ADEREMI'S NOTEBOOK

— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala talks about the opportunities in Africa. #

Transcorp Nigeria: Still optimistic (3)

When I posted about Transcorp earlier this year, I said May 2007 would be a crucial month for the company. The hype about Transcorp has come and gone.

Bernard Longe is on compulsory leave due to an investigation at First Bank of Nigeria over a loan granted to NITEL whilst he was CEO. The Transcorp Board said the process was initiated in compliance with a Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) directive about indicted/dismissed CEO of quoted companies.

Earlier this month, Tom Iseghohi was appointed CEO, no word on Bernard Longe. Transcorp has had 2 CEOs in the last 2 years. Good luck, Tom.

It seems Transcorp managed to secure 76% of NITEL despite varying reports suggesting it only owns 51%. Last month, it was reported that BT had quit as its technical partner. Transcorp released a press release stating that first stage of the agreement with BT had simply finished and was hoping to extend it.

The company also stated it was “pursuing opportunities to bring in potential strategic investors into NITEL and M-tel”. A week later, the Independent reported that Transcorp was close to sealing a $1.2 billion deal with Vodacom. The deal would probably give Vodacom control of M-tel and a 27% stake in NITEL.

With this deal on the table, I’m still optimistic. If this deal goes through, it will inject the much needed cash into indebted company whose IPO was not well received (compared to Dangote Sugar, despite the worldwide roadsow) and will bring in Vodacom, an able partner, who has been keen to enter the Nigerian mobile telecom market for some time.

Size isn’t enough, Nigeria is a failed giant (6)

The Economist has a there page article on the Nigerian elections, echoes the same outcry I’m sure you have all read about our flawed elections.

“It is totally false to suggest that Nigerians are fundamentally different from any other people in the world. Nigerians are corrupt because the system under which they live today makes corruption easy and profitable; they will cease to be corrupt when corruption is made difficult and inconvenient. The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.”

24years ago, Chinua Achebe, one of Nigeria’s greatest writer said this, today Nigeria is still a failed giant, but we have hope….

— Beautiful photos of African Kings by Daniel Laine. The original site has some text description for each photo. (3)

— A beautiful review of the “King of Scotland” by Teju Cole. As always, well written. #

— 10 Commandments for Developing Countries by Kishore Mahbubani. I must reflect on Rule No.10: “Thou shalt not abandon hope. People are the same the world over. What Europe achieved yesterday, the developing world will achieve tomorrow. It can be done.” #

2007 TED Global Africa (0)

TED will have its first conference in Africa bringing together
individuals who are passionate about “doing something valuable for Africa’s future”. It will be hosted in Arusha, Tanzania. The date has been set for June 4-7, 2007. It will be interesting to attend. From the website;

Africans are starting to take matters into their own hands. Ingenious solutions are being applied to tackle some of the toughest health and infrastructure problems. Businesses are being launched that are capable of transforming the lives of millions.

Echoing African Uptimist’s comment, the work that Emeka Okafor and others are doing to showcase success stories from Africa is very encouraging. Hopefully this conference will take it a step further. (via Kenyan Pundit)

— Trailer: The Last King Of Scotland. Must see! #

— Our man in Mali; I love this picture! #

Ruud Elmendorp and Rocketboom (0)

Everyone can’t stop talking about how or why Amanda Congdon quit Rocketboom.

As I searched through Rocketboom’s archives, I was intrigued to discover Ruud Elmendorp’s videoblog, currently reporting from various countries in Africa. Ruud has done a few reports for Rocketboom. His latest report was a piece on mobile phone booths in Narobi.

I recommend you bookmark his blog for updates.