This post is part of an online series, cohosted with Business Fights Poverty, featuring essays from New Africa: From Growth to Jobs, a recent report by IGD and Business Action for Africa.

Nigeria is a nation in transition. It is clear that while there have been instances recently which have unsettled Nigeria’s growth trajectory, there is no doubt of the long term economic potential of the country, the momentum it has gained by adopting a market-oriented approach and the reforms it is enacting through policy development and efforts to increase transparency. In a number of areas, the opportunity in Nigeria has come to symbolise a new economic era in Africa and is the focus of increased foreign investment and greater commercial competition.

Nigeria is also a nation of great diversity, embracing a wide span of religions, cultures, languages and traditions, and a people that are collectively defined by their optimism and energy. This entrepreneurial spirit embodies the pride, the hard work and the resilience of Nigerians and, together with better access to capital, has led to the emergence of some amazing success stories, particularly in private sector development where home-grown businesses have become pan regional, even global, in their ambitions. Nigeria’s reputation for being serious about business is enhanced by the success of these organisations. It is also strengthened by government taking a harder line on corruption and by more businesses adopting and demanding high standards of governance and corporate integrity. This in turn engenders trust among institutions, stakeholders and civil society.

People often talk of Nigeria’s vast deposits of fossil fuels as its greatest export potential, but in many respects, its dynamic and entrepreneurial people are its most enabling natural resource. Human capital is after all the one common factor that drives development and associated growth no matter what sector, no matter what economy.

At Guinness Nigeria, our people are our difference. They are the game changers in a new reality which sees both challenges and opportunities getting bigger for our business, and they are a source of competitive advantage in our industry. So how do we inspire them to rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities?

We have a clear vision that I regularly share with my 1,500 colleagues in Guinness Nigeria – to be the most celebrated and respected business in Nigeria and earn iconic status among investors, employees and stakeholders. It is also a powerful source of an aspiration that is translatable into everybody’s
job and a collective catalyst for our people to achieve greatness in everything we do. It creates a culture in which people can take accountability of others success and where teams can align and accelerate performance.

But what does it mean to be iconic? It may mean to many to be the biggest, the highest
performing, most profitable, the market leader. Clearly as a businessman, those measures are
non-negotiable for me, and ones by which our company will assessed both internally and externally. But as the chief executive of a Nigerian business in a Nigeria that is transforming to become a global power, a leading nation with greater visibility on the world’s stage, I envisage our business to stand and define its success beyond this. Iconic stands for greater accountability and responsibility, and generating shared prosperity. But crucially it stands for leadership.

Nigerians make for good leaders. In fact Nigeria is a net exporter of talent within Diageo with many Nigerians holding senior positions within the wider company. I myself have benefitted from developing my leadership and experience in other countries. We invest significantly in our leadership programmes at graduate, mid career and senior level to develop the skills of our future directors and managers and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of talented people that will continue to grow our brands and our company. We also strive to create the best possible conditions and freedom for people to succeed by optimising our systems and processes, developing career development paths attuned to strengths and ambitions, and providing a safe, world -class working environment for our employees and those that work with us.

Indeed essential to the engagement of our people around our vision is through the clear articulation of our corporate values and our broader reputation as a responsible corporate citizen and a contributor to society as a whole. Pride within Guinness Nigeria comes not only from the delivery of great performance and business outcomes, but from the association with an organisation that truly represents people’s values and integrity. It is why we place so much emphasis on our leadership standards in a broader sense, and why we go to great lengths in communicating and engaging around it internally.

Our reputation is also defined by being a force for good, making significant contributions to the communities in which we live and work. In partnership with other like-minded corporate organisations, we want to set the right standards for ethical behaviour and good governance in our operations and relationships.

The private sector in Nigeria has a significant and important role to play in establishing benchmarks and ways of working that encourages enterprise development, upholds good governance and accountability, attracts quality investors and positively impacts our communities. We will play our role, but we will also play it collectively as 1,500 people. This is what we certainly hope defines our legacy as an iconic business and a contributor to sustained growth in Nigeria today.


Tags: New Africa: From Growth to Jobs, Seni Adetu, former MD/CEO, Guinness Nigeria Plc

http://www.igdleaders.org/seni-adetu-defining-reputation-through-leadership-and-action/

Corruption thrives in Nigeria — Christopher Kolade

MAY 3, 2015 : SAMUEL AWOYINFA

Former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, has observed that many Nigerians no longer stand on the side of what is right.

