American Venture Capitalist Invests in Nigeria.

August 2, 2020August 3, 2020 news-admin 0 Comments

Oru Leonard

The journey of conferring Nigeria with the status of “Eldorado of Africa and World Tourism/Investment Destination, is a movement commemorated by a series of Webinars convened by Goge Africa’s founders – Isaac and Nneka Moses.

These webinars has attracted investors and stakeholders from 17 different countries in Africa and the Diaspora as captured below are the highlights of Series 02 of the “Cross-Sectoral Collaboration for Tourism and Economic Development”.

According to R. Toby Bailey – CEO at Borg Investment Bank, USA; Africa is a key territory on the global map and holds a strategic position for investors. This assertion is backed by the promises and riches of untapped minerals, massive human and capital resources inherent to the Continent.

Having identified these huge potential, his organisation is interested in investing, wholly or partially towards exploiting this potential in Africa. Key sectors which his investment opportunities are open to include: refining and mining of Gold; the biggest film industry in Africa, Nollywood; transportation, banking, insurance, asset-based solutions and healthcare. All these sectors are to be driven by technology, as the infusion of new ideals for efficiency.

Nigeria as a country has been unable to successfully attract Foreign Direct Investment to its tourism eco-system, irrespective of its: natural endowments, rich culture, exotic wildlife and vagrant vegetation. Despite the growth of technology and an increasing culture of travel, Nigeria isn’t a choice destination for tourists and investors, unlike her contemporaries in Africa.

Toki Mabogunje – President Lagos Chamber of Commerce, observed that this dearth in investment can be traced to infrastructural deficit, image crisis, inadequate policies, institutional bottlenecks and security challenges. With an unsustainable dependence on oil, she suggested that tourism can be utilized as one of the pillars upon which economic diversification can be anchored. She posits that this can only be realized through the development of tourism destinations, road networks, liberalization and reforms of the country’s visa process, and security.

The promotion of destinations entails the creation of a brand and personal narratives. For the Nigerian case, the country has been bestowed a narrative in the committee of nations by strangers. Unfortunately, these narratives are not factual when placed comparatively with other parts of the world. Countering and possibly trumping these narratives (which have been the window, through which Nigeria has been viewed over the years) would require the displacement of these narratives. Botching this narrative according to Brian n Ebden, a Brand & Strategy Consultant is achievable through placement of facts.

Also, it is pertinent to identify a unique selling proposition, placing Nigeria at advantage over other destinations. This he pointed, would attract tourism traffic.

Achieving the enviable position of tourism and investment destination requires the quasi-intervention of the government through the creation of an enabling environment for tourism development and seamless business operation.

This, the Akwa Ibom government has recognized, leading to the development and implementation of proactive steps toward transforming the state from a public-service oriented economy to a private sector steered economy.

In the words of Robert Alexander – CEO at 360Wise Media, USA; “we are the brand, we are in the jet age right now not Flintstones”. While the government has her responsibilities to the people, “the government has nothing to do about rebranding”. The best way of marketing and branding the African brand/ narrative to stimulate tourism traffic, is for these communication efforts to emanate from where the most travel would be coming from.

While not ruining the fate of Nigeria and other African countries, this ‘unfortunate’ fate can be upturned through seeking and implementation of solutions. Solutions can only be implemented through collaboration rather, than isolating oneself from others.

Defining the Diaspora as 99.9% humanity, Sir Joe Madu – President USA-Africa Chamber of Commerce urged everyone to identify and define their value proposition, goal, differential and competitive advantage. Leveraging on these, he mentioned, would bring about capacity-building in socially responsible projects back home including medical, religious and academic tourism.

Though academic degrees are obtained across different levels, there are life skills which are mostly not taught in schools. These critical skill sets: self-awareness, perceptive, active listening, critical thinking, decision-making, effective communication, empathy, situational awareness; as mentioned by Col. Brian Searcy (retired U.S. Airforce colonel), are necessary to facilitate business and tourism.

Today, the society is faced with the challenges of depression, suicide and other mental and business-related issues. Developing these skills not only enhances business, personal wellness and responsibility, but also safety for all.

Besieged with the challenges of attracting tourists to Nigeria, boosting domestic tourism, these are not achievable without finding out why? Ambassador Paolo Ben Salmi, an eleven-year old from the United Kingdom made this exposition to the attendees. Dissecting the reason for the present state, he pointed that “it’s that way because, we’ve lost our why on why people should come here”. Suggesting a solution, he proposed “in order to attract people to Nigeria, we have to find our why, and plant the seed for the future generations”.