₦airaland Forum

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=689028.msg8511796#msg8511796 date=1307983656]While these companies want to make money, I think the central issue is more of a National Food security thing than just looking for new places to make more big money. I think they are seeking new places to gain control over food and water resources.

From what I've read and heard, Several countries are worried about a possible food scarcity in the near future due to massive world population growth and increasing number of "hungry" middle class income earners with extra cash to spend, especially in countries with diminishing access to arable lands in Asia and the Middle east.

So, I see this as an opportunity for us to learn from the past and make sure we gain from their speculation and fear.

There's nothing wrong with their investments, we should welcome it, But we need to be smart about it. Land ownership and the production of both raw and finished goods must be in our favour, else we repeat 1818 (Scramble for Africa) again, albeit in a more subtle way.

We need to welcome these people's money/investments and still find a way to make them dependent consumers and not outright owners. That is where the challenge and hard work would be for us and our leaders. Unfortunately we don't have a coherent land use or land ownership policy in Nigeria. Even our Green revolution/Agric policy is not revolutionary in anyway. It's also not export oriented at all.


BTW, When Americans (Hillary Clinton) start warning Africans about Asians and Arabs, especially when their own Hedge funds and Universities are doing the same thing(buying up land resources)? That should tell us we have no friends in this situation. they are simply competing

We better start playing both sides to suit our own purposes. Only if we have visionary leaders [/quote]My sentiments exactly

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=689028.msg8511291#msg8511291 date=1307979255]I've listened to a few talks from companies that invest in agric in Africa, and their ROI is usually around 25-30%. Good, but not rockstar (by African standards, at least.)

Think about it a bit. . . if agric was so profitable (relative to other opportunities available), then Nigerians and Africans would be doing it in large #s.

[b]If you are some pension fund in say the US, 25 or 30% ROI is amazing.[/b]But if you are some Nigerian dude who for example must pay 20%+ interest to borrow from a Nigerian bank? Then that ROI is less sexy.[/quote]i didn't know regarding ROI. If this is fact then it aint that profitabel short term.

Seun:
This is just an[b] alarmist piece of garbage[/b], but it suggests that investing in farmlands could be lucrative.

Thank you my wise founder brother. People would rather concentrate on the negative aspects of information they recieve instead of trying to decipher it.

Africa needs FDI. Point blank. We do not have enough industry or activity to generate income that will support mass projects that are necessary for growth within the continent.

A comparative advantage we have is our arable land mass that is currently below max productivity. The issue should be:

What are the terms of these negotiated contracts and how favorable are they to the local populations?
Are these leases or outright buyouts?
How are the countries benefitting from this trade off?
Are the local land owners compensated properly?
What are the long term goals of the countries involved in transfering technology and expertise to local farmers and industry?
If we are to reject this exchange, what strategies then are necessary to adopt in growing our agric sector which is paramount in becoming competitive and engaging in global trade?

If so called Hedge funds are "grabbing" up acres of land in Africa it's because they have understood that there is a coming "food shortage crisis" as the world population grows rapidly. To "hedge"this risk they are future planning to reap profits where there is opportunity. Productivity will be maxmized via technological know how and expertise and the result will be large enough production for local consumption to sustain the host country and residuals will be exported at a premium to other countries for profit.

Again the question becomes how does Africa(via its leaders) position itself to benefit from this?

2muchlogic:
[size=18pt]Hedge funds 'grabbing land' in Africa[/size]

Hedge funds are behind "land grabs" in Africa to boost their profits in the food and biofuel sectors, a US think-tank says.

In a report, the Oakland Institute said hedge funds and other foreign firms had acquired large swathes of African land, often without proper contracts.

It said the acquisitions had displaced millions of small farmers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13688683

The issue here is not FDI capital inflow in the acquisition of land and leases but the terms of contract and negotiation.

What does Africa get out of the deal? If it involves a transfer of technology and modernization of the agricultural sector then I am all for it.

It is incumbent on the African leaders to device a strategy to leverage the inflow of this expertise, knowledge and capital.

A case in point is China who upon allowing several manufacturing bases settle in their country per cheap sources of labor, have been able to duplicate the technology these transfers bring with them and in the long term are net beneficiaries of this exchange.

stmarc32:
i doubt that graduating students will realize or redefine their goals and aspirations when their deep in debt and have the banks already knocking on their door, America's purchasing power is only vested in their currency not because their economy is strong but because they still have access to major oil producing countries e.g Nigeria ,Saudi arabia, venezuela e.t.c and also china hasn't decided to stop buying US Bonds, China is only playing patience with America till they get full access to Africa and other oil producing nations which is already happening ,

Even if fresh graduates from US companies come up with new ideas , its all still going to China,

Elaborate on the above highlighted. I am interested to see how you come to that conclusion

Anti imperialist demagoguery jargon!

stmarc32:
Well its on the brink of collapse in my opinion coz firstly we have the european countries all in need of bail outs, america currently has a huge deficit, America's strong economy WAS dominant and flourishing because they could back their currency with gold and they didnt police the world like they did now,

Secondly 70% of the degrees offered in colleges provide employment opportunities for grads in the service sector, how can you provide service to a target market with no expendable income ?

