Now that the subsidy is over

With the subsidy discussion over or almost over

If subsidy was not being discussed in the nation, what would we have been talking about? Nigeria has always had a topic to discuss from time to time and the last one year has got me thinking so much that I wonder if Nigeria is like a meeting with an agenda and the topics for discussion and time allotted for each discussion planned. From late 2010 to end of April 2011 it was all about Elections with a brief interlude on JEGA’s performance when we became logistics experts. Following that was a string of discussions on election violence that moved swiftly into the term elongation discourse in July and we all became constitutional lawyers. This was interrupted with Boko Haram bombings and everyone became security experts recommending what should or should not be done. And now we have all become petroleum economists and budget specialists.

I don’t have answers; just questions and a plea. Is this a predetermined list, if so what will be on the topic in July this year?

Two alarming things happened this last week and may be one or two newspapers reported it. A man in the UK was charged to court for smuggling guns into Nigeria and Ghana says seized guns and ammunition headed to Nigeria. Whereas the Uk incident was in 2007 no one has come forward with an explanation on where the guns ARE, who he supplied it to and whether I can sleep with both of my eyes closed. The Ghanaian case is even scarier. The truck driver confessed that this was the second trip. What happened to the first trailer? Was this truly the second? How many was planned? Who is receiving this ammunition? If our borders are porous and fuel, subsidized by my tax is flowing out, I think I would be more content being an unwilling Good Samaritan than to have a porous border that allows guns and ammunition in. Should we be discussing Nigerian Customs Reforms? Or should it be our Security Service reforms (and I don’t mean arresting activists wondering if they were sponsored by opposition but those who smuggle guns)?

It gets scarier. Nigeria has asked that the people should be transferred to Nigeria for further investigation. Given Nigeria’s excellent track record for cases that don’t get prosecuted or the hands of the leadership being tied (as Mrs Waziri and Mrs Dizeani have confessed) is this a right move? Could it be that these two incidents came to news BECAUSE they were not within Nigerian borders?

As I said earlier, I don’t have answers just questions. I won’t dissuade us from the issues on the table. However, let’s take a step back and see a bigger picture and not be distracted from other issues of importance. This is my plea: if you can pray, please pray (I got an email last week that is worth reading); If you’re an activist, please let’s add this to the list of the demands; If you have the ear of the president, please tell him we are alarmed; if you speak for the president, let’s know what’s on his mind because our children want to sleep in peace.

TEAMWORK

I think teamwork better exemplified by the Formula 1 than by a relay . In formula1 every one brings her unique skill and strength to the team whereas in relay races, the best result is achieved when everyone in the team is a clone of the best runner. If everyone is your management team is a man, woman, introvert, extrovert or in someway "clones", you're in someway short of the best. Research shows that ~94% of heterosexual marriages are made of men and women who are different in a significant way. Afterall, if they are clones, one is not needed. Diversify your team!

Lessons of Life

I have learnt that there are differences and diversity is not meant to divide. Rather it is an opportunity to see life from across the divide.
I have learnt that teamwork is not about clones, I am learning to work with those who do not work as I do.
I have learnt to be more gentle on those who stumble; very soon, it may be my turn.
I have learnt that speaking up solves more problems than one can imagine; people are willing to comply if someone is willing take the lead.
I have learnt to both talk and speak, either way, to get my points across. The person who seems to be hurting me on purpose may not even be aware.

Our greatest fear .....

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -- Marianne Williamson/Nelson Mandela

You don't need "experience"

"....there are jobs that experience is not required: President of a country, husband and an entrepreneur"



Many people I have talked to told me this...."I will work for a few years, gather capital and start my business" Most of them are still working. I agreed with the MTN advert when it said, "go start something."

Enviroment, Economy, Intellectual and Social

Is there a link between the enviroment in which a person is bred and the society they create?
Does this explain the result we see in Africans?

As a man thinks so is he. The intellectual content of a man define his person and his productivity. However, the thoughts are the result of the seed sown by his enviroment (people he admires and the culture).

Is the life and the mentalities bred in the villages in the 50s and 60s facilitated by the economic conditions of people of that day affecting the kinds of societies these people are creating today?

