grioo.com

[Pakira]

Nigeria to become economic power by 2020 –Obasanjo

By Lekan Sanni, Assistant News Editor

President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said Nigeria would be one of the 20 economic powers in the world by the year 2020, even as he canvassed support for the on going economic reforms of his administration.



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Obasanjo, who was represented by Minister of Commerce, Idris Waziri, at the opening ceremony of the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, said the Nigerian economy is making steady progress with the restoration of the confidence of the international community.

He described the debt relief recently secured from the Paris Club as the second independence for the country.

Canvassing support for his economic reforms, he said when he was handing over power in 1979, Nigeria was 49th on the world economic ladder, while the country had slided to 199 by 1999.

Nigeria, he said is gradually changing for the better as a result of the on going economic reforms.

Obasanjo described China as the fastest growing economies in the world, hence the country’s resolve to partner with her. He described Lekki Free Trade Zone as capable of not only transforming the economy of Lagos, but that of Nigeria.

Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his address, said the state conceived the idea of establishing a multi disciplinary economic zone with a clear departure from the traditional industrial estate to maximise the wealth creation capacity of the state.

"We believe very strongly that Lagos state has the natural and human resource potential, if properly tapped and harnessed, to drive the national economy towards attaining the status of the much acclaimed Asian Tigers.

"From our in –depth research and the experience of most new and developing countries the creation of Free Trade Zones constitutes one of the most effective strategies to transform a country like ours from the third to the first world," Tinubu said.
http://odili.net/news/source/2006/may/12/603.html
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"tout nèg a nèg

ki nèg nwè ki nèg klè
ki nèg klè ki nèg nwè
tout nèg a nèg

nèg klè pè nèg nwè
nèg nwè pa lè wè nèg klè
nèg nwè ké wéy klè
senti i sa roune nèg klè
mè nèg klè ké wéy klè a toujou nèg

sa ki fèt pou nèg vin' blang?
blang té gen chivé pli long?
pou senblé yé nou trapé chivé plat kon fil mang!!!
mandé to fanm...!
mè pou kisa blang lé vin' nwè?
ha... savé ki avan vin' blan yé té ja nèg!

a nou mèm ké nou mèm dépi nânni nânnan...
chinwa soti, kouli soti, indyen soti, blang soti
mèm koté nèg soti

avan yé sotil koté y fika
AFRIKA!!!"

[Pakira]

L'operateur mobile nigérian,Globalcom,entre dans le marché indien!

Nigerian "Globalcom" enters Indian telecom market

By Shina Badaru

Lagos, Nigeria. April 16, 2006

Second national operator (SNO) Globacom Limited is to acquire stake in an Indian operator as part of its plans to explore beyond the Nigerian telecoms market.


This is just as Vmobile put paid to industry speculations when it confirmed Sunday the sale of 65 per cent of the mobile cellular business to MTC Group of Kuwait.

The MTC acquisition confirms Technology Times report of October 11, 2005 titled ‘Kuwait’s MTC bids to buy Vmobile, NITEL’ that detailed the Middle East mobile operator’s intense efforts to enter the fast-growth Nigerian market in an effort to become Africa’s leading telecoms player.

It is a season of mega deals in the Nigerian telecoms sector with as both developments, happening around the same period, are significant for the growth of the market. MTC, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Celtel, has finally realised its persistent ambition at gaining a foothold in the fast-growth Nigerian market.

On the other hand,Globacom, a relatively new entrant into the Nigerian telecoms business, built from ground up by Nigerian businessman,Mike Adenuga Jr., has commenced the initial phase of its international exploration through the foray into the Indian telecoms market.


Based on its plans, the SNO, which has no plans to set up a fresh telecoms business in India, wants to acquire an existing industry player before moving into the nation’s oil and banking sectors at a later date.

Chief Operating Officer (COO), Globacom Limited, Mohammed Jameel was quoted by The Economic Times of India as saying that the SNO plans to invest some $700 million in India. It also hopes to explore new markets in Morocco, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and Benin Republic. Globacom would employ some 150 Indians out of the 400 people planned to drive its expansion into global markets.

The Indian newspaper estimates the value of Adenuga’s MA Group with interests in oil, banking and telecoms to be in the region of $5 billion.

“We are a cash-rich company keen on foraying into India, as the telecom market here is booming. We are not averse to investing in call centres, banking and petroleum sectors in India. We have decided to make India the Asian hub for our manpower needs for telecom,” he says adding that, “we are looking at a strategic partnership with one of the existing telecom operators. Globacom is going to invest $500-700m in India.”

He said the company is already in talks with some Indian operators for picking up equity stake, as well as for technology tie-ups. “The talks are in preliminary stages, but the response has been good,” he said, refusing to divulge names of companies.

But the firm is not keen to put money in smaller operators as it will be difficult to get returns in future. “We are not eager to pick up equity in any small firm,” he adds.

A team from Globacom is in India to identify manpower sourcing channels for fulfilling its requirements. “India is a reservoir of skilled and technically competent manpower in the telecom and retail sector. Manpower sourcing has been identified as a critical area by MA Group,” he added.

"We are in talks with some big players in the field of telecommunication in India for entering into a strategic relationship. Talks are at initial stages. However, an announcement is expected in the next two to three months," according to Jameel.

"The Indian telecom sector is slightly crowded. But, it has huge potential and requires significant investment to grow further," he adds.

"Our subscriber base is expected to cross the 10 million- mark by the middle of the current year and total turnover to cross $1.25 billion," Jameel said.

