I initially scratched my head when I saw phone companies advertising their new area codes (imagine AT&T owning all 456 area code #s and advertising the fact). It’s because people take advantage of intra-network discounts/free calls by having phones on different networks, and some phones can even carry multiple SIM cards and work on multiple networks at once. When you get someone’s number, you put it in one phone or another depending on what network they are on. Carriers want you to know their area codes so that you know which friends use their network and thus get a phone on the same network.
Nigeria is also one of the places that pioneered per-second billing.
Monday, August 30, 2010
8 flights, 7 days, 6 crashes, 1 busy week
This past week was a bit nuts, with 8 flights (legs) in 7 days. The main impetus was to get my Helicopter Underwater Evacuation Training certification, for which we had to escape 6 "crashes" in a pool. While it was neat to play Houdini, not crashing in the first place is still the preferred option. I will say that it was good "team bonding" time. Perhaps the most entertaining part came as our "helicopter" was rapidly capsizing and sinking; I was looking at one of my teammates and as we were going under his face had a resigned expression that said, "oh boy" (or some less-PC equivalent).
You're supposed to stay tight for 7 seconds or until it stops rotating. Someone asked why in the theory portion and the answer was "so that you don't get sucked into the still-rotating blades or tail rotor." Sounds like good advice to me.
It's like a giant dunking booth.
It was then on to Dublin. On Sunday I knew I needed some time away from it all, so I rented a car with someone and we drove around the country. I didn't realize how much I needed a mini road trip and to get out of the city. I think my colleague was initially a bit skeptical, but it turned out well. (Thanks, Shenin.)
One of the places we hit was the hill where St. Patrick is supposed to have lit a paschal (pre-Easter) fire in defiance of a local king and pagan traditions, but it was the start of the spread of Christianity. This was Heritage Week, so a couple of locals were there giving tours.
The church ruins, and an incongruous 300 year old Chilean monkey pine next to it. The pine was likely planted on someone's grave, but no one definitively knows the origins. Unfortunately my camera had issues and some of the pictures I really wanted were corrupted.
We got a tour from a guy who lived his whole life a stone's throw from the site and owned several adjacent acres. We were the only non-Slane residents on the tour. Consequently, about half of the tour was minutiae about town history, with exclamations like, "...you mean under James Fitzpatrick's house?" While I may not have been that interested, it was a lot of fun to be a part of that conversation.
I really liked Ireland, and it is on my list of places to return to. I heard some very thick brogues. I also asked a guy for the inside scoop: does he, as a true Irishman, really drink a lot of Guinness? "Too much" was the definite answer.
You're supposed to stay tight for 7 seconds or until it stops rotating. Someone asked why in the theory portion and the answer was "so that you don't get sucked into the still-rotating blades or tail rotor." Sounds like good advice to me.
It was then on to Dublin. On Sunday I knew I needed some time away from it all, so I rented a car with someone and we drove around the country. I didn't realize how much I needed a mini road trip and to get out of the city. I think my colleague was initially a bit skeptical, but it turned out well. (Thanks, Shenin.)
One of the places we hit was the hill where St. Patrick is supposed to have lit a paschal (pre-Easter) fire in defiance of a local king and pagan traditions, but it was the start of the spread of Christianity. This was Heritage Week, so a couple of locals were there giving tours.The church ruins, and an incongruous 300 year old Chilean monkey pine next to it. The pine was likely planted on someone's grave, but no one definitively knows the origins. Unfortunately my camera had issues and some of the pictures I really wanted were corrupted.
We got a tour from a guy who lived his whole life a stone's throw from the site and owned several adjacent acres. We were the only non-Slane residents on the tour. Consequently, about half of the tour was minutiae about town history, with exclamations like, "...you mean under James Fitzpatrick's house?" While I may not have been that interested, it was a lot of fun to be a part of that conversation.
