Walmart is a welcome development in Nigeria, those who can buy in Walmart will buy and other Nigerians who can't buy from Walmart will buy from the market after all Nigerian population and standard can consume both Igbo, Walmart and even more super stores in the world. Have you gone to designers shops in America, China, Dubai and UK to see Nigerians spending money. If you do then there will be no need for this Topic. Walmart or more, Igbo people will still do their business because all fingers are not equal and shoe get size.

am having ideas now, I think i will ride on walmart s back to make my million s a beg make them come. I no feel threatened at all in short am only seeing my millions, that s if they can out price the Igbo trader s

OmanIman: 1st it was Shoprite,then Spar and anothr Shoprite in abj!Nw Walmart?Haba dis shld stop!Govt shld encourage local enterpreneurs.Makes me feel all we'll ever do in dis country is jus to "Consume" till thy kingdom come!V sad!Enof of dis "Super Stores"!

dats wat I have been wanting to hear we should have policies that encourage establishment and growth of local/indigenous enterprises as it will help increase our national output instead allowing foreign ent.to come here and sap us dry.

Commander SamYoung!!!
Wtf,wtf,wtf,wtf,wtf,wtf
My belle oooo, my eye ooooo!

Walmart is known for its clearance prices and affordable deals, well at least in california. But when it hits naija, oh God you'll see how the price will shoot..

Will they sell agege bread?....#JustWondering#

obia ra abia ga ala! Trust igbo business man! We go outshine them

If walmart comes to nigeria then the Igbos and the middle class are finished. Reasons are :
If we look at the operations of other multinationals you will come to understand that they exploit the corrupt nature of our leaders and gets a better edge over the local companies. Walmart understands this and have experience in this kind of maneuverings. They would come to enjoy benefits which is not afforded to the common nigerian businessmen like tax exemptions,certain import waivers and protection from the goverment when they start some predatetory business practices. We should also keep in mind that the Nigerian goverment has never and will not in the near future seek to protect the interest of its citizens whom he has undoubtedly alienated himself from and therefore lost touch with. The goverment from previous actions and contemporary ones favours and would continue to dance to the tune of the foreign multinationals when prodded by the west. A good example will be the new private power producers who are getting ready to squeeze blood out of nigerians, when nigerian companies have no encouragement from our own government the foreign IPPs gets billions of our own dollars, gets tax exempt and gets the goverment to hike the electricity tariff on the poor masses seeking to further impoverish them and put the local business to its end. How does all those actions define foreign investment for us ? In that same line Walmart will play along we will be suprised when new laws that will disenfranchise the igbos and favor the super stores gets into play. The goverment can always count on two things -
1: the middle class would not be able to analyse and interpret the effects of the new laws and will the see the coming dangers so will make no trouble as this has always been the case of many african nations including nigeria.
2: there is very little the masses can do since they have no representatives and can easily be dispersed as a large number who were not in trading would feel unconcerned therefore leaving only the traders to "make noise" and not knowing the cost gets passed unto them.(another case of african ignorance)
3: there has been many times where certain where certain privilages were afforded to foreign companies in discreetion without the knowledge of the common man. Laws have been passed without the masses really knowing that nigeria has passed such a legislation and the success of such companies would be interpreted as a result of their business prowess rather than a parasitic exploit of an unaware host.
4: Though this might be a delicate line but it has been observed that any show of displeasure towards the americans devastating exploits is quickly labeled by the western media as ANTI-AMERICANISM rather than what it is which is daylight plundering of the masses and our people unlike the south american has not learnt to hold their grounds once such label has been put on them.

B: i know in a show of igbo pride the igbos would say they would always outsmart them, i myself have witnessed the profound ingenuity of the igbo man and i must confess that it like no other.
However a bit of reality which could be gotten from numbers is seriously needed. The business model of any manufacturing nation is that the more a customer can purchase the lesser the price he gets. Walmart in this regard hold a dangerous advantage to the igboman in that he could make a gigantic purchase of a single commodity for its markets in the four continents comprising of many nations and hundreds if not thousands of outlets, the igbos with their resources can not outbid such an opponent and lacks the organisational structures and the cohesiveness of action to pull resources together. So we can clearly see that their prices would undoubtedly be cheaper than the local market.
The swiftness of their imports,clearing and less problems from the customs whom will be promptly settled would make the odds more demoralising.
I have to leave for lunch but lets all consider the saying which goes "PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE" assuming we can do something now it would save up a lot of headaches and misery in the future.

