₦airaland Forum

melvinjames:
Great write up though I disagree with you when you said "The Black race is largely intellectually inferior when compared with other races."
We are not intellectually inferior, we just haven't had any good luck in getting the right leaders.

This has nothing to do with luck. Monkeys will be ruled by monkeys. The "leadership" at every aspect of Nigerian society is incompetent because the majority of Nigerians are incompetant. The teachers are wicked, the pastors are wicked, the police are wicked, many of the parents are wicked. So why are you surprised that the presidents and house of reps are also wicked?

undisputed25:
This GDP of a thing sometimes is confusing.. I'll read on GDPs impact on standard of living
Seems Egyptians live better than Nigerians despite we are richer

You have to use GDP per capita, which is GDP divided by population size. Also look at the employment rate and import dependence.

benzion72:
African are programmed to fail. And we are doing exactly that. Read How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. I think it is only Rwanda that has a better story to tell

Rwanda is a dirt-poor country. It's GDP per capita is less than Bornu state, Nigeria.

Thelucifer666:
Botswana and Seychelles aren't undeveloped
These are good peaceful nations
Open your eyes

Dont you know that Seychelles is ruled by Indians and Botswana has a higher unemployment rate than Nigeria?

undisputed25:
I wish we could open our eyes to see beyond the borders of religion and indoctrination
At least I know being black is not curse cos have seen blacks doing greater things but not within the black people
Such as
Pele
Serena Williams
Usain Bolt
Micheal Jackson
Even P. Diddy
Carson
The list is endless
These people are gods in their respective fields
So I'm convinced being black is not a curse but why can't we develop..
I'm really curious

Sports and singing for other races is what you are bragging about?

Democratic Republic of the Congo. See how the wide streets make the city look more modern? Lagos is suffocating in comparison.

Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to leaked documents from the Intercept, Nigeria's president Muhamadu Buhari is actually an asset of the British government. His frequent medical trips to London are actually a ruse for him to receive instruction from his masters. The same is true for the Francophone presidents that take medical vacations to Paris.

Inferiority complex news. Build your own effective Navy, don't celebrate working for another nation.

This isn't something to be proud of.

Tobbit:
So you see. One industrialist can automate production and not even employ as much as should be.


To think that I met cement at 120 Naira per bag in my life time in this country and it wasn't even in the 80s.


Cement isn't sophisticated. Many people don't know. He only extracts, purifies, removes residues, add additives, bags. I don't see why we can't have it at 2500 per bag.


The country isn't in good shape regarding his petrochemicals. I don't want FG giving any singular entity beyond a percentileshare of market be it for local or foreign demand.


Damn. How do I begin to explain it enslaved the country more than it benefits it.

2500 naira is even too much. It should be 1600 naira maximum. In India, you can find it for 270 - 320 rupees, which is 1500 to 1700 naira.

AlhajiBitcoin:
This one is just making noise.

At her age, I had different franchises.

Leave story, the Nigerian system has not met her business yet.

She is still speaking queens English as a new returnee and enjoying an unsaturated market.

Nigerians have a crowd mentality. When everybody dives into what she is doing, she will understand. Its worse off if the product is in a fixed price category.

She is an Architect. The female factor is there. She just has to market her products to her niche buyers. If her niche buyers don't have the purchasing power ?

You don't sound like someone in business. All you should do is admire her creativity in a male dominant trade.

Give the business 10 years before you call it a success. 99% of Nigerian businesses fold by that time.

She is the product of British education and culture, not Nigeria.

Tobbit:
Hahahahahahahahaha. Yes. Cause when one can't speak about one's activities with high level of intelligence, it means there's rottenness deep within. That's why no matter what he does Arsenal won't sell the club to him so he can white wash his image

He's stripping Nigerians to the bones but just few know it.

Cement should be more than 3000/3500 Naira per bag.

When Dangote mentioned interest into Tomatoes, the market got destabilised, same Tomato that had revolved around 40/60 Naira for decades skyrocketed to 150/200 Naira

Now let me go deeper into the underlying econometrics of this.

