---

Updated on 7/29/2024 – 3:43 PM

Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural resources, especially crude oil. It is at times the largest oil producer in Africa and one of the top ten in the world. However, the country’s refining capacity has consistently been inadequate to meet the demands of its population and growing economy.

Nigeria’s refining infrastructure is plagued by inefficiency, underinvestment, and corruption. The country has four state-owned refineries that have become dysfunctional due to poor maintenance, outdated technology, and operational inefficiencies.

This deficit requires importing many of its fuel needs, leading to a complex and often controversial reliance on foreign fuel sources.

The government often subsidizes fuel to make it affordable, creating a huge financial burden on the state. While these subsidies are intended to alleviate economic hardship, they have also led to corruption and mismanagement.

Efforts have been made to address these challenges. The government has worked on various reforms, including partially removing the subsidy to improve the efficiency of the oil and gas sector, attract private investment, and increase local refining capacity.

The most notable development is the $20 billion Dangote Refinery, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. However, as the refinery is not yet operating at full capacity, Nigeria still imports fuel.

Beyond the fight, if things go as planned, Nigeria will stop importing fuel by August, as Dangote said. In 2023, Nigeria’s largest gasoline imports came from Togo, totaling $109.3 million, followed by Tunisia with $104.35 million, according to data from Trade Map, a global database on international trade statistics.

“THE FIELD OF PETROL DREAM IN NIGERIA” – BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME AS TROUBLE-MAKERS

Dangote recently revealed that some employees of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil traders, which own a blending plant off Malta, and international oil companies refusing to supply crude to its refineries, are among its challenges.

Alhaj Aliko Dangote GCON, the Founder /Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited speaks on the challenges of building his refinery in Lagos with the CNN anchor and correspondent, Eleni Giokos.

---

Audience with #H_E_Brice_Clotaire_OLIGUI_NGUEMA and our #PCE_Alhaji_Aliko_DANGOTE, Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited with the presence of Bertrand MBOUCK!

Pictures published by Bertrand MBOUCK •

---

Growing Support from Business Leaders for Alhaji_Aliko_DANGOTE

Several prominent Nigerians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, and business mogul Femi Otedola, have voiced their support for Dangote. Otedola praised Dangote as a visionary who has made significant investments in Nigeria.

He highlighted Dangote’s achievements, including building the largest single-train refinery in the world, the second-largest sugar refinery, and the largest cement factory, among other substantial industrial projects.

“My brother, the Visionary, has built the largest single train refinery in the world, not in Kano, but in Lagos State. He is the owner of the second-largest sugar refinery in the world, also in Lagos State, and the largest cement factory in the world, not in Kano, but in Kogi State,” Otedola said.

“Additionally, he has established one of the second-largest fertilizer plants in the world, soon to surpass the biggest one in Qatar, also in Lagos State. Furthermore, he has built a fertilizer plant in Lagos that already exports globally. Aliko Dangote is a titan that God created especially for mankind,” he continued.

Among other things, Otedola noted Dangote’s role as the largest private sector employer in Nigeria and a significant taxpayer. He also noted that Dangote Group’s contributions extend beyond industrial facilities to critical infrastructure projects, such as major roads in Lagos and Kogi states.

“His contributions extend beyond industrial facilities to critical infrastructure, having built major roads such as the Apapa Oshodi-Owonrosoki Express Road, Wharf Road, and the Obajana-Kabba Road,” he recounted.

Otedola advised the federal government to emulate other countries by supporting local industries like the Dangote Group for the country to thrive.

Read more at the source:

---

Buying and selling oil by Nigeria and the related process and processing with the advising and confirming accounts along the transfer and the convertibility as well as the deposit notes with their approval of the office of the currencies change with also the variations in the rate of change between the foreign currencies involved including the consolidation terms and conditions. The process of buying and selling oil in Nigeria involves several intricate steps and financial mechanisms. Here’s a breakdown of the key elements:

Buying and Selling Oil in Nigeria

Transaction Procedures:

• The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) oversees the sale of crude oil. Buyers typically engage directly with NNPC or its approved resellers ¹.
• The process involves submitting bids for crude oil sale and purchase term contracts. Successful bidders are awarded contracts to lift and market Nigeria’s crude oil ².

