Leading businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has said that Africa needs support for trade and investment and not aid.
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Aliko Dangote

Dangote, who is a co-chair of the 18th World Economic Forum on Africa, stated this in Cape Town, South Africa while speaking on “Challenges and growth opportunities Africa faces in becoming a global economic giant” on Friday. He said African leaders should collaborate with multinational investors to promote economic development, especially trade and manufacturing. [/b]The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Dangote , who is also the President, Dangote Group of Companies, said African nations’ lopsided investment laws impeded the continent’s desire of becoming a global economic giant.

He said any company that could successfully do business in Nigeria could also do business just anywhere in the world. [b]He regretted the rejection of African companies’ products by multinationals and urged African companies to target inter-African trade.

He said inter-African trade had provided a lot of opportunities for trade and investment, adding that “the opportunities are enormous as Africa starts to realise its growth potential.”

Another industrialist, Stephen Hayes, said limited infrastructure in Africa were a “barrier to external African trade potential as it is expensive to get African goods to foreign markets.” Hayes, who is the President, Corporate Council on Africa in the United States, said there was the need for home-grown capacity building to deliver to new markets.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200806071554820

I wonder why it is so expensive to get African goods ito foreign market and inexpensive to get foreign goods to African markets while. Western monopoly i call it. What we need in Africa is good investment and opportunities not yeye aids and their humanitarian services. If they know they have the interest of Africa at heart they should start bringing foreign investments that will develop our lands and not Military base and arms supplies.

bluehorizo:


I wonder why it is so expensive to get African goods ito foreign market and inexpensive to get foreign goods to African markets while. Western monopoly i call it. What we need in Africa is good investment and opportunities not yeye aids and their humanitarian services. If they know they have the interest of Africa at heart they should start bringing foreign investments that will develop our lands and not Military base and arms supplies.

Western Monopoly is the reason why it is expensive to get African goods into foreign markets?  Are you kidding me? Now it is "yeye" aids? We were never entitled to recieving aids from the west or any other country, in the first place; the same applies with foreign investments. Like the man said, we need to learn to attract not demand or expect it.

It seems as if you are psychic, this is the same thing i keep telling people, in fact, i was thinking about it yesterday that China which was poorer than most African countries at the beginning of the 90's have one of the largest GDP's in the world and they are the fastest growing economy. That's why we Africanos have to sell our country well and not let in these Western journalists like BBC or CNN spoil our image, in fact, Al-Jazeera is the only foreign media outlet that portrays the Africa me and you know and not the ones on the CNN's.
We seriously need to launch a PR campaign to improve the face of the continent and we need to restrict western journalists from our country that's how China did it. Imagine, just after a few years of Tianamen that shocked the whole world, Western companies were flooding there like mad. If the West finds out about  the real things that were going on and are still going on, some of them might be too scared to invest there. China had well over 50,000 rural uprisings last year, but you don't see it in the news, the country has over 50 ethnic minorities that are coerced together by the brutal force of the state, it also is the most restrictive country in the world, christianity and all forms of religion are disallowed, it is a God-less state but usually stuff like this don't get leaked out to the media because the chinese would do anything to protect their image.

@bluehorizo and davidif, so what about other African countries? Can't African countries trade among themselves? The way people speak sometimes gives the impression that if Africa was the only conmtinent in the world it would shrivel up and die because of stupidity. Africa it seems is trying to find its place in the world order, maybe it is time it focused more internaly than this begging for foreign investors. Spend time to develop the countries and see if other countries in other continent won't want to come. In the Nigerian sense, that means making ECOWAS work and making it viable, give it a direction so that its existence is not just footnoted by so called "meetings" in Abuja. When Africa (i.e Africans) want to develop then development will be achieved but if you are not willing to do it why expect it?

