“Much has been made recently of recent high profile roll outs in Africa as new ‘Continental HQs’ and how Nigeria, the highest country by GDP on the continent by some margin, has lost out. The first was the high profile loss of Twitter to Ghana, and now just announced, the loss of Amazon to South Africa. Does this mean the slide in global thinking is running away from Nigeria and it’s apex position as the ‘obvious go-to’ is no longer assumed?”
John Mc Keown begins with those lines on a piece examining the state of Nigeria, trying to answer if that “dominance” connotation is real or ofeke. Personally, I do not think it matters: Nigeria remains the king because we wear the biggest suits and shout loudest even though South Africa budgets close to $100 billion more, despite having less than 30% of our population.
Nigeria is dominant and that position is unchallenged despite the paralysis. If Lagos is a country, it would have all these HQs by itself. But Nigeria diminishes it! Twitter is not a big deal; its products are not that catalytic. I am waiting for who will host Intel, AMD, Nvidia, etc design centers in Africa! We need more than sales offices.
I do not know what they do in Amsterdam except that they have a good airport. But last I checked, I am not aware of anything pioneering Amsterdam has given the world in the last 50 years except helping companies to hide taxes! So, when that region said it would not accept “African bachelor’s degree” for its yeye master’s degree, I laughed. Let me tell Amsterdam Business School, the world has moved on.
The School of Business in Amsterdam University, Netherlands, has come under criticism for “devaluing” bachelor degrees from Africa, apart from South Africa and Ghana.
The school recently said a Bachelor’s degree from an African country “is not enough to secure admissions for its Master’s degree programme”.
For eligibility, applicants with an African bachelor’s degree (except for South-Africa and Ghana) will need a bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in the field of economics and business, an information on its web page read.
“Information for students with an African bachelor’s degree. An African bachelor’s degree is generally the equivalent of 2 years of academic education in the Netherlands.”
One of my four PhD thesis co-advisors in Johns Hopkins University, Prof Jim West (happy 90th birthday Prof), did not finish any college. Yes, he has no degree but without him, there may not be a smartphone because he invented the core element used in the microphone of modern smartphones. There are many like him in top US universities; they have no degrees but they graduate PhDs!
ABS – the world has moved beyond papers; find a better way to evaluate students. Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, etc admit dozens of Nigerian students yearly, and to think those students are not qualified to attend your school simply means you have lost your mission.
“I would be hesitant to comment on the individual strategy of a particular university. “ – unfortunately, it has no strategy. It wants to admit a continent instead of a student. This age is about evaluating people, and not a continent. ABS is not evaluating the students but the continent from a myopic angle. To tell a University of Ibadan First Class grad who typically will have Oxford scholarship that he cannot apply to ABS is pure lack of awareness for ABS. There are international tests, use them and select the best.
We serve as mechanics of business systems (yes, we work on businesses), helping people and organizations make sense of business. We have more than 140 eminent faculty members from some of the finest local and global institutions. We transform the minds of men and women, and accelerate business leadership ascent. We do this by co-learning and co-sharing with our members.
I invite you to register for the next edition of Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA which begins on June 7 to end Sept 1. It is online, self-paced, and costs $140 (or N50,000 naira). Thrice weekly (Tue, Thur and Sat), we will be together on Zoom co-learning; all sessions recorded.
It is now the Business Execution Phase at Tekedia Mini-MBA as we move closer to the end of this edition. Yes, we want to master how to sell things. We want to become growth makers and rainmakers! And for the Tekedia Live, we are bringing the Dean of Sales.
He knows sales in Africa. He knows the mechanics and pillars of sales excellence. He has written about them and taught them in leading companies in Africa, and beyond. Banks know him, MNCs always have him, and startups follow his philosophy: build quality contacts, connect, and sell at scale. He wrote the book – The Critical Pillars of Sales Excellence: How to Prospect, Sell and Win Customers.
Ferdinand Ibezim, a Tekedia Institute Faculty, will anchor Tekedia Live on Thursday.
Thur, April 29 |7pm – 8pm WAT | The Art of Sales Excellence – Ferdinand Ibezim, CEO, Selling Skills Support Services | Zoom Link
Innovators and growth champions, you need to attend to master the physics of sales; you would be sold to start selling! When salesmen deliver sales classes, markets move.
Registration for the next edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA which begins June 7 continues here.
Mr. President, this is your moment for leadership. Step forward and save your nation from ruins. From the east to the west, north to south, and beyond, fractures are emerging. Kaduna is more than a city – it is the political capital of our nation’s northern part. If you allow Kaduna to fade, an irreversible chain reaction will follow.
I have a recommendation for you – call an Option A4 Sovereign National Conference where from ward to local government to state to geopolitical zone, Nigerians will come together to talk. Wards send leaders to LGAs, and LGAs send to states, etc until we get to the national level.
When everyone is a victim, solutions could come by getting them together to talk. Get the country together – and I suggest you hold a press conference and speak by yourself.
Talk to Owerri, talk to Ekiti, talk to Kaduna, talk to Jos…now is the moment for the chronicles of history! I will always wish you good luck for the good of the nation. This is the 1am call which only presidents answer. Nigeria has called – please answer.
