Questioning the West’s Second Divestment from Africa

In a bold treatise, Dr Efosa Ojomo challenges Western companies who divest from Africa after a blimp in fortunes, saying they misread the continent. He notes the current round of divestment following the disappointment of companies lured by the Africa Rising narrative. He asserts, “Africa has never lied to anyone about what it takes to do business on the continent. The continent has never promised an enabling business environment nor guaranteed ease of business.”

Ojomo co-authored the epochal and successful book The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty with Prof Clayton Christensen. The article was so appealing that Kennedy Anyiam-Osigwe posted it on the Credibility Group WhatsApp platform.

Ojomo argues that Western companies should re-examine their African involvement and choose a long-haul approach. They should also commit to creating the markets for whatever they want to sell in Africa.

“First, by almost any metric that measures prosperity, the quality and predictability of a nation’s institutions, the pervasiveness of corruption (or at least the perception of it), or the level of infrastructure, African countries tend to rank dead last. Whatever gains the continent has made are marginal, especially compared to the gains many Asian countries, which African ones are often compared with, have made.”
Ojomo adds, “Doing business in Africa is hard. And it should be. Not because there’s something particularly wrong with Africa but simply because of the stage of Africa’s development. Most things in Africa–from education and healthcare to infrastructure and institutions–should be hard. One reason for this hardship is how much the continent has to spend on fixing itself.”
How can multinational companies succeed in Africa? _” By understanding what the business environment resembled when today’s wealthy countries were poor and committing to market creation. Unfortunately, without that level of commitment, I’m afraid we will be here in ten years talking about another mass exodus of multinational companies from Africa.”
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/the-great-miscalculation-and-exit-of-multinationals-in-africa-again/

Boycott Turkish Airlines for maltreating Nigerians?

That is the bold call on some WhatsApp platforms following a video of a Nigerian lady forced into a 21-hour layover without accommodation or access to Istanbul by Turkish Airlines. Her offence was carrying a Nigerian passport. She watched people with passports from other countries enter the lounges and get accommodation from the airline and similar treatment.

The lady cried: “You have no access to Istanbul. You must get a Consulate visa instead of the ones at the airport.” She queried, “How did we get here, where our passports are scorned while other people get free stuff, free accommodation, and more?”

Unfortunately, the video does not identify the passenger or have a date.

The WhatsApp platform screamed: “This is calling on all Nigerians to boycott Turkish Airlines until they learn to give us the respect we deserve. By our sheer numbers, if no Nigerian makes a booking on Turkish Airlines for just a few months, their entire operations will feel it, not just the Nigerian route. Nigerians, we don’t have any government looking out for our interests, but with our sheer numbers (given to us by God), we can stop some of these ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ wickedness being meted out to us. Rise, Nigerians, we can stop this wickedness. No booking Turkish Airlines even if offered for free. This is unacceptable.”

Dimensions of the Yahaya Bello versus EFCC case

Social media is dimensioning the case of EFCC versus Yahaya Bello, which is currently trending. There are memes and cartoons of the former governor escaping as a female. Others explore the ramifications of the revelations by the EFCC chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, about the deposit of $720 000 fees Bello allegedly paid to a school abroad.

One netizen calculated then remarked, “How much is $720,000 in naira sef.