If Tomato is farmed, processed, cost of maritime, haulage to Nigeria and the price steadies around 40/60 Naira for a decade, Home based productivity that benefits the masses should go below the import/retail price for the same size and not Quadriple it.

Which makes me beg our local outfits when they write stories why don't they get experts to run intelligent analysis on issues like this?

How should Tomato farmed in Italy/China cost five times lesser the proposed Nigerian price. And we want to maintain a strict almost closed market structure around it

The same thing is being done to Milk as we speak and will begin to roll out over the next few years

Local productivity isn't just about creating jobs if it's not going to result into subsidised reduction or close in prices to Imported goods, then should we bother about home based productivity atall?

A country will never develop selling cement at 3,500 + naira. For every one job Dangote creates in his cement factory, Nigeria loses 10,000 potential jobs in construction and associated industries. The country would be better off importing than suffering under this nonsense.

Tobbit:
Smiles. Check the financial reports on Dangote from 2005 to 2012. You will see massive market manipulations, inconsistencies and he the real truth behind the sky rocketing to richest in the world. You'll understand why few folks who got wind of his activities never respect him.

Just look at when foreign media interviews him. They treat him like a dumb nigger at best, a criminal at worse.

Dangote's EBITDA margin in other African countries is low because of massive competition in the market. Take for example, the Ethiopian cement market. Ethiopia is a much poorer country than Nigeria, but look at the massive number of cement firms they have competing with Dangote.

Acidosis:
Bro, EBITDA is not a reliable or relevant construct as far as this discussion is concerned. It strips of capital investments, cost of property, equipment, and plant.

The emboldened is completely false.

Even if the emboldened is true, why do you blame Dangote for the "lack" of competition in the industry in Nigeria?

EBITDA is the best way to get an apples to apples comparison between different companies. Dangote is not the only manufacturing company that invests in capital and property plant and equipment, so that doesn't justify the outrageous margin (which is around double the EBITDA margin of a Ferrari ). U.S. cement companies earn an average EBITDA margin of around 10%-12% compared to Dangote's 59%

link: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/USCR/u-s-concrete/ebitda-margin

Dangote is price gouging the market, this is an indisputable fact. He influenced the government (through bribery) to create scarcity by banning imports and allowing him to hoard limestone resources to prevent other companies from entering the market. According to Rabiu of BUA Group, the only way to fix it is to liberalize the industry. He state's quote:

"The price of cement, which presently sells for about N4,000 per bag, remains high in Nigeria because the few producers are not able to meet the country’s huge demand. Nigeria’s 200 million people make it about 130 kilograms per head. If you check, you will see that most countries in Africa are doing between 170 kilogrammes to 200 kilogrammes per head.

So, Nigeria is actually producing less than other countries in Africa, apart from maybe Niger Republic. So, that means that we do not have enough capacity

“Even though this cement policy is a good one, it must be done in such a way that a lot of players must come in and participate. There is no point in making a policy that only one, two, or three people are able to benefit from that policy,” he said, adding: “That does not make sense. I am benefiting from this policy, but I know it is a bad policy. So, whilst the policy is good, the way it is being administered is not good. You can’t have a policy that restricts so many people from participating, at the end of the day, you are just creating a monopoly

Read the full article for more information: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/02/09/bua-advocates-liberalisation-of-cement-policy-to-crash-price/

Kingfragz:
Weapons wey Nigerian army no get oo....

Am still baffled ,,how do they smuggle all this into tge country for heaven's sake

Their governors are importing it in Lagos. Lebanese are helping also.

Viknat:
Ah. So that means even planes in the air are no longer safe

In the north.

Let me know when you are ready to split Nigeria. This ain't my country.

After we settle the issue of margins, I'll explain to you why competitors aren't starting a price war.

Acidosis:
You haven't said any meaningful thing bro asides the disputable fact that you're a trained economist in the U.S. Well, I'm not a trained economist but I know how to check appropriate places for information instead of making up figures to attack an individual - same individual with the best market price o. Lol.

