Investment In Onne Free Trade Zone Hits $6b

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku

EIGHT years into its operations, about $6 billion has been invested in the Onne Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone, Rivers State, where about 30,000 workers, including indigenes, are gainfully employed.

Speaking when the National Good Governance Tour visited the port at the weekend, Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, said the free trade zone initiative has attracted 150 companies.

He noted that the Federal Government established free trade zones to attract foreign investment to the country; create employment and transfer skills to indigenes of the locations.

How YouTube Went From Startup to the World's Largest Video-Sharing Site

YouTube is the world's most popular online video site, with users watching 4 billion hours worth of video each month, and uploading 72 hours worth of video every minute.
Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has grown from a site devoted to amateur videos to one that distributes original content.
It played an instrumental role during the Arab Spring, and has also helped jumpstart the careers of Justin Bieber and Korean pop sensation Psy.

How YouTube Went From Startup to the World's Largest Video-Sharing Site

Dangote seeks improved investment profile for Africa

Raises investment in Zambia to $800m


THE President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has urged developed countries to promote investments in Africa rather than providing aids for the continent, arguing that through investment in the real sector the region can achieve real growth and development.
Dangote, who was speaking at a recent event in Lagos, added that African businessmen should increase the tempo of their investments across the continent to spur growth and development in Africa.

Nigerian Stock Exchange Signs MoU With Thomson Reuters

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGSE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thomson Reuters, one of the world's leading sources of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, to provide Investor Relations Services to its listed companies, as part of its Value Added Services (X-Value) bouquet.

The NGSE launched its X-Value offering on November 30, 2012, as a key element of its business development efforts aimed at attracting new listings, creating a competitive edge for listed companies and retaining current listings. The initiative is also expected to improve investors' interest in the market through enhanced information and assist listed companies in complying with post-listing obligations.

Richard Branson on Entrepreneurial Determination

Editor's Note: Entrepreneur Richard Branson regularly shares his business experience and advice with readers. Ask him a question and your query might be the inspiration for a future column.

Q: Is self-motivation an innate quality or is it something that can be learned and improved upon?
- Chris Prior, Liverpool, England
If you aren't good at motivating yourself, you probably won't get very far in business – especially as an entrepreneur. When you're starting up a company and for the first couple of years afterward, there are a lot of long nights and stressful days, and the workload is heavy. You have to be able to give the job everything you've got every day, or it will easily get the better of you.
 

Hunting for Business Ideas? Consider Looking at These 8 Hot Industries

There may be a lot of economic uncertainty, but that doesn't mean it's a bad time to launch a business. For a few business ideas, take a spin through this list of eight online industries expected to see healthy U.S. revenue growth in 2013 that are hot for startups, according to industry research firm IBISWorld.

Social network game development -- People are spending more time on social networks like Facebook and they are also spending an ever increasing number of hours online, thanks to the rapid adoption of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Consumers are spending more time playing games that are embedded into their social network: The industry has grown by an astonishing 184 percent per year on average for the past five years, IBIS reports. By the end of 2013, U.S. sales in the industry are expected to grow another 32 percent and hit $6 billion.

Ludwick Marishane: A bath without water

If you had to walk a mile for a jug of water every day, as millions of people do, it's unlikely you'd use that precious water to bathe. Young entrepreneur Ludwick Marishane tells the amazing, funny story of how he invented a cheap, clean and convenient solution: DryBath, the world’s first bath-substituting lotion.

Student Ludwick Marishane invented a water-less bathing lotion and was named the 2011 Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award -- all because he didn't feel like taking baths.

Why you should listen to him:     

One day Ludwick Marishane and his best friend were sunbathing in the sweltering heat in their native Limpopo. Marishane's friend turned to him and said, "Man, why doesn't somebody invent something that you can just put on your skin and then you don't have to bathe?" Marishane, 17 at the time, thought: Yeah, why not? It took six months of research to develop a formula for a lotion that cleanses cheaply and easily -- especially important for the 2.5 billion people worldwide who lack proper access to water and sanitation.
DryBath has the same effect as anti-bacterial cleanser, but it's odorless and creates a biodegradable film that cleanes and moisturizes the skin. Five years later, it's now available on the market. Marishane has since enrolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and was named the Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011.