@skyblue
yes you are right when you say that Africa has to focused more internally than begging for foreign investors by trading among itself. but you have forgotten that before you can trade, you must produce goods with which you can trade in. At the moment africa can only trade primary products and not finished goods. And since we do not have the facilities, the infrastructure and knowhow to convert primary produce to finished goods, we are condemned to trading (albeit unfairly) with the developed world. Also how can we make ECOWAS work, when we have not been able to make Nigeria work.

@ Davidif,
Do not waste you money on any PR campaign, Hundreds of Heart Of Africa campaigns would not improve your PR as Frank Nweke Jr., found out. The best PR in the world is Success, Once we Get our country working, even if crime is as Bad as in South Africa, or as undemocratic as Saudi Arabia and UAE, or as oppressive as Chinese Tibet, western companies would still rush here and everything else would be overlooked.

Also I disagree with Dangote, Although i admire his entrepreneurial achievements, i feel he had and still have unfair advantage. He has monopoly in most of his businesses ie, Sugar, cement, etc. It would have been harder for him in a competitive market like the US or Europe.
Before you can succeed as an industrial power you have to embark on an industrial Revolution.
1. Have a steady and cheap source of Power
2. Have a viable Machine tools Industry - Imported machines would not do.
3. Have cheap and reliable transportation especially rail and sea transportation
4. Have cheap and reliable source of raw material - that we have in abundance.

Study all the industrialized countries, they took care of these before embarking on industrialization, for example china is building a rail system across the Himalayas (the highest mountains in the world) to Tibet, also every American was involved in the building of the railroad in order to industrialize America.

Conclusion: YOU CANNOT TRADED IN A GLOBAL VILLAGE IF YOU DO NOT PRODUCE. You will only become a dumping ground for finished and used goods.

@wirinet though increasing the secondary product sector so we produce more finished goods is hard work, you make it sound like a very huge task, but is it really? Were we not all hearing the news of a Nigerian company that was going to be producing vehicles (mostly buses) in some southern state? There was also the news of a Nigerian professor who designed a car but the government was not backing him so he took his business to south africa so that the car could be produced there. Also not all african countries just simply trade in raw materials, quite a few african countries have an aumtomobile industry including south africa. The decision of a country to become a dumping ground for trash produced in other continents is up to them and is not forced. If the nigerian government had the foresight and sense it would reduce imports and right now focus on making the country a bit more self sufficient in such a way that we would be able to produce our own cars, hence reduce imports of second hand vehicles etc. Can you believe that Nigeria imports rice? The ammount of things imported is just ludacris. Doesn't that simply mean that if crude oil dries up tomorrow Nigeria is screwed? Even the oil we produce we don't refine, someone else does and sells the fuel at a much higher cost due to the added value on the crude oil. If Nigeria is a dumping ground it is because it is comfortable in that position so don't make it sound like it is a necessity.

@skyblue

Africa it seems is trying to find its place in the world order, maybe it is time it focused more internaly than this begging for foreign investors. Spend time to develop the countries and see if other countries in other continent won't want to come.

You are so on point but the thing is that it would take a much longer time, it took singapore, malaysia, hong kong and the other Asian tigers 40 years to develop their economy, it has taken China less than 20 years. Do you think that Nigeria has another 40 years especially with the insurgency in the Niger Delta, we have to placate this dudes as fast as possible or else we would lose them and in turn lose the entire country.

africa needs a social revolution not investment nor trade
the sonner we realise that the bulk of the african problem can be attributed to our social backwardness, then we are on our way to making some some sort of progress
the miracle of the asian tiger economies was due mainly to social structural change
when i see the chineese shaking hands with the nigerian so called governments i just laugh
our african brothers and sisters havent got a clue
just take a look at the united arab emirates and u will know that we need a social revolution

vivaladiva:

africa needs a social revolution not investment nor trade
the sonner we realise that the bulk of the african problem can be attributed to our social backwardness, then we are on our way to making some some sort of progress
the miracle of the asian tiger economies was due mainly to social structural change
when i see the chineese shaking hands with the nigerian so called governments i just laugh
our african brothers and sisters havent got a clue
just take a look at the united arab emirates and u will know that we need a social revolution

