50-question homework on the state of the Nigerian economy for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The House of Representatives finance committee tasked the minister with 50 questions on the state of the Nigerian economy.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala had earlier presented the budget proposals for 2014 to the Senate and the House of Representatives, before meeting the house finance committee.

The minister said she was indisposed and only responded to her invitation out of respect for the legislature.

But when lawmakers offered to excuse her due to her health, but with a condition she responds to 50 questions in writing within two weeks, the minister backtracked choosing instead to answer the questions at the meeting.

Exchanges between the minister and the committee chairman, Abdulmumini Jibrin, quickly escalated with Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala accusing the committee of being disrespectful.

“With all due respect, I will not tell your committee that I’m feeling fine when I’m not. We have had good working relationship with your committee; I thought we’ll be treated with courtesy, but the way you’re starting is a bit disturbing,” the minister said.

Mr. Jibrin said the committee had ruled that she be allowed to go and respond to the questions.

“We don’t want any haphazard answers,” he said.

The minister insisted on being heard, but was asked to leave.

“I’m sorry Honourable Minister. You can only decide what happens in the Finance Ministry and not in the House,” Mr. Jibrin said.

Read the lawmakers’ 50 questions below:

House Committee on Finance

Questions for the HMF/CME on the State of the Economy

1. What should you consider as the major economic achievements of this government in the 2013 fiscal year and why? In your explanation, we will need facts and figures in demonstrating such achievements.

2. You have been credited with many announcements regarding Nigeria’s economy as one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. If the economy is one of the fast growing economies, what is exactly growing the economy? What role does government play in the said economic growth, especially given that as high as 80 percent of the country’s total annual budget spending still goes into recurrent expenditure?

3. Since your arrival as minister of finance in 2011, you have publicly announced the need to reduce the recurrent expenditure so that more money would be made available to capital spending which is critical to growing and diversifying the country’s economy. How far has government succeeded in making these necessary cuts; and where exactly have these cuts been made in this effort to reduce recurrent expenditure? In other words, based on real amount spent on capital expenditure, how much reduction was made in 2011 against 2010, in 2012 against 2011 and in 2013 against 2012?

4. You are known to be celebrating a single-digit GDP growth. But speaking recently at a breakfast dialogue with some members of the organized private sector in Lagos, organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), you were quoted as saying: “We are growing, but not creating enough jobs. That is a very big challenge…We need to grow faster. I think it needs to grow at least 9 to 10 percent to drive job growth the way we want.” Don’t you agree that a good finance minister managing an economy like ours should be celebrating a GDP growth as high as 20 percent annually? Why is it that our economy cannot grow beyond a single digit? How many jobs are being created as a result of these said growths? In which sectors of the economy are these jobs created? If in private sector, what contributions is government making to further assist these private sector firms?

5. In the presence of Nigeria’s huge infrastructure deficit, why is it that the country’s debt-to-GDP at about 19 percent in 2012 remains one of the lowest in the world when compared to nations already with world-class infrastructure and industrial economies such as America’s 105 percent, Brazil’s 65.49 percent, India’s 67.60 percent, and South Africa’s 40.9 percent?

6. Since facts don’t lie, have you any disagreements with the September 4, 2013 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum for 2013-2014, which ranked Nigeria 120th out of 148 countries ranked in the Global Competitiveness Index, including being ranked far behind some African countries such as Mauritius 45th, South Africa 53rd, and Kenya 96th?

7. ”For the first time in Nigeria’s 53rd year history, we have successfully privatized the electric power industry,’’ so said the President at a recent meeting in London with some foreign investors. As minister of finance should you agree that the recent privatization of the country’s power infrastructure is worth celebrating as a major economic achievement in 2013, when in reality there is little or nothing to show as an improvement in the country power supply? Also why our rush to wholesale privatization of the power sector when countries like South Africa, generating as high as 42,000MW still have their power sector mostly in public hands?

8. What was your reaction to the November 12, 2013 statement credited to the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, who said that over 100 million Nigerians are today living in absolute destitution, representing an unheard-of 8.33 percent of the world’s total number of people living in destitution?

9. Nigerians are increasingly perplexed that these days nothing happens without government borrowing. And for most Nigerians, it is frightening how those managing the economy are just dragging us into excessively unproductive debts. More worrisome is the fact that every effort is being made to hide the details of the country’s debt stock from Nigerians. Where are the facts that the country’s current high rate of borrowing is productive, let alone have the ability to be repaid without having to resort to more borrowings?

10. Is prudence in our borrowing simply reduction in borrowing or simply constructive borrowing with government putting necessary measures in place to ensure that domestic debt profile is properly supervised and utilized by curbing corruption?