Fellow Nigerians wishing their fellow countrymen a downfall in business..Lets grow up please...will Walmart order for pepper..tomatoes...yams from the north in the face of unrest in the North...HELL NO!!!!

Wi d IGBO$ hav & wil alway$ SORVIVE
ee don tey no b 2day wi sorvive

While people are busy weighing the impact of Walmart coming to Nigeria on Igbo businessmen,we also forgot about 35% of other nigerians in petty businesses whom already are finding it very difficult to compete against the igbos in this harsh economic market system!i then submit that the initial victims of this draconian neo-imperialistic organizatns coming to Nigeria will first of all be the yorubas and Hausas who make up that 35% non competative and dissadvantaged traders!....suffice it say that even in places like China,India,Malaysia etc Igbo markets and igbo traders compete relatively well on thesame platform with these people!BTW ve you wondered why the chinese infiltrated Kano with cheap products and grounded almost every manufacturing companies in the North and cldnt get close to the East and igbo business interest!The igbos are masters of the game and even occasionally take they war to there doorsteps in their countries! i only fear for some manufacturers who may nt be able to compete well in Nigeria because of high cost of productn and labour,basically i pity companies like Doyin groups,Eleganza,even foriegn oriented companies like UAC,Lever brothers,Cadbury Nigeria,PZ etc who are most likely going to be affected because of its corporate nature and the cost of running it,it may also lead to high number of job loss,guess the yorubas and every other Nigerians will be affected in this job loss!

arantess: Will they sell agege bread?....#JustWondering#

hehehe
NEVA

Obiagu1: It's better to prevent Walmart and co from coming to Nigeria; no one knows the dynamics. I've warned about this before. It's not only Igbos that will be affected but the middle class. I hope our government is getting ready for welfare system too for those that will completely lose hope in getting out of poverty.

gbammm gbammm gbammm you are very much on point !!!

There is no point talking here when we can prevent it. It is not only Igbo business that would be affected but all small and medium scale business.

Our government have no foresight.

In as much as i am not disputing d ingenuity, resilience n sagacity of Igbo businessmen, who more or less have d same attitude with d Chinks and d Lebanese whn it comes 2 business, i still do nt think its right 2 give all these foreign malls unfetered access 2 d Nigerian market. D question is what do Nigeria stand 2 gain? Apart from erecting dea building, employ'n few locals n paying som pittance as tax, what else? But these smart alecs wud definetly repatriate dea profit home, import dea goods, render thousands of locals jobless n thereby improvise d masses! I'm beginning 2 doubt d economic eficacy of Okonjo Iweala, it seems she is just pandering 2 d whims of d imperialists! Ghana is busy protecting local businesses yet we r here destroyin ours! WTF is wrong wit us, r we beasts of no nation?

lagosapple: It appears this guy is saying that the Igbo are finished with the coming of the super stores to Nigeria.

http://saharareporters.com/column/end-igbo-business-model-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

Have your say.

Nd wat does dat need 2 do with how economy statures?or d boko nd corruption in dis country misplaced priority sha!!!!!!!!!

xprt.ngnr:



Nd wat does dat need 2 do with how economy statures?or d boko nd corruption in dis country misplaced priority sha!!!!!!!!!

NO NO NO, i beg 2 disagree, dis has a lot of implication 4 our economy, put on ur think'n cap n reason!

xprt.ngnr:



Nd wat does dat need 2 do with how economy statures?or d boko nd corruption in dis country misplaced priority sha!!!!!!!!!

And if i'm 2 qoute what Sanusi n other BH appologists said, dat BH is a result of economic n social disenfranchisement of Northerners, then r we nt goin 2 xperiance a worse unrest whn d whole country is economicaly demobilized?

I agree with the poster that talked about chinese adding retail to their manufacturing,that is where the real threat is.chinese are different from western europeans,americans even indians,i cant count how many times i have seen a chinese in danfo or on okada,they can get as rural and crass as they need to be.we all thot nigerians could never be suicide bombers,igbos and walmart are essentially middlemen,china has a lot of small scale manufacturers who will make more money relocating a portion of their manufacturing process and sell directly.igbos will survive walmart but should be looking over their shoulders for the chinese because their balls is in the hand of the chinese

Nwa_Nimo: Rubbish - can you price in wallmart?