According to him, this is because corruption thrives in the country.

He made the submission while delivering a keynote address at the 13th Synod of the Egba Diocese, The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, which held on Friday at the Bishop’s Court, Onikolobo, Abeokuta.

Kolade noted that many Nigerians, including Christians, compromised their faith when faced with uncertainties of life. He said this was as a result of fear or the need to have their expectations met.

He said, “Today, the Nigerian Christian faces the uncomfortable reality that corruption seems to be the most prominent feature of our way of life.

“Due to corruption, there are many uncertainties in the Nigerian environment, which put a great deal of pressure on faith. The reason is simple. Uncertainty means that we are not sure of what to expect; therefore, the situations in our business may be out of control.

“Nobody likes to lose control, no one enjoys being caught by an unpleasant surprise. Therefore, we want to insure ourselves, to make sure that, whatever happens, we shall not fail to achieve our expectations.”

Kolade, who spoke on the theme: ‘A call to true Christian living in Nigeria,’ explained that the country was blessed with good climate, abundant natural resources and manpower, but the missing link was the failure of the people to live holy and follow the examples of Christ.

Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, who declared the synod open, commended the Diocesan Bishop of Egba, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Adekunle, for the constructive criticism of his administration, stressing that “this has really helped me a lot.”

He said his re-election and the achievements he had recorded in the last four years were made possible by the help of God.

In his charge, Adekunle said the church had recorded successes in evangelism, church planting, clergy welfare, agro-allied and rural development and construction of new administrative block.


http://www.punchng.com/news/corruption-thrives-in-nigeria-christopher-kolade/

Highlights of the 2nd Annual Christopher Kolade Lecture on Business Integrity

The 2nd installment of the annual Christopher Kolade lecture series held yesterday, September 11, 2014 and it was well attended by industry leaders, regulators, academia and members of the press.

The evening started with a welcome address by Soji Apampa, Executive director of the Convention on Business integrity who mentioned that the reason why the lecture series was named after Christopher Kolade was because he exemplified business integrity as practiced throughout his distinguished career in the private and public sectors.

Christopher Kolade’s welcome remarks followed that of Mr. Apampa and he said that naming the lecture series after him was the singular greatest honor given to him. He then went on to enunciate what integrity meant to him. He said it meant always trying to do what is right and when in doubt about what the right thing is, it is avoidance of that which is wrong. Finally, to him integrity also meant resisting what was wrong, and he said this was the part most lacking among Nigerians as many of us are wont to keep quiet in the face of wrongdoing.

The Keynote speaker, Ms. Arunma Oteh kicked up the ante in the room by delivering a speech on the night’s theme, which was “ The Business case for Business Integrity”. She cited some studies that showed that on average, integrity was associated with superior business performance. She also cited examples of firms and individuals that experience the converse when they engaged in shoddy business practices. Also, she mentioned that adopting integrity was a sure way of improving Nigeria’s global competitiveness given our poor ranking in the just released World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report.

To discuss the ramifications of the theme further, the distinguished panel moderated my Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje gave their take on how their various Nigerian businesses practiced business integrity and what Nigerian businesses in general should be prepared to do. Interestingly, the participants differed in their philosophy on how to advance business integrity. For example, whilst Ms. Ayotola Jagun of Oando opined that Nigerian businesses that performed well should be rewarded and given incentives like preferred supplier status, Professor Juan Elegido said that such approach only reinforces the love for incentives and not necessarily a love for integrity. The Managing Director of Siemens Nigeria showed that organizations are able to reinvent themselves after a murky past by affirming Siemens corporation-wide change in adopting sound corporate governance practices that has been recognized as Siemens comes first for the 4th year running on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Overall, it was an interesting night with a very lovely ambience and delicious food. The key challenge is whether the various guests will be able to turn this knowledge that “Integrity pays” into practice.

Celebrating Seni Adetu

Posted by: Alvin Afadama in Business November 2, 2014

It is no longer news that the erst while MD/CEO of Guinness Nigeria Plc will be moving on to another role effective January 1, a role to be announced closer to that time.