11. From Debt Management Office (DMO) 2012 Annual Report, the total public debt outstanding between 2008 and 2012 for external stock rose from $3.72bn to $6.53bn, while domestic stock rose from $17.68bn to $41.97bn. The total debt service the same period saw the percentage of external debt service drastically reduced from 11.46 per cent to 5.96 per cent while the percentage of domestic debt servicing grew from 88.54 per cent in 2008 to 94.04 per cent in 2012, drastically increasing the cost of the total debt service since the cost of domestic borrowing is atrociously higher than the cost of external borrowing. How could your debt sustainability analysis rationalize this without seeing some narrow interests being the overriding reason? Could this be the explanation why commercial banks in the country are declaring unheard-of three digit profits and the high Foreign Portfolio Investment and low Foreign Direct Investment?

12.It’s an established fact that the willingness and ability to borrow do not automatically translate into economic growth. If you agree with this fact, how productive are the country’s recent borrowings?

13. Why should our internal debts continue to represent more than two-thirds of Nigeria’s external debt profile, when the cost of servicing domestic debts is ridiculously far more expensive than servicing external debts? Why should government continue to borrow internally when in so doing results in insufficient funds, skyrockets the cost of borrowing and above all, crowds out the real sector from the money market? Shouldn’t the high cost of domestic borrowing override whatever are the assumed benefits? Since both London Interbank Offer Rates (LIBOR) and the US Treasury Bonds rates offer far better interest rates for sovereign borrowings, why have we continued not to take advantage of cheaper interest rates?

14. Your references to the country’s economic growth profile have always been based on Fitch, Standard and Poor’s, and Moody’s ratings. Are you aware that these same rating agencies are being sued in New York (with case # 652410/2013) by two Bear Stearns hedge funds for fraudulently assigning inflated ratings to securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis? If you do, why do you insist on accepting the rating as reliable.

15. How much exactly has been the amount of money lost in government revenue as a result of import duty waivers in 2011, 2012 and 2013? Provide the names and beneficiaries and justification for same. In your opinion as the minister of finance who oversees the economy, what are the implications to the country’s economy? What efforts have you have made to stop this waiver policy, which is distorting the economy? Our non oil income has dropped in 2013. A case where increased tariffs on various items effectively reduced importation to zero in some sectors. However, those items now find their way into Nigeria through our borders. Does it make any sense to increase these tariffs when we have such porous borders? As an example, officially, Togo imported more rice this year than Nigeria.

16. It was reported that the FIRS is to engage foreign consultants for tax collection in 2014. Could the Minister clarify this position and what Nigeria stands to gain? Have the FIRS not been working effectively.

17. Do you really believe that Nigeria needs a ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ at this critical juncture of budgetary deficits, and having to be borrowing extensively in an effort to address government revenue gaps? Shouldn’t the presence of Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) simply mean spreading government’s scarce resources thinly? Why will you insist that no matter what we still need to operate a sovereign wealth fund? Sincerely speaking, how sustainable are the objectives of Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, particularly in the long-term?

18. You should agree that a lot of Nigerians are interested in the link between NSIA and the government. Since there is no doubt that Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority is an agent of government — or is it not? The question is: How should we think about the management structure in so far as major decisions are concerned? Where is the line between NSIA, as a commercially minded entity, and the government, especially given government’s policy of having no business doing business? If, for example, government does not get involved in specific investments, then, who appoints the external managers involved in managing some parts of the NSIA funds?

19. Who determines the investment objective and who establishes the risk parameter for the NSIA’s portfolio? In providing answer to this question, it is also important to understand and explain why NSIA recently hired a Swiss national as its chief portfolio investor? Answering this question is important since it should help us to know who determines the maximum draw-down that the government would be comfortable with in extremely negative market environments.

20. What should be your explanations for awarding MasterCard a multimillion dollar National Identity Smart Cards, when there are indigenous ICT companies that not only have what it takes but would have done it cheaper and create local jobs at the same time?

21. Have you taken into considerations how foreign company could use such information available to it to invade the privacy of Nigerians?

22. What are reasons for SURE-P to give preference to Chevrolet cars for SURE-P taxis, when it is known that not only are such cars very expensive to maintain compared with Asian and European cars, but also are also not fuel efficient and not durable on our roads?

23. Honorable Minister of Finance, you will agree that SURE-P is very important to the people of this country, taking into cognizance that it is the only thing they stand to gain from the increase on petroleum product pump prices almost 2 years ago. Who is in charge of the management of SURE-P and who takes responsibility for its successes and failures?

24. You will agree that inasmuch as the interest rate regime is critical to the real sector borrowing decisions, most principal factor in making borrowing decisions is the business’s expected rate of return on investing borrowed money? The question, without efforts to protect local businesses from their foreign counterparts, the high cost of doing business in Nigeria, puts them at such a disadvantaged position that it makes no economic sense borrowing to invest in their local businesses, why should we expect private sector firms to be investing in the economy?

