₦airaland Forum

[quote author=streetNY post=58801295]Thanks man, I will do that, do you know their address in Brootklyn?[/quote

Somewhere in Adams ave..you can Google it.

Please take the cash and report to the secret service office in Brooklyn. They handle cases like this. Might be part of a wider fake currency network. Sorry for loss

Buy a dri marker that will help detect take bills next time.

dustmalik:
That would be a s.tupid move. He would be publicly admitting to the allegations. Think, think, think.

The dirty linen is already in public. If he sues them..the clinic sues SR. They can then throw the kitchen sink at each other. At this point it is a no-win for either party.

Not taking any sides here but if Dino has a good lawyer he should sue the Clinic for releasing client information. Client confidentiality especially here in the US is very sacred.

Agree with you...people should form cooperatives put resources together and aggregate these products from small holder farmers. Farmers are willing to plant certain produce if they are guaranteed they will be bought. Entrepreneurs need to come in and work on logistics, preservation and branding.

You can grow almost all fruits up north, We had a pomegranate and apple tree in our backyard, we never really took care of it but it would always bear fruit year after year

cecegorz:
Chill bro.
I am not even talking about food preservation here, so forget your cancer-related issues.
Do you know that with top notch logistics in place, you can harvest fresh fruits in Nigeria today, and have them in London grocery shops, first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Let's face the real deal, Large scale Agric business is beyond market women operations, you don't expect Shoprite manager to carry basket and enter Ekiti or Oyo village looking for bananas to buy. Somebody has to get these things from the local producers, package and label them as necessary, then transport them in a refrigerated truck straight to the shops within specified hours, and be willing to do that consistently!
These things takes proper capacity, not by subsistence farming.
Personally, Apart from kiwis, pomegranates, apples and plums which we don't grow locally, I will never buy bananas or water melon in a shop when I have them in abundance from local producers on the streets.

Blah blah blah, everyone complaining. An opportunity exists when a problem arises. The question is what can be done to mitigate or curb this. From my little experience exporting agricultural products, the most money is made in post harvest., logistics, storage and marketing.

I was shocked to see this myself at the ikeja store when last I was in naija, I managed to talk to one of the purchasing guys at an event a few days later (mainly by coincidence) and he said the problem was shoprite did not have time to go seek out suppliers in naija they expect nigerian suppliers to send in proposals. He also said that when they gave contracts to nigerian firms to supply - after a few supplies they became inconsistent, not meeting up demand etc. He said they rather source from Ghana and S. Africa where they are sure of consistent supply. Most of these applies to fruits and vegetables.

So maybe some folks here can form a co-op approach shoprite, source bulk from up north and supply them. If you can figure out the storage and preservation aspect..you don strike gold. Start with a few stores and as you increase capacity expand, before you know am you will become a brand name.

My two cents.

Very sad. This kid was my junior in high school in naija. His mom really took care of him and was very loving. Not sure why he would do this. Rumors had it that he would go on psychotic rants on Facebook but people could not get a hold of him to talk. Last spoke to him in 2003. May she rip.

Seems it's true, insiders confirmed. No news yet from family.

Hi everyone,

As someone who already exports agro products to the US and has experience, I will try and shed as much light on this topic.

Once you have all paperwork and all that stuff..next thing is to find customers. I will focus on the US market since that's what I understand well. Your client base varies according to the products you want to export. Do you want to export packaged products, raw materials or semi-finished.
I would advise that you register with the commercial department of the US Embassy in Lagos or Abuja, this gives you more creditability and some American companies like to source products from companies on this list.

If you have relatives or friends in the US that could go a long way with all the leg work here, else you want to resort to alibaba or tradekey. In order for buyers to take you serious, please and please have a very professional selling page. Your image is everything; an hour is more than enough to have a polished page. Remember presentation is everything, when I was sourcing products there are a few things I look for – clear pictures and detailed description of items.

In most African stores in the US, most of the packaged products come from Ghana, everything from the Yam to the garri. I see a few Naija brands but Ghanaian products dominate the market. So if you can make your Nigerian brand that would be great, yam is a big seller here but they all come from Ghana. That’s why having someone on ground here will really help you.
Best way to get into stores here is through a wholesaler, someone that will just pay for the entire container once it arrives, that way you do not have to deal with store owing you money.
Its an uphill task but not impossible, it is what the reward.

I suggest that maybe you form a cooperative to make the work a little easier from financing, logistics etc.

I am open to answer any questions, hope this helps.

