Ok i feel like its time for me to come in with some much needed clarifications..

We are in the manufacturing business (medicine), and we have been hit hard, probably lost around $500,000 this year..
Let me explain:


#1. First of all, NO MACHINERY can be made locally. We use high end machines that cost $100,000's that are only made in China & India.. Has Nigeria even managed to make a TV, talkless of heavy duty machines..

#2. Raw materials for our pharmaceutical production are 100% imported. To make ampicillin capsule you need ampicillin powder. To make amoxicillin capsule, you need amoxicillin powder, etc. These powders are not made in Nigeria. Heck, there are only a few of these factories in the whole world. The factory to make ampicillin would cost tens of millions of dollars, and you wouldnt be able to compete with Chinese prices.

#3. Let me get to how manufacturers source forex. For Machine,raw material imports, you either get funds by :

a. BILL FOR COLLECTION (Where the supplier ships the machine/raw materials to us, and we submit documents to CBN to pay them dollars),
b. LETTER OF CREDIT (Where CBN deducts or naira, and send dollars to the supplier's bank in advance.)

#4. We have dozens of BILLS FOR COLLECTIONS pending across all banks in Nigeria. Basically what this means is that for example a supplier sent a container of ampicillin powder, value of say $250,000, we used the goods and submitted the document to our bank.
Five months later the bank is yet to give us any dollar. We now had to resort to buying black market at N450 for goods that have been used and sold thinking that we were going to get dollar @ 310.

Let me explain this again, lets say for ampicillin capsule you need 1kg of powder per packet. In january you use

1kg of powder X $30/kg = $30. (Multiply this by 310 and you get N9,300). You go ahead and sell this packet in the market for N12,000 for a nice profit of almost N3000. BUT WAIT!!

The official funds never come from your bank, your supplier needs payment so he can continue shipping, otherwise your business closes down. You now go to black market and buy the $30 (@ N450 rate = 13,500). You have just lost N1,500.

Now I just gave you a small example. Multiply this 1kg by 20,000 tons, and now you can see how manufacturers have lost money and closed down. We also had to fire dozens of people just to keep costs down.

What people dont know is that the dollars are NOT enough.. For every $1,000 needed by manufacturers, the CBN has only $100 to give.

Want to know the worst thing? That sample ampicillin packet example I gave you is being imported by some people straight from China. They are importing the finished product, and finished products have no duty.

So basically if you import the raw material as a manufacturer, some of the materials have duty up to 40%, meanwhile if you just have it made in China you bring it in duty free.

Want to know the funniest thing? Many of these importers have connections/bribe top bank officials so that same ampicillin you sold for N13,000 is being sold by N10,000 because they got their funds @ 310.

Please ask any questions if you guys have, but this country has some of the worst policies I've ever seen.

The fact that manufacturers have to buy black market, coupled with the fact its much cheaper to just import the finished product is ridiculous.. More companies are going to close.. We are making essential medicines yet we are almost closing, I can only imagine how other industries are doing..

Dude, Chill out.. Breathe.... Marriage isnt everything..


Nigerians love to believe that marriage is the solution to all of life's problems..

I'm 31, not yet married, and my reason is slightly different.. I moved back to Nigeria a few years ago and I've met dozens of girls but some part of me can't fully trust them.. Seems like these girls over here will say and do anything once they see money..

So for now i'll just focus on business, make some $$, and if the girl comes, good, if not, good..

The way i see it is right now my personal happiness level is 100%, (highest point)

If i get married, theres a chance she will mess up my life and kick me down to 90%, but if shes a great wife i'll still be at 100%.

Moral of the story? If you're really happy with yourself then marriage is just a complement which isnt that big of a deal..

Nigerians need to stop all that marriage nonsense. Average Nigerian over 30 and unmarried is depressed! Who gives a shit..

My estimate is at least 50% of marriages are crappy in Nigeria(cheating husbands, no love, etc), for something that fails so much its amazing how quickly people are willing and craving to rush to it..

If i told you to jump off a building with a 50% chance of survival would you rush and do it?

Chill out habibi.. Go hang out with your friends and enjoy life..

