If you are reading this post, chances are you might be on the wrong platform. Perhaps this content isn’t really for you. Most of us opened accounts on almost all social media platforms during the rave of social media, and a lot of us are still very active on all platforms. Before I teach you exactly on the right way to use social media, I will first inform you that time is actually money or most times proportional to money. So if you spend 5 minutes reading this article and it doesn’t in any way add value to you now or in the future, chances are, you have wasted five minutes of your time.

Here’s the point, social media platform were built with different goals in mind, different target audiences and even have different algorithms. This post concerns you because it can help either you as a personal brand or your business. I have had to give free advice to people on the right way to use social media and either get value from it, or make money from it. One of the persons whom I gave tips on how to benefit from social media was a photographer; he had very few clients and also had less engagements. These were the tips I gave him: –

What Exactly is Your Goal for Using Social Media?

I bet a lot of young folks just open a social media account with no specific goal. If you find yourself in such shoes, then you need to have it thought out and here’s a simple way to easily know why you should be on a social media platform: Two different people can strive to become world class engineers for different reasons. One can choose to be a world class engineer with the intention of making millions of dollars while the second wants to be a world class engineer with the intention of saving the world through engineering. 

Now, while each individually aims to be a world class engineer, they will have different approaches to achieve those. To help you know exactly what to do on social media, I will list out some of the benefits of social media:

• To build connection
• To create a niche and build influence
• To make money
• To spread ideas
• To stay happy
• To be updated
• To get a job

There are lots of other benefits of social media; however, most of these few points have covered a wide range of what we have in our subconscious when creating social media account even though some folks cannot really pinpoint what exactly is their goal for using social media. Now that you have identified what exactly you want to do on social media, the next thing is to know the approach to take in achieving these.

Know Which Social Media Platform Works for Your Skill and Type

Pay attention! there’s this feeling that we all can build influence on Facebook as well as Instagram almost immediately. While it’s true that you can build influence on Facebook, you need to know if Facebook is the best platform to build on. If you are a photographer, your contents are mostly photos and videos, then Instagram should be where you build your personality or brand. 

I will like to point it out to you that having lots of engagement on your contents will not translate to conversion if you are not on the right platform.

I used to write some very good contents on business strategy and all on Facebook. However, I discovered that I got no clients despite the fact that lots of people liked my posts. Two things were wrong. The first was that I did not pay attention to the platform I used. Was Facebook the right platform to use? Well, yes! Although I didn’t consider that. The second mistake I made was that I thought my content was for everyone because they liked my posts. Not until I decided to seek for communities that were related to what I was into.

Be Consistent 

All social media platforms have their different algorithms. However, there’s a similar algorithm which is that the more you have your contents out, the more visibility you get. It might not be about posting to your wall, it might be about commenting strategically on some specific posts to get attention. A lot of people do not know the trick of strategic commenting and it is a very good way to get more visibility, connections and attention. 

Here’s how it works. If you have figured out which platform works best for you; LinkedIn for professionals, Instagram for photos and video contents, Twitter for trends and updates, etc, you can execute your plan.. If you are just starting, then you need to be active on niches you belong to give reasonable comments to posts on handles or pages that have lots of followers or audience. This works best if you are very vast in insights in such a niche.

If you can put all these into consideration, you will be able to achieve a lot on social media as opposed to wasting time on social media.

In 1958, the Chinese Government led by Mao Zendong ordered the killing of all Sparrows because they were eating from crops. As the killing started and Sparrows were nearly driven to extinction in China, there was a sudden surge in the number of locusts, and crops were devastated.

Nigeria is playing the Mao Zendong game, killing the Sparrows keeping our crops because of the little they are eating. Sooner or later there will be locusts invasion, and without the Sparrows, crops will be devastated.

The number of banned imported goods and services in Nigeria is rising daily at an alarming rate. From household items to wears, drugs and machines. The only explanation rendered each time there is such a ban or restriction of forex access to certain product or service is: “we need to encourage local production.”

In July, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that milk has been added to the ever increasing list of banned or restricted items, the reaction of most Nigerians to the news was of criticism. Not because they don’t want local production of consumable goods, but because time has taught them that it’s a ‘window dressing’ that the masses will pay for however. Although the CBN issued a clarification statement saying that milk was not banned, in fact, the CBN has no such powers to ban milk. Nigerians know better.

Since 2015, the CBN has systematically brought the entire forex market under its control. This means that any item that is restricted from the ‘forex import access’ is as good as banned. It’s based on this knowledge that Nigerians are protesting the decision citing several other banned or restricted items that have not yield anything but economic hardship and consequently, hunger.

So far, there have been 43 items on the list of commodities restricted from accessing the Nigerian Foreign Exchange. The latest on the list, milk, speaks with voluminous concern. (Banned items count in hundreds) Although the Government has been partnering with local producers to encourage backward integration and conserve foreign exchange, only one company, frieslandCampina WAMCO has been able to implement its pilot Dairy Development Programme (DDP) across 90 communities in the South West.