Funding Round Values Photo-Sharing Startup Snapchat at $70 Million

This week's need-to-know social-media news.

image credit: snapchat.com

Snapchat, the photo-sharing app that allows users to send self-destructing messages, has raised $13.5 in venture capital -- a funding round that reportedly values the company at $60 to $70 million, despite Snapchat's lack of revenue. Would-be founders should take notice: When it comes to getting funding in the current startup climate, a great concept and a large, devoted user base apparently matter more than a path to profitability.

Couple Entrepreneurs Rekindle Romance by Starting Up

Ronnie and Lamar Tyler started a blog about their

marriage that turned into a full-time media business.

Image credit: Zahra Tyler

If you've ever been late to work because you couldn't break away from your lover, you may have wished that the two of you worked together. Many married entrepreneurs have tried and many have succeeded at this goal. But few have launched products or companies that were actually inspired by love.
This Valentine's Day, Entrepreneur.com caught up with three couples who started businesses based on their love.

Eddie Obeng: Smart failure for a fast-changing world

The world is changing much more rapidly than most people realize, says business educator Eddie Obeng -- and creative output cannot keep up. In this spirited talk, he highlights three important changes we should understand for better productivity, and calls for a stronger culture of “smart failure."

Our environment changes faster than we can learn about it, Eddie Obeng says. How do we keep up?

Why you should listen to him:

What will business look like in 5 years? (Er, what does it look like now?) Eddie Obeng helps executives keep up with a business and social environment that's changing faster than we can know. Through Pentacle, his online business school, Obeng teaches a theory of management that focuses on adaptation to change. Called "New World Management," it's all about forming and re-forming workgroups, constantly re-evaluating metrics, and being open to all kinds of learning, from hands-on group exercises to a virtual lecture hall/meeting room called the QUBE.


"Making it happen' is Obeng’s constant refrain and his books are an antidote to the dryness of much managerial theorizing. They come complete with their lessons in fictional form. Old world they are not." - Financial Times

Foreign money floods Zim Stock Exchange

Sound businesses, relatively cheap stocks and good news on the political front provide a solid counter to negative news reports on Zimbabwe.

The day Finance Minister Tendai Biti claimed the country had only $217 left in the bank, fund manager Alan Mutasa signed up a new American investor wanting to spend millions on Zimbabwean stocks.

 

While the world feasts on bad news from Zimbabwe, foreign investors are pouring money in to the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), making it one the world's best performing markets.

An article in a Nigerian newspaper last week claimed the Nigerian Stock Exchange's 13.4% January gain had "dwarfed all other stock markets globally". But, in fact, Nigeria was only a distant second to the ZSE, which rose 20.3% during the month.   

 

OPEC targets 29.8mn bpd oil production in 2013

NIGERIA and other members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are expected to produce an average of 29.8 million barrels a day in 2013, or 100,000 a day more than it estimated a month ago, according to the cartel’s February monthly report.

The report, which was released Tuesday, put the organisation’s output in January at 500,000 barrels a day.Total OPEC crude oil production averaged 30.32 million bpd in January, representing a minor decline of 21,000 bpd from the previous month.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Women entrepreneurs, example not exception

“If you're talking about entrepreneurs in conflict and post-conflict settings, then you must talk about women, because they are the population you have left.” - Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon writes about women entrepreneurs around the world.

Women aren’t micro--so why do they only get micro-loans? Reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that women running all types of firms-- from home businesses to major factories-- are the overlooked key to economic development.(Filmed at TEDxWomen.)

Why you should listen to her:

Again, First Bank emerges Nigeria’s top banking brand

GTB, Zenith Bank also get top ranking in The Bankers rating

 

FIRST Bank of Nigeria Plc has again, emerged the number one banking brand in Nigeria in the Top 500 World Banking Brands Ranking just released by The Banker and Brand Finance in the United Kingdom.

 

As published in the current edition of The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group London, First Bank emerged top in Nigeria,  closely followed by Guaranty Trust Bank, and Zenith Bank

It would be recalled that First Bank also emerged number one banking brand in Nigeria last year among the four banks that made the 2012 ranking.

How social entrepreneurs are inspiring change across Africa

Leadership programmes are facilitating social enterprise projects that could be a viable alternative to aid

Archbishop Desmond Tutu's leadership fellowship programme is helping entrepreneurs solve social problems across Africa. Photograph: Martin Meissner/Associated Press

When 'Gbenga Sesan touched down onto the tarmac at Lagos airport, he folded up his ticket and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Hailing a cab straight to his office, he went to work right away. He was implementing what he had plotted out during the six-hour flight, and his airline ticket, covered in pencilled scribbles, was the blueprint for a new Lagos.