Not sure if this is the right forum but Im looking for USD for our manufacturing business.

We need USD to be sent to Hong kong, India, Or also can take RMB in China.

Can also take inflow (USD) into diamond bank or ecobank in Nigeria.

Amounts starting $50,000 +

Will pay locally in Naira.

Please pm me or drop a contact if you can deliver. Please no scams as I will verify everything.

Regards

bleeped up stupid Nigerian men making everyone look bad..

Nothing pisses me off more than taking advantage of people 'cuz you're in a higher position..

One of the things i love about the states and hate about Nigeria.

Hit me up on PM if you are in one of needed fields or have the qualification needed I'll link you up with something.

Cheers..

bunch of idiots.. we manufacture drugs.. good luck producing ampicillin or metronidazole powder here.. lmao jokers..

only about 0.00001% of raw materials needed can be made here in Nigeria.. We are deceiving ourselves if we think otherwise..

Kikero112:


GEJ and company too were also making deductions from the account....plus.....the same ECA was not being replenished because....

And all those new factories GEJ built.....where were they getting the raw materials from? (Outside the country).

And why did your PDP governors....join the sharing? Why did they not say 'Stop....we no gree?'

But as I said....it does not matter any-more. Even if we saved.....we would still have to go austerity. We are not a rich nation and we never were.

People that don't understand economics always say Nigeria is rich. YES NIGERIA is RICH if we had a population of 30 million people. Then we could afford free health, college, etc.

But Nigeria has over 170 million people.

We are the 7th most populated country. 6 of the countries with higher population than us trump us on GDP(India, Indonesia, China, Brazil, etc). We only have a higher GDP than Pakistan on that list.

Basically if you divide our GDP by our population, we are sadly one of the "POOREST COUNTRIES" in the world. We just like flashing too much.

So many people are hungry, sick, needy, cant afford primary school, etc. Rich countries have welfare systems for all those people, we dont, and we simply can't afford it.

That N5000 promised was a sham, how can we fund it? Meanwhile some countries in Europe give $1000/month to their unemployed citizens. Thats called being rich

princeonx:

Inbox me a number if you're still up to meet. I'll be in Amsterdam around Noon tomorrow. Cheers

just saw this.. I was in amsterdam 2 weeks ago.. AMAZING PLACE.. <3 bulldog cafe. (you know what i mean)

Amsterdam is amazing.

For all those wondering I ended up going to 5 countries, all in EUROPE. Will post pictures and updates very soon

GenBuhari:
What is wrong with not buying toothpaste?

May be it would hasten our own production of toothpaste in Nigeria.

I'm sure toothpaste is made in Nigeria. However, the cost of the toothpaste will sky rocket as the naira devalues.

besides what everyone is forgetting is that the REASON YOU HAVE CHEAP ITEMS IN THE MARKET is due to CHINA IMPORTS.

Local products can never compete, ever, until we have good infrastructure and a sound policy(like tax breaks, industrial zones with cheap land, etc). China and India do the same and it works for them

Ive been following these threads on CBN/$/Devaluation and there is a lot of misinformation.

Let me offer some details as I am a manufacturer and I also have experiences with importation and all that.

First of all, Nigeria does not produce much, we import everything.. All the raw materials our company here needs for production has to be imported.. Now the CBN official rate is N200/$, but it takes months to get that money from the bank.. Years ago, you could import goods on bill for collection(credit) , and submit the documents after clearing, and CBN will pay it in 2 weeks. Now we have some bills pending for 4 months, and have to resort to "black market" to keep business going.

Our product prices have gone up 50% since last year, and this will be similarly felt across all companies. By the middle of this year every imported product will cost at least 50% more. Actually even now go and price a TV, how much was that same TV two years ago, how much is it now, go and price an AC, etc.

The CBN is not fully to blame. I read their 2015 report and the CBN had requests for $60 billion from importers/manufacturers, and they could only meet $6 billion.

If the CBN was to give every manufacturer or importer the dollar they need, the reserve would be depleted in one day.