Precisely!

vivaladiva:

africa needs a social revolution not investment nor trade
the sonner we realise that the bulk of the african problem can be attributed to our social backwardness, then we are on our way to making some some sort of progress
the miracle of the asian tiger economies was due mainly to social structural change
when i see the chineese shaking hands with the nigerian so called governments i just laugh
our african brothers and sisters havent got a clue
just take a look at the united arab emirates and u will know that we need a social revolution

So true, but i see that in Asian countries like china but not in united arab emirates. In china you can see the the strong work ethic and the strong solidarity its people share with building what can only be described as an empire nation. There is a rich history of that cohesiveness to a common goal and working hard to achieve it to tap into of which the great wall is a living testament. Hence the idea that china decided to develop and it did is not so revolutionary in a "that was new for them" kind of way. They have had that down for a while. However i think in Saudi Arabia the development is mainly due to oil money. They have been smart with their oil money and Nigeria has been too selfish and stupid. When i think of Social revolution i immediately think of france. Sure the french revolution was bloody and we don't want that, but it was also social in the sense that the whole country had a reorientation in psyche and how they wanted their country to be. The effects are still seen till this day and the french are very involved in their politics and i admire their democracy more than any other. A social revolution does not necessarily have to turn us into another china but i think it would come when we have a shared vision of what direction we all want Nigeria and africa to take and where we want it to be (i already know my own vision for africa). However this is going to happen when people in the country get more involved and interested in Politics, key word being involved and politics meaning the way the nation is run not Nigerian definition of "politics". It will naturally happen if we feel we have a country worth dying or fighting for and i know how drastic that sounds but it seems no one really believes Nigeria is worth fighting for and that could actually be the problem. When we actually believe in the country and believe it is worth our effort then it is only natural to act to develop it etc. However what we have now is trash occupying the vacuum left by this absence of people with that ideal which is only natural.

@Skyblue,
Yes, increasing the secondary product sector so we produce more finished good does not only sound like a very huge task, it is an ENORMOUSLY HUGE task, As anybody in production (and i know quite a few) and they will tell you the huge problems they are facing.

You make me laugh when you say a Nigerian Professor designed a car, I have news for the Professor (if really he is one), The car (internal combustion engine)had already been designed, except he designed a car that can run on water. Most Asian countries that manufacture cars do not waste their time designing cars, they buy a design from an established company and use cheaper material to assemble, then giving it their own brand name. The difficult part of manufacturing a car is the design and assembly of the production plant (assembly line) and the materials necessary. For example how do you get iron sheets when we do not have a steel plant that can manufacture sheet, Ajaokuta is comatose and the few working steel mill we have only manufacture Iron Rods. Even now car body is made from composite material of metal and plastic, do we have a petrochemical industry. What of other parts like Tyres, Fabrics (textile), Glass, etc,. What about the engine, we can not even fabricate a "i better pass my neighbour" generator engine.
Do we import all the parts and then just assemble, then why not save yourself time and cost and import the whole car.
About some people making buses, the only panel beat the body parts together (with imported iron sheets of course) and assemble the parts together (also all imported).

You are too ambitious by suggesting we manufacture cars, you will be embarrassed by the array of stupid things we import, things like; tooth pick, candles, matches, fruit juices ( most people that claim the produce juice import the concentrate from South Africa, while oranges, pineapples and other fruits rot in our markets.
It is also a national disgrace that we import second hand pants and bra, handkerchiefs, towels.
You claim south Africa manufactures, of course it is because the Europeans have put structures in place for industrialization and they remain to maintain those structures.

People are talking about social revolution, i also laugh. Do African understand what a society means? Do we share commons goal and aspirations? Do we understand all these "oyimbo" grammar like Country, Nation, Society. What we understand are terms like clan, tribe language and religion.

