There Are Three Investment Rating For Nigeria By Farouk Martins Aresa Investment ratings are the best way to attract money to a Country, a project, or a cause. The way to grow out of poverty is through substantive investment, not promises. In an environment of relative peace and secured life, we may fit into these three investments: Paris Club ratings, Niger Delta Club ratings and Western Union Money transfer ratings.
Each of these generates foreign
capitals, hard currency as we call it in
The best rating to attract
business from another country or other parts of
It was a few years ago they were
holding Ghana as the postal Country and Rawlings actually bragged about
how far they had come only to find out that Ghana sold off its jewels in
return for nothing but apologies about World Bank wrong policies in the
developing Countries. Only those with extra cash or discretionary
income, looted funds and money to blow would dare try this type of B
rating investment portfolio even in Paris Club countries.
Do not be fooled. Most people stay
away from risky junk bonds and third world countries because of
uncontrolled crime rate, unstable government, and endemic corrupt
practices. In the case of
When Nuhu Ribadu was once asked if
he feared for his life, he said anyone living in
What bothers me is the amount of
effort that went into getting these ratings. We have to pay $13 billions
plus commission of about $100.000.00 a month to foreign technical
experts to help us navigate our way. We also have to sing, dance and
wine them into favor. By the end of this wahala or rub my back I will
rub your back, how much will flow into
Anyone who could get international
television stations must have seen the wheeling and dealing between
businesses and rating companies displayed during testimony at the US
Congress. Even when they know some of these companies were liquidating,
they were rated high in return for benefits and inside trading.
I have worked with some of the
experts in
However, our biggest and surest
source of investment, Delta, gets no respect. Trillions of dollars that
can never be made anywhere else has been made from that area. In order
to get good ratings from Niger Delta Club, you would expect that we
would sing, wine and dine our relatives there. Can they manage their 50%
demand any worse than
The third rating is from Nigerians
performing all kinds of tasks to send money back home through
All of us can not start a
business, but we can still contribute in our own way. I had the
opportunity to work with Dr. Adeniyi-Jones after he left international
organizations. All he asked for was a small office space at UNICEF
Marina,
Many Nigerians will certainly
qualify as small business persons that create more jobs all over the
world these days than the big corporations that are20downsizing. Small
business can turn as big as Microsoft, Federal Express, Google, KF
Chicken, Ebony did in the
If you have sent money home
recently to buy a land, start a foundation, send school fees, start a
trade for a brother or sister, you are one of them. Others have gone
further by opening repair shops, restaurants, stores, buy okada and taxi
for a relative. The multiplier effects of each and every one of these
are creation of jobs for some one who would buy and sell. It has now
been estimated that the amount of money sent back home is more than all
the foreign aids we get from Paris Club countries. Many developing
countries can not survive without these transmittals. Where are their
investment ratings?
You may have heard about trade
fairs in
The amount of money we spend to
attract business must not be more than the businesses attracted.
One of the presidential candidates
during the 1999 election promised to give loan/grants to those graduates
who wanted to start businesses. Even if one third of them were
successful, they would employ more people than all their colleagues plus
many high school graduates. These are incentive that multiplies many
times over.
Nigerians have to realize that it
is not the money generated from the oil alone that will lift us out of
poverty but what we do with our brains to invest in ourselves and trade
with fellow Africans. It is only then that we can break world trade
barriers.
I do not want to pretend that all
these are easy; there are difficulties and road blocks on the way. I
have stories about people sending money home only to become failed
contracts. Some will not sell the products you bring until you leave.
Even mothers would give your money to your siblings promising to pay you
back if you complained too much.
Of course we have to trade with
foreign companies and multinational corporations.
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