Oil prices are very low now, hovering around $30/barrel. Here is how the Nigerian government works:

#1. We sell oil, and get paid in dollars.
#2. Local importers/manufacturers now request for those dollars for their imports.
#3. CBN remits dollars to them, and in turn collects the Naira equivalent.

The problem we have now is the Naira will be devalued by the next CBN Monetary meeting this month. They have no choice, as the difference between black market and official market encourages fraud. Let me explain how the fraud happens.

A business man will go and buy a machine from another Nigerian partner in China.
The machine's true value is only $5,000.
The value is inflated to $50,000, and the goods are received and submitted to banks for payment.
CBN gives this importer $50,000. He in turn sells the machine locally, and the balance of $45,000 in China is wired back to Nigeria as "INFLOW".

"INFLOW" means he can sell it to any person who can easily wire it abroad.

So if you do the math, he got $50,000 at N200., CBN/Bank debited him N10,000,000. He now comes back and sells the $45,000 balance for N285 (current inflow rate as of this morning), and makes almost N13,000,000. Easy profit.. Now imagine people are doing this and inflating values by $500,000 , etc. My estimate is that at least 30% of pending bills the CBN has are just round trippers who are cheating the system.

I hope now you understand what's going on.

#1. CBN does not have enough dollars to fund pending and past due bills and obligations from importers and manufacturers. This is why the naira card is now useless abroad as the funds spent by us have to be remitted to Visa & Mastercard in USD. Naira can not be wired outside Nigeria, only foreign currencies can.

#2. Now as you can see that CBN is rationing the dollars, the black market demand has now flourished. We and hundreds of other manufacturers have been steadily buying at black market since last year to stay in business, as our suppliers in India and China will no longer ship raw materials if they are owed for 4+ months.

#3. The end result is that we have to increase our prices to match black market rate. If you import $100,000 worth of raw materials at N200 vs N285, the difference is over 40% , and this is factored into the cost of the product.

#4. Iran has a lot of oil, and sanctions have been lifted and they will flood the market. Saudi arabia is OK flooding even more oil into the market as their cost of drilling is one of the lowest in the world. What this all means is that oil prices will stay very low for a long time to come. There is excess supply and not enough demand.

#5. Everyone keeps saying Nigeria needs to manufacture, however this climate is nonsense for manufacturing. We can't compete with China made products. I'm a manufacturer but there are many products our company doesn't make, not because we can't but because we can't compete.

For example, as I type we have not had NEPA for the past 2 days and we are running 1000KVA Perkins generator. It uses about a drum of diesel per hour. You can do the math.

You can't buy raw materials from China, pay duty, produce, and compete with China that has low energy cost.

There is a reason why Nigerians aren't making all these petty items locally. The money is there to start it, but you cant compete with China. Everything is made in China

As I type, ive found about 4 industries I could easily import machines for and start producing locally. However, everytime I do my final costings, it is always at least 20% cheaper to directly import it from China. Nobody is an idiot. Would you start a toothpick factory locally if your manufacturing costs (including diesel) are $1 per 1000 toothpicks, and meanwhile China is selling it for $0.40 per 1000 toothpicks..

You would just order 10 containers and sell. In my opinion, we are going into a deep recession. The fact that our reserves cant even cover pending bills (imports, bills for collections, LC's waiting, Mastercard, Visa, etc), means that we are almost done.

The current CBN governor is just patching the wounds.. There is no easy fix, naira will probably be N400 by end of the year and the drug you bought for N500 last year will now be N1000, meanwhile you are making the same salary. This is what inflation & recession is and it is going to hit Nigeria really hard.

One more thing people keep saying is ban imported items, produce locally.. Well it takes a long time to setup land, import machines, (if complicated need to hire foreign staff).

Where will the machine come from?
Where will the raw materials come from?

At the end of the day, lets assume they ban a certain item, what that means is that you will just pay more for it locally, as our local guys CAN'T compete with China. Some companies in Nigeria spend upwards of N1,000,000 for electricity(diesel/nepa costs) per day. That's N30,000,000 a month. How can you compete with a developed country?

God help us.

I spend so much on data per month, and etisalat is the fastest network for me.. I get download speeds of 1.5megabytes/second, so a 50MB file downloads in about 30 seconds or so.