@waziri i can assure you that there is more to designing a car than importing engine and different parts. I hope you are not confusing outsourcing of some components like radio, etc to more specialist companies with "importing" everything. Nowadays, due to the ability to share information about technological advancements and due to the fact the the efficieny of the internal combustion engine cannot be be greatly increased and will hence at the moment remain inefficient, the design in a car lies in the other parts and in the subtleties of tweaking well defined parts to achieve different outcomes, hence there is always room for radical designs and approaches so i do not agree with that statement as i know there is more to designing a car. Also, you are quite right that there are no other industries in place like aluminium and steel industries etc and you are quite right cars nowadays do use a lot of composite materials, however i think you misunderstood my post, as i was not suggesting we deign a car but was highlighting the little support people with ideas in Nigeria can face. It doesn't immediately have to be a car, but again, take for instance steel, getting the steel mill up and running is it really an "enormously huge" task as you claim? I really don't believe that. Now if we can start from there won't that mean we would be able to now export processed steel and won't it also mean we won't have to impot it anymore? See where i am coming from? Making the country less dependent on imports by trying to manufacture what we can and increasing that sector. It is very doable since steel is needed in quite number of applications anyway one of the major being construction which should be going on in Nigeria. Now imagine if we now start opening other industries? Not necessarily manufacture of complex finished products, but another good example is opening of refineries. Is it that "enormously huge" a task as you claim or is it just lacking the will to actually do it? Refineries produce added value products from crude oil especially in the petrochemical range and other polymers. Hence a refinery alone has lots of by products apart from fuel which Nigeria imports which can be used for making polymers, chemicals like ethane etc and others that can be used in the pharmaceutical industry, even tar used for making roads, the list is endless. See how it now all starts coming together? Development will be faster because we won't hae to import those things anymore and it would mean having a country that is a little more self sufficient. That is how it all starts and soon it would be feasible to maunufacture more complex goods in Nigeria because the other support industries are there. I just used two examples of what we can easily already have, that is the steel mill and refineries. It doesn't have to be so complicated so why make it so?

wirinet:

@Skyblue,
Yes, increasing the secondary product sector so we produce more finished good does not only sound like a very huge task, it is an ENORMOUSLY HUGE task, As anybody in production (and i know quite a few) and they will tell you the huge problems they are facing.

You make me laugh when you say a Nigerian Professor designed a car, I have news for the Professor (if really he is one), The car (internal combustion engine)had already been designed, except he designed a car that can run on water. Most Asian countries that manufacture cars do not waste their time designing cars, they buy a design from an established company and use cheaper material to assemble, then giving it their own brand name. The difficult part of manufacturing a car is the design and assembly of the production plant (assembly line) and the materials necessary. For example how do you get iron sheets when we do not have a steel plant that can manufacture sheet, Ajaokuta is comatose and the few working steel mill we have only manufacture Iron Rods. Even now car body is made from composite material of metal and plastic, do we have a petrochemical industry. What of other parts like Tyres, Fabrics (textile), Glass, etc,. What about the engine, we can not even fabricate a "i better pass my neighbour" generator engine.
Do we import all the parts and then just assemble, then why not save yourself time and cost and import the whole car.
About some people making buses, the only panel beat the body parts together (with imported iron sheets of course) and assemble the parts together (also all imported).

You are too ambitious by suggesting we manufacture cars, you will be embarrassed by the array of stupid things we import, things like; tooth pick, candles, matches, fruit juices ( most people that claim the produce juice import the concentrate from South Africa, while oranges, pineapples and other fruits rot in our markets.
It is also a national disgrace that we import second hand pants and bra, handkerchiefs, towels.
You claim south Africa manufactures, of course it is because the Europeans have put structures in place for industrialization and they remain to maintain those structures.

People are talking about social revolution, i also laugh. Do African understand what a society means? Do we share commons goal and aspirations? Do we understand all these "oyimbo" grammar like Country, Nation, Society. What we understand are terms like clan, tribe language and religion.