There are other Farmers in the DDP programme, but they all have been able to contribute only 24, 045 litres of milk daily. A situation the Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, attributed to wrong cow breed and open grazing. He said that an average cow in Nigeria produces less than a liter of milk per day, whereas in other countries, milk cows produce 100 liters per day. He explained that the movement of cows from one place to the other is minimizing their production capabilities.

So it is apparent that the backward integration policy of the CBN is not going to yield good results anytime soon. Although it is a ten year programme, the indices are showing that it may take longer than that to materialize. And that means, the timing of the ban on milk importation is wrong. The Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, captured it well when he said that the CBN shouldn’t use Monetary Policy to address fiscal issues when the environment is not conducive for businesses. He stated:

“The starting point is to strengthen the capacity of domestic industries, enhance their competitiveness, and reduce their import dependence rather than using the same approach for all industries. The CBN’s approach is also affecting investments in the country. Farming is not the responsibility of the companies.”

Mr. Yusuf stated what many Nigerians already know. These bans and restrictions are doing more than killing competitiveness which is the backbone of any thriving economy. The CBN, through this policy is forcing milk producing companies to go into farming which is not their field. Raw milk production comes from Ranches, so it’s Farmers and Herders job. The processing companies should only collect the raw produce and process them for consumption. But when there is little raw milk to collect, and there is none coming from other countries due to the import restrictions, the demand gap widens, and the Nigerian people are at the receiving end.

The decision of the CBN to restrict forex access for milk importation has been widely criticized. Dr. kunle Hamilton, the Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Consulting Uk and a Consultant to a dairy multinational, described it as “using politics to make economic decisions.” He said:

“We need to consider that the manufacturers have always supported the decision to backwardly integrate, and that is why our members are exploring local sourcing of raw materials. However, stakeholders have to agree on the right step to take. The effects of such a decision need to be considered to ensure that artificial scarcity does not occur due to the inability to meet local demands.” He added

“There should be the right mix of measures and the right timing. There should be fair hearing from the stakeholders. The CBN should not carry out the action without adequately carrying manufacturers along.”

Unfortunately, the CBN didn’t do any of the above. However you look at it, it seems more reckless and political than economic. Not even the encouragement by the Apex Bank through soft loans can fill the loopholes. It’s a good economic intention aimed wrongly. Although the CBN claimed that the $1.2 billion being spent annually on milk importation is no longer sustainable, it’s just a minor fraction compared to oil. In the first 8 months of 2018, Nigeria spent N395 billion on fuel subsidy alone, and there is no discussion or policy in place to ban or restrict the forex for fuel importation just to encourage local production of oil.

The Dangote Factor

In 2017, the African richest man, Aliko Dangote, disclosed his intention to invest in milk production in Nigeria through the breed of 50, 000 cows. The plan was muted until two days ago when he announced his readiness to invest N288 billion in dairy products for the next three years. His aim is to produce 500 million liters of milk per year.

The news triggered scorning reaction from Nigerians. Many said it couldn’t have been a coincidence that the CBN is announcing the restriction on milk at the same time that Dangote is announcing his readiness to pump money into dairy production. Since 1999, Aliko Dangote has enjoyed monopoly from successive Governments in Nigeria. Stripping licenses off competitor importers or banning the importation of any goods that he is producing.

The N288 billion is a great deal of investment in dairy, but history has shown that monopoly is the bane of good economy. The monopolized treatment that Dangote has been enjoying has eliminated competition and made the cost of his products in Nigeria higher than other countries.

Economies don’t thrive by banning the importation of everything they produce. Economies don’t thrive by the elimination of competition through monopoly. The businesses that Nigeria is killing through her banning policy are the supporting pillars of the economy.

So before we kill all the Sparrows, let’s remember that there will be locusts.

When policies, schemes, articles, or papers  examine the adoption of renewable natural resources, for instance in the energy and power sectors, emphasis is laid mostly on its environmental or the macro-economic benefits. But consider: does the average human being wake up in the morning thinking about climate change or what new jobs will be created before he/she makes the buying decision of either a KJV generator or a solar kit?

The discontinuous availability of renewable natural resources, besides the relative high cost compared to their non-renewable alternatives, is one of the reasons for its limited adoption. Consumers favour non-renewable natural resources for the twin reason that they are dependable and cost-efficient. Hence, substituting renewables for non-renewables would need a recognition of these two elements. But the critical questions to ask are: how easily can this substitution happen? Are we prepared to finance the required growth of this reproducible capital by trading off short-term economic gains? What investment choices should be considered in promoting its sustainable use? 

First, we need to recognize the sustainability factor that the substitution of renewable natural resource source must happen but not at the expense of per-capita consumption today. This explains why some high-cost renewable energy projects have unintended consequences on the poor: the government blends the full cost for the renewable resource into market prices thus reducing purchasing power of consumers, or subsidies are given to consumers which reduces government’s revenue and subsequently expenditure in critical areas of the economy that benefit mostly the poor. Therefore, there needs to be a safety net in place. Secondly, another recognition needs to be given to the population factor as it affects the sustainability of renewable natural resources. For the per-capita consumption not to decrease as population increases, the non-exhaustible, non-depreciative factor of production for renewable technologies—knowledge—must increase at a faster rate. Put differently, human capital development is a sine qua non for sustainable renewable natural resource development. 

