The world of commerce is nothing but supply chain. If you improve your supply chain, you can have competitive advantages in the market. That improvement comes with deepening optimization, agility and lean management. Tekedia Institute faculty, Chibueze Noshiri, on Tuesday (Tomorrow) will explain how to design, develop and execute a winning supply chain framework.
Mr Noshiri worked in DHL and UPS where he rose to Global Engineering EUD Manager – Global Logistics. Today, he works in Barry Callebaut Group, Belgium which turns cocoa to chocolate.
He will help us understand how we can accelerate business growth through an efficient supply chain regime.
Tekedia Mini-MBA >> master the mechanics of entrepreneurial capitalism here
The People’s Democratic Party, the Osun state’s main opposition party, has increased its level of deploying attacks campaign strategy while abandoning engaging the electorate on issues and needs that are important. This was revealed in the non-governmental organisation’s most recent report on campaign monitoring in the state.
The sixth report of the monitoring states that political parties and their supporters deployed more attacks than acclaims and defenses, though defensive messages outweighed the acclaimed ones. Specifically, the ruling party aligned with defenses and acclaims than attacks as its strategic communication approaches while the main opposition party largely deployed attacks as a strategy.
“As observed in the previous weeks monitored, attacking the personality of opponents and their political parties remains a strategy deployed by the political parties, though the ruling party has drastically reduced its attack strategy if we consider what was observed in week one of the monitoring. The ruling party remains the only political party that has significantly engaged the public across the campaign issues in the last six weeks. The party has discussed what he has done in the areas of health, social programmes and workers’ salary, welfare and employment more than telling the public what it intended to do differently if elected for another four years. The main opposition party, on the other hand, has relatively engaged the public by discussing issues and needs within agriculture, security and economy more than other expectations of the public.
Also, during the week, opposition parties condemned some policies of the ruling party (e.g., salaries and pensions, roads, education) while the ruling party issued rejoinders to defend itself. This, we believe, is a feature of democratic political contests in as much as the condemnations and the defenses are evidence-based and backed. Having a discussion on local government autonomy by the main opposition party shows that its campaign is being directed to the grassroots. Despite this, issues that cannot influence the potential voters’ decision on July 16, 2022 also appeared in the communication infrastructure of the political parties this week.”
The report further notes that as campaigns get hotter and the election day draws nearer, political thuggery or violence and vote buying keep appearing in discussions of political parties and their supporters. We therefore urge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to partner with security agents in the state with a view to ensuring lives and property of voters are protected on the election day.
“We also urge the INEC to convene meetings of political stakeholders in the state where issues relating to vote buying and violence alongside the legal penalties for offenders will be discussed. In addition, as election draws nearer, we specifically suggest that the two main political parties convene meetings among their media teams and handlers, and enlighten them on the need for decorum and strategic issue-based campaigns across their online platforms. This, we believe, will reduce the toxic political atmosphere being observed in Osun online-sphere,” the report notes.
When I first penned down my women entrepreneurship research in March 2019, Celebrating Women’s Day: A Poem on my Research, little did I realise that I would be reflecting upon that piece more than 3 years on. There are two issues here with a common denominator.
First, my most recent research on a woman businessowner (i.e., Heaven Kigali, Rwanda) highlighted a major pivot which is acknowledged here. Second, the 2022 Commonwealth Womens’ Forum is today and tomorrow, and yes here in Rwanda!
As I pointed out many years ago, or so it seems, “I am pleased to share a timeline of my research on women between 2009 and 2015 – albeit from an entrepreneurship lens.” Let me recount the journey of my research staring with that which published in 2009. This inaugural article on the subject, which is entitled Breaking the glass ceiling in Nigeria: A review of women’s entrepreneurship, explores the relevance of the age-long conundrum known as the glass ceiling as ever more questionable for a number of compelling reasons. First, its root in the invisible barriers (push factors) facing women’s career progression prospects in the corporate world is ever-changing at a rapid pace across every region of the globe. Second, research shows some evidence of a major dramatic increase in women-owned businesses as being attributable to women’s desire to gain more flexibility in their work arrangements (pull factors). By providing a catalogue of pull factors in the context of African (especially Nigerian) women entrepreneurs, this paper surmised that:
the glass ceiling problem may have well been shattered in numerous spheres, and thus become less tenable as a gender-specific reality in the twenty-first century.