Will be close but doable for GEJ to still win. GMB will win in Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe, Lagos, Niger, Yobe and Borno. Expect Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara to be competitive, GEJ will put up good numbers there. Low turnout in Borno and Yobe but GMB carries the day. Assuming GMB gains another 1.9M votes here this gives him a total of 3.9M overrall lead.

This is where it gets interesting, Rivers alones brings in 1.4M for GEJ, Delta maybe another 800K, can Bayelsa bring in 400K, same for Edo and Ebonyi? If that holds true and Cross River adds another 700K, then you have GEJ having about 4.1M votes. If I recall correctly about 1.8M voters collected PVC in Delta...so margin might be higher. Lets sit back and enjoy.

My two cents.

My sources tell me nigeria will host afcon

My sources tell me Nigeria is going to host Afcon 2015.

Pacemaker: Hello BigBen, I am also based in United States(12years)and plan on relocating after graduate studies. I would like to connect with you via email (emma_nd (at) yahoo dot com). I am in search for Nigerian Americans that relocated back to Nigeria,so I can have a round-table conversation with them and their experience living in Nigeria. I am not seeking info from those that are connected in Nigeria because their experience is differ from an average Joe,you dig right? I have worked for Medical device co in Silicon Valley and could easily have access to inventory from them and others.

Good to hear that you thinking in partaking in the African Renaissance. I suggest you go visit first before taking a deep dive in, Nigeria is not cut out for everyone. Only the strong survive. Very interested in looking into the medical device services more deeply. I will send you an email, if I do not within the week, please send me a remainder.

Are you on the west coast?

fflamingo: Erm what of if someone don't have a personal office address for now

I dint have an office when I started, just make sure the address is a physical place where it can be verified. I used my Mom's house for initial paper work.

koolg: hello bigben,
this is a nice thread and i hail your open-mindedness.
please can you tell me how much you paid for NEPC and NAFDAC.
i am strongly interested in export but i believe the best education is the practical one.
i would like to ask you some more questions about exportation so i would appreciate if you could kindly contact me on speglobal at yahoo.com or 2348154089745
thank you again in anticipation

Hey Yeah, cant remember the exact figures but I dont think it was more than 100K. Getting NEPC certificate is a cake walk, took my 24 hours. NAFDAC could be a headache though since they have gotten really strict in recent times, so give at least 90 days for your samples to be tested in the lab etc. I will contact as soon as I can but cant promise since my schedule is pretty busy. Maybe will give u a ring when next I am in Nigeria.

vineyardfarms: pls can you be more specific in your area of export - either agriculture or fisheries. registration fees- Nig export promotion council. planing to cash out and returned back home. thank you for open mindedness.

Sorry forgot to include fees and stuff. I cant from the top of my head quote the exact figures but they are minimal. Not sure if its even more than 100k but dont hold me to this. One thing I can attest to is that NEPC are very efficient, I got my certificate within 24 hours and they even replied to my email on the weekend.

vineyardfarms: pls can you be more specific in your area of export - either agriculture or fisheries. registration fees- Nig export promotion council. planing to cash out and returned back home. thank you for open mindedness.

I am not into Fisheries, although an opportunity might exist domestically with the anticipated ban on fish importation. So if you already have a fisheries in Nigeria, now is the time to expand and start exploring new customers.

I am strictly into agricultural export for now, my goal eventually is to establish an "added value chain system" in the agricultural process in Nigeria, stuff like processing, storage, transport etc but all integrated with each other. Once I get returns from the export side I will start domestic investment.

I am in it for the long haul, currently I shuttle a couple of weeks between Nigeria and the states. I actually see more potential in Nigeria than the export business honestly.

Atk1nson: @ Bigben431 thanks

Anytime. Glad I can help.

feelamong: Ok Nice one...like listening to those who have been out and back to Naija...hopefully I will learn loads from you.

BTW, what kind of Food stuffs would you be exporting?

I also believe there are massive oppurtunities in the medical diagnostic area.. just that the start up cost could be staggering!

You mean importing medical diagnostic into Nigeria right? I invested (small ownership) into a medical laboratory center, we reached our 12 month goal within 5 months, so yeah anything healthcare will move in Nigeria. Are you based in Nigeria? Maybe we can connect and there might be mutual benefit.

As per export, I will not like to name the specific products. But the best way to explain it is that in Nigeria they are all viewed as waste while it has a premium value here. They can both be consumed or used as a base for industrial products hence the demand.

