Five Fascinating Business Facts – Part 7

$500bn

China’s 200 richest legislators are now worth more than $500bn, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the fortunes of the country’s wealthiest people. The Communist party welcomed private-sector business people into its fold in 2002, when the Chinese economy was the world’s sixth-largest. Their wealth has since soared in tandem with the Chinese economy, which is now second only to that of the US. The wealth of the 100 richest lawmakers doubled over the past four years. They include the heirs of some of Hong Kong’s biggest fortunes, but most are first-generation Chinese billionaires such as Pony Ma and Robin Li, founders respectively of internet companies Tencent and Baidu.

16%

A large numbers of employees leave in their first year and according to a survey by America’s Utah-based software company Bamboo HR, 16-17 per cent of new hires leave their jobs in the first three months of being hired. And replacing employees is expensive. The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development reckons that a bad hiring decision — which brings disruption, lost productivity and the expense of finding a replacement — costs an average of £8,200, rising to £12,000 for more senior people. Topgrading, a hiring methodology company, puts this figure far higher, at more than £100,000.

Studies show that many organisations give the joining process very little or no thought at all. New recruits often complain about being abandoned on day one with nothing to do, being given a desk or car that still has the previous user’s rubbish in it and having to wait weeks for a phone or laptop to appear.

100 companies

There is a real risk of an escalation in the proxy street battles involving South Africans and Nigerians, one which would damage bilateral commercial ties and weaken Africa’s capacity for influence.

A great majority of Nigerians and South Africans have no cause for mutual enmity but it would be foolish for the governments to ignore virulent voices on the fringe.

Disturbingly in Pretoria, South African First, a political movement with a xenophobic agenda, was registered in December. It may not get far in elections initially but its message has resonance in poorer townships, where black South Africans rail against other Africans — from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Somalia and Mozambique — who have often proved successful in their communities. This new party blames foreigners for crime, wants to drive them out of the country and preserve scant economic opportunities for South Africans.

The response in Nigeria may be largely reactive but it should nonetheless ring alarm bells in Pretoria. The continent’s most populous nation is a vital market for South African hotels, banks, technology companies and supermarkets. More than 100 companies have invested there, bringing with them jobs and know-how.

$500m

Germany has offered Egypt $500 million to support its economic programme and medium-sized and small businesses, the Egyptian ministry of investment and international cooperation said on Friday.

“It was agreed with the German side (that they would) provide $250 million to support the economic programme … as well as $250 million to support several other sectors, including micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, ” it said in a statement.

The support will come in the form of grants and concessional funds, a government official told Reuters. The German offer came during a visit to Egypt by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

3%

Nigeria’s insurance industry is poised to enter a period of consolidation as companies struggle to raise cash to meet new regulatory requirements amid the worst economic contraction in more than two decades.

With markets largely shut for companies to raise equity or debt, takeovers by foreign insurers or mergers between smaller, local firms seeking to grow are among the best ways for underwriters to bolster capital levels so they can take on more risk, said Olorundare Thomas, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Insurance Association, an industry body.

Regulators in Africa’s most populous nation have said they will audit insurers’ books to make sure companies aren’t signing on more business than they’re able to pay out as the National Insurance Commission moves toward risk-based supervision.

The umbrella body is encouraging members to cater low-income earners so that the industry can account for 3 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product by 2020, from about 0.3 percent now, Thomas said.