Advising and Confirming Accounts:

• Letters of Credit (L/C): These are commonly used in oil transactions to ensure payment. An issuing bank provides a letter of credit to the seller, guaranteeing payment upon presentation of specified documents ³.
• Advising Bank: The issuing bank sends the L/C to an advising bank in the seller’s country, which verifies its authenticity and forwards it to the seller ⁴.
• Confirming Bank: Sometimes, a confirming bank adds its guarantee to the L/C, ensuring payment even if the issuing bank defaults ³.

Currency Convertibility:

• Oil transactions are typically conducted in U.S. dollars due to the petrodollar system ⁵. This system simplifies international trade by using a widely accepted currency.
• Currency convertibility refers to how easily a country’s currency can be exchanged for another. High convertibility is crucial for smooth international transactions ⁶.

Deposit Notes and Approval:

• Deposit Notes: These are financial instruments used to secure payment. They are often issued by banks and must be approved by relevant financial authorities ⁷.
• Office of Currency Exchange: This office oversees the approval of deposit notes and ensures compliance with currency exchange regulations ⁷.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rates:

• Exchange rates can significantly impact the cost and profitability of oil transactions. Fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies involved in the transaction must be carefully managed ⁸.
• Hedging strategies are often employed to mitigate the risks associated with exchange rate volatility ⁸.

¹: Nigerian Oil Services ²: Majorwaves Energy Report ³: Reed Smith ⁴: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council ⁵: Investopedia ⁶: Investopedia ⁷: Charles Schwab ⁸: Energy Information Administration

---

Dangote African Carnegie and Rockefeller in Modern Time and Present Dimensions

America’s emergence as an industrial power in the late 19th century relied largely on two substances: oil and iron. And two people played an important role in providing this material.

Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1835 and his family moved to Pennsylvania when young Andrew was thirteen. John D. Rockefeller was born four years later in upstate New York, the son of a merchant who moved him to Cleveland when he was six.

Carnegie’s early work virtually traced the technological emergence of 19th-century America. He was a bobbin boy in a textile factory, a telegraph operator, and an engine supplier. He later worked on the railroads and oil wells. But at the age of 38, he established Keystone Iron Works, and he remained there until 1901. By that time, Keystone Iron had become American. Steel and Andrew Carnegie had become one of the richest men on the planet.

John D. Rockefeller went into business at the age of 20 and discovered his first oil well as a side hustle. He quickly understood that it was the right horse to ride. Even before automobiles and airplanes claimed a large share of oil, it had begun to replace coal in the electrical industries.

Carnegie and Rockefeller – both incredibly wealthy in the 20th century – came to give by two different paths: Even before reaching its peak, Carnegie wrote that a rich man’s life should take place in two stages: d First acquire wealth, then use that wealth to improve general well-being. And that’s what he did. He established the Carnegie Institute, the Tuskegee Institute, and many other schools. He became the patron saint of libraries. He created charitable foundations.

Rockefeller, on the other hand, began to relent when antitrust forces closed in on his Standard Oil Company. He also created charitable societies of all kinds to distribute excess money. He began by creating the University of Chicago. Whatever his motivations, Rockefeller gave birth to a dynasty of charitable giving that extends to the present day.

Andrew Carnegie is the best hero. After all, he was an integral part of the emerging technologies that shaped our country. And his gift flowed from a deeply held principle. Yet the Rockefeller clan took responsibility for public service. They became political leaders and professional donors: one of them died doing anthropological research in New Guinea.

Money creates responsibility. Sooner or later we realize that we can live in a decent world only when the money created by our technological foresight returns to increase the knowledge and beauty of this world.

---

---

---

By contrast, entrepreneurship is developing a new venture outside an existing organization.  The traditional entrepreneur shall now act as an innovation hunter to proactively be able to set up new smart businesses; ideally from the beginning, till the end of any business life cycle. The term entrepreneur, etymologically originates from the French word entreprendre meaning “to begin something, undertake.” During medieval times, this word was used to describe an active working person.