The second article entitled Micro-credit for microenterprises? which published in 2010, is a co-authored paper that examines the factors that constrain women petty traders’ access to microcredit, and the innovative measures they have initiated in order to counter these constraints. Based on in?depth interviews with women micro?entrepreneurs drawn from a convenience sample of 20 petty traders in the market town of Awka – the capital of a state in Eastern Nigeria, the paper identifies three main constraints – internal, socio?cultural and policy induced – as the key moderating influences on women petty traders’ ability access to micro?credit. This paper posits that the lack of access to credit promotes market exclusion and deepens the socioeconomic and political vulnerability of women as a consequence.
In the third article entitled Setting an agenda for women entrepreneurship in Nigeria, and published in 2011, the discourse on women in a developing world context is moved from the margins of international obscurity by acknowledging the contributions of reputable academics from an emerging market context on a subject that has pervaded the global podium in recent years – i.e. women in management. Adopting a strictly qualitative stance – a narrative analysis of a single book on women written by “a woman of status” – Dr (Mrs) Faseke, a graduate of the University of Ibadan and one time Head of the Department of History at the Lagos State University (Nigeria). This paper acknowledges:
…the “silent voices” of African women, drawing upon a publication that was encountered purely by chance – Modupe Faseke’s “The Nigerian Woman,” published by Agape Publications (Ibadan, Nigeria) in 2001.
Fourth in the line-up is a co-authored article Broken silence: a commentary on women’s entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates, published in 2012, which draws upon the scant literature on women’s entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It explores the motivations of women business owners in the country based on 10 in-depth interviews. Considering the patriarchal socio-cultural environmental context associated with the Middle East, a number of surprising dynamics are highlighted in the specific case of the UAE.
Growing numbers of women graduates and businesses are observed, which suggests that the historical silence among this group is gradually being broken and that changes in government policies and the socio-cultural environment are the key drivers behind this evolution.
In the fifth article, this book chapter entitled Women entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa, published in 2014/ 2015, highlights the challenges of women business owners in SSA using in- depth interviews from four different countries. The primary aim of the chapter is to pinpoint shared challenges of women entrepreneurs and/ or business owners drawing upon their narratives and attributions. The chapter unpacks four critical dimensions impacting upon the similarities and/ or differences in experiences – notably:
The owner’s background (nationality, ethnicity, education, family etc.); prior motivations (why they chose to start- up); challenges (including start- up capital, government regulations, personal achievements), and plans for the future.
Sixth, and finally this full case study entitled Heaven Kigali-Knocking on Heaven’s Door, which published in a leading textbook, Strategic Marketing: Creating Competitive Advantage published by Oxford University Press in 2015 highlights the story of Heaven Restaurant & Bar, Kigali (capital city of Rwanda), owned and managed by an American woman who has been doing business in a foreign country since 2006 and navigating the “liability of foreignness”. The case was developed over a 6-month period (June-December 2012), on the back of personal observation and a prolonged in-depth interview with the Entrepreneur. Heaven first came to light as part of a CNN documentary with a focus on developments in Rwanda – dubbed Africa’s Singapore.
Given Rwanda’s tourism plan in its Vision 2020 commitment to improving hospitality and supporting tourism, the story of Heaven, provides an ideal contribution to the realities of doing business abroad and the attendant liability-of-foreignness usually attached to such enterprise.
In June 2017, I wrote and asked Amazon to come to Nigeria. I also made a video (below). The main postulation is this: Amazon has the capacity to become the postal service system in Nigeria that will connect rural and urban Nigeria at scale. Yes, Nigeria needs Amazon to help support its infrastructural development especially in the areas of logistics and transportation.
The rumour is that Amazon is coming to Nigeria. If that is true, that is a big deal. Amazon is more important to Nigeria than Google or Facebook. Why? Amazon has the capacity to unify rural and urban Nigeria through catalytic infrastructure. Nigeria began fading at scale when the postal system collapsed.
Today, there are two generations of Nigeria: those who witnessed a working postal system (and train system) and those who came when everything was gone. If Amazon comes and invests $billions – more than Nigeria’s national budget on logistics and transportation, and opens it to all farmers, shippers, etc via its fulfillment business model, it would be magical. (Sure, the neocolonialism vibes will rise; I get it.)
Read what I wrote in June 2017 when I was dreaming of the impact of Amazon coming to Nigeria, not just to sell cloud services, but run ecommerce operations.