25. You are quoted as saying, ” Very soon, the US would become a net exporter of oil…So, it would be disingenuous for anyone to say that just because the price of oil has hovered at around $100 per barrel, it cannot crash… Lest we forget, as recently as 2008, oil prices crashed from a peak of $147 per barrel to $35 per barrel ina space of months triggered by the global financial crisis. Is the minority leader saying he has forgotten that?” This forces one to wonder from which source should the US become that net exporter of oil, given that the US daily oil consumption was 18.7 million barrels with (10.6 million of which was imported daily) in 2012? Or, should it be from the shale oil which the International Energy Agency (IEA) demonstrates to be at two million barrels daily? In other words, given the IEA global oil price trajectory, can’t we agree that “There are many constraints on supply keeping pace with demand’’ which means that within this decade, oil prices should always hover around $125 per barrel? Answering this question will help us understand why you insist on benchmarking the oil price for the 2014 appropriation at below $79 per barrel? In answering this question, would you also agree that as the global economy shifts from West to Asia, so will the appetite for global oil consumption shift from the West to Asia?

As crude oil continues to sell at $100-$110, how low will production have to fall for us to record a net loss or at what production level can we break even at a 2013 benchmark of $79.

26. Do you agree that the Excess Crude Account as being operated by government is illegal and unconstitutional, especially given how it has been managed?

27. Can you explain with clarity how the ECA is being operated? Also provide a statement of account of the ECA from 2011 to 2013? Also how much have we made in excess of the benchmark price from January 2013 till date.

28. If there is nothing like Excess Crude Account, would you have been demanding lower oil price benchmark for the budget, especially when the executive arm of government around world is known for demanding more money from lawmakers in order to be able to meet government spending obligations, particularly capital spending. Why is the reverse the case in Nigeria only, notably since 2011?

29. With respect to the Excess crude account and our Sovereign wealth fund again, there have been allegations and counter allegations on its legality. Assuming, for the sake of the committee’s enlightenment, the FGN alone saved its own excess in its ECA/SWF (which is about 52% of the Federation account) and the states and LGs get their funds in full compliance with the constitution, what would be the effect on the economy?

30. Do you believe in the fight against corruption? If you do why has EFCC not been proper funded? Without properly funding the commission, how should it be expected to carry out its duties effectively?

31. Can you confirm with figures if we have met our cumulative revenue projections for 2011, 2012, 2013, and if we have, how and if we have not, why? Also provide backup performance information under the various revenue generating agencies—NNPC (Oil and Gas), DPR, FIRS, Customs, Independent Revenue and other anticipated and unanticipated revenues e.g. privatization and sales of government properties etc.

32. As Minister of Finance, are you familiar and comfortable with all the present business arrangements of the NNPC? Why were these business arrangements excluded from the MTEF which used to be the practice? Provide all the present business arrangements, the parties involved, the share of each party, and justifications for such.

33. Provide details of government stake in NLNG. All categories of revenue under the NLNG and total amount generated so far and evidence of remittances.

34. Why do you always prefer a lower benchmark which leaves government with wider deficits and your attitude of no qualms with domestic borrowings at excessively high interest rates to balance deficit as against our position of increasing benchmark to reduce deficit which consequently reduces domestic borrowing, that frees up funds for the real sector of the economy, thereby bringing down the interest rate, increased private sector investments and creating jobs.

35. What is the total amount expended by certain statutory agencies of government without appropriation for 2011, 2012, and 2013? Also provide aggregate appropriated expenditure for the same period. As the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, do you feel comfortable with allegations that almost equal amount of our yearly aggregate expenditure is being spent without appropriation, yet we are crying that the country is running short of revenue?

36. Between May 7 and 9, 2014, it is expected that Nigeria will be hosting World Economic Forum on Africa. Who will finance this event and why? In concrete terms, what are the expected tangible benefits to the country in return to justify hosting such expensive event that will require lots of money for logistics, accommodations, security, especially given that South Africa that recently hosted the event has nothing to show for it.

37. If you should for any reason say it will attract foreign investors, the question, then becomes, what kind of foreign investors are we talking about here because as we all know, no serious foreign investor needs to attend such a forum in Nigeria in order to recognize that our country should have been one of the world’s favored investment destinations had our perennial infrastructure deficit been addressed head-on?

38. Most of the developing economies like China, India, and Brazil that the world is today celebrating as economic success wouldn’t have become this successful without adopting multi-year development plans. Why after knowing that their successes are as a result of carefully designed multi-year economic planning, we are yet to adopt such a multi-year development model? In other words, why wouldn’t you agree that Nigeria too needs that in order to move faster and more sustainably in its quest for industrialization and economic diversification and job creation for millions of the country’s unemployed young men and women?