Risk-taking is one of the famous attributes of entrepreneurs which is also frequently emphasized in the literature. Spiritually, some people are observed to tend to behave extra-ordinarily. As Jobs addresses; “You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever—because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-known path, and that will make all the difference.” Taking the risk phenomenon and the spiritual reflections into consideration; it can easily be summed up that entrepreneurship has something to do with inner-journey.

Another emphasis on entrepreneurship is its presentation as a mindset. “Entrepreneurship is first and foremost a mindset. To seize an entrepreneurial opportunity, one needs to have a taste for independence and self-realization,” said Olli Rehn, a member of the European Commission. Understanding the entrepreneurial mindset requires a certain threshold of empathy. First of all, entrepreneurship is the story of ambiguity. An anonymous supporting quote is likely to highlight the gist of entrepreneurship. It’s as follows: “Anyone, (can be an entrepreneur) who wants to experience the deep, dark canyons of uncertainty and ambiguity; and who wants to walk the breathtaking highlands of success. But I caution, do not plan to walk the latter, until you have experienced the former.” In this regard, as Schumpeter also points out; entrepreneurs seem to have some heroic vision. Schumpeter focused on high-level entrepreneurship and larger businesses. On the other hand, Marshall examined smaller businesses, partially. It was Hayek and Kirzner, who examined the entrepreneurs as middlemen hoping to profit by buying cheap and selling expensive.

When it comes to defining entrepreneurship; it can easily be discovered that various people have defined entrepreneurship differently. Despite this fact, the most common classification follows the mainstream of Collins and Moore; who claimed two types of entrepreneurship, differentiating due to the context of entrepreneurial activities undertaken. These are, firstly, independent entrepreneurship and independent entrepreneurs (similar to entrepreneurship/traditional entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs/traditional entrepreneurs in this paper), implying the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, acting independently of any association with an existing organization, create a new organization 

Stopford and Baden-Fuller considered entrepreneurs as opportunists even in chaotic situations, and they also metaphorically approached entrepreneurship. According to them, entrepreneurs are like Olympic athletes, long-distance runners, symphony orchestra conductors, and top-gun pilots…These metaphors underline the entrepreneurs’ being ambitious, determined, self-challenging, and talent for synchronizing [12]. [Source: Mehmet Çağrı Gündoğdu / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 41 ( 2012 ) 296 – 303].

---

San Francisco the Hub of Innovation and Leadership

TRI CK USA by Said El Mansour Cherkaoui

---

What are the qualities/Characteristics of an Entrepreneur?

• Entrepreneur takes an idea & makes it into reality.
• Entrepreneurs take risks—risks of time, money, etc.
• Entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future.
• Entrepreneurs are innovators. They invent new products, services, processes, or methods.
• Entrepreneur enjoy freedom & use it for the betterment of their customers & ultimately for society.
• Entrepreneurs have a strong focus on anything they are doing.
• Entrepreneur is confident, optimistic & loves facing challenges in life & business.
• Entrepreneurs make decisions independently.

---

There are various types of entrepreneurs. We will see some of it.

• Industrial Entrepreneurs: They are in the business of manufacturing products. E.g. Manufacturing of automobile parts.
• Trading Entrepreneurs: They are in the business of buying & selling products or services. E.g. Traders of Houses.
• Imitative Entrepreneurs: These types of businesses copy other successful businesses & run the business similarly.
• Drone Entrepreneurs: These types of entrepreneurs don’t like to change their business style. They don’t involve innovation. They just want to be like how they are.
• Fabian Entrepreneurs: They don’t change until it is very much needed. They adopt change when it is very necessary.

What are the various functions of Entrepreneurs?

• The main function of an Entrepreneur is to take risks.
• The second function is to start the enterprise.
• The third function is to keep an eye on the internal & external environment.
• The fourth function is to make arrangements for necessary resources.
• The fifth function is to deliver products/services to customers.

Innovation

• Innovation is one of the key requirements for entrepreneurship.
• Innovation is nothing but new ways of doing old tasks.
• Innovations can be Chemical, mechanical, managerial, technical, institutional, service, etc.