You too mush joooor.

wirinet,
I do subscribe to your view point.
Nigeria can only benefit from the global export market if she have any comparative advantage in global village to offer.Apart from the CRUDE OIL  export and importation of REFINED PETROLEUM products and human capital,what else can she offer ?
People talk about industrial revolution,the plan was already initiated by investing companies like, Delta Steel Company Aladja-Warri,Ajakuta steel,Oshogbo steel,Machine tools Oshogbo,Petrochemical companies (NNPC) Onne  P/Harcourt etc,where are they today(down the drain).
The bane of Nigeria development is within the government and her institutions,they have institutionalised corruption in any government  plans.That is why any of their plans and executions will cannot stand the test of time.
Government should should involve private partnership in her quest for development.Take a look at the aviation industry,its booming without a national carrier,NITEL & Mtel is a national disgrace.A country that CANNOT provide the basic social amenities is boasting to the world of her plans come the year 2020.
Government should empower her human capital and support them in area of REALISABLE investment.
Btw,now we are all shouting global food shortage and the hyper inflation this have caused Nigerians.Where is the government programme of the OFN and green revolution of the 70s/80s?Dead and buried,lol.
God help the nation.

TEACH me how to fish instead of giving me fish,

skyblue,
i share you passion about industrializing Nigeria but the situation is getting worse by the day. i just heard over the TV now that diesel is now 150 Naira a litre. Imagine running an industry on diesel ( meanwhile NEPA sorry PHCN, would still harass with with outrageous bills). Also it would be mind boggling to imagine the cost of running a steel mill or aluminum mill on diesel ( as they are heavy energy consuming industries), while we wait for Yaradua to work out his energy or is it gas policy.

i sometimes wonder how some folks survive in naija with all these wahala, i salute una, no disrespect but i just cant imagine , may the lord have mercy, mmy friend in ng told me diesel is 160, thats crazy!

Both social and industrial revolution is highly needed in Africa. None should be placed above the other.

TCUBE:

TEACH me how to fish instead of giving me fish,

Whose responsibility is it to teach you how to fish?? The ones who continue to give you fish hoping one day you will realize it is up to you to decide to learn how to fish

We can never be industrailised or attract foreign investor on a larger scale if we cannot solve common power generation. The economic of business is so against us in nigeria . If you don't know most companies are moving to neighbouring countries

1. We hardly produce anything locally
2. The cost of doing business in nigeria is so high and it seriously cuts into your margin
3. A lot of red tape ( beaucratic process - to form company is whala - you can form a company and get it registered in the UK within 3 hours with a corresponsing business bank bank
4. Naija is such a rough terrain to do business - you cannot plan as their is so much variations cost go up everyday
5 . the level of corruption is ridcously to high and can not be sustained- Naija is one of the few places in the world where you have to settle somebody to give a job or contract and also pay them to release your money. So tell me which foreign business would want to do business with you except the corrupt ones.


Please forget people like dangote - this is man that has been favoured single handedly by the past bad governments in nigeria. Please tell who will not prosper if you are given sole control of key areas in the economy. What we seriously need is to get rid of the dead weight we call government in nigera

I disagree with you. As closely related as they are, I dont think our inability to generate electricity can obstrut our attracting foriegn investors. What we lack is real professionalism; economists, business men and people who know the stuff.

@Ujujoan i think you might be underestimating the effect constant power supply can have on the Nigerian economy and life to say the least.

Sky Blue:

@Ujujoan i think you might be underestimating the effect constant power supply can have on the Nigerian economy and life to say the least.

No am not, I just dont beleive that the absence of constant power supply can be the major cause of poor business acumen in Nigeria.

Do you think it is economically feasible to power industries and businesses on generators? The only thing this generator economy can build is small scale businesses and mamaput, if businesses are to grow and more importantly if there is to be any kind of industrialisation of the economy whatsoever then i really don't see it happening without a healthy power supply, do you? Nigerians tend to be quite business minded, the fact that businesses although small scale have managed to strive in such huge numbers with the lack of power supply, lack of water, lack of descent infrastrucutre in most of the country and insecurity, is testament to this.