39. As the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, can you precisely clarify how much is AMCON’s debt exposure and what will its defaulting mean to the country’s economy?

40. Why are we using the 10 to 15 years moving average to arrive at your 2014 proposed benchmark as against the traditional 5 to 10 years moving average we have always used? Is it because using the 5 -10 year average will not give you the benchmark price you desire?

41. This time last year you informed this committee that our external reserve position was about $48 billion and the balance on our excess crude account was about $9 billion. You also said that the plan was to grow these balances to about $50 billion and $10 billion respectively. However we are hearing that the balances have dropped to $43 billion and $3 billion respectively. And you are saying all is well?

42. Crude oil projections for 2013 were 2.53 million barrels per day while actual figures as supplied by the NNPC/DPR/MTEF have averaged about 2.3 million barrels per day giving a shortfall of about 9%. Could this alone have caused such a drastic reduction in our reserves and savings positions?

43. Is any money missing from our anticipated revenue from the NNPC in particular and oil industry in general. If there is, how much? If not, how come such issues emanate from high offices in the executive arm of Government?

44. Referring to the pre-shipment inspection of exports act of 1996 and the Federal ministry of Finance export guidelines. If any good (oil, gas or non oil) is exported from Nigeria the exporter is compelled to repatriate these proceeds through the domiciliary account of a Nigerian bank. What has been the effectiveness of these laws? Is there full compliance.

45. If there has not been compliance, would it not make it difficult for us to build up our foreign reserves? Could we not say that the main thrust of the CBN letter was that our foreign reserves are not growing even though there has been a consistent high selling price of crude due to the fact that huge funds are not being repatriated at all or are repatriated through the black market?

46. Could we say that the issue is not so much that money is missing (which is yet to be determined) but that proceeds that should have found their way back to the Nigerian economy have grown wings or they fly in through the black market, allowing oil industry players have a field day making spreads of up to N7 per dollar in some cases.

47. What is the Minister’s take on the apparent stagnation of the economy as there seems to be very little job creation and growth in small businesses. Even though the Minister has read out growth figures before it is not telling on the average man on the street.

48. Would the Minister say that the various Government initiatives at job creation have not lived up to expectation as they affect only a very small part of the population?

49. Wouldn’t the Minister think that the private sector should be the main driver of job and wealth creation through natural growth of business and start ups being financed by the banking industry?

50. If so, what does the Minister think it would do for the local banking industry if this same pre-shipment inspection law and your own export guidelines are enforced to the letter. The oil industry in Nigeria is worth about $50 billion per annum. If even $10 billion of this passes through our local banks wouldn’t that give the economy a boost with banks now able to fund longer term and bigger projects?

Culled from Premiumtimes

The Ijaw King

Goodluck Jonathan GCFR

That Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan is the President of Nigeria since like forever is not in doubt and that he is the number 1 citizen of Nigeria is still not in doubt and that he is supposed to be the democratically elected President of our dear nation is still not in doubt and that he is making the nation get worried about the increasing rate/level of criminality and corruption is still not in doubt and that he is a staunch PDP member is still yet not in doubt and that he is tagged as “the clueless one” is still not in doubt and that he may be Nigeria’s most hated President is still yet not in doubt and that he is surrounded by cheap thieves and thugs is yet still not in doubt and that he has made it his duty to worry less about the well being of Nigerians and the economy in overall is still yet not in doubt, that is the most corrupt political office holder that has roamed the corridors of power in the history of Nigeria is still not in doubt but that he is a Nigerian as you and I, is seriously in doubt and this is without mincing words true.

From the look of things and the way the country has been steered from decency to immorality and decay, one can be sure to conclude and be seen as concluding rightly that this man is not Nigerian and has no love for the Green White Green Nation.
GEJ no doubt is the Ijaw King and whenever anyone dares to say anything about the president's high handedness and insensitivity to the plight of the Nation, we are reminded that he is Ijaw and that they are the mother of the Nation and nobody can stop him from his quest to run Nigeria aground and then they go on to spin stories of how their brother is "working".

So lets all Hail the Ijaw King because the Ijaw people have constantly made the ills befalling the Nation a no matter and even the so called President of the Ijaw Youth Council went on to say that the achievement of his brother will be difficult to surpass. Makes you wonder right?

The truth may not be far from the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan is only just human as you and I, and was charged with the onerous task of leading Nigeria and giving the people a breath of fresh air. It is however still true that there is no perfect man anywhere in the world and no matter what we do as a people, we will always have people who want or heads, but that doesn't mean we should play the tribal card when the people call out your head for doing the wrong things.
It is profitable to learn from life and that is what everyone thankfully has an opportunity of as we wake up to each new day while others fail to make it.