I have attached the profit/loss profile for the year 2019. So, please check and enlighten yourself. Look at the gross profit, revenue, and profit t attributable to the owners of the company.

Let's even assume your 60% data is correct, how do you explain the fact that his price has consistently remained the best in Nigeria? How come the "wicked" Dangote sells cheaper Cement than "Saint Ibeto" and "Saint Lafarge"? Why can't they crash the price and, consequently, create a price war like many companies in your country of residence do?

Well, I respect you for at least trying to argue with me based on data. I have attached Dangote's 2020 earnings presentation and screenshotted page 8. Here is the link: https://www.dangotecement.com/wp-content/uploads/reports/2020/FY2020/DangoteCement_FY2020_ResultsPresentation.pdf

As you can see circled in red, Dangote's EBITDA margin in Nigeria is 58% -59%, which I rounded to 60%. This means he is selling cement at more than double its cost of production. If you are not aware, "EBITDA" refers to Earnings Before Interest Taxes, Amortization or Depreciation -- similar to cash operating profits. Compare this to Dangote's "Pan African" segment, where the EBITDA margin is only 22%.

His margin is lower in other African countries because they have high levels of competition in the market and don't allow Dangote to price gouge like he is doing in Nigeria. The chart you listed above is combining Dangote's Nigerian operations with his Pan African operations.

MrMcJay:
Dangote only thrives in monopolies where he controls production, distribution and exchange.

In 2004, there were rumours of poisoned Indomie Noodles. Not too long after, Dangote introduced his horrible-tasting Noodles into the market.

A few years ago, the guys at Standards Organization of Nigeria were shamelessly marketing Dangote's 3X cement. This is irrespective of the fact that it's not proven to set faster or be stronger than others.

Dangote's monopoly is not even felt now, wait till he's the owner of the only functional refinery in Nigeria. That's when Nigerians would smell pepper. If you doubt me, how much was sugar and cement before Dangote's monopoly, how much are they now?

The reason Dangote succeeds is because there is no Anti-Trust and Competition Law in Nigeria. The day we have Competition Law in Nigeria, Dangote is finished. How would someone buy up cement companies and shut them down because you don't want them to rival your inflated priced cement?

Unfortunately, the leading expert on Competition Law in Nigeria with a PhD in Competition Law from the UK was made a Federal High Court Judge in 2016. Today, he's in Abuja trying money laundering and anti-corruption cases.

Dangote has performed an economic coup on Nigeria. It may take bloodshed to break it.

elGenius:
where were these guys when Dangote was doing his research and planing his business.
all they do is copy-copy, Dangote goes into cement they want to too, he goes into flower, tomato paste, spagety they all want to too.

for years Nigeria has had issues with her refineries non of them took the opportunity, but the moment Dangote did that is when they all want to also build refinery.

those guys lack business ideas, they are just waiting for Dangote to give them ideas.

let them think outside the box and go into another sector where they to can dominate.

Who cares? This is not about personalities, this is about cement prices. If the local market can't provide cement at a reasonable price, the government should allow imports. Liberalize the market.

If the domestic industry can't produce cement at a reasonable price (they can, Dangote is just preventing it) allow imports. Don't hold the whole construction industry hostage.

Acidosis:
You guys are always on Dangote's matter yet his cement is not the only available brand in the market. Did anybody force you to buy Dangote cement?

...always complaining about how Dangote killed competition. Tbh, this is one of the craziest things I have seen on the internet. If Dangote wants to kill Ibeto, Unicem, Lafarge and others, all he needs to do is crash the price of cement to N1000 per bag. He doesn't need to bribe anybody. This is simple economics. Make una dey use una head on this forum.

Dangote is wicked bla bla, yet his noodles, spaghetti and salt are some of the cheapest brands in the market.

Look at the images below and search for the brand with the best and cheapest offer.

As per the Zambian analogy from the OP, it's really not worth a response from me. I would leave that for primary school students to debate.