Atk1nson: I'm setting up a biz and I could nt register d right scope of specialisation with cac, do u tink it will hold against d biz @ any stage. I was nt able to reg as a mgt consultancy, but part of our operations will include mgt consultancy.

What else other than mgt. consulting are you trying to get into. Maybe you can register as "general consulting services". Please make sure you register with CAC, without that you will eventually get stranded. Some clients might require to see the certificate before they would give you, you cannot even open a corporate account without it. Let me know if you need more guidance.

Please does anyone have any way of reaching this woman?? Will like to give her 100% capital to start a new business.

Thanks.

I think the EFCC thing just started recently l. It is regulated by the SCUML department - special control unit against money laundering. Basically, after the "Training" you get a certificate within two weeks and a spreadsheet gets emailed to your corporate account.

On a weekly basis you are to fill the spreadsheet and email back to EFCC if you receive transfers of over 150k per week. I feel the amount should be raised to about 5M.

You are right about TIN, mine took longer because the Oga that was to sign my certificate was in Abuja for training.

So I decided to create this thread to share my experience of setting up a business in Nigeria and answer any questions that anyone might have especially Nigerians in Diaspora.

Background: I went to the US for college 11 years ago, worked in Corporate America for a while before coming to Nigeria to begin some business ventures. Currently I spend about 50% of my time in the US, 40% in Nigeria and 10% in other African countries. I am currently into export and food processing; I am undertaking preliminary studies in real estate development and a healthcare diagnostics business. I will try as much as possible to document my personal experience and help with any questions that anyone might have.

I worked in the financial services industry in the US but was tired of the rat race, I wanted to own my destiny and was tired of reading about the African growth story, I wanted to be part of this story. I resigned my job cashed out my 401k, sold my car for startup capital and started looking at business opportunities. Nigeria is a very fertile ground for business and I believe that the time to invest is now; in five years I believe the window will be narrower.

For the novice investors, the first place to start is the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, they give you lots of information and resources of setting up a business in Nigeria, for those interested in export you want to check out the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.

First step is to incorporate your business at the Corporate Affairs Commission, I set mine up as an LTD, and you have an option to set up as an enterprise the choice is yours. If you register as an LTD you will have to go to EFCC to get some sort of clearance before you can open a bank account (more on that later). This process was a breeze and I got my certificate within five business days.

Next step was to get a tax ID number; you can check the FIRS website to see what office covers your jurisdiction; you fill some forms and take it to the office. I used the office at Adeneyi Jones, Ikeja. I got my TIN number within a week.
I proceeded to GTB to open a corporate account; I was told that I had to go to EFCC in Ikoyi to get some form stamped since my company was an LTD. EFCC gives you a fifteen minute tutorial on money laundering, etc. After this they stamp the form and you take it back to your bank. Try to get to the EFCC office before 10am else it becomes a mad house and people begin to display really disgusting manners. I took the form back to my banking officer and my account was opened within hours.

Since I was in the export business, I had to obtain a certificate from the NEPC. This step was my biggest fear since I thought it would take weeks before getting a certificate, after I paid the registration fees, I got the certificate in less than 24 hours. I was amazed by their efficient manner in handling things, my emails were replied in less than 15 mins whenever I had an inquiry.

Lastly, since I was dealing with food products I needed to get a NAFDAC number. This step could get very completed but patience is the key. The procedure is very detailed and it involved a factory inspection and lab analysis of your product. Everything takes about 60 days to complete.

To save you headache later, make sure you apply to trademark your products (this takes about 60 days to complete). This can be done with the Ministry of Trade and Investment.

I will periodically add anything that I might have missed and please feel to ask any questions. I will also share my managerial style and how I deal with a diverse workforce. During these processes never did I give a bribe not once, only the published government fees.
So far business has been good and I do not regret making my decision to invest in Nigeria, it is still a virgin land to invest and there lies opportunities in every sector of the economy. You just have to find your sweet spot and kill it.

To the Nigerians in Diaspora, yes there are challenges here but you will never get a better ROI anywhere in the world the way you will in Nigeria. The time to invest is now.

Please not to sound naive. But was all of lekki a swamp?? If it got land filled what year did this happen?

How did people get to ajah before it was land filled.

Thanks.

What is your email domain @ what?

Hello,

Please does anyone have useful information on shipping agricultural products from Lagos to the US. Currently, based in the US I just launched an agricultural export business and will like to ship over my first goods in April. The products are packaged in Lagos and currently will not fill a 20ft container.