But in fairness to the office of the President in particular and to Nigerians in general, I am particularly sure I may be saying the truth when I suggest that the President is not a Nigerian. He may as well be campaigned as an Ijaw man but I still want to doubt and will want to follow through with my convictions that he is not a Nigerian. It is a case of a man constantly setting his house on fire because he knows the fireman will put it off.

It is known fact that as Nigerians, the well being and progress of the country should be our utmost priority and when you then get elected to the number one office in the land, you are automatically the custodian of the culture and you are charged with leading by example always bearing in mind that you can only give what you have.

The president has over the last months lived like he is a stranger who's main aim is to Steal, Kill and Destroy the country and then head back to his own country which is being tidied with our resources  for the sole purpose of living in affluence after his "mission" here is done. I will not be surprised if we do eventually hear of a move for an Ijaw Nation and with the way things are going and how "these persons" are talking and behaving like they own the world, anything is short from impossible. 

There is the worry of how he is raising men and women of questionable characters and offering them affluence. These people are in the most important sectors of the economy and the shock of this all is that it is done without recourse to the feelings of the people who are supposed to be a part of the government. Well known Criminals are seen living freely in the corridors of power and going on national TV to boast of what evil they will wreck should we fail to allow this their brother continue his reign of terror and uncertainty.
These persons mostly are of the Ijaw decent and they ave vowed to go any length to preserve the "legacy" of the president and the Ijaw Nation and when you make mention of the failures of this administration under their brother, they tell you he is being victimized because he is Ijaw.

Truth is, GEJ is a victim and he is being victimized because he is an Ijaw man that as presented his "people" before the world as lawless, criminally insane and grossly incompetent, (no disrespect to the Ijaw People that share my view) The happenings in the country is more looting in daylight not minding who's horse is gored and this is done under the watchful eyes of the law while impunity in leadership position thrives and enjoys the protection of the citizenry properly financed with the blood of well meaning Nigerians.

All Hail the Ijaw King and lets hope we live to see a Nigeria free from tyranny and tyrants, free from Corruption and Corrupt individuals, free from Clueless and exceptionally Clueless persons, free from Criminality and Criminally insane persons, free from the hold of tribal sentimentality that promotes criminality, violence and corruption.

God truly bless Nigeria

Is Corruption a Nigerian?

Whenever the word CORRUPTION is mentioned and then discussed, we get over a million ideas of how it thrives in our society, and when I say Society, I mean Nigeria and this begs the question to be asked thus:- Is Corruption a Nigerian?

I think yes mostly and many people will be quick to say yes as it looks like it is a wonder boy born with a silver spoon and hence has the opportunity to access places unattainable by the common man. Corruption wines and dines with the mighty men and women in secret and that was supposed to be the case, but in our country Nigeria, Corruption is suddenly King and even robes itself as a clergy man and officiates from the highest pulpit.

Performance Management – Breeding Thoroughbred Leaders

By. SAEED A
Chairman at RISE.

There is a reason why champion horses win. It’s because they are given undivided attention. Not whipped. Champions shine because they are nurtured. People are no different.

If you were training a filly to become a champion, what approach would you take? Surely you wouldn’t expect to produce a Derby winner without considerable training and nurturing. It is only then that you might reasonably expect your investments in time and money to produce outstanding results.

Without suggesting that an employee has the same characteristics as a horse, is it not fair to think the same logic applies to spotting and grooming talent within a business? One method companies have developed to address this over the years is what is referred to as performance management.

But in essence what does this mean? For many firms it involves a cozy annual appraisal between boss and employee, setting targets in areas where he/she can build on strengths and improve on poor performance.

Over the years I have come to learn that Performance Management is not something that happens at the end of the year, but it’s a day-to-day, continuous process. Here are some key points I picked up along the way:

1.It’s part of your culture - Only when a trainer loves, cares for and continuously nurtures his fillies does he produce a winning champion. Performance management is a culture of transparency and openness that starts at the top. By providing real-time feedback in the case of poor performance you create a culture of openness and transparency. Equally, where an employee simply doesn’t fit within a company’s culture, mindset or performance expectations, it’s fair that he/she should have the chance to identify the issues, rather than be let go out of the blue – with no idea why, and not having had the chance to investigate other employment opportunities in the meantime.

2.Positive Reinforcement – Like highly performing race horses, it is essential for a person’s performance to receive positive re-enforcement. Response to a caring guidance is markedly different from a response to a whip. Continuous negative feedback festers in people and diminishes output.

So why do we not do this with our people? Why is it that so many managers can’t pick up their phones at the end of the working day, during a lunch break or between meetings, to say, “Hey, great job in securing that contract,” or, “There were obviously some problems there today – let’s discuss it.”

