Gerrard59:

The industry matters. Shola of Paystack will become a dollar billionaire before most successful agri-entrepreneurs or major spare parts dealers' in Nigeria.

Mokason288:
I’m sure even you don’t believe all you said

Wake up from your slumber your chances of making it out of Nigeria is bigger with a wide margin

Your chances of making it in Nigeria is when you join politics


I HOPE I MADE SENSE

pocohantas:
Gerrard, a man after my heart. If I were single, I would gladly pay your dowry, just so I an take you home and you rap all this economics gibberish for me. Till date whenever I come across any case study on PPP, you come to mind.

Limassol:
Great points op, let me also add mine.

4. socioeconomic instability
5. poor infrastructure
6. Grandeur corruption

Gerrard59:
3. Everyone cannot become a billionaire: The earlier Nigerians especially young people know this, the better. Not only is the link between economic growth and billionaires enough to explain this but the reality that should everyone become a billionaire, the inflationary catastrophe is something better told/imagined than experienced. Zimbabweans know this too well where everyone is a billionaire based on the worthless Zimbabwean dollar. Which brings me to another point: not everyone can be an entrepreneur! This is something most Nairalanders like to peddle about – start a business, create a job, don’t be a slave to salary, salary is the price paid to someone so s/he forgets his/her dream and whatnot. The reality is that inasmuch as being a(n) billionaire/entrepreneur is good, not everyone wants to become one (which is not possible as earlier stated) and till thy kingdom come, there would be more employees than entrepreneurs. People will always look for jobs and there is nothing wrong with it. Which is something the bald and coconut filled head of a Tunde Bakare should have understood when he chanted “aNyOnE lOoKInG fOr a jOb iS a fOoL”.

Rather, the blame for unemployment and worse still, underemployment – which is supported by the OKOTO MEOW skills Nigerian politicians have deceived people with – is solely at the politicians’ feet not people looking for jobs. It is the duty of political office holders to enact favourable economic policies aimed at growing the economy so that actual entrepreneurs not barbers, powerbank retailers, bakers, tailors, bead makers, tillers, carpenters and whatnot can create jobs via the provision of goods and services.


However, one major way people can become billionaires and quickly at that is via tech if one aims to have his/her product to be consumed by many people especially outside Nigeria and if possible outside Africa. Imagine having a software product that has its major consumers’ are domiciled in Switzerland, Singapore and the US? The person behind the product is more likely to be a billionaire than the person whose major markets are Malawi, Gabon, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana. This is because Swiss, Singaporeans and Americans are way way richer than Malawians, Gabonese, Nigerians, South Africans and Ghanaians. Also, the nature of tech business differs significantly from physical business largely based on PPE (property, plant and equipment) and products offerings. It is why PayStack is highly valued than most physical based businesses in Nigeria even though she was formed six years ago or why tech business generate more revenues than say auto manufacturers or agriculture focused business.





The timeframe is shorter to generate a billion naira monthly by a tech firm (which many tech businesses in Nigeria currently do effortlessly) than say a food business. However, at Nigeria’s current state with wanton un(under)employment, the country requires massive industrialisation not services as there is a limit to how many people tech businesses can employ. India is a case study regarding this anomaly. Also, a country with a thriving tech sector definitely has a well-established or thriving industrial base because they are the ones who will consume high valued tech services. How many mid-level Nigerian firms can consistently purchase SAP/Salesforce enterprise services which are priced in dollars? But these companies have many customers in Germany and the US respectively because of their industrial bases.


In summary, when anyone tells you not to relocate because you can become a billionaire in Nigeria, do well to explain why it is not seemingly possible unless in tech and/or when there is high and consistent economic growth rates.

Gerrard59:


Thanks. Those are factors which can hinder development in a place but they don't adversely affect economic growth. There's corruption in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico etc yet there are way too many MNCs/Forbes 2000/F500 companies having production/research facilities there. Nigeria just like most African countries lack the political will required to enact required changes.

OK, look at the agricultural sector. Eggs have gotten expensive so I'm told. Why? Poultry feeds are exorbitant. What constitute the bulk of feeds composition? Maize. However, Buhari via the CBN barred forex for its importation and his brothers herdsmen are ravaging people's farmlands. Unfortunately, no one is saying anything regarding this and it affects people's confidence and desire to invest (it actually did to me). No one wants to invest and later wake up to the news that herdsmen not weather conditions destroyed your farmlands. If one complains, it's either no one does anything about it or the person gets slaughtered.

Gerrard59:
There is this belief system amongst promoters of “remain in Nigeria and start a business” that one can become a billionaire by doing so. Unfortunately, that is not true due to several reasons:



1. Economic growth: Nigeria has not experienced GDP growth rates of 3% within the past five years yet the population has surpassed same figure. Meanwhile, her major foreign earner – crude oil not agriculture – has seen its price below $100 per barrel – a figure that is well below what can propel the economy (https://twitter.com/BusinessDayNg/status/1348882160107839488?s=20) considering that crude oil as a foreign earner constitutes more than 70% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange revenue. What this means is that the country is not growing at all economically thereby producing more privation within the system than wealth. So, where do you expect these billionaires to emanate from? To show the link between high and consistent economic growth and growth of billionaires, look to Asia – which has witnessed an astronomical growth of billionaires within the past decade. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/07/asias-billionaire-population-will-top-1000-within-five-years-report.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/04/08/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-in-2020/?sh=3138dcb94429