Amazon today is a bank, lending to small companies that sell on its platform. It is also a transformation company with expertise in logistics in the air, sea, and road. With its networks of empires, anyone can live in the Amazon America, eating food from Whole Foods, watching moves from Amazon, reading on the Kindle, buying most things from Amazon. The list goes on. Its impact permeates industrial sectors and anyone it touches, it secures it as Napoleon Bonaparte did when it conquered nations in the 18th century.
From Business Insider leak, Amazon will launch in April 2023. With that, Jumia and Konga will see more competition. This remour differs from another one here which focuses on Amazon Web Services.
“Belgium’s marketplace, called Project Red Devil, is slated for late September 2022. The one in Colombia, dubbed Project Salsa, is scheduled for February 2023.
“South Africa, codenamed Project Fela, is also expected in February 2023. The marketplace in Nigeria is due to launch in April 2023. That project shares the codename Project Fela with South Africa,” it said.
“Chile is planned for April 2023, too. It shares the Project Salsa name with Colombia,” the report added.
All countries are planning to launch with their own marketplace and access to Amazon’s fulfillment service called Fulfillment by Amazon, one of the documents said.
For Amazon, expanding into more countries now makes sense. The company needs to generate more demand, as growth is slowing across the board following a two-year, pandemic-driven sales explosion. Amazon has been scaling back hiring, subleasing warehouse space, and limiting delivery network expansion this year in anticipation of a prolonged slowdown. Onboarding more sellers in new countries may help Amazon fill more of its warehouses, which are dealing with excess capacity after overbuilding facilities during COVID-19 lockdowns.
If this materializes, Amazon’s infrastructure can fix the marginal cost problems for many sellers. I expect Amazon to have an immediate impact as many people can begin selling online, connecting into the logistics apparatus Amazon would be expected to build. It is dropping $5 billion in the Indian market, a fraction of that will help on foundational logistics infrastructure that will help Nigeria. You can call that Nigeria ecommerce 2.0.
Opportunity for B2C Sector
The reason why ecommerce companies, especially those in B2C, struggle in Nigeria, is the huge marginal cost on distribution. If Amazon arrives and builds the foundational operating system for logistics, and allows everyone into it, Nigeria will begin the ecommerce 2.0 era. Sure, Amazon will “tax” Nigerian companies and people, but when you aggregate the impact, good things will happen.
Of course, how does it feel for a nation to put its hope on another conglomerate? Nigeria is waiting for Dangote Refinery to fix its currency by substituting the import of fuel. Now, Ndubuisi is hoping for Amazon to fix its ecommerce B2C market by providing logistics.
Do not blame me: this is being pragmatic. Nigeria’s ecommerce B2C market will not scale profitably until we have a postal system; Amazon has a chance to build a quasi-version. Yet, it is all rumour since Amazon did not confirm the leak! Nonetheless, I hope it comes; Nigeria needs those $billions.
Comment: making a case that Google is better for Africa. Google inc has been a great resource to us Africans in both resources and support. For internet savvies it is almost impossible to do anything online without Google and /or it’s product, Amazon inc confirms this superiority. Google has breached the gap of unemployment and providing substantial resource and support to Africans , of which many Nigerians have benefited and can attest to. Virtually everything we do currently on the internet space is directly or indirectly linked to Google. Business may not be recognized if not listed on Google, this include Sme’s and large scale Businesses. As the world has gone hybrid in execution of task and providing meaning service , Google remains the most vital resource to lean on. In comparison, Google is more like Microsoft which will always be a base for all computers in data synchronization, manipulation and analysis. As a beneficiary of Google bootcamp program, I was wowed with numerous Opportunities with Google inc. I am aswell familiar with Amazon inc and its service, but I cannot compare theirs as a better fit to GOOGLE.
My Response: Fair. Amazon will affect our agriculture in many ways if it can build logistical infrastructure. Agro commands 30% of our GDP. Agro employs 67% of workers in Nigeria. ICT is fine, we are here chatting, but its impact is marginal when compared to agro. If we improve our logistics, we can double food production.
That will help millions of people, not just a few with smartphones. Google is great but Amazon funds millions of vendors by giving them working capital loans provided they sell. What that means is that if you run a business on Amazon, it can use your sales projections to give you loans; no need to visit any bank. Check AWS which is #1 in Africa – more than 70% of leading startups in Nigeria are in AWS. Most of the things you noted are offered by AWS.
