Nigeria's economy has been declared the safest in the world by the credible Merril Lynch firm.

Details available here: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=128275

If u buy a car and park it in your house, the chances of u have any fender benders is like 1 in 1million

However if u take the car out for a spin everyday and try to see what the real speed limits are, ur chances of crashing increase exponentially.

So the drivers of the Nigerian economy have decided to park it at home and take rides in other economies (swiss, cayman islands, etc)

@ Fyneguy, tell me how e no go safe.

diggler:

If u buy a car and park it in your house, the chances of u have any fender benders is like 1 in 1million

However if u take the car out for a spin everyday and try to see what the real speed limits are, ur chances of crashing increase exponentially.

So the drivers of the Nigerian economy have decided to park it at home and take rides in other economies (swiss, cayman islands, etc)

@ Fyneguy, tell me how e no go safe.

and your point is?

Oh that is good news, aint it?!

ol boy digler that your analogy indeed explains it, how can it not be safe when it is parked in a garage.

i_laugh:


and your point is?

My analogy was as self-explanatory as it could get

df2006:

ol boy digler that your analogy indeed explains it, how can it not be safe when it is parked in a garage.

please tell that to the I-laugh dude

To enlighten u, 90% of the Real Sector of the Nigerian Economy has been stagnant for close to two decades now.
Apart from Oil & Gas, telecoms, real estate & the typical importation/buying & selling, what else is working?

Our textile mills r down?, Our steel sector is dead, we can't even generate enough power to adequately serve a quarter of Lagos
Even the Unilevers of this world r gradually importing their products from the Ghana setup.

Oh yes, i forgot, our mega banks aint giving no long term loans to the SMEs that need em.

All in all the economy is stagnant, they say HE THAT IS DOWN SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF FALLING

So i_laugh, do u need further explanation.

diggler:

My analogy was as self-explanatory as it could getplease tell that to the I-laugh dude

To enlighten u, 90% of the Real Sector of the Nigerian Economy has been stagnant for close to two decades now.
Apart from Oil & Gas, telecoms, real estate 7 the typical importation/buying & selling, what else is working.

Our textile mills r down?, Our steel sector is dead, we can't even generate enough power to adequately serve a quarter of Lagos
Even the Unilevers of this world r gradually importing their products from the Ghana setup.

Oh yes, i forgot, our mega banks aint giving no long term loans to the SMEs that need em.

All in all the economy is stagnant, they say HE THAT IS DOWN SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF FALLING

So i_laugh, do u need further explanation.

and westerners, south africans, chinese, lebanese, indians come to the same economy that you, a Nigerian, says is in the garage, opens up the garage, establishes their conglomerates, telecomms, oil, shopping etc, and makes money, rakes it and takes it back to their country, and you sit down there and says the economy is locked up up, hence it is safe? How blind can Nigerians be to their own things?

Dont mind him - he seems to know more than Merrill Lynch.

Mr Parked in the garage -

@ Toilet Roll and I-Laugh

there aint no reason for hostilities,plus am guessing u're both in the diaspora. if so i understand ur viewpoint.

if u read my 2nd post properly u would understand where i'm coming from.
[

toilet_Rol:

and westerners, south africans, chinese, lebanese, indians come to the same economy that you, a Nigerian, says is in the garage, opens up the garage, establishes their conglomerates, telecomms, oil, shopping etc,

my post said

diggler:

M
To enlighten u, 90% of the Real Sector of the Nigerian Economy has been stagnant for close to two decades now.
Apart from Oil & Gas, telecoms, real estate & the typical importation/buying & selling, what else is working?

[b]Our textile mills r down?, Our steel sector is dead, we can't even generate enough power to adequately serve a quarter of Lagos
Even the Unilevers of this world r gradually importing their products from Ghana. (they are supposed to be manufacturing them here)

Oh yes, i forgot, our mega banks aint giving no long term loans to the SMEs that need em.[/b]

toilet_Rol:

How blind can Nigerians be to their own things?