According to Joseph Schumpeter, there are five types of innovations.

• Introduction of new & good quality product.
• Introduction of a new method of production.
• Introduction of a new market.
• Use of some new sources of supply as raw material.
• They are making a new organizational form of industry.

The innovation process in Entrepreneurship includes the following steps.

• Research of market
• Development of product/service
• Marketing of product/service
• Production
• Use by customer
• Feedback from the customer.

Innovation has emerged as a headline in the field of business management, recently. Kuratko determines the magic words to describe the innovative way of our time: Dream, create, explore, invent, pioneer, and imagine [34]. Innovation itself is changing. The etymological roots of innovation stretch to the Latin word innovare, meaning to do something new. Most of the innovation definitions have focused on similar points with different perspectives. The key common points imply change and renewal for a better situation. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), inside the Oslo Manual—the source of information regarding international technological developments— defines innovation by linking it to technological change.

According to the OECD, innovation means “completing products and services by developing them technologically. The European Union (EU) has made a broader definition. To the EU, innovation introduces the change in workforce talent, working conditions, and managerial and organizational jobs. Also, it’s about renewal and growth in product and service range. In addition to this, a well-known expression about innovation; characterizes it as the process of converting new ideas into value-creating outputs such as new products, methods, or services. With the help of innovation; companies acquire the ability to develop and apply not only new products, processes, or designs but also new operations and business models.

After having experienced enormous financial crises all over the world in recent years; company survival has emerged as the most crucial issue both for SMEs and even some large companies.  SMEs, as the increasing value of the new economy, are obligatorily undertaking the mission of being innovative. It’s innovative SMEs that will lead the way to economic recovery.

This is what sets innovation-led companies apart: they have been successful in establishing organizational cultures where initiative is rewarded and failures are encouraged. They have structures, processes, and senior leadership that are supportive of innovation, and they have built an ecosystem of partners that enables these organizations to constantly bring in new ideas into their organizations.

MMP: Can any organization be innovation-led, or is it more relevant for some rather than others? Are there simple changes that can be implemented in the short term? And what about the long term?

NN: With accelerating innovation change, every organization needs to aim to become innovation-led. We all have been reading about significant changes caused by new technologies such as AI, VR (virtual reality), blockchain, and big data. These technologies will impact every type of organization. However, some researchers have argued that in highly turbulent and uncertain markets, it could be beneficial for companies to scale back on innovating until they can better understand the future directions of these markets.

In the short term, many established organizations have chosen to set up separate innovation labs. These are usually set apart from the rest of the organization so they can operate uninhibitedly. However, such labs often don’t work, as this recent commentary demonstrates.

In the long term, companies need to pursue a double strategy: developing an internal innovation capability and partnering externally – including cooperating with and even acquiring, innovative companies/start-ups. This is a strategy many leading tech companies are pursuing.

MMP: Do you have any guidance regarding the challenges creative companies face when developing innovation strategies? What can they take from tech companies and vice versa?

NN: Research on creative companies has shown that many creative companies while being quite innovative, are less business-savvy concerning turning new ideas into profitable business models. This is something that has plagued the creative industries sector for quite some time – individual creativity often drives the success of the organization, but they struggle to create a sustainable business model to scale up this creativity.

Creative companies could learn from tech companies to put more focus on the scalability of their creative ideas and how to develop financially sustainable business models. On the other hand, tech companies can learn from creative companies how to ensure that their employees remain creative and innovative, even if they are part of larger organizations with bureaucracy and managerial practices that often stifle innovation. In many ways, the stories we hear from organizations like Alphabet/Google and Apple, about the playful environments they have created for their employees and the flat hierarchies they have established, are in line with how smaller creative companies operate. Yet, Amazon, for example, has been under the spotlight, because of the stifling practices and toxic culture its employees have experienced.

The question of how to keep the creative/innovative mindset as organizations grow is critical to ensure that large organizations, whether tech or not, can continue to be innovative.

Source of the interview on Innovation: Dr Natalia Nikolova is a Senior Lecturer, at UTS Business School and Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation. Professor Margaret Maile Petty is UTS Executive Director of innovation and Entrepreneurship.

---