Does anyone know if I can just ship my goods on a pallet and share a container instead of paying for a full container. Any idea on how much a sq cost to ship over here preferably to the port of new york, baltimore or philadelphia?

I will be coming to naija end of the month but just wanted to get an idea of what to expect.

Thanks.

Thought I share this great news!!!!!

Boko Haram's spokesman Abu Qaqa


•Sambo: Attacks not religious


By Ike Abonyi and Tokunbo Adedoja


The division in the dreaded Islamist sect Boko Haram deepened at the weekend with the murder of Abu Qaqa II, the spokesman of the militant group suspected to have taken over from Abu Qaqa I who was captured last January and has been in the custody of the State Security Service.


Abu Qaqa II was believed to have been killed on the instruction of the leader of the sect, Abu Shekau, for attempting to back out of their reign of terror.


He was said to have tried to denounce the sect after being trailed intensively by security agents, which forced him to change locations on several occasions.


The news of his killing coincided with the disclaimer by Vice President Namadi Sambo that the Boko Haram attacks have religious undertones.


Abu Qaqa II, whose real name is Mohammed Anwal Kontagora, was from Kontagora in Niger State. He adopted the name Abu Qaqa in February after the original Abu Qaqa, also known by many aliases, including Abu Dardaa, Mohammed Shuaibu and Abu Tiamiya, was arrested in January.


Kontagora, like his predecessor, was non-Kanuri, so the decision to terminate his life by the Boko Haram leader, as has transpired with other non-Kanuri members of the sect, was said to have been decided summarily.


THISDAY learnt that the sect was said to be shopping for Abu Qaqa III as its new spokesman.


Security sources revealed that the division and subsequent killing of the spokesman resulted from the sect’s inability to either own up or disassociate itself from the Easter Sunday bomb blast in Kaduna that killed so many commercial motorcyclists and tea vendors.


“This again might have forced Abubakar Shekau (now looking leaner) to personally appear on You-Tube to reply to a statement credited to President Goodluck Jonathan while he was in South Korea,” the source said.


However, Sambo, in Washington D.C. at the weekend, dismissed claims that attacks by Boko Haram terrorists have a religious undertone.


Sambo, while fielding questions from Nigerians in the Diaspora at a meeting on Friday in Washington DC, said the bloodletting in the north was the handiwork of terrorists.


He also spoke on efforts being made by the federal government to restore normalcy and tackle other problems besetting Nigeria.


“The security issue that is happening in the north is not a religious problem. It is an unfortunate problem being created by some hoodlums, people that have terrorist tendencies in their mind,” stated Sambo who also disputed the claim that there was religious violence-inspired emigration in various parts of the country.


“I will like to correct one impression. This issue that Christians are moving from the north and the Muslims are leaving the south is wrong. I beg to disagree with that notion because it is not happening,” he said.


According to him, as part of efforts to tackle terrorism, the government has reached out to major stakeholders, especially religious leaders to “direct Nigerians in the right directions.”


He assured the gathering that Jonathan had been holding security meetings aimed at addressing the challenges.
Sambo also listed the programmes of the current administration to put the country on a strong footing.


He said Jonathan had assured Nigerians of free, fair and credible elections when he came on board and had delivered on that promise with the successful conduct of the 2011 general elections.


“Besides, the current administration is bringing integrity, honesty and competence into governance through the appointment of seasoned persons to fill top public offices and the way the government runs its business.”


He listed the reform in the power sector and other efforts being made to revive the sector as well as attempts to fight corruption as part of the determination of the Jonathan administration to create a new order.


He pledged that by the end of this year, rail transportation would commence from Lagos to Kano, while government was also working on fast rail transportation from Lagos to Ibadan, and from Kaduna to Abuja.


In addition, the vice president said four international airports – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano – were being expanded, while remedial work was ongoing in all other airports across the country.


One of the highlights of the meeting was when a clergyman, who said he had come from Nigeria purposely to attend the event told Sambo, before asking his question, that he sees him becoming the president.


In a quick response, Sambo said: “I forgot to mention to my Lord Bishop that I like being vice president and thank God for the president.


“I recalled that when I met with Vice President Biden (his US counterpart), we did hold discussions during which he assured me that he likes meeting with vice presidents and he likes being a vice president.


“So, the same thing is applicable to me. As vice president, I like being vice president and I will support our president.”


At the meeting were Sambo’s wife, Amina, Nigerian Ambassador to US, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, his wife, Catherine, Rivers State governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, Minister of Agriculture, Dr.Akin Adesina, and a former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Howard Jeter.