The US roughly accounts for 1/3rd of th worlds global consumpton rate compared to europe and other emerging market economies. The disposable income is still within its borders as you cannot compare the buying power of US consumers to other countries in the world.

Though the middle class in the US has shrunk and US consumers will begin to decrease spending they still have an edge over the world in terms of the capacity to drive new industry and service that will replace lost productivity in manufacturing. tis a matter of the right investment.

Graduating College students should begin to realize and understand the new realities of the American economy and redefine what their goals and aspirations are in term of what they define the America dream or success to be.

It aint buying a picket fenced house, owning some nice vehicles and planning for a 65 year retirment after putting in 30+ years in a company.

MandingoII:
Only the financially unmanageable will face economic hardships.

Real true students will value their education. In America, tons of students take out student loans and LIVE off them.

The institutions know this.

Valuing an education and putting it to use are two different things

The student loans you morons take out and live on are the best interest rate loans out there and should be invested and turn profit instead of being spent.

Your culture teaches you to consume and spend on borrowed money instead of a save and invest, which is why ya'll are in a poo hole.

Read my brother! Read!

Spoken like a true conspiracy theorist!!

scopusng:
Please convince me?

This question has been asked a million times over. All you need to do is run a search and get your responses.

However to reiterate what has been said about this topic. Nigeria is the Sleeping giant of Africa in terms of its size, potential and growth opportunities.

Regardless of what many may say it continious to be ranked amongst the potential economies to grwo rapidly befroe 2030 if it can manage to implement some key issues necessary for its growth in terms of infrastructure, power and transparent institutions.

Shikena!

stmarc32:
this only re-affirms my belief that the preconception of a better life with a college degree is[b] unrealistic [/b] especially for americans since nothing is really made in America anymore , people not getting jobs after completion of their degree/doctorate programmes is a sign that western civilaztion is on the brink of collapse

If the schools are simply shuffling these kids through college and putting them in debt without providing the skills that are necessary to trade them for income then there in lies the scam.

The real question should therefore be is the US college Educational system preparing its graduates for the brave new world they are about to face post the Great recession?

Statistics still show that an individual with a college or higher degree  on average will earn more money through their life span than one without.

The problem post 2008 is that globalization under a market system economy and international financial and economic interdependency has created the dilemma where the degrees and specialization of qualifications once held by US college grads in terms of high tech know how is no longer a comparative advantage and so cannot demand such high paying salaries anymore, since it is quite easy to outsource these expertise to developing nations where the same can be battered for much less.

Secondly the US is loosing its comparative advantage in terms of manufacturing and so needs to create "new" high tech jobs and services that can be exported to other countries via training in institutions of higher learning.

THe once upon a time accounting, engineering and medical specializations that helped keep wages relatively high coupled with white collar manufacturing jobs are mobilizing themselves in other emerging market economies as those individuals begin to build their middle class.

Answer is to invest heavily in innovation and R& to create the 'new" jobs of the future. Something the US pioneered in the 1950's and whcih sustained its dominance in world economics.

Its not necessarily an end of western civilization of unilateral trade bullying but more of a multilateral new world system we live in.

Evolution is the key!

fireline:
Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa.
Means NOTHING to anyone in any country other than nigeria.
Anywhere in the WORLD anyone with nigerian papers is scammer, drug dealer, thief
Any papers they have will be FAKE
Any qualifications from school will be false from RUNS.
Nigerians are the new Jews detested by everyone just like RATS.

And the Jews are still running things

RSA:
@Morph and the rest,I now want to smoke a peace pipe with everyone,just found my faith and from now on I won't say anything distasteful,hurtful,hateful and bad.I'm going to be a messager of good news,love and peace.

Better stop going to those naija churches o!

Besides I detest any form of recreational weed smoking.

IF FDI is not part of the mix in terms of funding government projects and building private enterprise then where is the country supposed to generate this income from. The oil sector accounts for roughly 80-90% of revenue for the government and we pretty much spend all that money on  running the government, importing back finished products, corruption and the likes.

Other sectors in the country are practically zero producing/underdeveloped. Nigeria is a net importer of everything. No viable manufacturing, minning, Petrochemical, agricultural industry

Who is going to fund state government projects, create enviroments for the creation of employment.  Private-Public partnerships inclusive of FDI is essential is building industries and necessary for transfering knowledge base into the country. We've been doing it with the Chinese and the South Africans are head on our heels to surpass us as service providers within the continent.

No time for that Knuckle head old way thinking of Imperialist this,  Imperialist that. What is needed are better negotiated terms that benefit the African nations in play. This doesn't have to be a Zero-sum game.

RSA:
Morph leave my countryman alone,
illegal drugs,goods,acts or people is unlawful,therefore someone should fix it,its a pity the government is leaving it to the[b] communities to solve it [/b] Still,a Nigerian have 1000 more chances of being killed for who he is in Jos than in Jozi,South Africa.

RIgth, your communities solution is to slaughter people eh!. Good on you.