Can this explain the Africa of today?

....Just thinking

Poor People can think!

*Farmers Turn to Science to Boost Crop Yields
*http://allafrica. com/stories/ printable/ 200801080725. htmlallAfrica.com
NEWS8 January 2008
Posted to the web 8 January 2008By Elizabeth Dickinson
Sabon Gari Ganu late last June, farmers in Sabon Gari Ganu village in northern Nigeria's Katsina state divided their plots of land into 56 rows. Using seeds from 16 African countries, the farmers planted each row with a different variety of millet---some small seeds, some round, some dark and some light. Throughout the rainy season, the farmers watched carefully to see which varieties would grow and which would not.

Five months later, the farmers sat down to vote on which seed varieties they preferred. Women and men were each given ballots, either light or dark blue, respectively. Four seeds were chosen. "Our plan now is that the four chosen will be intensively promoted," explains A. Kabir R. Charanchi, a chief agricultural officer for the Katsina state government who works on the project. "We are now going to bring more seeds for multiplication. "

The morale of the news item:
1. Small business people even local farmers can think. It is good to help to fund the research. We may not have to fund relief efforts!
2. SMEs are looking for better ways of doing their business.
3. They are willing to change if you can convince them it works (powerpoint presentations from HBS or IITA may not be the best. Sit with them.)

Telecoms evolution in Nigeria: An Idea

A few years ago this was the norm. If a woman was told that her daughter in America wanted to speak to her at 7 pm, she would leave her house at dawn to sit and chat at the neighbor’s house where she would receive the call. About the time the call was expected, the padlock that clipped the dial to prevent unauthorized use was removed. When the phone finally rang, she would lift the phone carefully. She would listen painstakingly for the almost inaudible voice of her daughter but after saying hello and may be a few words, the line would cut off. The attempt by the child to call back was often futile; but the woman would happily give up because she was reassured that her daughter was alive. She waits till the next month for another try. Last year, at my mother’s birthday, my siblings and I sang the birthday song on a conference call from different cites of the world. Things have changed.

Some time ago, someone thought things could be better than it was and chose to do something about it. Someone thought that one could speak to another person in a distant location. Another person thought that making those calls did not have to be wires. Yet another thought could be digital. One person thought it could be portable. Thinking did not stop there. Someone thought making calls could add value hence profitable. Someone thought it could be a business. These thoughts birthed the revolution we have today. As important as technology was to the development of telecoms, the profit angle was critical to its success. In Nigeria, the profitability of NITEL was not evident but with the advent of Econet Wireless (now Celtel) closely followed by MTN, MTEL and later on, Globacom, we have what we see. The evolution of phones from one per community to dozens per household came because somebody had a thought and did something about it. Both the technician and the entrepreneur thought and did something. What are you doing about that idea?

Mali gets US$46.4m World Bank credit

"The project supports the development of a vibrant and diversified commercial agriculture as a means to move away from subsistence agriculture, which is often synonymous to poverty for a majority of rural households," said Patrick Labaste, the World Bank task team leader for the project.
"As a result, the project will help reduce the excessive dependence of the Malian rural economy on cotton and rice cultivation. It will improve productivity in high value crops, reduce risks for small farmers through adapted irrigation technology, and diversify rural incomes with improved marketing channels for high value agricultural and livestock products," Labaste added.
The first component, demonstration and dissemination of irrigation, post-harvest and value adding technologies (US$10.35 million), will support the demonstration and dissemination by private sector providers of low-cost, simple and adapted techniques and technologies to improve the production, productivity, processing and marketing of selected high value agricultural products.
The second component, improvement of performances of agricultural supply chains (US$7.07 million), is aimed at improving the organisation and performance of agricultural supply chains, reinforcing private sector capacities to respond to market opportunities and improving the competitiveness of agricultural products, both traditional and new high value products.
The third component, access to financing (US$2.93 million), will facilitate access to capital and financial services for the various private actors and operators involved in the agricultural supply chains and strengthen the current agriculture credit market in Mali.
The fourth component, market-oriented infrastructure (US$21.49 million), will finance an investment program aimed at improving basic commercial and communication infrastructure, in order to improve linkages to markets and reduce transaction costs.
The last component of the project, management, monitoring and evaluation (US$5.6 million), will provide resources to ensure adequate project management, particularly overall co-ordination, financial management and procurement of goods and services, as well as monitoring of implementation and evaluation of results.