I'm a trained economist in the U.S. I don't know what they teach you in Nigerian schools, but when you see someone selling cement at more than double its cost of production (60%) EBITDA margin that should tell you that the market is anti-competitive and broken.

If I was to pitch Dangote cement stock to most serious American investors, they would tell me that these numbers are the result of fraud or corruption. If Nigerians are defending something like this, you monkeys really have the zoo country you deserve. The only thing intelligent people should do is train themselves to stop caring and wash their hands of Nigeria.

PlsBanMe:
Dangote is not donating to politicians there or to the two major political parties in that country as he does in Nigeria. Someone has to pay after all.

His business there probably run on public electricity supply, thereby reducing his costs unlike Nigeria where he probably has to bribe electricity distribution companies and has to have standby generator sets.

Less cost of production will lead automatically to lower prices of goods.

Also for your information, Dangote Cement is completely vertically integrated. He has his own power plants and is now producing more electricity than the national grid. He owns the limestone to make clinker, he owns to coal mines to make power, he even owns his own port to bring in supplies. He even manufactures his own trucks, and bags!

Dangote's cost of production is the lowest in the world. But his price is the highest in the world.

LikeAking:
True talk.

First off, I'm not Igbo. And second off, if you people want to reduce everything in Nigeria to a tribal game, why not just break up the country? This is clearly not working. A man is looting Nigeria dry, but you support it because if he is your tribesman.

Even Rabiu, another Hausa, knows what Dangote is doing is wrong.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/02/09/bua-advocates-liberalisation-of-cement-policy-to-crash-price/

elGenius:
Is he the only one producing cement, why don't the others step up and compete.

if he sells at #3000 the others should sell at #1000 and let the market force take effect.

after all he isn't forcing anybody to his products.

He used corruption to destroy the other cement producers and hoard all the limestone resources in the country.

Read this article by Chief David Iweta, a cement producer that was destroyed by Dangote.

https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/movie/54550/real-reasons-cement-price-is-high-iweta.html

Rabiu, owner of BUA Group is saying the same thing about Dangote. Who are you to argue?

https://www.nairaland.com/6436641/rabiu-blasts-dangote-calls-liberalize

elGenius:
See this one, bloody filthy hypocrite.

if he where one of you or his refinery where to be located in your enclave, by now you all wouldn't have let us rest with your praises, how your kind are simply better at business that everyone.


Go and put the rubber tire and gasoline on him na

awó child of hate and perdition,

where are your own billionaires, your manufacturing tycoons, the import export merchants, or is it only hard drugs and substandard fake products they know to import & export

it just kills you all that one business man is more relevant and successful than all your billionaires combined by a huge margin.

may that hate and envy kill you all.

I'm not Igbo. I'm happy about the refinery. My only issue is cement.

.

MrMaestro:
I've long come to the conclusion that the brain drain of Nigeria is doing more damage to the country than most people realize. There are millions of brilliant nigerians in the UK, US, and UAE. Unfortunately those nigerians have decided to help those countries, instead of building up their own. As a result, we have fallen far behind where we should be.

The reason why Dubai, China, Thailand etc. have been able to develop faster than Nigeria is because their best and brightest stayed to fix the country. Unfortunately Nigerians abroad just talk, and don't do anything. As many threads Aconomist opens on this, it's important to realize he's just doing the same.

There is no such thing as brain drain. When a country becomes as dysfunctional and consumed with stupidity as Nigeria, going back is like trying to save a drowning man. You will drown along with him. Don't blame the diaspora for this. Places like Dubai and Thailand have basic civilization and rule of law. The locals built a foundation for the diaspora to return and be productive -- this simply doesn't exist in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, you allow Dangote to hold the whole real estate industry hostage selling cement at 200% his cost to produce it. And if that wasn't bad enough, to even get a loan from the bank will charge interest rates of 20%. Our real estate sector (which is where my passion lies) is growing at less than 1% annually while the currency depreciates at 20% against the dollar. The country is utterly and completely un-investable. For every 1 successful business in Nigeria, 1,000 are failing. The only growth industries in nigger-area are politics, 419, and kidnapping.