FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
LAND (NATURAL&MINERAL RESOURCES): In terms of land mass Africa is the second largest continent in the world. In terms of natural resources Africa is the most endowed continent in the world. As a matter of fact 40 per cent of the world's natural resources are in Africa; And Africa is said to be peopled by 10 per cent of the entire world population by mass. This infers that other 90 per cent of the world's population holds 60 per cent of the world's natural and mineral resources. Thus Africa, which is only 10 per cent of the world population, is left with an ample 40 per cent of the world's natural and mineral resources. Though located within such an immense endowment, Africa is considered the poorest continent in the world. We live in a country that is one of the most richly endowed in terms of natural and mineral resources in Africa, which in turn is the most richly endowed continent in the world. However, this country belongs to the region that is considered to be the poorest region in the whole wide world! I'm talking of a country where 70.2 per cent of her entire population lives below the poverty line (subsisting on less than 2 dollars a day). There are said to be three kinds of poverty - moderate poverty, relative poverty and abject poverty (Extreme poverty). 50 per cent of Africa's population is exposed to this third kind of poverty; I mean extreme poverty in which victims survive on less than a dollar per day. Someone has renamed this kind of poverty as “The poverty that killeth!” This Africa's enigma has made me to begin to ask the question; how is it that the 'most endowed' continent in the world could still be languishing in poverty? With our voracious and indiscriminate appetite for the truth that will bring about reformation for a new Africa, we have come to the realisation that the problem of Africa is not just in what she has (mineral & natural resources), that are being mismanaged by her leaders; it is rather in what she has (mind resource) but would not appreciate or consider as a great resource.
Singapore is a great example of the above statement. About 50 years ago, Singapore was a very poor country, until she decided as a nation to move from being a third world (developing country) country into a first world (developed country) country in just 30 years. And yet Singapore had no gold, no oil, no mineral resources, no land for agriculture. Singapore for instance can fit into Victoria Island which is a city in Lagos, Nigeria and yet Singapore has almost more money than Africa as a continent.
The problem of Africa is not about what she has got (mineral resource) or about what she has discovered that is being mismanaged by her leaders. It is rather about something else she has got (mind or mental resources), but would not consider a greater resource to that which she assumes to be the only resource.
LABOUR (HUMAN CAPITAL): Africa has a population of over eight hundred million people, yet she has an equivalent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with Belgium a country of 11million people. Are we going to assume that the 11million are working harder than 800 million people? Definitely, not. An American research institute that conducted a study in Nigeria for about a decade reached a conclusion that 8 of every 10 Nigerian have 75% hard working rate. How then can a nation with a population of 11million people have an equivalent GDP with a continent of over eight hundred million people? The truth of the matter is that most Africans are simply working hard and not smart.
Do not get us wrong, we are not disparaging the place of hard work. Hard work is important, for no success is possible without it. But what we are saying is that smart work must greatly precede hard work. Notice the difference between a great nation and poor nation: Whilst a great nation works smart, the poor nation is working hard. Working smart is with the mind, while working hard is with the muscles.
For example, have you discovered that body guards (or bouncers) are most times bigger than those they guard? This is a sure proof that it is not in the muscle but in the mind. Hard work places premium value on the muscles, while smart work does the same on the mind. Putting it another way, hard work equals activity; smart work productivity. It is amazing how you can be active and never be productive. You can be efficient and not effective. Moreover, only the productive are said to be active.
It will shock you to know that the wealth of the first three richest people in the world is greater thanthe income of Africa. We assume we all know that these men are not working harder than the entire populace of Africa, they are rather working smart. Also, Nigeria's 2020 vision is to be among the world's best 20 economies, which is the current position of Belgium with a GDP of 250 billion dollars. About 50 per cent of Nigerian's populations earn their living from farming, yet they can't produce more than enough for the country. Only 3 per cent of American citizens are farmers yet they produce more than enough food for themselves, export food to other nations and even give food freely to other nations. This implies that farming goes beyond using cutlasses and hoes (activities).