3.Real-time Feedback - When I talk about real-time feedback, I do not recommend non-verbal channels such as email or SMS. Imagine a normally proactive employee who one day seems disengaged and aloof during an important client meeting. As his boss, I might construe this as disinterest, and shoot through an indelibly final, knee-jerk written email response – only to later find out that he was preoccupied by a personal situation that happened the same morning.

Alternatively, I could pick up the phone, or talk to him directly and soon dispel any misunderstandings. Verbal still remains the best form of communication, as much as our increasingly-digital universe steers us against it. Its unique advantage is that if you’ve got it wrong, you can take it back much more easily.

4.There is no such thing as negative feedback - I much prefer the term ‘improvement feedback’ – and that rather than being weaknesses, our misgivings are strengths misused. Of course, you need to have a transparent company culture that welcomes critical feedback before real-time verbal performance management can work.

So why do so many managers shy away from doing this? Perhaps to avoid confrontation. They may not consider it important – or feel that the employee will at some point figure things out on their own. Yet in reality, employees are more often than not eager to get things out in the open and hear honest feedback, rather than for their boss to develop his/her pre-conceived ideas without expressing them.

5.Have a party - Celebrate and reward success. As a racehorse trainer or owner, what kind of filly will I end up with if I continuously abuse, whip and yell at her, keep her UN groomed and in miserable living conditions?

Exactly! Now consider that people are more sensitive than horses.

There are countless companies that hold certificate-giving ceremonies, or a small party for an employee’s birthday – but do you need a birthday to prompt you to bring in a cake? How about bringing a cupcake for a different employee each day to say, “Thanks for the good job you did yesterday,” or better still get on the phone to a deserving employee at the end of the working day to show your appreciation for a job well done.

Creating a Derby winning race horse is not easy. It requires day-to-day attention and continuous nurturing and care to even compete among the best, but the rewards when it is done right are substantial. So invest time in your fillies, encourage them, give them continuous feedback, build them and celebrate with them.

Make sure every day is a Derby day.

Who Will Be the World’s First Trillionaire?

One trillion dollars.

That's a "1" followed by 12 zeroes. It sounds like a goal that Austin Powers’ arch nemesis Dr. Evil would shoot for but, according to Swiss financial services firm Credit Suisse, it could eventually become a reality for a select few worldwide. Not anyone you or I know, of course, but we’re on track to see our first trillionaire sometime in the next century.

“Two generations ahead, future extrapolation of current wealth growth rates yields almost a billion millionaires, equivalent to 20% of the total adult population,” the bank wrote in its annual Global Wealth Report, published Wednesday. “If this scenario unfolds, then billionaires will be commonplace, and there is likely to be a few trillionaires too – eleven according to our best estimate.”

Sure, two generations is a pretty long time – about 60 years, according to most sociologists – but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the world’s first trillionaire has already been born and is already hard at work accumulating their fortune.

Let’s consider some of the likely candidates.

1.- Bill Gates: The Microsoft MSFT) founder recently reclaimed his spot as the world’s richest person with a net worth of about $72 billion. He’s a long shot to get to a trillion, though, due to his age – he’s currently 57 – and the fact that a large portion of his wealth is tied up in Microsoft’s stock, which hasn’t been performing too well in recent years. He’s also extremely charitable, and has stated that his goal is to give away the bulk of his fortune by the time he dies. That won’t help Gates if he wants to become the world’s first trillionaire.

2.- Carlos Slim: Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim lost the title of “world’s richest” in September 2013 when the value of his stock portfolio fell by a fraction of a percent, leaving him with a mere $69 billion in net worth. Still, he does make a fair case to be the world’s first trillionaire – his assets are spread across a number of industries, including construction and manufacturing, and he remains one of the primary players in the Mexican economy. But he is 73 years old and would need to boost his fortune more than 14 times over in his remaining years to reach the trillion-dollar mark.

3.- Warren Buffett: Legendary investor Warren Buffett’s $58.5 billion fortune may make him the second-richest person in the U.S., but he has a long way to go to becoming a trillionaire. Like Slim, his holdings are very diverse so he’s generally protected from wild swings in market value at any one company, but at 83, Buffett will likely not live to see anyone reach the $1 trillion threshold. And his portfolio would have to go up by some 1,700% for Buffett to get there personally.

4.- Larry Ellison: The billionaire founder of Oracle (ORCL) likes to throw his $43 billion fortune around, recently hosting the America’s Cup sailing competition in his home city of San Francisco, but the bulk of his wealth is tied up in Oracle stock. He owns about one-quarter of the company, which means his own fortunes will rise and fall alongside the notoriously fickle technology sector.

5.- Jeff Bezos: OK, let’s get real here. At just 49 years old, Amazon.com (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos has time on his side if he hopes to reach $1 trillion, and he’s well-positioned in a growth industry. But with a current net worth of around $25 billion, will the value of Amazon’s stock really increase 40-fold over the next few decades to get him there? It's a long shot.

