On April 1, I wrote on this blog that during his foreign trips President Buhari should see himself as Nigeria’s Salesman-In-Chief, and should carry Innoson and other local companies along on such trips to sign deals.
I frowned at the traditional restriction of foreign trips by Nigerian presidents to sourcing for foreign investment, and argued that President Buhari should also use such trips to get deals for Nigerian companies, and I listed my reasons for that arguement. See the article below:
Buhari Becoming Nigeria’s Salesman-In-Chief
The job of a salesman is to go out, meet people for the purpose of getting orders for the organization’s goods and services. Just read that EU may soon begin to allow the import of our beans into its territory.
That is great, and since it is likely as a result of President Buhari’s networking abroad (I can remember his recent trip to the EU Parliament), that shows that he is really working to sell Nigeria in his foreign trips.I remember writing recently that Buhari should become chief salesman for Nigeria’s indigenous car manufacturer, Innoson abroad, the way other industrial-nation presidents market their country’s products on foreign trips.
I have seen British Prime Minister David Cameron travel to India to market British goods and services to them, and I am happy Buhari has started such. We can only gain from any order of our products abroad -we can earn more foreign exchange to strengthen the naira, create more jobs, and reduce over-dependence on crude oil.
I am not only asking for Innoson cars to be marketed o, but also as many high-class Nigerian products and services as possible.Some people may say there is no big deal in the possible lifting of the ban on import of Nigerian beans by the EU, but they forget that compared to 2015, now, we are really in deep economic problems due to our over-dependence on oil -and the rise in Dollar prices- and non oil exports are now more important than ever to reverse our fortunes.Well done President Buhari.
More of that. As I said earier, there are many Nigerian products and services that can be exported. For instance, we have several banks that I feel should open up branches in South Africa. The Zenith Banks, the UBAs, the First Banks, the Access Banks and other healthy Nigerian banks come to mind. President Buhari Sir, you can facilitate these banks expansion into the rest of Africa.
And let them go with a large number of Nigerian staff to reduce unemployment.President Buhari Sir, you can facilitate these banks expansion into the rest of Africa. And let them go with a large number of Nigerian staff to reduce unemployment. If Stanbic can come to Nigeria, let us make our back go to South Africa.In the tech sector, we have Slot, the phone sellers.
Mr President, help them get deals to open up shops all over Africa and let them carry along with them Nigerian workers who will work as expats in these countries. This is a season of change.Contracts to supply Innoson vehicles should be gotten from all 50 + African governments. Mr President, you have great goodwill in Africa you can use to make these things happen. let’s #Look To Africa To Grow Nigeria. Our problems are not insurmountable.
We published it as a guide to President Buhari, and did our best to get it to him. Later that same month, President Buhari embarked on a working trip to China. We hoped he had listened to us. Out hopes have You can imagine our happiness to get the following press release from Inosson this evening:
Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Set to Receive a Consortium of Chinese Investors.Innoson Group Partners With a Consortium Of Chinese Investors to Pump in 1Billion USD Into Nigeria Information Technology Sector of The Economy; To include 400million USD Nigeria’s DSO Project Digital Satellite TV Station and Additional 600million USD Covering Other Important Sectors.
The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, GCON will tomorrow monday, October 25, receive a consortium of Chinese Foreign Investment Group led by Liu Baoju, a Deputy Minister of Communist Party of China in Shandong Province who is equally the Chairman of Shandong Broadcasting Group and Shandong Cable Interactive Service Ltd, the world’s biggest TV operators and Huang Gang, Senior Vice President of Inspur Group and President of its Oversea Headquarters.