RSA:
I think also the MOFOs who are still VERY VERY TRIBALIST are found in Nigeria.South Africa have no issues when it come to tribalism.The only time when blacks were killing blacks was during the 90s when Inkatha and ANC supporters were killing each others,and we all know it happened only in Kwa Zulu Natal,they were all Zulus.it was political nothing less and nothing more.

Notice that you are admitting your people are tribalist. Being "very" Tribalist and "very very" tribalist doesn't make much sense.

RSA:
South have many issues and we are not hiding it,the only people on earth who pretend that all is well when things are falling apart are Nigerians,"happiest people on earth" amid all the poverty,corruption and lawlessness in their country.If that is not "LYING TO YOURSELF" ,then what is it?.

Right right RSA.

You better stare your country men clear in the face who refer to other Africans as "darkies" or "too dark" and tell them to go back and take Geography classess again.

As long as some of you illiterates continue to focus on the negatives of Nigerians I have no choice but to highlight your short comings to make it even.

emancipate yourself from mental slavery,

Sekhukhune:
We have moved on with our lives as SAs, we do not even have a thought of killing any other race. We understand democracy and that killing each other did not solve anything in any country.

Right right. tell that to the township people who keep using violence against illegals to make their political point.

You mofo's are still very TRIBALIST.

stop lieing to yourself.

belabela:
ABUJA — PIQUED by the soaring prices of cement in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan, Monday, summoned the Chairman of Dangote Group, and other cement manufacturers with a directive to crash the prices of the product within 30 days period or [b]face the wrath of the government.[/b]

Whatever is the wrath of government.

beats me too?

Wallie:
Edit------ ^^^^^+1

The people talking about monopoly are not any more ignorant than you. I was one of those talking about monopoly but I should have been a lot clearer that I was generally referring to anti-competitive behaviors, and more specifically to “collusion.”

In this instance, you have an oligopoly that consists of less than a dozen companies, that appears to price fix for their mutual benefit. It doesn’t matter it the oligopoly includes a thousand companies. What matters is that the decision of a few significantly affects the market.

The danger of collusion is that increasing pricing does not result in loss of sales due to lack of alternative (licensing restriction).

Then you should have said Oligopoly in the first place to clarify on your point.

Price ceilings in complex global marketing systems, influenced by numerous external factors that dictate supply and demand, is not sustainable simply because Mr. President wants to pose for us. Not much sound economical reasoning.

In the short run artificially pegging these prices to pacify the massess will result in larger increases in future prices stemming from speculative predictions of where the price of cement is of course likely to head

If successful I suggest those who want to build better stack wharehouses of cement while the price is down cause its going to be a short ride baby hehehehehe!

RSA:
Now you remind me of the bad old days,when the regimes used show this fake videos to get support from their people and the international communities.ANC never bombed civilians,they planted bombs in the oil refineries and power plants,they were Sabotaging the regimes infrustructures.
On the other hand they 'the regime' went to countries like Botswana,Mozambique and Botswana to flash out the ANC,there by killing thousands of innocent people along the way.
The regime survived all this years by deceiving the world through lies and this video was one of them.Thank God,through the TRC,we finally learned the truth.
And we also learned that APLA(Azanian People Liberation Army) did attacked white civilians at resturants,churches and other places.APLA was a millitant arm of PAC(Pan African Congress) who wanted whites out of South Africa and where not willing to share anything with them,this was a radical political movement.

He might as well tell us how Jan van Reebek was a saint when we all know the atrocities he committed in the name of Setttlement.

Those who are victorious have the power to rewrite skewed history

The TRUTH will set you free from IGnorance.!!!

Anon007:
Here is a video of the violence Nelson Mandela ordered
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ba_1305391944

Right right. You better take your AWB azz outta here cause you aint fooling nobody you displaced European wannabe!

playmode:
If you feel that SA is the worst place to live,please don't come here.You are not needed anyway.24 hrs electricity,great infrastructure,billions of business opportunities,unlimited 24hrs internet access,non stop water supply,dirt cheap property and cars,most beautiful black women on the planet.Yep it is definately the worst place to live in.

In the meantime,the crime issue in SA is overhyped.If SA was so bad how come we did not see a crime explosion during the world cup?

I have been living in SA for the past 9 years and i can tell you that whites have not changed one bit.They are even more racist now than ever before.I don't want to write history because i have a lot to say.Instead i will leave with this video so you can understand the mindset of white South Africans otherwise known as the Afrikaner tribe.

That would make you a minor since you are only 10 years old lol

RSA:
Four years down the line I wonder how many of this people still hold the same view.

I still very much hold the same views about SA. The slight difference is that the vastly unaddressed issues have be swept under the carpet and SA seems to be viewing itself better on a Global platform understanding that its previous myopic outlook on local, regional and continental cohesion is essential to its goal as a prime player in African politics, economic and social issues.

AjanleKoko:
I can't believe I'm seeing this
cap28 and morpheus actually agreeing?

Must be a hallucination

That was back in 2009. I have grown up from simply viewing matters based on a sentimental basis and would rather stick to facts and informative analysis.