Today, we want to celebrate this enigmatic business leader who has made a remarkable impact on not just the Nigerian business landscape, but across Africa in general. It would be recalled that this gentlemen, who has had a distinguished career of nearly 30 years working for multinational companies such as John Holt, Coca-Cola and Guinness (Diageo) first had his general management experience in 2001, when he was heading all of West Africa (excluding Nigeria) for Coca-Cola based in Accra, Ghana. He later joined Guinness Ghana as the first African MD/CEO in the nearly 40 year’s history of the company. In that period, he led the company to becoming the best company in the entire Diageo (Guinness) International in 2008 and was subsequently promoted to run the East African Breweries Plc as Group Managing Director/CEO in 2009 where he further blossomed to the extent he was runner up ForbesBusiness Leader of the Year in East Africa.

Since taking over the mantle at Guinness Nigeria, where he became the first Nigeria in almost 20 years as Managing Director, whilst the company has had a tough period relating to soft topline as a result of down-trading into value segment for a company with a largely premium portfolio, Seni Adetu has led the company creditably and seems to be bowing out when the ovation is loudest. Under his watch, he has completely re-shaped the portfolio to make the company much more competitive.

Unlike in the period prior to his assumption of office, the company now competes strongly in the value segment with its Dubic and a repositioned Satzenbrau.

Furthermore, he led the renovation of core brands such as Guinness and Harp, which are now both looking so much trendier and complemented by such powerful campaigns as Made of Black.

He also justifiably prides himself in the quality of the innovation he has put into the Nigerian market. Aside from the relatively successful Snapp he launched a couple of years ago, perhaps by far the most market-defining innovation ofthe decade is the recently launched Orijin brand – which comes as Orijin Bitters and Orijin ready to drink. These brands are said to be flying and are well adored by the adult Nigerian consumers – male and female -huge credit to him for the execution of this innovation.

As a football loving executive, his support – personal and company-wise, for the Super Eagles is well demonstrated. It was he who led the corporate world through Guinness, in providing support for the national team in the run-in to the 2013 African Nations Cup (which the Super Eagles won) and the 2014 World Cup with Guinness as the official beverage. But none of these achievements is surprising considering that he has always been a career-marketer, having once being the Marketing Director for Coca-Cola in Nigeria.

Beyond his commercial astuteness, Seni Adetu is very passionate about people that work for him. It is no wonder that within weeks of his assumption of office a couple of years ago, his first instinct was to bring together all GN staff at an all-staff conference where he spelt out his vision for the company and his personal purpose in life. Since then he has proceeded in engaging key talent into Guinness Nigeria Plc atvarious levels and across functions in the organisation. But anyone that listens to Seni would know very quickly that he believes, as he says, in the “tripod” of People, Performance and Reputation. To that extent, he has always said that under his watch there must be no single case bothering on integrity or reputation.

In a phone chat yesterday he said, “I am so grateful to God that by the time I am done, we would be celebrating a Nigerian who has led a multi-national company absolutely intact. We have not had any issues that could negatively affect the reputation of the company and I humbly believe this is largely due to the “tone from the top” and the focus we have on ensuring we are always clean as it relates to controls, compliance and ethics.”

Today, we celebrate the man of integrity who has done Nigeria proud and who is poised for even greater heights.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/celebrating-seni-adetu/

Nigeria’s tricky retail terrain is lucrative

by Lyal White and Liezl Rees, August 07 2015, 06:23

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DESPITE the widely accepted perception that Nigeria is exclusively an oil economy, according to a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute, only 14% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from resources. While 70% of tax revenue and 90% of export revenue still come from oil and gas, retail and wholesale trade are in fact the biggest drivers of economic growth in Africa’s largest economy.

The report, "Nigeria’s renewal: Delivering inclusive growth in Africa’s largest economy", claims the Nigerian consumer market is worth almost $400bn and could be worth as much as $1.4-trillion a year by 2030. Seni Adetu, former MD and CEO of Guinness Nigeria, is a leading expert on consumer behaviour in that country. He has identified four major trends shaping its consumer market in the next five years.