6.- His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge: He certainly has the age advantage, having been born just this past July, but the son of the UK’s Prince William and Princess Kate (also known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) likely won’t be appearing on any trillionaire lists in his lifetime. That’s because the bulk of the royal family’s wealth is tied up in land holdings and the crown jewels, which technically belong to Britain, not the family. Even Queen Elizabeth II, the richest of the bunch, can only claim $515 million or so in personal holdings.

7.- The House of Saud: Saudi Arabia’s royal family is a different story and, in fact, the 2,000 or so members of the core group already control a fortune estimated at over $1.4 trillion, based on their land holdings (the entire country technically belongs to them) and multi-generational oil wealth. Still, it takes one person, not 2,000, to make a trillionaire, and the price of oil needs to keep rising if any members of the family want to stay in the hunt.

8.- Elon Musk: The PayPal/SpaceX/Tesla founder is our front-runner here at Yahoo Finance due to his amazingly diverse holdings and the fact that, at just 42 years of age, he has plenty of time to create even more wealth. Sure, Musk is only worth about $6 billion as of 2013, but if even one of his world-changing ideas takes off in a major way – electric cars, commercial space travel, ultra-high speed rail – that number will likely increase exponentially.

What do you think? Who did we leave off this list of potential trillionaires? Make your case in the comments below.

culled from Forbes.com

Toyota Unveils Cars Of The Future, With Auto Pilot

Toyota Unveils Cars Of The Future, With Auto Pilot

Toyota on Friday unveiled the next generation of cars featuring an auto pilot system that will swerve to avoid collisions and also keep to the middle of the road, all without drivers touching the wheel.

The Japanese giant autos using the self-driving technology could be available on the market in just a few years' time.

"These advanced driving support technologies prevent human errors, reduce driving stress and help drivers avert accidents, which has a big potential to reduce the number of traffic deaths," Toyota managing director Moritaka Yoshida said at a presentation in Tokyo.

Leading automakers and technology firms, including Toyota, rival Nissan and Internet giant Google, have been working on self-driving and assisted-driving technology for years.

Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, said that while drivers would still need to be alert and take part in the driving process, it essentially lets them put the vehicle on auto-pilot, leaving most of the work to the computer system.

The Automated Highway Driving Assist (AHDA) system lets vehicles communicate wirelessly to avoid running into each other while keeping the car in the middle of the road lane — no matter how many twists and turns lie ahead.

"Cars with these technologies recognise the accelerating or slowing speed of those ahead, which also helps avoid traffic jams," said project manager Mitsuhisa Shida. "They can wirelessly exchange data once every 0.1 seconds."

The company plans to install AHDA in its commercial models over the next few years.

Toyota has already introduced the pre-collision braking assist system in its Lexus luxury sedan and plans to install it in other models by 2015, with the other technologies to follow.

Many cars already have systems that give drivers a panoramic view to keep watch for nearby objects while parking it.

The latest collision-avoidance system has doubled the detection time of oncoming objects to four seconds from a previous two seconds, Toyota added.

The automaker said such advances would be especially helpful for older people. Japan's society is rapidly ageing with over-65s already making up around a quarter of the 128 million-strong population.

Richard Branson's 3 Steps to Brand Loyalty

By Jack Preston

Over the years Virgin has amassed a sizeable customer base, with record labels, airlines, internet service providers and health services all leaning on the strength of the brand. For Richard Branson gaining the trust and respect of those customers has been a long process, with three key principles guiding him through the journey

In a recent entrepreneur.com blog the Virgin Founder shed some light onto how Virgin has managed to build and retain brand loyalty amongst is customers...

If you win people over, the profits will follow.

The first step in building a customer-focused business is to ask yourself: What can we can offer customers that others aren't, or won't, because they are so narrowly focused on profit? If you base your new business on this premise, it will be much easier to find an edge over your competitors.

Unfortunately, this means that you will probably face a lot of opposition and second-guessing from others in the industry when you launch your start-up. Back in the 1980s, when people were wondering whether Virgin Atlantic, would survive, some critics said that few people would fly across the Atlantic on an airline called Virgin. We responded that since we only had one 747 plane, we'd be just fine with only a small number of passengers!

As it turned out, those customers loved our airline and were very loyal, and we were soon competing with the major airlines.

Build on your employees' ideas.

The second step involves encouraging your staff to think like and empathize with customers, and then tell you about any ideas that they may have for innovations to your product or service. Find a way to empower your people to follow up on their ideas.

At the Virgin Group, we put a lot of effort into this: One example that comes to mind is that everyone at Virgin America - the CEO, the pilots, the accountants, everyone - attends an annual training program called Refresh to celebrate their achievements, build team spirit and encourage creativity. We run sessions where teammates brainstorm new ideas.

