Africa Business Communities

Peter McCann: Nigeria First! The Cows Are Waiting!

A seasoned Nigerian businessman and I had a lengthy discussion about the potential merits of an uncertain, expensive investment but possibly lucrative opportunity in a distant country. He seemed excited about the foreign opportunity. Later, I composed and emailed the following parable:  “Brother Friend, After a good night's sleep, I now think that the farmer must milk the cow in front of him, not chase a cow that he hears in the distant forest.  If through strength and communication you can convert the existing Nigerian opportunity into a cow that gives milk, that is much better than a costly quest in a distant land for uncertain benefit.“

That parable, reflecting my roots in rural Canada, resonated with him. We then set to work on attaching reasonable probabilities to each factor that would make the Nigerian and the foreign opportunities successful or disastrous.  Working together, he brought a deep knowledge of his industry and the Nigerian market and his average knowledge of the foreign market; I brought a deep knowledge of granularity, probability and effective decision-making processes. This combination of subjectivity and objectivity produced a decision-making process and outcome that was much better than either he and his staff or me and my colleagues could have achieved if acting alone.

The conclusion was that Nigeria is big in area, resources, potential and dynamism of its people. There are economic challenges – and there will always be challenges, only different in degree from one decade to another. But, ‘the farmer must milk the cow in front of him, not chase a cow that he hears in the distant forest.’

This does not mean that we should close our eyes to distant opportunities, but it does mean that we should see the immediate opportunities that are within our grasp.

Peter McCann is a Canadian management consultant. He is scheduled to be in Lagos to give two seminars in June.

www.mccaconsultants.com

 

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