First is the emerging middle class, with its favourable demographics in terms of population size and youthfulness. More than 60% of the population is less than 25 years old. A burgeoning consumer market is attracting increasing levels of foreign direct investment. This brings with it higher rates of employment and improved levels of income, which in turn drive further consumer behaviour. Adetu also highlights a significant increase in Nigerians returning from abroad, which, together with improved global communications, is accelerating the development of a brand-led consumerism in Nigeria, with links to Western products and services.

Second, only half of the Nigerian population is urbanised, and as urbanisation increases, so will consumption and the need for convenience purchases.

Third, Nigeria’s large population is characterised by "Generation Y", with the majority younger than 25. This group is more sophisticated, tech-savvy, media-literate and demanding of quality and comparative pricing. Strategies and branding need to target this market specifically and not generically.

Last, Adetu highlights the growing relevance of women as consumers in Nigeria. Traditionally, women stayed at home to look after the household. Increasing female empowerment, which has brought with it rising employment and financial independence for women, has seen a significant increase in income and a growing female market.

Despite seemingly endless opportunities, retailers and fast-moving consumer goods still face challenges when seeking to take advantage of this rising consumer market.

Adetu flags the highly regulated and taxed market, the stubbornly poor state of infrastructure in Nigeria, especially rail, road, water and power supply — 90% of companies use back-up generators — problems with governance and corruption, as well as limited access to potentially lucrative markets in the so-called Muslim north due to insurgencies and insecurity.

Inequality is also a serious concern. For example, residents of Lagos, estimated at about 21-million people, or 12% of the population, earn on average twice as much as Nigerians in the rest of the country.

The country is further divided into 36 federal states, each with its own rules and taxes.

The Nigerian market is also complicated by language and culture. More than 500 local languages are spoken by the country’s 250 ethnic groups. This is a challenge to companies developing marketing and communication strategies to access the broad Nigerian market.

Regardless of these challenges, with a GDP of $568bn, a population of about 180-million and favourable economic growth over the past decade, Nigeria is undoubtedly one of the most exciting retail prospects in Africa. But experience shows that companies need to immerse themselves in the intricacies of the market, and embrace the nuances in culture and consumer behaviour that define Nigeria today.

• White is director of the Centre for Dynamic Markets at the Gordon Institute of Business Science; Rees is the manager

Nigeria’s tricky retail terrain is lucrative

by Lyal White and Liezl Rees, August 07 2015, 06:23


DESPITE the widely accepted perception that Nigeria is exclusively an oil economy, according to a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute, only 14% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from resources. While 70% of tax revenue and 90% of export revenue still come from oil and gas, retail and wholesale trade are in fact the biggest drivers of economic growth in Africa’s largest economy.

The report, "Nigeria’s renewal: Delivering inclusive growth in Africa’s largest economy", claims the Nigerian consumer market is worth almost $400bn and could be worth as much as $1.4-trillion a year by 2030. Seni Adetu, former MD and CEO of Guinness Nigeria, is a leading expert on consumer behaviour in that country. He has identified four major trends shaping its consumer market in the next five years.

First is the emerging middle class, with its favourable demographics in terms of population size and youthfulness. More than 60% of the population is less than 25 years old. A burgeoning consumer market is attracting increasing levels of foreign direct investment. This brings with it higher rates of employment and improved levels of income, which in turn drive further consumer behaviour. Adetu also highlights a significant increase in Nigerians returning from abroad, which, together with improved global communications, is accelerating the development of a brand-led consumerism in Nigeria, with links to Western products and services.

Second, only half of the Nigerian population is urbanised, and as urbanisation increases, so will consumption and the need for convenience purchases.

Third, Nigeria’s large population is characterised by "Generation Y", with the majority younger than 25. This group is more sophisticated, tech-savvy, media-literate and demanding of quality and comparative pricing. Strategies and branding need to target this market specifically and not generically.

Last, Adetu highlights the growing relevance of women as consumers in Nigeria. Traditionally, women stayed at home to look after the household. Increasing female empowerment, which has brought with it rising employment and financial independence for women, has seen a significant increase in income and a growing female market.

Despite seemingly endless opportunities, retailers and fast-moving consumer goods still face challenges when seeking to take advantage of this rising consumer market.

Adetu flags the highly regulated and taxed market, the stubbornly poor state of infrastructure in Nigeria, especially rail, road, water and power supply — 90% of companies use back-up generators — problems with governance and corruption, as well as limited access to potentially lucrative markets in the so-called Muslim north due to insurgencies and insecurity.

