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Tolu Fiz Akanee is a thinker, writer and speaker; the author of A-Z Life lessons

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Who will the Lord use?

Telecommunications came into Nigeria in the 50s and from that time till the year 2001, the nation could only boast of 500,000 subscribers. When GSM was going to be introduced into this country, the governing board issued 5licenses and gave all the operators a mandate to draw 2.5million subscribers in 5years. Failure to record a subscription base of 2.5million customers would attract heavy penalties and might adversely affect the renewal of their licenses.
In no time, they had mapped out a 5yr plan to achieve 5 folds of what was not achieved in the previous 60years and as soon as they came up with a promising strategy, they were issued licenses.

Within 6months of roll out, they had hit the planned 5year subscriber base target!


There are 30million households in this country. There is not enough electricity generated to serve these households. A recent report showed that each household uses an average of 20 electrical bulbs and that if everyone could switch to power saver lamps, it will reduce the amount of megawatts required to cater for the nation

Internet has been a big deal since the 80s and its relevance has multiplied over the years. Mobile internet is now prominent in Nigeria thanks to the introduction of Blackberry smart phones and the likes into the market. People now move about with internet enabled mobile phones attaching increased relevance to the essence of the internet in many spheres of life.
Broadband is not yet a big deal in this country. How many homes have internet? Just as our phones can do more than just dial numbers, our cable TV connections can do more; those DSTV dishes can do more.
Soon there will be a crave to get every home in this nation connected.

Africa is an emerging market, the opportunities are boundless. Within the space of 1 year, the worth of Africa's richest man tripled.

Amongst many other things, I believe the future belongs to:
1. The visionary; those who recognise opportunities long before they become obvious
2. Those who understand that men were not born with "impossibilities"
3. Those who are passionate enough to follow through on every opportunity that comes their way
4. Those who are empowered with the right kind of information.


Common to emerging markets are the immense opportunities they present entrepreneurs with. Don't choose the path of least resistance. Come out to stand as the one the Lord will use.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

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