The Changing Geography of Oppourtunities

India is becoming the the epicenter of our ever the flatening world. I look forward to the day that Nigeria will impact the rest of the world the way the Indians and Chinese have done. Further tipping the trade balance, so that when Nigeria sneezes, the rest of the world shivers. Right now it is in the interest of the world for India to thrive, because some of these companies are poised, to bring about the next wave of growth in the global economy. My opinion is that we have it easier than India, we just haven't found the way to channel the oil money. Lesson learnt: strategic positioning.

Business week article; Indian Companies Hit Their Stride, As India's economy grows faster than ever, its newly confident companies are showing their global ambition. And India's moment is evident in the latest BusinessWeek ranking of Asia's top 50 companies. Indian outfits dominate this year's list.

A few years ago Indian establishment were plagued by corruption and bogged down by bureaucracy, a few decades later the situation has been turned around and these same companies or offshoots of these companies are poised to take over the world. Nigeria stands to learn a lot from these lessons presented by this modern day miracle. While we were asleep they planned and planned. I watch as Nigeria's BPE seem to have botched the privatization process with every sale or lease agreement being controversial. It is obvious this is not the way to plan, this can not be the way to move forward. Sometimes I am not too concerned about the present states of things in home country, but I often tremble at the missed oppourtunity and the cost of the missed oppourtunities fto our country's future. If the waste in Nigeria does not give you sleepless nights, check out the article below. Lesson learnt: Long term planning,growth is path dependent. (no microwave wealth creation).

Dreaming Big; But the strength of India's showing stands out the most. The Indian companies represented have plenty in common: smart management, low costs, and—increasingly—aspirations to join the elite ranks of multinationals. "All of India is dreaming bigger and aiming higher," says Keshav Sanghi, head of equities for Deutsche Bank (DB ) in Mumbai.

Growing Opportunity for African Countries; Analysts predict that India could lack 500000 engineers by 2010. There is is still endemic shortage of electricity and water shortage, in rural India. In other words India is not too far gone in the area of infrastructural development. All hope is not lost, we could be the comeback kids, the late adopters. Lesson learnt: we are trapped in a poverty trap (a dearth of initiatives, chasing money instead of pursuing oppourtunities).

Outsourcing as the third industrial revolution; Mr Blinder, Clinton's adviser and a teacher at Princeton already notes that we have barely seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to offshoring the eventual dimensions of which may be staggering. Where are we on this one? Personally I think we are wasting valuable time on what Yaradua did or did not do. I think with critical thinking and planning a private-public hybrid type of initiative can get the idea behind a service village off the ground somewhere close to Ogun state. (Close to Lagos, but away from the hustle and bustle).

Addition Comment; Another story poised to emerge out of India is Medical Tourism/ Outsourcing. India is building world class private facilities staffed by docs of Indian origin who have studied and worked in the U.S. With procedures often costing 1/10th of those in the U.S., increasing amounts of Americans are already travelling there.

From draft folder written in April, updated today. Apologies that the [post is short on links. Hey I am looking to crowd source my paper for the Institute of International Affairs, any ideas.

Be Like Nigeria..

Leaders of two Nigerian unions in South Africa on Friday demanded for an apology from a South African parliamentarian who allegedly made uncomplimentary remarks on Nigeria. A local newspaper, ``Polokwane Observer,'' on Wednesday quoted the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Mr Rudolph Rhala, as referring to Nigerians as ``corrupt people''. The paper, writing under the headline ``The Limpopo administration must avoid becoming another Nigeria,'' quoted Rhala as warning that South Africa and Limpopo ``must avoid becoming a Nigeria ''. He was commenting on the ``unquenchable appetite for corruption'' among the South African public officials at a public sitting in Limpopo on Tuesday. Rhala then asked rhetorically: ``Can we allow that? Then let's leave this country and let it become Nigeria,'' the paper further reported. In his reaction, the President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), Mr Kenneth Ayere, described the comment as ``barbaric'', especially coming from a public officer.

Full story after the jump.

A south African parliamentarian switched the word 'Nigeria' for 'corrupt state' while making a speech. What do you think, bad move or a call for us to buckle up and get it right. For me I am sort of indifferent. I'd advise the union leaders to quit making trouble and focus on more pertinent issues. I for one do not want Nigeria to be like Nigeria.

Update...

Ribadu said, "'recent survey data from Kaufman et al. indicates that there has been a reduction in the perception of corruption in Nigeria." Read here.

It is hard to tell from out here if this is true, I am curious as to what the situation on the ground feels like. Is there a perceived difference between OBJ's time and now. The media says so, and now there is research to back it up. Is this true?

Let's Talk About Money...

Let's talk about money, the making of it and the lack of it. My work allows me to see the behind the scenes of the financial lives of individuals, and boy do I see.
My conclusion is as follows;
1. We aren't as smart as we like to think we are. 2. Our emotions drive a larger part of our financial decisions than we are willing to admit. 3.Our background is the single most important factor when it comes to making silly financial decisions. 4. (Warning stereotype statement approaching). I can tell an individuals race by looking at the financial history 97% of the time. 5. Low income individuals tend to overestimate the depth of their 'inabilities'. That is, rich people get too much credit for their wealth. 6. High risk investment is highly addictive, it is the easiest route to being rich and poor. 7. Advisers warn clients not to make dumb choices but they often go ahead and do the same. 8. You can not be grounded to the point that the markets can't have you.
I know the above points are fluid, I may go into details in subsequent posts but for now I will leave you with this short story.
The collapse of the sub-prime and in a way the prime markets is no longer news. Have you ever wondered where those Range Rovers, S55's and the fancy cribs go? It is rather surreal when you watch people get filthy rich and then get shot down from those lofty heights in front of your very eyes. I have stories tonnes of stories, but let me share the latest one that happened yesterday with you.
I had a high performer, walk up to me asking me, "do you want to take over my payment for my truck (Range Rover), you can have it tomorrow morning." As a good salesman he threw in some side deals and other goodies. After I declined the offer which looked too good to be real. He proceeded to ask if I could loan him $100. There isn't much to this exchange until you consider the fact that this dude made close to a million dollars in the last 3 years. What? How can you rise and fall so fast? A story too familiar these days.
High performer: A.K.A I can sell sand to the Arab, pumped up energized fella, nobody knows his secret formula but it does work for him.