Sesan had just returned from Johannesburg, where he was one of 22 emerging leaders selected for the Archbishop Tutu leadership fellowship programme. Young Africans from business, government or development backgrounds had been selected in the early part of 2007, by the Africa Leadership Institute, and flown to a secluded conference centre in South Africa. There they were put through an intense series of seminars, discussions, lectures and exercises about leadership.

Speaker Cameron Herold: Entrepreneur

"Start building a network of fellow entrepreneurs that understand your passion and don’t make you feel guilty about always chasing it." Cameron Herold

 

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. In his talk, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults.(Filmed at TEDxEdmonton.)
      


An entrepreneur since childhood, Cameron Herold wants parents and teachers to recognize -- and foster -- entrepreneurial talent in kids.

Why you should listen to him:     

For 20 years, Cameron Herold has been coaching entrepreneurs on five continents, helping them build their companies. He started BackPocket COO to coach and mentor young, fun companies -- and help them make their dreams happen.

Herold was a leading force behind one of the most successful new business ventures of the last decade, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. He was Chief Operating Officer for nearly seven years. Prior to that, he was VP of Corporate Development at Ubarter.com.

Have some idle funds, check out car hire business

If you have some idle funds and still do not know where to invest it. Someone said car hire business is a cash milling business. Car hire has become a major necessity of today and establishing yourself as one of the best car hire companies can give you lot of profit as travel and tourism takes center stage in the global economy.

The car is not only being hired by the people on a trip, but also by those who have their cars at the workshops for repair. There are people who don’t opt for hiring cars from the very elite car hire companies but go in to hire one from the smaller car hire companies. This is where you can get a chance to prove your worth.

“We have a choice to make during our brief visit to this beautiful blue and green living planet: to hurt it or to help it.” - Ray Anderson

Ray Anderson founded the company that makes covetable Flor carpeting. But behind the fresh design is a decades-deep commitment to sustainable ways of doing business -- culminating in the Mission Zero plan.

At his carpet company, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional "take / make / waste" industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce.

Why you should listen to him:     

Ray Anderson founded Interface, the company that makes those adorable Flor carpet tiles (as well as lots of less whizzy but equally useful flooring and fabric). He was a serious carpet guy, focused on building his company and making great products. Then he read Paul Hawken's book The Ecology of Commerce. Something clicked: with his company's global reach and manufacturing footprint, he was in a position to do something very real, very important, in building a sustainable world.
Anderson focused the company's attention on sustainable decisionmaking, taking a hard look at suppliers, manufacturing processes, and the beginning-to-end life cycle of all its products. (For example: If you can't find a place to recycle a worn or damaged Flor tile, Interface invites you to send it back to them and they'll do it for you.) They call this drive Mission Zero: "our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020."
Anderson, who died in August 2011, estimated that since 2001 he'd given more than 1,000 speeches making the business case for sustainability. He often ended his talks with the poem "Tomorrow's Child," written by an Interface employee, Glenn Thomas.

"Just trust me and order some tiles. What more do you need to see that sustainability looks pretty good?" - Jill Danyelle, fiftyRX3

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” -- standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident -- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.

      


Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions — and even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions.

Why you should listen to her:     

Amy Cuddy wasn’t supposed to become a successful scientist. In fact, she wasn’t even supposed to finish her undergraduate degree. Early in her college career, Cuddy suffered a severe head injury in a car accident, and doctors said she would struggle to fully regain her mental capacity and finish her undergraduate degree.
But she proved them wrong. Today, Cuddy is a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School, where she studies how nonverbal behavior and snap judgments affect people from the classroom to the boardroom. And her training as a classical dancer (another skill she regained after her injury) is evident in her fascinating work on "power posing" -- how your body position influences others and even your own brain.

"Using a few simple tweaks to body language, Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy discovers ways to help people become more powerful." - TIME Game Changers, March 19, 2012

Quotes by Amy Cuddy

“Don't fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it.”

“Our bodies change our minds, and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes.”

“When we think of nonverbals, we think of how we judge others. … We tend to forget, though, the other audience that's influenced by our nonverbals: ourselves.”

HAPPY VALENTINE TO ALL OUR FANS - Enjoy your day

Rise of the Male Grooming Sector

Valentine's Day gifts are hard to come by and ideas on what to buy men, even more so.

ABN's Arabile Gumede explores a sector that has traditionally been reserved for women, but is gaining traction among the brutes of human kind.