"The project supports the development of a vibrant and diversified commercial agriculture as a means to move away from subsistence agriculture, which is often synonymous to poverty for a majority of rural households," said Patrick Labaste, the World Bank task team leader for the project.
"As a result, the project will help reduce the excessive dependence of the Malian rural economy on cotton and rice cultivation. It will improve productivity in high value crops, reduce risks for small farmers through adapted irrigation technology, and diversify rural incomes with improved marketing channels for high value agricultural and livestock products," Labaste added.
The first component, demonstration and dissemination of irrigation, post-harvest and value adding technologies (US$10.35 million), will support the demonstration and dissemination by private sector providers of low-cost, simple and adapted techniques and technologies to improve the production, productivity, processing and marketing of selected high value agricultural products.
The second component, improvement of performances of agricultural supply chains (US$7.07 million), is aimed at improving the organisation and performance of agricultural supply chains, reinforcing private sector capacities to respond to market opportunities and improving the competitiveness of agricultural products, both traditional and new high value products.
The third component, access to financing (US$2.93 million), will facilitate access to capital and financial services for the various private actors and operators involved in the agricultural supply chains and strengthen the current agriculture credit market in Mali.
The fourth component, market-oriented infrastructure (US$21.49 million), will finance an investment program aimed at improving basic commercial and communication infrastructure, in order to improve linkages to markets and reduce transaction costs.
The last component of the project, management, monitoring and evaluation (US$5.6 million), will provide resources to ensure adequate project management, particularly overall co-ordination, financial management and procurement of goods and services, as well as monitoring of implementation and evaluation of results.


The above is an article from Business in Africa Online....Mali gets US$46.4m World Bank credit

It highlight a good plan for addressing poverty. It is not just money. It includes careful planning and good strategy...

My Thoughts.

Getting capital from banks

Imagine this…
A stranger man knocks on your door and you answer. He introduces himself and he asks to speak with your father. You invite him into your father’s study where he sat till your father joined him. After a little while, your father invites you to join in the meeting. A cursory look at him shows he’s a perfect gentleman. He is neatly dressed, with a good haircut. His English is impeccable and his manners are flawless. However, these features are not a fascinating as the business idea he’s discussing with your father. He ends his speech with a request for a loan to execute this idea.

Your father had a thoughtful look on his face as he asked the man to gentleman to excuse you. He wanted to talk with you alone. While the man sat in the waiting room down the hall, your father turns to you and asks thoughtfully, “Do you know this man?” You said, “No, I thought you knew him.” “I have seen him a few times at the bar, walking along the street, sometimes at the church but I didn’t know his name until today.” He continued, “I don’t have any money of my own, the only money I have is the one my friend kept with me for safe keeping. Should I borrow him?”

What would be your advice?
If my guess is right, as a wise counsel to the father you won’t tell him to lend money to a complete stranger. That would be because you don’t know him even thought he has what seems like a lucrative idea.

The above story is the story of many entrepreneurs who go to banks when they have an idea. The only twist is that it is told from the bank manager’s son’s perspective. The reason bank managers don’t lend money to many young entrepreneurs is that they don’t know them. Now, if your idea was good enough he may have lent you some of his own money but who would take the risk with another person’s money.

Getting money from banks
Start with a savings account – a habit of savings is crucial. It is not common practice in the developing countries so it is easily noticed. Ensure it is regular and consistent no matter how small. Leading banks monitor trends of their customers – they discuss them. If they know you save regularly they is greater trust that you will bring the payment installments regularly.

Have a relationship with the bank and the manager. If you have started something, talk to the bank manager about it. If possible, invite him to your factory; and let him take a walk through. Ask for his recommendations for professionals who can assist you with your business development.

Develop an accounting system that is consistent with the level of your business. It is crucial that records are kept of financial transactions, record in a logical sequence and summarized neatly so that it can be interpreted intelligently. Many small businesses that has handled millions, need a few thousands to buffer an enlargement, but they don’t get it because proper records of past feats were not kept.