I guess you would call, Silverbird, Dangote, Choscaris, Elizade, Femi Otedola, Palms, Mike Adenuga (Conoil, Glo, ETB), Folawiyo, Bua group etc etc, Blind to their own things.

These people and the foreigners are investing in the quick returns segments of the economy.
plus some of them got preferential treatment from government.

i_laugh:

he seems to know more than Merrill Lynch.

granted I dont know more than merill lynch, however i find it difficult trusting the judgment of a company that took $8.4billion losses on the sub-prime crises.
Also Our very own Charles Soludo has been saying it since that our macro-economic indicators (thats what merill based their analysis on)is amongst the best in the World.
The same C.C. Soludo (1st class economics, phd by 27 yrs old, CBN governor) also said that macro-economic indicators should not deceive us to the problems on ground like Poor infrastructure, insecurity, Political Instability, corruption. These he said make it hard for small & medium enterprises to grow. (I'm sure they got their data from CBN, Natnl planning commission, Ministry of finance and they r feeling like they did work)


Every great economy in the world, China, Japan, USA etc is built on SMEs.
If orascom (telecoms) & Haliburton(oil & gas) can make money in War torn Iraq, why cant any reasonable business man make money in the same sectors in Nigeria.

Government is responsible for parking the economy in the garage. (_{November and we still have issues with 2008 budget implementation})
not the private sector.

Finally my parting shots ,
all the growth in the Nigerian economy is fueled by our only export Crude (which sold for $147/bbl a few months back)
Well, now the price don dey reach $50

na pesin wey wear shoe know where e dey pinch am


God Bless Nigeria

Nigeria's Economy is on the right track,Mr.Corruption is however killing its Juicy Impacts.

Of course Nigeria's economy is the safest. Foreigners enjoy Nigeria's money more than Nigerians themselves do.

Seun,
Abeg transfer this topic to the featured forum links on the frontage. I would really love to see how my fellow "Nigerians" will react to this especially those in the diaspora.

Abeg!

I hope this is not a ploy to whip up sentiments to drive stocks that they’ve already have stake in, to later again dump those stocks at the detriment of our economy and crash our market again. Investors beware!!!!!

courage89:

I hope this is not a ploy to whip up sentiments to drive stocks that they’ve already have stake in, to later again dump those stocks at the detriment of our economy and crash our market again. Investors beware!!!!!

Thank you my brother

diggler:



granted I don't know more than merill lynch, however i find it difficult trusting the judgment of a company that took $8.4billion losses on the sub-prime crises.

Actually $8.4billion losses was for 2007

year to date merill has lost close to $19 billion and has been acquired.
So they have 'motive' to drive up interest in nigerias stock market.

If they are serious, they should join in the effort to find private sector financing for our Infrastructure projects.

@ diggler, I think your explanation says it all. We shouldnt really be over excited about the info.

i think emm somebody deserve a credit here oooo maybe if its wasnt for solodo igbo man, things could havent be different u know. just look at this eonomic summit in newyork where saudis told oyibos blantantly, if yall hopin that we the saudis will contribute more to IMF yall are merely jokin, so emm for those that like thinkin through their anus , u will never get it oooo

solodu was bold enough to tell yaraslow to revaluate naira for good, etc while most of baba uncles in aso rock de busy de share nigerian money like no 2morrow, on cars, travellin, ashewos

i_laugh:

don't mind him - he seems to know more than Merrill Lynch.

Mr Parked in the garage -

If Nigerian economy is the safest according to Merrill Lynch, how many branches has they got inside the safest economy? By safest, they mean all the offshore investment they supervised Abacha and his criminal gangs on how to invest in places like Liechtenstein. Next, Julius Berger will come out with their own assessment of Nigerian safe economy.

Someone was saying before how safe Nigerian economy is by quoting the Chinese and other building their empires in Nigeria. Isn't that a fool's talk. How many visible foreign investment can you lay your hand in Nigeria today, manufacturing sector is completely dead, companies like RT BRISCOE, UNILEVER, MICHELLINE, DUNLOP has all relocated to places like Ghana and Botswana.