Asia has been particularly prolific. China, which gained the most billionaires this decade, now has 389 billionaires (not including an additional 66 from Hong Kong), up from 64 in 2010. Thailand went from three billionaires in 2010 to 20 in 2020. Similarly, fortunes surged in Singapore, which went from four billionaires in 2010 to 26 this year. India, the country with the fourth largest number of billionaires, saw a 108% increase from 2010, bringing the country’s 2020 total to 102 billionaires.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinstoller/2020/04/23/these-countries-have-gained-the-most-billionaires-in-the-past-decade/?sh=5b39e710d1d5

This is largely unsurprising as most Asian countries have had (and still do) consistently high economic growth rates compared to their African counterparts with low fertility rates to add. Furthermore, their economic growth is not closely tied to commodities’ prices – gold, diamonds, oil, cooper, lithium etc. Rather, it is the production of frequently demand goods and provision of mid to high grade services that propel their economic growth. However, Africa’s growth is largely tied to commodities’ prices and are the mercy of what the buyers prefer to pay not what the sellers decide to sell because hey, there are many people who want to sell cooper at prices lower than yours and since the buyer determines the price based on his/her intended use and demand, s/he will go for that sold at a lower price.

Additionally, most African countries will witness high population growth over the years and I am here to inform you that high fertility rates with low economic rates will lead to massive poverty. This already exhibits itself as Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more poor people than anywhere on the planet. Furthermore, the percentage Africa contributes to global GDP is a meagre 3% whereas China alone is 17.40%, India’s 6.5%, Indonesia’s 2.5%, Thailand’s 1%, Canada’s 1.5%, Japan’s 4% etc. It is commonsensical that the chance of being a billionaire is higher in those countries compared to African countries whose collective share is 3% (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/02/africa-global-growth-economics-worldwide-gdp/#:~:text=Africa%20today%20accounts%20for%20around,tremendous%20opportunities%20and%20risks%20ahead.) Yes, 3% yet constitutes 17% of the world’s population.

In a globalised economy, what this means is that Africans are too poor to buy what others produce and are not producing what others buy leading to high poverty rates. How possible is it to become a billionaire in such an environment? In fact, check the newly released billionaire rankings by Forbes, only 3 Nigerians! How many dollar rated billionaires has Nigeria produced within the past decade compared to say India? South Korea?

Gerrard59:
Many reasons:

- Indians started making waves in the west before Nigerians. Not just in the US but also the UK. No Nigerian-British billionaire but there Indian-British billionaires.

- Racial discrimination. Although, Nigerians migrated to the US but are categorised as blacks just as African Americans. So whatever injustice the latter suffered by the virtue of skin colour, Nigerians suffered same.

- Nigerians don't attend top universities in same proportion as Indians. I can bet with whatever I've that there are way more Indians in top the 25 universities in the US than Nigerians. Top universities tend to send their graduates to top companies who tend to pay the highest. To get into these universities require writing standardised examinations, something Nigerians have started to shy away from because woke people say standardised exams are against people of colour. What they don't say is that Asians (Indians inclusive) are categorised as people of colour. So, if these tests (LSAT, GRE, GMAT, SAT etc) are against POC, how come Asians get higher scores than everyone including whites? Additionally, what they don't know is that by writing standardised examinations, the chances of being funded are high thereby reducing financial costs incurred for graduate studies. Question is: how do Nigerians expect to fund graduate studies in the US considering that they constitute the largest number of poor people in the world?

- Indians are way more entrepreneurial than Nigerians. If Nigerians were actually enterprising as being peddled across the media, how many successful firms in the US (both private and public) are/were owned/started by Nigerians? Compared to Indians, there's none! Literally none. In fact, there are Indian-American billionaires who made their wealth in the US but there's no Forbes or Bloomberg listed Nigerian-American billionaire. Please don't mention Ogunlesi - he's not Forbes listed. Although, he's an exception but that's where it ends - exception, which shouldn't be considered in the wider scope of things. So, you have successful Indian owned companies, what makes you think they won't employ their brothers and sisters from India, offer higher salaries and move them to the US? How many Nigerian owned firms (assuming there are big and successful) do same as Indians?

- Recently, I checked the data, Nigerians started going to the US in enmass during the '70/'80s, Indians started theirs in the 19th century, first mover advantage. Corroborates my first point. Not only is it first mover advantage, they solidified it and made headway.

- Game of numbers. There are successful Indian owned tech/IT firms who have invested massively in the US and can sponsor grads into the US. How many Nigerian owned tech/IT firms have done same in the US? Do you expect those Indian owned firms to employ Nigerians when there are gazillions of Indians - their brothers and sisters?

When Nigerians and black people in general learn to understand that economic wealth brings power, they will know better.

Mokason288:
I’m sure even you don’t believe all you said

Wake up from your slumber your chances of making it out of Nigeria is bigger with a wide margin

Your chances of making it in Nigeria is when you join politics


I HOPE I MADE SENSE

Gerrard59:


Thanks. Those are factors which can hinder development in a place but they don't adversely affect economic growth. There's corruption in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico etc yet there are way too many MNCs/Forbes 2000/F500 companies having production/research facilities there. Nigeria just like most African countries lack the political will required to enact required changes.

OK, look at the agricultural sector. Eggs have gotten expensive so I'm told. Why? Poultry feeds are exorbitant. What constitute the bulk of feeds composition? Maize. However, Buhari via the CBN barred forex for its importation and his brothers herdsmen are ravaging people's farmlands. Unfortunately, no one is saying anything regarding this and it affects people's confidence and desire to invest (it actually did to me). No one wants to invest and later wake up to the news that herdsmen not weather conditions destroyed your farmlands. If one complains, it's either no one does anything about it or the person gets slaughtered.

Raalsalghul:


Evening.

Sent you a private message please.