On a side note i think people should begin to vote with their feet, small scale businesses in order to cut cost of running generators should find an alternative. Kobojunkie has been posting threads about solar panels and Afam about inverters. Why continue to patronise the generator economy?

Sky Blue:

On a side note i think people should begin to vote with their feet, small scale businesses in order to cut cost of running generators should find an alternative. Kobojunkie has been posting threads about solar panels and Afam about inverters. Why continue to patronise the generator economy?

Now you are talking, there are alternative ways of generating power. It might be a bit more expensive, but it makes the normal way of generating electricity dispensable and the issue of power supply will be addressed

There's nothing wrong with the generator economy. People should use whatever is most affordable.

@Ujujoan, these alternatives i recommend for small businesses etc, i really don't see the nation becoming industrialised by running industries on inverters and with the current state of solar technology i don't see industries being run by solar panels either. These alternatives i recommend for people in their homes and for small businesses.

Seun:

There's nothing wrong with the generator economy. People should use whatever is most affordable.

@ seun For real? So let us ignore the monumental pollution that is generated from all these generators burning fuel, can industries be run on generators? The fact is that this generator economy benefits only a few to the detriment of the masses and the economy and well being of the nation. The money needed by people to run generators makes business expansion at times not feasible due to the ammount of money required to sustain electricity generation which should be provided. it is just not practical and it just goes to show how deep the coruption runs. Just look at how polluted lagos is, so polluted from exhaust fumes that it has become a health hazard for sometime now, and there is nothing wrong with all of this?

Seun:

There's nothing wrong with the generator economy. People should use whatever is most affordable.

Mr Seun,i do not expect this type of idea from you as a young entrepreneur.
There is no sustainable generator economy in this modern world.

@ Ujujoan
I know you are right when you say we lack adequate manpower,both managerial and technical; as most of them have been stolen by USA, Europe and Canada has also joined in poaching manpower from Nigeria. thereby leading to our most serious problem (worse than corruption itself), which is INCOMPETENCE, MALADMINISTRATION AND PLANLESSNESS. Thereby giving room for corruption to thrive and grow, unabated.

Having said that, NO MEANINGFUL INVESTMENT CAN TAKE PLACE WITHOUT POWER. Uju read your history, before any country can embark on an industrialization drive, It must resolve how to get the power necessary. Britain embarked on massive exploitation of coal to drive their stream engines (no internal combustion engines then). It was the drive to find energy to drive her industrialization that lead the US to discover and exploit black oil (crude oil). even today china is swallowing up almost 40% of the world crude market and is ready to die for Sudan because of the oil needed to drive her industrialization.

@ Skyblue,
You cannot run industries solar or inverters, if it is possible i am sure more advanced countries would have been making use of it on a large scale.
The energy they produce is too small and too expensive to install. Technology has not reached the stage to make it economically feasible, otherwise USA would not be going to war to preserve her oil supplies. So even today at $140 per barrel, Oil remains the cheapest and most available form of energy.

Having said that it is foolhardy to rely only on Oil for your energy needs. A country that have leaders with even half brains would know you have to have a good energy mix from the following sources, in case they is problem with one source.

1. Fossil fuel.
2. Gas.
3. Hydro
4. Thermal (heat from the ground)
5. Solar.
6. Biofuels
7. Nuclear - the future of world energy is NUCLEAR. It is abundant and cheap, the only problem is its toxic bye-products and the ease of using it to make the bomb. That is why countries like Iran and western countries are investing heavily in nuclear.

wirinet:


7. Nuclear - the future of world energy is NUCLEAR. It is abundant and cheap, the only problem is its toxic bye-products and the ease of using it to make the bomb. That is why countries like Iran and western countries are investing heavily in nuclear.

That is a contradictory statemnt if u ask me. . .

for the reasons u have stated, the future of d worlds energy is defintely not nuclear