How can you call Vulture investment by the Chinese and company like MTN a real investment as they don't need a real structure on the ground, they sit in Abuja and loot Nigeria for their nations and you call that an Investment? The only thing holding Nigeria together in real term is the billions of currencies Nigerians abroad send home every year, propping up the macro economy as Nigeria rulers and their foreign friends play around with the oil and gas money among themselves. And how many % of Nigerians are employed in those sectors?

Some of you guys believe that being patriotic is being stupid and blind, no wonder Nigerian rulers can get away with anything, with mentality of the those governed so myopic.

I didn't even bother clicking on the link provided.
Safest economy my bakassi

It means foreigners go in and loot the country. Thats thier code word for "go in, take as much as you can, exploit, and leave, " uuumm, i meant "Invest"

Diggler
nice post man!!!
not everybody will understand this thing

If its the safest on earth and yet they don't have a branch here in Nigeria!!! that begs a lotta questions

mine is, the economy isnt in a comatose but the real drivers that could propel us to the promiseland are dead
The real sector whats happening in that sector?
what about the steel, the power sectors, what about infrastructures like road, water, housing et al

Nigeria being a place where money can be made doesnt necessaily translate to the economy being the safest in the world.
i'll still want to see the report sha to see how they arrived at that

@osisi
where have u been? long time

Chei, see apathy galore Who died? Nigerians cheer up na, I feel u all, e go better one day

Thanks Seun! But which one be "thisday says Merrill Lynch says". Abi u dey fear to quote Merrill Lynch directly?

Anyway, lets see what our people will have to say about this!

To those who may want to react first before reading the article; I can only advice that you read the article through the link provided and know the exact parameters by which Merrill Lynch arrived at this conclusion.

Thanks!

GoldCircle:

Thanks Seun! But which one be "thisday says Merrill Lynch says". Abi u dey fear to quote Merrill Lynch directly?

Anyway, lets see what our people will have to say about this!

To those who may want to react first before reading the article; I can only advice that you read the article through the link provided and know the exact parameters by which Merrill Lynch arrived at this conclusion.

Thanks!

Well, There is what Merrill Lynch says and there is what you will hear from Nigerians who invested in the Nigerian market and have lost a lot of money in the past couple of months.

Merril Lynch or no Merrill Lynch, Nigeria, for me, has remained
my favourite investment/business zone. I've done businesses
in a few places and Naija beats all hands down.

Merril Lynch, the same one that was acquired by The Bank of America?

If they say so, I believe them. But Nigeria is not like other countries. All of the countries in major trouble today are credit-driven economies.
Everyone buys everything on credit and so banks are up to their necks in loans. This was bound to come back and haunt them.
Not so in Nigeria, though. There is a credit market but it's so insignificant, it might as well not even exist. The people are not clobbered with debt. That's not to say we are doing great, but at least we are not in danger of losing our homes to fore-closures, companies are not in danger of closing down because they can no longer service the loans they got from the bank (as there no no such loans anyway, at least not for small businesses).

In Nigeria, you want a house, build one or buy one with your own or government money (whichever comes first). In America or UK, you want a house - get a job and good credit profile and voila!, you can get a brand new car, house, whatever fake life you want. Oh, and don't forget to stay in that job or get a better one (or even worse, get 1 or 2 more jobs), because the moment you start defaulting on your debts, the real owners of your fake life will be on your doorstep.

The main cause of this crisis is the way the lenders have been allowed to run amock without any kind of supervision.

So when, Merrill Lynch says Nigeria's economy is safe, it shouldn't come as a surprise. However, this has not translated into a better quality of life for hard working Nigerians, or better education or jobs.
This is why I think the analogy used in the first reply to this thread is a great analogy.