If someone can tell me how to activate unlimited etisalat Internet or sell their own to me i'll pay N50,000 easily.

Thanks

SkinnyDude:
didn't see any message. only saw, 'jjman would like to send u an email

Check again, I've sent you the link;

Nairaland doesnt allow to send without you approving, and it looks like you did

SkinnyDude:
whats ur fb name

check your email.

SkinnyDude:
can you go to Helsinki, Finland? ask people there, if a black migrant can be a finish policia... ask them the requirement and processes.
and don't forget to take pictures.
thank you

lol not really a good reason to go there is it? You can just find that information about black migrants on google!

princeonx:

Inbox me a contact number too if u have one already

check your email.. I sent a request to contact you

princeonx:

What's special about Hawaii? The length of the trip is just too much for me around the US. I'll rather spend that hours on plane going to Europe or somewhere completely different from US

hawaii is beautiful.. one of the nicest places in USA in terms of natural beauty/water/forests..

I still think san diego is God's own city.. Lived there for a while and the weather is PERFECT.. People are amazing there... Sunny all year round... No bugs, mosquitoes, like Florida.. Just an incredible place..

vague:
PS get Grand Theft and nairaland get Grand Scam. How come you have not uploaded your pics in all the other countries you have been to.? And why did u suddenly ignore princeonx when he said he will be in Armsterdam too? Is it because u will know come 30 Dec you will be sitting under one Iroko tree in Maiduguri sipping on zobo? God is watching you in 3D

What are you talking about? I didnt ignore him I said i'll see him december 30th...

LOL How can i scam when im not asking for money? Im just asking people to tell me where to go and i'll make the posts..

I'll be updating this in 3 weeks with my China trip report..

If you wanna see some of my pictures you can add me on facebook.. IF you want the link shoot me a message buddy.. Just dont want to make everything public here.

Cheers

SO far I have hawaii, and zanzibar.. Im looking both of them up now...

Anyone wanna join as well?

liztop2012:
am free, let's go together.

Which trip do you want to make with me?

pansophist:
If you have a week to spare, you might consider visiting many european countries. The advantages of travelling in Europe is that its short, inexpensive and borderless (if you have the right travel documents of course). Two years ago, I visited three countries in one day due to their proximity to each other. I started from Budapest (Hungary), took a one hour bus to Bratislava (Slovakia), then an hour train to Vienna (Austria). Vienna is also just two hours away from Brno (Czech republic) and from CZ, you are few kilometres away to Poland.

Check website like wizzair.com and ryanair.com. I usually travel with 10euros per trip via this airlines, but you will have to buy your ticket a minimum of 2 weeks in advance to get a cheap fair. If you visit Paris, you might consider visiting the UK and the Netherlands, as they are closer as well. Make the best out of your journey, and enjoy the culture, historical and ancient architectural presence lacking in the US (no offence). If you prefer to travel by car, check out blablacar.com, its a ridesharing community.

If you come to Amsterdam, I might show you around, depending on my schedules. Life is an adventure, live it up

Good advice.. for christmas i'm already doing amsterdam, paris & prague.. maybe next year more countries..

I've been to amsterdam before.. very unique place.

Sounds good .. I'll be in Amsterdam on December 30th or so, for new years.. Will you be around?

buzquet:
I want you to go to Syria and Somalia

I see you're trying to get me shot

Sarang:



Maui..and Honolulu.

Never been there before o.
On my future list though.

Any particular landmark you wan to see in Maui and Honolulu?

Sarang:
Go to Hawaii

You need to tell me places/islands/landmarks to visit while in Hawaii.. It has always been on my list..

Lately I've been thinking of something to do with life.

I work quite a bit, I love what I do but i kind of want to enjoy life a little bit more.. I was thinking of a fun idea and here it is:

The rules are simple:

I'm 30 years old, and I want to visit a new country every 2 weeks..

From first week of December, I'm going to start going to a new country/city outside Nigeria every 2 weeks, based on your suggestion and ease of logistics..
First come, first serve, unless there are two or three countries close together in which case I'll just knock it out in one go.

