering population which also doubles as its strength and an argument for a thriving home grown industry to meet their needs, but that is not the case, they live and survive on mostly imported goods.

Then there are the ills of importation experienced more often than not,i.e. poor quality of the goods due to substandard products and cheaper cost for mass production and supply which in turn endangers the  consumers health,poor labeling and information ie expiry date, product composition,stifling and glut in local industries and production, poor wages of staff,  the exposure of the human right abuses in some factories in China for example.

The Way Forward?
 Nigeria urgently requires a strategic restructuring to areas of critical needs.People buy imported products due to reasons such as local incapacity,inconsistency to meet demands, poor standard of products,inconsistent government policy or lack of implementation/sustenance of policies to the sector,but these gives room for local product to develop, by introducing implementation, monitoring and evaluation technique to review the whole policies around the sector. Also other good practices working in other nations can be transferred and of course adapted to suit local content ie consumer rights, warranty , independent monitoring,laboratories for testing and product certification capabilities, furthermore the thorough implementation of government initiated strategies is crucial. A vivid example is the backward integration policy which is a new focus from importation to local production, which should be a welcoming decision and potential to drive investment in the right direction, increase job creation and employment, but so far it's been mixed feelings in the local cement industry, there has been a glut and profiteering in the cement industry  which  marks the policy seem ineffective and threatening of  the local cement producers like Lafarge and Dangote into shutting down some of their plants and incurring debts from their heavy investment in the sector.

Strengths and Opportunities.
Nigeria does have an history of  a local manufacturing sector once. While many have shut down some are still riding the storm  in some parts of the country, the Aba,Onitsha  commercial centers for example is well known for home made shoes,bags,textiles and other household items are to be promoted, they use to be a collecting point for agricultural products following the British made railway, running through it to the port. Nigeria is blessed with vast arable soil, land and natural resources too to thrive as local industries, we we fully embraced our agricultural sector, it is crucial that we build the political will.  There is the opportunity to promote and develop our human capital from the foreign direct investment into these sectors crucial for our own development local content, employing local labor, training local people and developing their skills,from Multinationals and investors flocking the  country.

If there was any learning of the potential in these and and the benefits to come in years to come it will  be the  outcomes from the growing success of our entertainment industry in such a short while,
It is therefore paramount that making education compulsory, innovative, diversified with strong emphasis on science, and technology  as well as analytic thinking for  the upcoming generation in Nigeria is also key.
Patronizing and promoting made in Nigeria products will take us further as a nation rather than an importing culture for virtually everything, who knows what is next?

Abimbola Junaid is an analyst and consultant in Africa sustainable developments through development solutions research, design, implementation, monitoring & evaluation and Review.. She promotes the economic and human capital development,good governance,inter regional relations & markets of Africa.

Pls visit www.abimbolajunaid.org.