Inspur Group is China’s leading cloud computer solution supplier and cloud service provider involving all IT applications.This visit which comes as one of the gains of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to China will attract a foreign investment of 1Billion USD. The breakdown of the investment as currently agreed by the Chinese Consortium is as follows;
i. Financial foreign investment credit facility of $300million USD for local production and supply of a minimum five to eight Million (5-8million) Set-Top Boxes to support the Federal Government of Nigeria Digital Switch Over (DSO) project being handled by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission in order to meet the deadline switch of June 2017.
ii. Financial foreign investment of $100million USD to establish the latest technology and biggest DTH (Direct-To-Home) Digital BING Television Station across all states of Nigeria.In addition, the two above immediate investment is being followed by another 600 Billion USD investment in which negotiations is almost fully concluded with our strategic partners to cover the following areas of Nigerian economy;
1. Smart City (CCTV camera) using cloud computing total solution that is known as E-Policing to cover the whole landmass of Nigeria.
2. Cloud Computing Total Solution on Taxation with IT applications for such institutions as Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other taxation agencies for seamless and stress-free tax collection mechanism.
3. E-Education IT Solutions with big data centers for all Federal Universities and Polytechnics in the country.It is also interesting to note that the Nigerian company bringing in and partnering with these foreign investors is the Innoson Group, Nigerian’s first indigenous and largest local manufacturer of automobiles and the largest plastic processing manufacturer in West Africa.
The company as a trailblazer has decided to be part of history as one of the companies that will take Nigeria into the digital world. In order to keep up with its trend of opening new grounds, it has decided to diversify into Information Technology (IT) and the Multi Media Sector with the plan to launch a Satellite Digital TV operation and other services in partnership with Shandong Broadcasting Group and Shandong Cable Interactive Service Ltd China with technical support from Inspur Group Co Ltd, China.
This foreign investment is coming at a time when Nigeria is in dire need of foreign investors to boost the economy. The focus point of the investment will go a long way to boost the economy of Nigeria with the following as attendant benefits;
i. Assist the Federal Government meet its June 2017 deadline for the transition from Analog to Digital broadcasting services.
ii. Establishment of 40 lines of production and manufacturing complex for making Broadcast Digital Set-Top-Boxes, the biggest of its kind in the whole of Africa.
iii. Job creation of over 5000 jobs in the Innoson Group Set-Top-Box manufacturing complex in Nigeria within the next two years.
iv. Job creation of about 2000 jobs by Innoson BING Digital DTH Television operation across Nigeria with the first two years.
v. Nigeria will become the manufacturing hub for Set-Top-Box in Africa with the attendant benefit of earning foreign exchange through exports from Innoson Manufacturing Complex.
vi. Innoson Group would put into use its biggest plastic industry at Enugu by locally manufacturing most of the plastic components of the Set-Top-Box thereby saving cost.
vii. Another important benefit is that BING TV Project will engage the almost under utilised Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) situated at Obasanjo Space Centre in Abuja with its numerous benefits of saving foreign exchange by buying into Nigeria available goods and services, instead of engaging foreign satellite and transponders as all our other competitors here in Nigeria are currently doing.
viii. Providing adequate National security using cloud computing technology to secure our country against insurgency, militancy, kidnapping and all other forms of dangerous crimes.
Cornel Osigwe
Public Relations& Media Assistant
Innoson Group
As journalists and consultants, it gives us great pleasure when our advice is listened to by top policy makers. Our blog is not Nigeria’s biggest blog in terms of traffic, but we are perfectly happy when we see proof of Zikist input in National policy output; when some policy maker searches our blog for good ideas at least once a week.
The work of the Zikist Movement did not end with Nigeria’s attainment of independence. It continues with the determination of Zikistmovement.com to assist policymakers to proffer viable solutions to the largest problems facing our country Nigeria, because we believe that we can get there.
If just 1 policy-maker makes it a habit to click on our blog just once a week, search out viable ideas we frequently publish and run earnestly with such ideas, we will be satisfied, because it would mean that the country is going in the Zikist direction, which will solve its major problems.
Well done, President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo, and congrats Innoson!
It shall be well with Nigeria!
Signed, Prince Charles Offokaja for the,
Zikistmovent.com Team
Nice
That’s a good one!