Africa- Trade with Africa

   We all know Africa is a continent rich with natural resources and profitable business opportunities, but how can these opportunities be fully utilized to benefit its citizens. When we talk about development in Africa, we all focus on creating jobs, education, infrastructure etc. but how do we get there? The govt can't create these alone, as no country is an island in this age of global economy. 
   Well established countries value Int'l trade as a core ingredient in creating opportunities for its people. The trade relationship between U.S and China is undeniably the strongest in the world as almost everything we see in the U.S are "Made in China". How can African countries leverage its resources to improve the economy? Trade!
     Trade brings out investors from all around world to establish businesses in Africa, purchase "Made in Africa" products or support African businesses via provision of expertise. I've watched a lot of African leaders (not just presidents but parliament) speak on development in Africa, only few reference to Trade. We need trade to expose our countries to opportunities that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to.
    However, to get these opportunities, Africa needs to have healthy relationships with the big players like U.S, China, Brazil, India U.K, Canada etc. The manufacturing boom in Brazil, China & India has led to tremendous economic & infrastructural development due to trade. The U.S is putting in concerted efforts to improve the trade relationship with Africa with focus on increasing power through its Power Africa Initiative, Tariff free trade, Africa Leaders Summit, and lots of reduced rate loans to increase business activity. More on here FACT SHEET: The Doing Business in Africa Campaign
   I believe Trade should be a big focus in Africa to improve the infrastructure & jobs we lack. This is a win-win situation for both partners as it creates jobs on both sides. Even the security issues we face can be a great opportunity to invite experts while we have the opportunity to export our products as well.
   I work as a Business Lead via Partners in Food Solutions - a non profit by General Mills, DSM, Cargill & Buhler supported by USAID ( a U.S govt aid organization) to provide business expertise to local businesses in Africa.This is an amazing trade opportunity. An upcoming Start-up in Nigeria that I am working on as well  Tomato Jos is striving to change the tomato processing industry in Nigeria and perhaps export tomato products (more to come on a separate post).

- The most exported product from sub Saharan African continues to be oil from Nigeria & Angola
- China is Africa's biggest trade partner with over $200B, while the U.S is at $85B in 2013

Thanks for reading.
Ony. M
    

Business- WhatsApp

About 1 out of 4 people with access to a smart phone in the world has a WhatsApp (WA). It is so common that people abandon their regular SMS, and switch to WA. The deal breaker was the purchase of WA by Facebook for $19 Billion!. That wow'd the whole world with the evaluation Facebook put on the messaging app. Some people may be right, the evaluation is ridiculous and too high. Some might might say it's appropriate.

Here's the money- with over 1 billion people on WA (14.4% of world population), and people paying 99 cents after the first year (that's $990 Million/year..not bad) and with the potential to scale it easily as it is accessible on every phone operating system  (Andriod, iOS, BBs, & Windows). This gives BBM, GroupMe and any other messaging apps out there a chase for their followers. Even Facebook tried messaging with the Facebook Messenger, it wasn't as user friendly as WhatsApp. But I believe where the real money is Secured Enterprise Messaging.

This is similar to what BBM had where the U.S govt and Corporations had BBM as their secured messaging app for confidential and sensitive communication, but the issue was- it had to be on a BlackBerry phone which wasn't popular when iPhone & Samsung were trailing the market. With slagging sales of BB phones, slow phone innovation, and poor improvements on the functionality of the BBM, WhatsApp took over. It was open to every smartphone with no restriction. The versatility and freedom liberated personal communication, and the fact you can tell if the message were sent, and now you can see if your receiver read the message (just like in BBM & iMessage) makes it even better (that's a notification option emails didn't provide). The worldwide reach was like water in the dessert in this day and age, making the world even a closer global community.

If WA gets into Enterprise Messaging, this will be the sweet pot, the gold! That's one of the ways WhatsApp can scale up to meet its $19B evaluation. With Mark Zukerberg behind the team, I'm sure that's not far from the growth strategy.

Fun Fact- Facebook paid $4B in cash to Jan Koum (CEO Of WhatsApp) and the rest in Stock.
                Facebook acquired Instagram for $1B but failed to acquire SnapChat for $3B     

*1 billion users used in the above math is assumed that all that downloaded the app, uses it.

Thanks for reading.
Ony.

Africa- Oil Prices

Currently, crude oil is about $85/barrel against average historical $100/barrel. We are all enjoying this sharp drop in oil prices for obvious reasons. It has a two-edge benefit for all of us- we get to buy at "happy" prices at the pump, we have extra money to spend on other things of interest (which stimulates the economy) and just the great feeling at the pump that we are not breaking the bank.

  However, this has a negative effect in some parts of the world like Nigeria & Venezuela that depend on oil for its revenue- total national income for expenditures on social & economic budgets. This means as we enjoy cheaper prices at the pump in the U.S, these countries and some companies that depend on high prices to thrive are scared.

