Nigerians Taking Over Africa

interesting piece.

   
Africa: Nigeria wants to share millions of dollars with you, and it’s no con (opinion)


Nairobi (Kenya) - East Africa offers a vantage point for observing one of the great surprises of the continent: Nigeria, till now famous for its conmen, is becoming an African and world economic superpower right under our eyes.

By The East African (Kenya), by Charles Onyango-Abbo* | 03.30.2009

Although it is stuck with the reputation of being the base of the world’s leading Internet scammers and cheque forgers, and home to one of the world’s most corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, Nigeria has done something no other country has managed since the colonial era. It has studied sin and learnt from it how to be competitive.

Nigerian companies are busy snapping up insurance businesses in East Africa, are into banking, and most notably, in Kenya recently, Nigeria’s Silverbird acquired Nu Metro. Formerly a South African franchise, Nu Metro is East Africa’s most prestigious entertainment company. Outside the continent, especially in Europe and North America, Nigerian companies advertise more on TV than those from any other African country.

We didn’t see the Nigerians coming, because of the popular prejudice that every one them is either a former or current military dictator, a tycoon who has stolen oil money, or a fraudster. Therefore, we didn’t take them seriously.

So Nigerians could end up owning most of Africa, and we might be beating and burning them as the South Africans did with the African immigrants last year.

While some Nigerians are hustlers and can be loud and in your face, underlying that is a self-confidence rare in Africa, and an abundance of traits necessary for success. When South African criminal gangs were roasting immigrants over bonfires, the only group that did something about it was the Nigerians.

Near Witwatersrand University, as the mobs approached a residential area populated by Nigerians, the West Africans didn’t hide or run. They emerged with AK47s and told the South Africans that they had every right to be in South Africa, because they fed, housed, educated and gave critical diplomatic support to the ANC and other anti-apartheid groups during their struggle. The South African mobs fled.

In a world where Asian and Western businessmen bribe African officials and politicians left, right and centre, only the Nigerians who know how to hustle on the international stage can match them. In this way, they have been able to keep a slice of the African cake at home.

Fortune has also handed Nigeria a good hand. With a population of between 120 million and 140 million, there are more Nigerians than East Africans.
That is frequently seen as a source of instability, because there are too many poor, hungry and angry Nigerian mouths.

With its horrid cities, especially Lagos, no regular businessman who isn’t half crazy would want to set up shop there, right? Wrong.

Lagos is one of the toughest training grounds on planet Earth. If you can survive Lagos as a businessperson, there is no city in the world you can’t conquer. Small wonder, then, that the Nigerians are the most dominant group of Africans outside the continent — with the dogged Somalis hot on their heels.

Also, 140 million people can be a boon. A Kenyan, Tanzanian, or Ugandan politician who steals $10 million will most likely buy stocks on the exchange, purchase a local mansion, a flat in London, send the kids to a British university, and take a new mistress.

A Nigerian governor who steals that amount of oil money, can invest it in toothpicks or mobile phones, and by the end of two trading cycles he has sold so many, his $10 million has multiplied into $30 million. He gets on a Kenya Airways plane, lands in an East African capital, and he is the richest man in town. Warts and all, our Nigerian brothers and sisters are the stuff of champions.

* Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group’s managing editor for convergence and new products.



Source: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/Current/index.htm

I'd still move if I were them.

They might not be so lucky next time.

I have to say that it made me slightly happy though- i ahve always been a big proponent of Nigerians penetrating foreign markets especially when things are too difficult for us back home.

China is doing the same thing- they have developed an exquisite taste for foreign companies- they are buying out their european competition. it is the only way we can survive in this ruff and tumble world dominated by western  globalization. If we can buyout the kenyans, that is a start, then we can later move on to bigger things

That what i'm talking about. To all Naija Hater's, you had better join us cos we are here to stay 

@ Post
Do you seriously think we could have gotten where we are today if we all sat still and congratulated the corrupt government on their snail paced work?
Naija is a very harsh and aware enviroment, if you dont perform, you dont get any love. If you dont give us light to run our factories, we ship them outside, we yab you until you come to you senses while we are still making cool money.
so dont talk about self criticism as if it is such an evil thing. That is how we brought down the millitary, that is how we stoped Obasanjo's 3rd term, that is how we got a law mandating doctors to treat gunshot victims, and that is how we are going to secure our freedom from this tyranny.

nigerians are revered as the chinese of africa- we are all over, doing both legit and illegit, inasmuch as we are making the money. so, it is both a good and a sad story. A somali i met once told me that he wont be suprised if nigerians are the sponsors of the their piracy problem - a claim i strong dis-prove to him. the question is why do we travel this much ,  simply put, home is not conducive for our business

Quite awesome,,?

Nice piece. Because that is the way it is.
We are hustlers, plain and simple, and we have the guts to pull off any type of business deal, scam, or heist.

I don't know why we seem to think Western businessmen conduct business like the Pope, in white cassocks, sprinkling holy water on the pounds/Euros/dollars. That's the image they like to paint of themselves, and gullible Africans believe them.

If you travel within Africa, you will be shocked at how developed Nigeria is, in terms of infrastructure (yes!) and commerce.
Those countries have 24 hours power supply, but some of them have capitals that look like Ado-Ekiti, and their banks are usually only Barclays, Standard Chartered, and what have you.

Two things.
Number one, these African nations haven't achieved anything, not even electricity.
Many of these nations are being supplied by some regional power, like SA and Angola. And they are scarcely industrialised, so their power requirements are miniscule.

Secondly, you notice the article doesn't talk about Nigeria the nation. It talks about Nigerians.
I'm sure you agree that those are two different things entirely. Not that I don't want Nigeria to be a united and developed nation. I just believe those things will work out with time. But I'd rather be Nigerian anyways.

Interesting piece.

we will get there

 

When will Nigerians take over Nigeria?

I actually find this article rather insulting, look at the way dude talks about Nigerians, he might as well have called us animals,

It is better we start at home before venturing outside.