Sambo, who arrived in US last Monday, is due to depart for Nigeria on Tuesday.

Tags: Boko Haram, Featured, News, Nigeria

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/boko-haram-kills-spokesman-abu-qaqa-ii/113771/

@ Poster. First kudos of starting your own business. That's the way to go, you eat what you kill. Since this is just in the start-up face, it will be had to just assign a "true" valuation to your company? However, with some information and Q&A you shld be able to get a ballmark valuation estimate. I can help build a vanilla model that you can use as a guide to see the value of your biz. Of course this is going to be a free service to you, however I am very busy and the trun around time could be one week. You can leave your email here and I can send you what info I need or if you want I can leave it on this message board, its up to you.

Also does this partner bring in additional value to the business or just cash. Does he or she have leads that will help market/sell your products? are u based in the states?

GL

Ok, I will give my 2 cents on this topic. Some fundamental questions need to be answered by the poster? Is your friend already in the states or is he still in Naija? Is this N40M from sweat equity or is he a “trust fund baby”. What field does he intend to pursue after HBS? I-baking, P/E, VC, Consulting or corporate role?
Recently, HBS has been “biased” towards younger candidates, a friend of mine was rejected after having going the 2+2 route (analayst/Associate- in an IB) and got some PE experience and he was only 28. The tend to go for the 24-27yrs old crowd (disclaimer- my friend is a white male) B-schools tend to want to diversify their candidate pool and you friend’s age should not hinder him since he is black male and that will be favorable in the admissions process, provided he aces his GMAT and has a lot of extracurricular/leadership activities. HBS best prepares you for the corporate management/consulting kind of roles, they are known for their case study approach. So if your boy wants to get up the corporate ladder then HBS is a no brainer. If on the other hand he wants to do the I-Bank route – I will highly recommend he goes to Wharton, Booth, or Columbia since there are known for their rigorous finance curriculum. Wharton and Booth rule trading bullpens in NYC so you have a strong alumni base. If he wants to be an entrepreneur or work for VC/PE, Stanford is the way to go.

As someone already pointed out, an MBA is not academic per say, its all about NETWORKING and building your brand, your networks take you a long way. With all the regulations and all the Europe wahala going on now, I will not bank on I-banking jobs to be a safe bet, you might get hired and get laid off 9 months later ( UBS did this to their analyst class two years ago) and word on the street is that there will be more layoffs.

So it really depends on what he wants to do post b-school that really matters. His ROI might not be worthwhile if he goes back to naija because there are other candidates with same qualifications that he will have to compete with. If he is using daddy’s money then he should go for it, I am sure daddy can get him a job once he is done.

If he has the skill set, I will say he should just be a straight up entrepreneur, that money can be easily tripled in 12 months. If he wants to triple that money in 1 month – then he can be a trader. Hope this helps.

Please whats the paypal account/email that I can pay USD into?

Thanks.

So what will be a good salary in your opinion, not forgetting the obvious things like housing and car allowance.

When you say less than 2m, please break down the figure for me .

But the starting a business advice is worth serious consideration , since in this day and age no employment is as secure as they used to be decades ago.

Thanks

Using US standards 24M/YR=160KUSD, with that type of experience I will say ~1.5M a month is reasonale. I am unsure of how housing and car allowance works in naija. The above figures represents just take home pay.

Remember he is in the IT field so there is a "ceiling" on your earnings, in finance its a different ball game, since folks get spoiled with bonuses (pre2008), a typical pay package (investment banking) in the US in 2006 for a 22 year old coming out of college was
sign on bonus/relocation-10k
base salary- 60k
end of year bonus - (60k to 100k)
however, this industry is brutal as working 100hour weeks is very common.

As you stated earlier, starting your own business is the way to go no matter the "setbacks"

"We are talking here about experience, not degrees.

Experience in some of the most technically advanced and professional environments in the world , and that have customers from the Fortune 500 companies."

From the top of my head, I know pple who have comparable experience with you in the states that lost their jobs during the recession or still have their current jobs and will in a heartbeat take a job for less than 2M in naija. Experience matters over degrees sure, but one thing that is not on your side - COMPETITION. The market place has qualified people right now and IT skills are easily transferable. I see lots of Snr Manager level folks sending me resumes for associate type positions.
Suck it up work for ~2M a month make your connections and start your own, that is the optimal way out, and everything most not be in place to start ur own business, savvy business folks see oppurtunities NO MATTER the situation.

Just a side thot, if you worked for an IT outsourcing outfit then the odds are higher.