Inequality is also a serious concern. For example, residents of Lagos, estimated at about 21-million people, or 12% of the population, earn on average twice as much as Nigerians in the rest of the country.

The country is further divided into 36 federal states, each with its own rules and taxes.

The Nigerian market is also complicated by language and culture. More than 500 local languages are spoken by the country’s 250 ethnic groups. This is a challenge to companies developing marketing and communication strategies to access the broad Nigerian market.

Regardless of these challenges, with a GDP of $568bn, a population of about 180-million and favourable economic growth over the past decade, Nigeria is undoubtedly one of the most exciting retail prospects in Africa. But experience shows that companies need to immerse themselves in the intricacies of the market, and embrace the nuances in culture and consumer behaviour that define Nigeria today.

• White is director of the Centre for Dynamic Markets at the Gordon Institute of Business Science; Rees is the manager

When the Present Met the Future at the CIMA Global Business Challenge

From across the country, well over a hundred and fifty undergraduates came from universities based in Owerri, Ilorin, Ile-Ife and Lagos to root for their peers at the national finals of the Global Business Challenge, organised by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The prizes on offer included cash rewards and a trip to Warsaw, Poland as Nigeria’s champions.


Nigeria’s future business leaders converged on the International Centre for Arbitration, a tastefully built multipurpose facility sitting just a few metres from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Lekki, Lagos. Out of 95 teams from seventeen institutions of higher learning, four teams of four members each made the finals. The contestants were mostly final year students of sciences (six of the sixteen finalists, or 38%), engineering (five finalists, or 31%), economics (four finalists, or 25%) and accounting (one finalist, or 6%).

Being a business competition, the partisan audience of largely business and social science undergraduates was stunned that its constituencies could only muster a minority thirty-one per cent of the finalists. Perhaps it did not come as a surprise that management acumen is not the exclusive preserve of traditional business courses, proof of which is that two of the judges, Sir Demola Aladekomo and Seni Adetu earned their first degrees in Computer Engineering and Chemical Engineering, respectively.

Nevertheless, the young gladiators gave a good account of themselves, as they displayed a good grasp of the case study and presented their analysis and recommendations with great composure to the panel of judges- with combined management experience of over a hundred years- that included the aforementioned duo of Demola Aladekomo of Chams plc and Seni Adetu, immediate past managing director of Guinness Nigeria plc, as well as Laoye Jaiyeola, Director-general of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Megha Joshi of Lagos Court of Arbitration and

All the teams made a strong case for their positions, but the eventual champions, Team Galactic, held the audience spellbound with their confident presentation and intelligent use of the management tools. One after the other, in a manner reminiscent of a tennis grand slam serve-and-volley, they brilliantly “returned” the judges’ queries and observations with aplomb. An extremely proud panel of judges lauded the performance of the four teams and noted that the winning team had all it takes to do very well at the global finals in August. Indeed, an observer remarked that the judges must have thought momentarily that they were in the boardrooms of their famed organisations.

The few hours spent with these budding corporate titans actually served as a pointer to the great future that awaits not only the students but the country as a whole. Following another cycle of successful elections, it is hoped that Nigeria will ride this democratic surge to create an enabling environment for its demographic bulge of hard-working youth, who are willing to roll their sleeves to achieve greatness. As a matter of fact, it was heart-warming to see today’s corporate gurus acknowledge their efforts, as it was said that Seni Adetu drove hundreds of kilometres from an event in another state to take his seat at this ‘boardroom’ to listen to and inspire tomorrow’s business leaders.

http://www.bellanaija.com/2015/09/04/when-the-present-met-the-future-at-the-cima-global-business-challenge/

CIMA taps Seni Adetu’s boardroom experience for GBC


Mr Seni Adetu, former Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria was on hand as one of the judges at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Global Business Challenge (GBC) on June 6, 2015 at the magnificent edifice of the Lagos Arbitration Court in Lekki, Lagos.


No doubt, Seni’s star shone brightly among the assembled distinguished panel of judges that consisted of boardroom gurus in Nigeria’s corporate firmament as he brought to bear his extensive boardroom experience across Africa in probing the suitability or otherwise of the presentations of the teams that participated in the competition.