Comment: Prof, is this not an eye opener for Nigerian e-commerce & tech entrepreneurs like you to dare to take the plunge? With your clear-cut explanation of the market dynamics at play, one can see that a “business model” is already looming large in your head. Can’t we, Nigerian e-commerce/tech entrepreneurs, financiers and stakeholders like yourself aggregate your skills and network to deploy this business model/infrastructure and revolutionize our e-commerce logistics value chain? I know this sounds really fantastic compared to actual implementation, and I have nothing against FDIs, but do we keep waiting for foreigners to come discover and reap the hidden riches in our country?
My Response: ecommerce is not making fanciful websites. Ecommerce is buying aircrafts, vehicles, ports, etc to move goods and services. You need to build logistics, warehouses for fulfilment, etc and for that, you may need to spend the budget of Lagos state. I am not sure there is anyone with the heart of that in Nigeria. Amazon Logistics is bigger than FEDEX. You may see a website but behind are planes, vehicles, etc https://www.axios.com/2021/10/21/amazon-shipping-bigger-than-fedex. You need $billions for such; Amazon spends half of Nigeria’s annual budget (~ $16 billion) on those planes, vehicles… yearly.
Comment: I agree with Joachim Duru Google is more important than Amazon. We resource for ideas….. selling item without the concept of the operation is trash
My Response: More than 70% of startups and digital companies in Nigeria that are worthwhile are powered by Amazon AWS. From Paystack to Flutterwave to Tekedia.com, etc all live on Amazon. If you shut down Amazon, those shiny things will go. Amazon is not just selling things.
The government of Kenya, in partnership with Kodia Africa, has approved the introduction of a new syllabus for teaching coding in primary, and secondary schools. Children in Kenya will now have an opportunity to learn coding and computer programming in public schools after the government officially unveiled coding teaching content.
The new content will be implemented across primary and secondary schools in the country, under the Kenyan national digital master plan 2022-2032. It will be applied in conjunction with the ministry of education and ICT authority, through the Digital Literacy Program (DLP).
Speaking at the launch of Kodris Africa, the Minister of ICT, Innovation and youth affairs, Mr. Joe Mucheru lauded the initiative which he described as a game-changer that would enable schools to produce future coding experts.
In his words, “This is a great day for the country, especially for our children who will now have the opportunity to learn coding and computer programming at an early age. The world is changing and everyone is going digital, and Kenya will not want to be left behind as the globe goes digital”.
The ministry of ICT also unveiled a new government-driven digital skills training which is aimed at equipping 20 million Kenyans with relevant digital skills to enable citizens to operate effectively under the digital economy.
This is a very laudable move from the government of Kenya, for introducing coding into the syllabus of primary and secondary schools in their country. From smart and connected devices, to AI-powered apps, a lot has happened and is still happening in the world of technology.
As a result of these disruptions, several new careers are being generated, as well as many existing job profiles are being redefined. Coding is no doubt one of the top skills in the world today, which the present and future generations need to acquire, to enable young pupils and students develop problem-solving abilities, such as solving a problem rationally and imaginatively.
With the recent technological advancements in the world today, it is important for schools to include different tech skills in their syllabus to enable these young ones learn them from an early age, which will be a very big advantage unlike when it is learned at an advanced age.
Kenya has already taken the lead over other African countries to include a tech skill (coding) in its syllabus. This will no doubt propel the country forward and give them a competitive edge in today’s digital world. Kenya is doing everything possible not to be left behind as the globe goes digital, which is very commendable.
Following the rate of unemployment which is common among the youths, especially in most African countries, including any of the tech skills into their school syllabus will better their employment chance and also enable them to create jobs for themselves.
Unfortunately, Nigeria fondly called the “Giant of Africa” continues to teach its school pupils and students with an obsolete syllabus. Most of what is being taught in primary and secondary schools has no relevance in today’s world.
Even though the country has the largest number of tech start-ups, the government of Nigeria is not seizing the opportunity to develop talents from schools at all levels. The country is always comfortable with playing catch up with any technological advancement.
The world is gradually drifting to a place where to actively compete, countries must be digitally inclined. Therefore, the Nigerian government must see the need to include these high in-demand tech skills in its school syllabus, so that the country will not be left behind as the world goes digital.
Also, doing so will allow the school pupils and students to choose from a vast career options such as programmers, coders, Data Analyst, Cybersecurity Expert, etc, unlike the old syllabus that is conventional which forces these children to choose from limited career options which will no doubt negatively affect them in the future.
Time is ticking, the future is gradually going digital. The best time for countries in Africa to create a coding curriculum in schools was yesterday, the second-best time is now.