Understand their language. The banking world has its lingo. Learn it, use it.
This principle that applies to both investors, venture capitalist and money lenders is that they are not as concerned with how you want to spend the money you want to collect but how you are going to make the money (and pay them), the period within which this will occur and the probability that it will be paid per schedule.

Presently, the banks have much cash to give out. Government regulations support such too. However, the will give only to those they can trust. See to be that person – they will run after you with their funds. All the best!

F1 and Forums: the case for smecircle.org
From the earliest days of my business of designing and supporting websites, I have had manifold kinds of problems. Incidentally the websites from which the CMS solutions or other application software have not as been helpful to me as forums. Thus, when I face a challenge and google my request, I would head first for the forums. Usually, someone has had the same challenge before (there is nothing new under heaven). Such a person, sharing from personal experience provides a most pragmatic answer. Other people usually provide opinions on the same matter to buttress what has been said or proffer an easier or better way. Together, everyone indeed, achieves more.

I asked myself, could this be brought to the business circles? There have been several times when I have been stuck in search of a technical or management solution in which folks that can be reached immediately in my vicinity do not have solution. Judgment is made based on the limited resource and often times it produces limited gains. Nevertheless, I am confident of two things: someone else has been in the same predicament before and someone next door has a solution that works better. Can we share our solutions and grow faster?

IF you have my experience and I have yours, I won’t repeat your mistakes and you won’t repeat mine. Together, we’ll move one step further than where would have been if we walked alone. This is why the smecircle is created. When you join by posting a question or answering one, the circle grows bigger, and we’ll cover more areas. Join the circle, expand your scope, and move on to higher grounds, the sky is not your limit!

So you want to be an entrepreneur?
It is a good thing to desire to be one but not all of us are called to be entrepreneurs (point men) but it's required of all to be enterprising. We are all required to create wealth by adding value to people specifically and the community in general.

(give an example of yourself who is not an 'entrepreneur' but understands in stocks)


Now for those who are called, there are five things one should be aware of.

1. Technical Knowledge is not sufficient. The understanding of the business and other financial skills is important if not more.

For example, the primary function of a secondary school to teach. Thus, if one wants the activities of a principal/proprietor in a typical week.

Hiring /firing teachers
Discipline student & sometimes teachers, PTA meetings, board meetings , Staff Issues, events & project mgt e.g inter house sports, class building,
Financial accounting, managing the school for profitability marketing the school staff/ student welfare staff/student recognition team building among staff, mentoring/coaching. What percentage is teaching or is a BSc in Education required?

Do u now understand why you don't see your VC so often?

In a small biz you will need more than just technical skills (ability to sew, cook, repair a car, farm etc) to be a leader in the sector. You will need business skills of people/client mgt, an understanding of the basics of accounting, budgeting, goal setting, the importance of advertising, the fundamentals of selling, HR. People Relations etc.

The most fundamental attitude to be positioned for success as an entrepreneur is a commitment to increasing your knowledge base. That’s the only way to stay on the Cutting edge of life & biz.

2. Be An Apprentice
Do some form of Internship. Go there not only for the technical skills but to understand how the biz runs ,what kind problems your boss faces & how does he handles it. Always consider too how will I handle this if it were you. This is the key edge of the Ibo people in Nigeria. The learn how to sell TV, videos, etc. One would think that buying and selling should not be so much of a challenge. But in the intership, they learn where things are cheap, where to buy, when and to whom they should sell. They learn the business.

3. Manage your boss' biz. In your internship manage your boss’ business as if it were yours. Do your best with it. Consider evey cash spent as if it were deducted from your salary asking if it is really a wise investment. Now if you do it well God will give you yours Luke 16:12


4. Don’t let go of your dreams
There is always the tendency after receiving a salary at a bank or in an Oil company for two months to forget where you always wanted to go. Don’t be distracted in the internship. Don’t forget your dreams.

5. God is the author of true success in any Endeavour. You won’t go far without him. You may go as far in this world if you adhere to the principles laid in his word but you won’t go far in the world to come.