For ease of substitution of extractive resources with renewable natural resources, rural areas are the best target location at the moment. This is true not only because they have excess renewable natural resources, they also have the space which urban centres do not have. Also is because it is the best test for the sustainability element highlighted in the previous paragraphs, since rural areas are categorized by low-income households. And as is with most interventions in rural areas, the support of intermediate institutions with presence in these communities and the involvement of a large number of stakeholders is needed for putting this to work. For instance, local tertiary education institutions whose aim seek to provide alternative frameworks for rural development could be recruited as development partners in providing the human capital resource for the project, giving the faculties the opportunity for self-learning that is deep enough to spark interest into embarking on a similar development research project, whilst also increasing the share of local skills and expertise that benefit from the project. This would be particularly easy in Nigeria, now that some Nigerian universities are going off the national power grid to power themselves using renewable energy sources like solar. Definitive stakeholders like the government need not set overambitious targets that may lead to misallocation of scarce resources that do not bear any measurable impact on the economy.

For example, concession on investment in renewable natural resources is only beneficial if it is applicable to (in terms of innovation) relatively stable or mature renewable technologies that are less susceptible to innovation. Disruptive technologies come with marginal costs of transaction and distribution which inadvertently increases the overall cost of energy, thus reducing its social acceptance. Instead, the role of the government, I posit, is to throw in all the support it can towards these national and state educational institutions for research and development (R&D) benefits. Once a renewable natural resource utility model has been produced or can be replicated, they do not need to worry about the commercialization of the product or service, as investors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to make money would aggregate and inadvertently set up the structure required to scale the product or service.

A sustainable financing of the use of renewable natural resource is one of, if not, the biggest obstacle to its adoption because you want to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and vice versa. Particularly for resource-extraction countries, I would suggest, from the Hartwick Rule of Weak Sustainability, that the net revenue from resource extraction be entirely invested into the development of renewable resource technologies than used for consumption purposes. But taking into account monolithic African economies who depend almost entirely on extraction resources for their national revenue, I would revise this and advise, instead, that at least the excess of the expected revenue from resource extraction be entirely invested into the development of renewable resource technologies. Norway is one of a few energy-exporting countries that have benefited immensely from this rule: starting in 1990 to set aside its revenue from oil & gas sales into the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, it grew its assets in the Fund to $1.09 trillion in July 2019, delivering the strongest ever return of 9.1% in first quarter 2019, crediting only the returns on the investment to the public purse till today.

If African economies applied the same, we would not just have funding for development of renewable technologies, we would also have grown our capital markets to a size large enough to compete well in global capital markets for investment opportunities [in renewable natural resources]. It is unfortunate to know some African businesses in Africa are valued more than others with higher asset base in the same continent just because they were listed on stock exchanges outside Africa. If we properly account for the accompaniment of other long-term benefits—like the potential for critical areas of the economy like education, healthcare, infrastructure—to develop because of this policy option, we may be able to surmount what political pressures may come our way.

To promote the sustainable use of renewable natural resources, the local economic benefits to the consumers need to be embedded in the inclusion or substitution strategy. I am currently serving as a research intern in the Social Performance department of a player in the upstream oil and gas industry in Nigeria, and one of my experiences here teaches me that managing the expectations of host communities is critical to the success of the business even though their expectation singly considered does not interfere with the operations of the business. Perhaps a peculiar case, it is not without a learning which is that consumers want to know what is in it for them before the whys—what the national or international policies has to say. Put differently, a demand needs to be met—and if it is not present, needs to be created in the consumers and met—otherwise the common incentive-driven approach towards specialization in renewable resources technologies may just be the only reason why the current deployment levels are where they are.

An approach could be integrating the deployment of renewable natural resource technologies with financial services. There is an opportunity here for telecommunication companies in Nigeria to leverage the existing policy by Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria, to allow telecom companies to offer banking services. For instance, in the recent wave of the award of a financial services license to a subsidiary of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, a partnership between the giant telecom company and companies deploying solar technologies could be modelled such that the lower of consumption amount and generation-consumption differential amount is converted to mobile money for the benefit of energy consumers. The money could be used for service requests like maintenance and repairs or for reducing the debt or cost of acquiring the technology, thus making the technology cheaper to sell. And if the renewable resource is dependable, like relatively mature technology like biomass energy, then, for rural areas, one can concentrate first on fully meeting the needs of the community before connecting to a grid for additional revenue stream. 

Finally, forward and backward integration of renewable natural resources with various sectors of the economy instead of the old approach of deploying only to the agriculture sector should be developed. While it may be difficult to assess the socio-economic impact of the renewable natural resources in clear terms, one or two variables in many of such linkages may satisfy that requirement. But one thing is clear: Africa has bright minds who would give deep introspection about these complexities. Acknowledging the human capacity [think-tank] of Africa is the first step towards the success of any development project in Africa.