Business in Nigeria.

Now I know where your mind just flashed to, I know all the bad news and negative publicity that has trailed this country for as long as we can remember. Turn on the CNN, BBC, and all other major news service providers and the story is the same. Corruption, violence, oil region kidnappings, strikes, disease, extreme poverty, and advanced free fraud aka '419'. This is where Nigerians are well remembered.

Honestly,I do not know if these news hounds are all waiting and praying for something bad to happen here so they will rush off and announce immediately. Its not as if I totally blame them, the country itself, sometimes acts in ways that seem to suggest serious policy somersault, political recklessness and acute shortsightedness. What I had argued about is balance. Yes, there should be some form of balance in the way news about this country is reported.

There are a lot of good things happening in Nigeria which seems to be swept under the carpet most times. It started mildly when the military lost power to civilians in 1999. The then president, Olusegun Obasanjo who took over from General Sanni Abacha (late), initiated and implemented a lot of changes in the political and social life of the people. Some notable sons and daughters of Nigeria were begged to come back and take up positions in the economic sector.

Notable among these, are great names like Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and a host of others who came back here, stood their grounds and implemented a lot of changes in the economy. It is no longer news the successes recorded in the banking consolidation initiated and implemented by Prof. Soludo from 1994 to 1996. He has since gone on to win several national, regional and international awards from all corners of the world. This and many other govt. policies has started to yield the desired goals as the economy is starting to stir, after a long, deep slumber.

Some light could now be seen at the end of the dark tunnel. Things are now starting to look up, and companies that closed down many years ago are now opening their doors for business. With more money in their coffers from the re consolidation exercise, banks could now lend money to both new and existing businesses. The insurance sector of the economy is also witnessing some injection of life as more life is being breathed into their operations through good policies meant to straighten them.

The country's stock market is racing up, breaking all known records, and offering a very good alternative to keeping money in the banks. All market indices are setting new records daily. The Nigerian stock exchange returned almost above 80% to investors in 2007; good times are here again! Investment culture is growing here. There is an emergence of a new middle class. As wealth begins to circulate, we expect to see increased consumer spending, which will provide the much needed boost for manufacturers of goods and services.

Cost of doing business is another aspect the government is looking into. There is this attempt to build and maintain quality infrastructure as a support to businesses. Roads, bridges, power, and security is starting to receive attention. The public power supply is very erratic at best. The police is now being retrained for crime fighting.

Come and invest in Nigeria, the country welcomes you.