The GBC, an international business competition for undergraduates around the world, is designed to bring out the best in the young business leaders of tomorrow. By working together as a team of four to present a business case study, undergraduates from Nigerian universities were given the opportunity to showcase their talent in business management, and to win a place at the GBC global final in Warsaw, Poland next August.


Seni’s contribution on the night was illustrative of his professional excellence and chequered career of success and leadership. Participating teams and the audience saw a glimpse of why multinational companies like John Holt Plc, Coca Cola and Guinness Nigeria Plc deemed it fit to appoint Seni as CEO in four African countries over the years.

Source: Thisday




The young men and women who participated in the competition, no doubt, left the venue with great reverence for Seni’s penetrating questions and instructive comments which would certainly help to prepare them for greater success in their respective business career.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2015/08/03/toothpicks-are-symbolic-of-nigerias-industrial-policy-weakness

Opinion & Analysis / Columnists


Toothpicks are symbolic of Nigeria’s industrial policy weakness

by Dianna Games, 03 August 2015, 04:19


Toothpicks are on a list of more than 40 items for which the Central Bank of Nigeria has forbidden the sourcing of foreign currency.

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THERE has been a lot of talk about toothpicks in Nigeria of late. The humble implement for removing elusive morsels of dinner is a culprit in Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis. It is included in a list of more than 40 items for which the Central Bank of Nigeria has forbidden the sourcing of foreign currency through the formal banking system for spending on imports.

Other items on the list include private jets, tinned fish, vegetable oil, roofing sheets, cosmetics, soap, plastic and rubber products, Indian incense, steel pipes, plywood board, glassware and kitchen utensils.

Although the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s economy has grown from 1.9% in the early 1990s to 6.8%, the country has little to show for years of import bans designed to boost local manufacturing. The recent central bank foreign exchange clampdown is not an outright importation ban, but the bank says it is partly designed to stimulate local production of goods that Nigeria can make, but doesn’t.

Nigeria has relied on import restrictions to drive its industrialisation policy since the 1970s.

In 1986, about 40% of agricultural and industrial products, in terms of tariff lines, were covered by import prohibitions. In 2003, a new list was put in place that included 27 items. This was increased to 35 the following year. That list included finished clothing and shoes in an attempt to protect the country’s textile and leather industries. Both are still struggling.

The list has been slowly whittled down over a decade. There have been some successes from the ban in terms of increased production of local items and foreign investment into new sectors. But the bank’s long list highlights the fact that the country is a long way from realising its manufacturing potential.

The government has failed to stimulate local industry with proper trade policy measures that are supportive, rather than punitive.

Companies battle against a host of challenges in manufacturing, including expensive power, the high cost of money, an onerous regulatory environment, poor infrastructure and inefficient ports. Smuggling is one of the biggest reasons for Nigeria’s failure to get manufacturing off the ground. Restricting imports only worsens the situation.

Whether or not Nigeria makes toothpicks is immaterial. But because it seems like a small and basic item, it has been seized upon to make a point.

The Economist magazine’s recent article on the new foreign exchange restrictions was titled "Toothpick alert". Those words incurred the wrath of the central bank. In a reply to the magazine’s assertion that items on the list appeared to be randomly selected, the bank stated that the selection had been made after "thorough and exhaustive discussions" by the bank’s highest policy-making body.

Toothpicks are symbolic of the state of Nigeria and Africa’s industrial malaise. A process of deindustrialisation took place in many African economies after countries liberalised their economies in the 1980s and 1990s. Many companies that had survived thanks to protectionism were unable to compete with new foreign players.

Malaysia and Ghana achieved independence at the same time — 1957 — and yet their economic trajectories have been very different. Malaysia has become an industrial giant, while many Ghanaian industries, built in a post-independence industrialisation drive behind tariff walls, did not survive liberalisation.

A few decades ago, Nigeria was a global producer of palm oil. Today it imports nearly 600,000 tonnes a year, while Indonesia and Malaysia produce 90% of global demand.

Nigeria’s best chance of building a consumer class is not by making it difficult to get imports, but by enabling the growth of efficient and sustainable manufacturing companies. This does not require government to control the process.

As in all places, the state needs to create a safe environment for companies to compete and then get out of the way.

• Games is CEO of advisory Africa @Work