CAPITAL (MACHINES AND TOOLS): It is no longer news in this part of our world to hear about infrastructural dilapidation. Nigeria is the world's 6th largest producer of crude oil, and also the 7th largest exporter of crude oil. She supplies America, China, Japan, and Europe. Yet none of her refineries is functional. As a result of Nigeria not being able to refine her ample crude oil, she buys a gallon of gas for 270 Naira, whereas in Venezuela, the same gallon of gas sells for an equivalent of 8 Naira. You then find out that somewhere in between, we are being charged about 3200% interest rate or tax on our gas price. In the space of five years instead of progressing on electrical power supply, we rather regressed from the initial supply of 3000 megawatts. Over 300 million people have no access to clean water. In the year 2000, America was rated with Africa in an extensive research. It was found out that chronologically, America was at the same level with Africa, but developmentally, Africa was 250 years behind America. I think the gulf should give every true African a wake-up call!
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (Entrepreneurship).
In the year 2001 it was reviewed that over 60 million Nigerians were without employment. Later around 2006, another report also reviewed that about 10 million Nigerian graduates were unemployed. About 10,000 bankers and other workers joined the pool of 10 million Nigerians that had already been unemployed as at March 2009, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics. Recently, it was also said that more than 40 million youths are unemployed. As a result of the unemployment rate, about 13,000 Nigerians with PhDs, master's and bachelor degrees in various disciplines have applied to be drivers in Dangote Group. This caught our attention. And I believe to solve any problem we must know the source of that problem. Knowing the source of a problem is 90% solution to a problem.
For instance, if the tap that supplies water to your kitchen was leaking and you didn't know before you left for the day's work, on returning you saw the kitchen flooded with water, it would be a wrong approach to start out mopping the floor because you will keep mopping for a very long time. You should first find the point of leakage and fix it before you start mopping.
One of the sources of unemployment in Nigeria is the lack of entrepreneurship development as a subject in the educational system and the lack of quality entrepreneurs. Our school system is just training our students to go to school, graduate and get a job. And because of the lack of entrepreneurship development training in our school system, in our estimate, less than 10 % of the Nigerian graduates can draft a winning business plan let alone develop a technological solution that can advance our society. Those who get professionals to write business plans for them are not able to explain or defend it before their investors.
The dilemma today is that we have a lot of people who want to be employed but very few companies that can employ them. And a very great number of our graduates who want to be employed are not employable. It is one thing to be unemployed, but another thing to be employable. The benefit of entrepreneurship in any nation is that they reduce the rate of unemployment and provide job.
In the year 1992 before the death of Sam Walton the one time world's richest man and founder of Wal Mart, one of the world's biggest chain store, it was revealed that Wal Mart had 523,000 employees. By the year 2012 the Employee Record of Wal Mart had reached 2.2 million, which made Wal Mart the highest employer of labour. This piece of information gets me thinking that if Nigeria can raise 10 entrepreneurs like Sam Walton that will give us 22 million employment opportunities, then the 10 million who were said to be without employment would be employed and there would still be 12 million jobs openings available. So we need an educational system to make the subject of entrepreneurship a top priority.
INFORMATION (KNOWLEDGE): Information is often the difference between failure and success. During the Hiroshima war, the Americans used high tech bombs on the Japanese that made the land of the Japanese unproductive agriculturally. Many years later the emperor of Japan realised that the knowledge base which the Japanese were operating on has been out dated. This made him send some Japanese to Europe to acquire new knowledge. I was told of a Japanese professor who had to serve as a steward of one of the greatest physicists of Europe. Whenever the European physicist was in his laboratory, his Japanese steward was always nosing about collecting information. This continued for years until the Japanese steward returned to his country. 5 years after he got to Japan he was sent to represent his country at a symposium held in Europe. During the symposium his former master who was one of the greatest physicists in Europe saw him and was forced to ask him how come he succeeded so fast to the point of representing his country Japan. He replied, “I was already a physicist when I was with you”. His reply shocked the European physicist. He further asked, “Why then did you come?” Then he said, “I was sent to come and learn how you do what you do”.
Most of us travel to Europe and America, and yet we come back with clothes, refrigerators, sound systems, cars etc. Many often come back without the technology that produces these things. We are aware that no nation or people can succeed, without productivity. And we know that productivity is made possible by information. For us as a nation to reach our destiny, we must place appropriate value on information. A nation cannot rise above what she knows. For a nation to be more they have to know more. And to know and not to do is not to know, says Stephen Covey.
It is the information that was at the disposal of the Japanese that has made them the most innovative country in the world. The reason being that the information they gathered from around the world formed what I call knowledge synergism (when the right information comes in contact with the mind, inspiration, creativity, intuition, inventions, innovative ability and vision will emerge and make you a better person). Always stay hooked-up as I will be constantly taking you on a practical entrepreneurial journey of businesses you can start with little or no money.
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