Meanwhile, Vmobile says it has finalised a conditional agreement with Celtel International to acquire 65 per cent controlling stake of the mobile cellular company for $1.5 billion.


PR Manager, Vmobile, Emeka Oparah, says in a statement that “the remaining shareholders have an option to sell their shares to Celtel at a similar valuation at a later date.”

With this, MTC has been able to establish enter the Nigerian market after a botched effort to acquire control of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), through Holland-based Celtel, the sub-Saharan operator it bought in a $3.4 billion cash transaction finalised May last year.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Celtel now operates as a separate legal entity within the MTC Group of Companies. It also left the existing Celtel management in place to continue to execute their growth plans for the business while leaving the Chairman, Mohamed Ibrahim to stay on as director of the post-acquisition Celtel.

The Nigerian deal is part of the implementation of the international phase MTC’s “3x3x3" vision, which is an ambitious expansion strategy that will see the operator become a leading mobile and lifestyle services provider on the global stage by the end of the year 2011.

MTC initiated the strategy in 2002 to become a global player in three stages: regional, international and global, with each stage completed in three years. Under this programme, it aims to reach a subscriber base of 20 million through a combination of acquisitions, partnerships and green-field opportunities, according to MTC.

MTC had last year pulled out of the bid for NITEL to concentrate on the Vmobile deal over the huge debt burden of the company as well as the non-clarification on the valuable SAT-3 optical fibre asset of the public-owned company, among other issues.

With MTC’s entry, it is also a contest of old rivals as the bid for Celtel had pitted MTC against rival pan African operator, the MTN Group of South Africa. MTN had then filed a futile court action when it was beaten to the acquisition deal by the Kuwaiti operator.

MTC, the first mobile operator in the Middle East was founded in 1983 had a market capitalization exceeding $7 billion as at May 1, 2005. Its shareholder base is made of 75% public and 25% by the Kuwait government. It had reported in August last year that it now has 10.6 million subscribers across 18 countries including Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and Lebanon.

It had unveiled its ‘3X3X3’ strategy hoped to make it a global player and achieve 20 million customers by 2011 on a global level and entered into a branding partner agreement with Vodafone.
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"tout nèg a nèg

ki nèg nwè ki nèg klè
ki nèg klè ki nèg nwè
tout nèg a nèg

nèg klè pè nèg nwè
nèg nwè pa lè wè nèg klè
nèg nwè ké wéy klè
senti i sa roune nèg klè
mè nèg klè ké wéy klè a toujou nèg

sa ki fèt pou nèg vin' blang?
blang té gen chivé pli long?
pou senblé yé nou trapé chivé plat kon fil mang!!!
mandé to fanm...!
mè pou kisa blang lé vin' nwè?
ha... savé ki avan vin' blan yé té ja nèg!

a nou mèm ké nou mèm dépi nânni nânnan...
chinwa soti, kouli soti, indyen soti, blang soti
mèm koté nèg soti

avan yé sotil koté y fika
AFRIKA!!!"

[cricongo]

oui nous sommes d accord mais ce n est pas avec des gens comme lui que ca avancera...
il est l un des virus que l afrique doit eradiquer

[Enyegue Nyegue]

décidément, cet Obasanjo, ou il devient gateux ou il est tout simplement con!!
sait--il au moins comment se construit un état "puissant"? par des valeurs, sur la dignité...
C'est pas le même ki a déclaré aux chinois, en bon Oncle Tom: "Nous voulons aller dans l'espace avec vous", comme un vulgaire chien réclamant de suivre son maitre? c'est incroyable, mais on dirait ke le l'africain (du moins la plupart de ceux ki nous servent "d'elite") ont peur de l'autonomie... Il courent toujours après le paternalisme.. il faut toujours kelkun pour nous épauler, comme si on n'est incapacble de faire koike ce soit seuls... Putain, le "mental slavery" de Bob Marley n'est pas prêt de foutre le camp apparemment...
Avant hier c'etait les arabes, hier, les blancs, aujourd'hui les chinois... Demain, ce sera ki? les latinos? les martiens? les indiens?
Regardez les chinois: Hier encore on les traitait de niakoués, on a toujours le stéréotype de petit homme jaune aux cheveux lisses ki parle si mal francais ou anglais... Et aujourd'hui, ils font trembler les occidentaux... Ce sont les américains et les europpéens ki leur lèchent les bottes... Evo Morales a entrepris la nationalisation des puits de petrole en Bolivie, "propiedad de los Bolivianos", il est aussi redouté... Voila Hugo Chavez ki fait trembler les américains.... Et en afrike? bah, nous alors ke les uns cherchent leur souveraineté et leur indépendance, on cherche toujours à inviter kelk'un dans son lit... Vraiment...
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Laissons au temps le temps de prendre son temps...

[Concept]

T'es un peu dur avec lui Enyengue, il a le mérite de se soumettre à la décision du parlement nigérian.

Il n'y aura pas de 3eme mandat présidentiel, Cependant c'est vrai que les propos qu'on lui attribue concernant la Chine et l'allegeance sont assez maladroits.
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"Un jour j'ai entendu ces noirs prendre la parole, ils m'ont transmis leur vécu, j'ai compris leurs aspirations et j'ai cessé d'être l'ombre de moi même"

Qu'est ce qu'un camerounais sinon un africain, qu'est ce que le cameroun
sinon un ensemble de frontières inutiles. Vive l'intégration continentale, les USA "united state of Africa" et tous nos enfants, pères et mères des caraïbes.

[M.O.P.]