Here's my question- Why do these countries primarily depend on crude oil sales as its major income source? Why is agriculture, manufacturing and even other natural resources not fully utilized? Maybe because "we" think oil will be here forever, or that oil is in a high demand that we will always be safe. Actually, the U.S is making headway to be the top energy producer in the world, especially with technology investment on Shale Oil.

We know oil prices will not stay low for too long (just like anything) but perhaps, it will trigger strategic thoughts on diversifying the economy so we are not depending solely on one product.

Fun Fact: Nigeria exports ~1,000,000 barrels of oil/day, that's $85M/day against $100M/day avg historical daily income.

Thanks for reading.
Ony.

Leadership- What does communication got to do with it?

    Communication as you already know is not just about talking and writing. Most people really don't understand how far effective communication can take them or limit their potential. Ever ask someone for directions and after explaining, you go "what the heck did he just say?" or be in lecture and after sitting for 50 min, you didn't understand one bit of what the instructor said? How about during a career fair and you have to advertise yourself in 90 seconds or less, what are you going to say? How are you going to say it? Effective Communication is the ability to convey your thoughts and ideas properly. It has never been needed in the work place than now. Companies use it as a top skill amongst its executives to lead their company.  The art of passing across your thoughts both verbally and written in a concise, and thorough manner depicts your ability to lead a team, confidence and attention to detail.

Communication in the workplace: Your ability to speak eloquently and in a concise manner shows that you are one who can be the face of the company. You may be good, even an expert in your craft but if you can't speak in way that translates your competence to words, you may find it find it difficult among your peers or moving up the chain. I know that not everyone is very comfortable with public speaking ( I am still working on mine) but it can be a deciding factor in the roles and opportunities that come your way. Imagine if Obama wasn't a good public speaker, imagine if his speeches are off-point and shallow (though it may be written by someone), imagine that. Effective communication shows your competence & confidence. It shows your ability to lead by influencing people through your words. The best way to start practicing effective communication is going straight to the point (hit the hammer on the head), don't beat around the bush, understand what your customers/clients/stakeholders needs to hear and address that. Your boss won't have all day listening to you ramble, you have to walk-and-talk at the same time. Even in your written reports at work, the shorter the better, and that is with vital information. A lot of Africans lack the ability to pass across their thoughts in a non confusing way. Obviously, there are many factors to that; English as a second language, accent/pronunciation issues etc. One way to overcome this is by first of all, understanding your problem areas and accepting it, with acceptance comes courage to work on those issues. You can even let your audience know your accent is too strong and hopefully, they can understand you (that eases the tension and nervousness), when it comes to those words that are harder for you to pronounce, take your time and speak up. I will also go ahead to add that your voice tone and volume is also part of communication. Speaking in a low tone may come off as being shy and timid and lack of confidence. How would you feel if your boss or anyone in a notable position is speaking to you in a whispering voice (maybe looking down and their hands in their pocket), yeah you get the idea. As Africans, we tend to have that issue because it is part of our upbringing, especially if you grew up in Africa. But you have time and means of improving. Also check out your local Toastmaster's club (some are free), they can help you polish your communication skills.

Communication in school: This I won't spend much time on, we all write and have written papers. Some we get excellent scores on and some, you just wonder. The writing style and rubric for undergraduate studies is totally different in graduate level courses. Though it's normal for college students to ramble in papers to fulfill page length, just understand that in your work place, that may not be a good idea (maybe you have to wait till your annual review to find out). If you're not doing so well on your papers, maybe you are not capturing the reader( your instructor), maybe you're just rambling with no concise information among many other issues.

Communication in Interviews/Resumes/Career Fairs: Let me ask you,  what are you going to say during a career fair when you walk up to that recruiter and she/he is looking at you? (obviously, you need not to be told to maintain eye contact at ALL times). This is the 90 second commercial of yourself. Just like commercials, they go straight to the point, so you have to go straight to the point. No unnecessary speech about something that doesn't add value to your brand (yourself). I won't go into details of what you should say but its no brainier that you start with your name, major, GPA(if its above 3.0 and if you're seeking for an internship), graduation, and what you're looking for (you should know your niche) and of course your insights about the company. Remember that it's usually loud during career fairs so voice tone is paramount. 
Cover letters are not just used to introduce yourself and show your interests, employers use it to gauge your writing ability, with that in mind what you write and how you write determines if your resume will be looked at, and once they move to look at your resume, your abilities will be matched.

In all, we are all working on our communication skills (written & verbal). No one is perfect and no one knows it all, however with practice comes perfection. Understand that just having that degree may not guarantee you a job or promotion. Other abilities will. I am still working on my own communication skills. Not until recently i started becoming comfortable with public speaking ( still working on it). We all know the areas we need help in.



Thank You for reading 
- Ony