If an overwhelming amount of people want a particular country then I'll visit there first.

How will this work?

Just tell me a city/cities you want me to visit, and tell me at least 5 places/landmarks you want me to go to.

In return, I'll go there, take lots of pictures of my trip going there, from Lagos all the way to the country, as well as get the pictures of the landmarks and cool things you want to see.

Why am I doing this?

I just realized that I end up going to the same places over and over. (Dubai, USA,) This forum is huge and many people know lots of cool places I will never get to visit except if I know about it. You are honestly doing me a favor and I get to see the world, while you get a full trip report.

Who will i travel with?

So far I'm going alone, however if I have an upcoming trip and you want to join, please feel free to join me.. Sex/Gender/Age is irrelevant.. Travel buddies are fun. If nobody joins then i'll just go alone.

What will the duration of each trip be?

I want to keep each trip to 3-4 days maximum. Ideally I would leave Nigeria on a Thursday and come back like /Tuesday of the next week..

Are there any countries I wont visit?

Yup. Countries like Iran, Iraq, Chad, Ukraine , Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Israel, Russia, Congo, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Central African Republic, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria. Basically any country I deem unsafe or war-torn. Please dont get me shot or killed

What countries can you visit?

I can visit any country here: http://www.globalallianz.org/visa-free-countries-for-us-citizens/ as long as its safe.

I also have a Chinese visa so thats do-able. I am willing to visit countries like Brazil,Russia, but they will take longer to arrange since I need to arrange a visa for those countries. The visa will be arranged whenever I'm in the states as it is much easier and I don't feel like dealing with the crazy embassies in this country. The only caveat is if you chose a country or city that requires me to get a visa, then you may have to wait 3 or 4 months before I get the visa.

What are your immediate plans?

I'm going to Shanghai, and Zhejiang in two weeks time for business. If you have any requests for those places let me know.

My schedule is free for the first 2 weeks of december, so I'd like a recommendation, but last week of december and first week of January im going to Paris & Amsterdam for christmas and new years. (Pls tell me any requests for those places as well)

Basically the first accepted travel request will most likely be completed first week of December or so.

Any questions please ask... All updates and pictures will be posted here.

Cheers

anonimi:



Do WE all maintain our houses, offices, shops, historical monuments etc

No but not maintaining your house won't cost the lives of 200 people or more..

You're comparing apples to oranges

Most probably a leakage from one of the pipes handling the AC, etc..

There is no actual hole on the airplane leading to the outside, otherwise the plane wouldn't function at high altitude, plus there are many more reasons too long to explain here..

Bottom line is there is no hole in the airplane otherwise that hole would turn into a big crack and the pressure would suck people out at high altitude..

Anyways its still some horrible maintenance work..These are the kind of things you will never see in well maintained planes, but we are in Nija.. anything is possible.. We manage everything. In any other country, an airplane would not take off with a cabin leakage, but in Nigeria, no wahala..

Vinshu:
Op, You made my day

lol at least you get it

I need you guys advice on what to do..

I've suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me. The usual signs...phone rings, but if I answer, the caller hangs up. My wife has been going out with the girls a lot recently, although when I ask their names she always says, "Just some friends from work, you don't know them."

I sometimes stay awake to look out for her cab coming home, but she always comes walking along the street as I hear the sound of a car leaving, around the corner, as if she has gotten out and walked the rest of the way. Why? Maybe she wasn't in a taxi at all?

I once picked up her cell phone, just to see what time it was. This caused her to go completely berserk. She quickly snatched the phone out of my hand and cursed me hysterically, screaming that I should never touch her personal property, then accused me of trying to spy on her.

Anyway, I have never broached the subject with my wife. I think deep down I just didn't want to know the truth, but last night she went out again with her "best friend" (who is a girl, or so she claims), and I decided to really check on her. I decided I was going to park my Toyota corolla next to the neighbor's house and then hide behind it so I could get a good view of the street around the corner when she came home. It was at that moment, crouching behind my car that I noticed a small amount of motor oil leaking through the engine onto the street. It looks like the oil is coming from a hose.

So...is this something I can easily repair myself or do you think I should take it to a mechanic