Some post here further re-enforce my belief that pessimism amongst Nigerians is second to none in the world. Did any of  those debunking the Merill Lynch report do their own research? (Hell no)
"Uber" economist diggler  would want us to believe that

Apart from Oil & Gas, telecoms, real estate & the typical importation/buying & selling, what else is working

.
Make's you wonder if he read the report before jumping to conclusion.
I bet you the same people trying  to  debunk this finding would be the same that would  ridicule Obama, the Nigeria/Chinese satellite project, our Nuclear ambition etc. To these people, nothing good ever comes out of black people.
Anyway don't believe the report, believe our eminent armchair economist instead. Our numerous Nairaland armchair economist know better than Merill Lynch (even though Merill Lynch are the world's leader in finance management).

A friend told me last week that November 2007 the exchange rate was £1.00= N265.00 and November 2008  its now £1.00 to N190. The Dollar is also not getting any  better, shame if you live abroad and your Dollar is no more giving you your expected returns.


PS
I know this is a difficult concept to grasp by the morons that believe in self hate,  western countries also had problems before reaching the dazzling heights that so attract you. (check out China and Japan)

Where is the so-called report? Where can we download it? I don't trust analytical skills of journalists.

I am the least surprised in this news because we are good at playing safe,
In America and Europe , you can borrow money from banks with a collateral that is far less than what you borrowed , even with a credit card,

It doesnt work in Nigeria, This is just an example,


Nigeria as a matter of fact should be ranked the biggest economy in the world with the poorest citizens

my problem is the word safe, but i know nigeria as the highest profit margin in the world. In nigeria , you do not need to play the jackpot to win or join the NBA. You can wake up a rich man the next day.  If you have money your yield of return is higher than the USA. nigeria is a jackpot for business , if you are ready to ""play the game."" but don't bring your pastor along.  it is dirty but there is money in nigeria,  but you need money to make money.

but safe, i don't think so, it is like living in new york. if you can play the game (undertable) nigeria is home.

lagos, ibadan ogun state, delta hot centre for money. south west nigeria gold mine for business.  my problem i can't bribe.

you make twice what ever you invest in nigeria,  in one year,  that i can tell you,  but you need to hire your own security. Electricity is bad.  That why I do not think Lukumon is the best man for NEPA. He lack what it takes.

Tornadoz:

Some post here further re-enforce my belief that pessimism amongst Nigerians is second to none in the world. Did any of  those debunking the Merill Lynch report do their own research? (Hell no)
"Uber" economist diggler  would want us to believe that .
Make's you wonder if he read the report before jumping to conclusion.
I bet you the same people trying  to  debunk this finding would be the same that would  ridicule Obama, the Nigeria/Chinese satellite project, our Nuclear ambition etc. To these people, nothing good ever comes out of black people.
Anyway don't believe the report, believe our eminent armchair economist instead. Our numerous Nairaland armchair economist know better than Merill Lynch (even though Merill Lynch are the world's leader in finance management).

lol
"Eminent armchair economist" has a nice ring to it. i'm adopting that title men
ur EAE & family has vested interest in not less than 2 manufacturing concerns in SE Nigeria.
We provide direct employment for 40 Nigerians and indirectly for 100's.
Our competitors are making gazillions importing what we sweat & bleed to manufacture.

We know first hand what lack of Infrastructure and Corruption can do to an SME.

So Tornadoz, if u want to insult me, please go right ahead but do not, i repeat do not question the patriotism or belief in being black of my self and majority of forum members, i bet my ass is blacker than urs.

I am not trying to debunk Merill, all i'm saying is they shouldn't make a big deal out of recycled information. If u read the annual reports of most banks in this country, u'll see the same information.
So maybe its because the white dudes at merill said it abi? (maybe u should take care of the bloody log in ur eye b4 looking for d speck in mine)

Tornadoz:

A friend told me last week that November 2007 the exchange rate was £1.00= N265.00 and November 2008 its now £1.00 to N190. The Dollar is also not getting any better, shame if you live abroad and your Dollar is no more giving you your expected returns.

point of correction. the current exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira to the British pound sterling is =N=172 to 1 British Pound! it's Official!

.