Growing up in Enugu there were supermarkets everywhere - but most people would still visit the market to get a good deal.

Wallmart will fail - Igbo's will out hustle them with their eyes closed.

nwa nimo, i believe u die, my wife na nimo , me na oraukwu boy

lagosapple: It appears this guy is saying that the Igbo are finished with the coming of the super stores to Nigeria.

http://saharareporters.com/column/end-igbo-business-model-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

Have your say.

is good 2 know that the economy of this nation is really in the hands we the igbo's .but unfutunately igbo man is only called upon when wahala dey naija. pls dont be affraid of wallmart we actually brougth them tio make more MONEY.so think of your people NOT de IGBOMAN

Igbo traders bieng day time traders and night tme criminals will outsmart any competitor including walmart.unless walmart will come with a special security team that can arrest all igbo robbers,kidnapppers,419ners in nija.

Walmart is not coming to Nigeria directly. In fact, they're in Nigeria already, through Game. Their stake is in Massmart, owners of Game. So the writer is mis-informed, to start with.

I really don't think the independent shop-owners (Igbo or otherwise) have anything to fear. Game hasn't dented any sales. In fact there's a supermarket (Prince Ebeano) in Lekki Phase 1, which is much better in my opinion than either Shoprite, Game, or Spar. The Nigerian market is big enough for Indian, South African, American, Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba - owned supermarkets to co-exist and thrive.

O taa kanyi huwara hausa na uta.
Let them come now!, then we will show them 'nke toro biati'.
They never see anything.

how can you guys forget so soon, why do you think that walmart would send all middle class biz men out of the market, when the old Kingsway, Leventis, Chelerrams, UTC and all the big department stores made its appearance during the 80's did the igbo bussiness men cower and shell shield? Now tell me where is Leventis, kingsway and the rest of them mega retails chain outlets of the likes of shoprite and wallmart back then? We are so quick to throw ourselves in the negative when it pertain to anything western, already foretelling the downfall on an entire crop of bussiness men.....
there are many resilient, and tenacious igbo traders that such development would not hamper

In order to contribute effectively to this topic, you must understand the dynamics of international trade in Nigeria. It is always difficult to compete with the open market traders because they know perfectly their ways of getting the goods into the country without paying all the necessary duties and taxes. Even, sometimes, these guys get their goods at highly subsidized prices (ie electronics top dealers at Computer Village) through the money launderers who usually bring them in, with the sole purpose of repatriating their ill-gotten funds. Importing goods into the country is not always an easy task as there are all sorts of fees to pay at the frontiers, which in my opinion, Walmart cannot avoid. In any case, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and there is definitely market for everybody. Therefore, there is no cause for any alarm!

SCRATCH THT

My question is this, what vacuum is walmart coming to fill?

Austine.E:
While people are busy weighing the impact of Walmart coming to Nigeria on Igbo businessmen,we also forgot about 35% of other nigerians in petty businesses whom already are finding it very difficult to compete against the igbos in this harsh economic market system!i then submit that the initial victims of this draconian neo-imperialistic organizatns coming to Nigeria will first of all be the yorubas and Hausas who make up that 35% non competative and dissadvantaged traders!....suffice it say that even in places like China,India,Malaysia etc Igbo markets and igbo traders compete relatively well on thesame platform with these people!BTW ve you wondered why the chinese infiltrated Kano with cheap products and grounded almost every manufacturing companies in the North and cldnt get close to the East and igbo business interest!The igbos are masters of the game and even occasionally take they war to there doorsteps in their countries! i only fear for some manufacturers who may nt be able to compete well in Nigeria because of high cost of productn and labour,basically i pity companies like Doyin groups,Eleganza,even foriegn oriented companies like UAC,Lever brothers,Cadbury Nigeria,PZ etc who are most likely going to be affected because of its corporate nature and the cost of running it,it may also lead to high number of job loss,guess the yorubas and every other Nigerians will be affected in this job loss!

rubbish

Walmart will cater for the emerging middle classes.

The markets will still be there. Just like in the UK, we have all the big names, but the markets are still there to buy both food and clothing etc.

No fear at all. Believe you me for any item in walmart s inventory there is already a trader with only one shop and maximum of 3 staffs importing it in hundreds of container loads. Go figure overhead and other costs on walmart and compare with one man show Igbo bizmen. The only fear is the Chinese they also do one man show biz.