Many of the best ideas are free - it doesn't cost much to make someone happy.

Increase profits by being nice.

In some American classrooms I recently visited, there were signs posted that read: "Work hard, be nice." That sign should probably be hung in boardrooms too. There is no better way to improve the bottom line than to go the extra mile for your customers

The other day I heard about an entrepreneur who arrived at our terminal in Portland, Ore. He was frantic: He'd been preparing for his new company's launch the night before, and then he woke up 20 minutes before the departure of his flight from Portland to San Francisco. His flight had departed, and there weren't any other flights to San Francisco. He was alone and out of options -have you ever been in a situation like that?

Our team rallied and got him on a flight to Los Angeles with a connection to San Francisco. It would be tight because the connection departed the same time as the flight to Los Angeles arrived, but they were rooting for him. They assigned him a seat at the front of the plane and told him about the quickest route to his connection. A crew member told the pilots about the rush, and they managed to get the plane to Los Angeles seven minutes early.

When the entrepreneur reached his connecting gate on time, the pilot and crew on that flight congratulated him.

He wrote on his blog: "They had gone above and beyond that day. Each and every one of them had a hand in making my experience not only successful, but enjoyable - and the best part, I didn't once feel as if I was inconveniencing any one of them." Such effort and kindness can earn you a customer for life.

Have you got any top tips for creating brand loyalty? Let us know…

That Nigeria is Blessed....

God bless Nigeria!!!
That Nigeria is a blessed nation is not in doubt.
That Nigeria is blessed with abundant mineral and natural resources is not in doubt.
That Nigeria is blessed with smart and outstanding citizen is not in doubt.
That Nigeria is a consumer nation as against being a producer is not in doubt.
That Nigeria is practicing democracy is not in doubt.
That we have leaders of questionable character is not in doubt.
That we have unresolved issues with the polity and the way it is being handled is not in doubt.
That PDP, New PDP, APGA, APC, PDM, ID, LP, NLC, TUC, NTA, PHCN, NEPA and CAN are all political parties fighting for their own bellies is not in doubt.
That we have particularly been used to experiencing criminally insane leaders making living unbearable and unacceptable in Nigeria is not in doubt.
That Nigerians prefer schools overseas to that which is obtained at home is not in doubt.
That our institutions have failed to live up to expectation is not in doubt.
That the highest fraud till date was carried out by an individual or group of individuals is credited to Nigeria is not in doubt That the super Eagles have not been in top form since Atlanta 96 is not in doubt.
That Diezani Allison Maduekwe may be the richest woman in Africa is not in doubt.
That Dame patience Jonathan may have contributed to the issues in PDP and Nigeria is not in doubt.
That Nigerians Senator earns an absurd amount of money doing nothing and will even talk about earning “hardship” allowances is not in doubt. That we still are unsure if the nation will go to war is not in doubt.
That youths are unemployed and there seems to be no hope in sight for better economic situation is not in doubt.
That Nigeria is working as a Nation is in doubt.
That Nigeria is a democratic Nation is in doubt.
That we have had the fair share of good leadership is in doubt.
That Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is the 14th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is in doubt.
That we understand and can comprehend the role of the first lady in making the nation a better place for women and children is in doubt. That we as a people will continue to support the present government is in doubt.
That there is an end in sight to the rubbish we have been subjected to of late by our leaders is in doubt.
That we will have steady power supply as promised by Mr. President before the year ends or even at the end of 2014 is in doubt.
That Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will win the Presidency come 2015 is in doubt.
That there will be peace in 2015 if GEJ is eventually announced winner is in doubt.
That we may never have to experience unrest is in doubt.
That Nigeria is heading towards a permanent change for good is in doubt.
That David Mark will run for the Presidency in 2015 is in doubt.
That Nigerians will stop watching Big Brother Africa is in doubt.
That Dbanj and Don Jazzy will come back to make MoHits record work again is in doubt.
That NollyWood will stop acting nude movies and porn is in doubt.
That twitter will be banned in Nigeria is in doubt.
That the feud between Amaechi and the Jonathan family will end soon is in doubt.
That Amaechi will not contest in 2015 is in doubt.
That Nyesom Wike will turn the educational sector around for good is in doubt.
That Tompolo will stop receiving mouth watery contracts from the Jonathan led government is in doubt.
That Tompolo, Asari and the other sets of militants won't return to the creeks after Jonathan crashes out is in doubt.
That oil theft will cease in Nigeria is in doubt.
That anything is impossible in Nigeria is in doubt.
That 2Face will stop giving us good music is in doubt.
That you may not read this piece because it may not hold true to your expected story about Nigeria is in doubt.
That God will Bless Nigeria is not in doubt.