I really liked Ireland, and it is on my list of places to return to. I heard some very thick brogues. I also asked a guy for the inside scoop: does he, as a true Irishman, really drink a lot of Guinness? "Too much" was the definite answer.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
"A for effort award"
Above a moving walkway in Heathrow terminal 1 there is a sign that
says "Face forward on walkway!" Good advice, lest one be caught
unawares by the end of the walkway. However, the sign faces the
oncoming traffic and is blank on the back.
says "Face forward on walkway!" Good advice, lest one be caught
unawares by the end of the walkway. However, the sign faces the
oncoming traffic and is blank on the back.
Thus, anyone who is facing backward on the walkway will never read the
sign. Good idea, bad execution.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Somehow I doubt it
airline. I'm not banking on XM on my Arik flight anytime soon.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
SA hospital strikers: killing for money
I was back in SA this weekend running a lot of built-up errands and going to the Springboks (SA national team) vs. All Blacks (NZ national team) rugby match, part of the Tri-Nations tournament. Exciting game, and more about that later.
I hadn't been paying too much attention to SA news from Nigeria, but I knew that public workers went on strike. What I didn't realize is that this included workers at public hospitals, even though they are not legally allowed to strike. At a minimum they are leaving people to suffer and die untreated; at a maximum there are reports of striking hospital workers threatening those who are still working and physically entering and disrupting operations. Do a search and you'll find pictures of striking docs/nurses completely ignoring patients in need.
The hospitals put out a call for volunteers, so I heard one lady today say she and her daughter went to a hospital yesterday and were washing beds in the maternity ward after births and changing diapers. Not glamorous, but neat to see people do that. The strikers aren't winning any sympathy.
It's sad on a lot of levels.
-First, there is the obvious and appalling human toll.
-Second, it is hard for the government to argue that it can't afford the pay raise when story after story of corruption is in the papers, including this one about a scandal within the ruling party on the same day as the strikes. (They even coined the word "tenderpreneurs" for people who game the system, though usually it refers to blacks who are paid to be fronts for businesses in order to give it a better BBBEE score.) When people know that government officials are lining their pockets, it's hard to agree to give up pay. The government has no credibility here, and the union is capitalizing on it.
-Perhaps the worst part of it all is that the strikers are saying they aren't paid enough, but their actions are hurting the poorest the hardest, because higher-income people have insurance and use the parallel private system.
Some context:
-Inflation is ~5% at the moment; the government has agreed to a pay increase of 7%, but the strike is all about an extra 1.6% (for a total raise of 8.6%) and a housing allowance of R300/mo (about $40).
-Average public sector salaries are 30% higher than average private sector salaries (not necessarily comparing similar positions, though)
-According to an ad in the paper by the Minister of Education, a 5th year teacher at a public school makes about 235,000 rand (~$30,000)/year in total comp. That seems a little high, but if so, that's pretty good pay considering the cost of living and average salaries here.
-Last year all public sector workers received an 11% increase. The government agreed in order to avert a strike before the World Cup.
Some good reads from the Sunday Times:
-Strike chaos
-The court order and the union response, including a flat-out statement from the union leader that they will continue the essential services strike despite the court ruling
I hadn't been paying too much attention to SA news from Nigeria, but I knew that public workers went on strike. What I didn't realize is that this included workers at public hospitals, even though they are not legally allowed to strike. At a minimum they are leaving people to suffer and die untreated; at a maximum there are reports of striking hospital workers threatening those who are still working and physically entering and disrupting operations. Do a search and you'll find pictures of striking docs/nurses completely ignoring patients in need.
The hospitals put out a call for volunteers, so I heard one lady today say she and her daughter went to a hospital yesterday and were washing beds in the maternity ward after births and changing diapers. Not glamorous, but neat to see people do that. The strikers aren't winning any sympathy.
It's sad on a lot of levels.
-First, there is the obvious and appalling human toll.
-Second, it is hard for the government to argue that it can't afford the pay raise when story after story of corruption is in the papers, including this one about a scandal within the ruling party on the same day as the strikes. (They even coined the word "tenderpreneurs" for people who game the system, though usually it refers to blacks who are paid to be fronts for businesses in order to give it a better BBBEE score.) When people know that government officials are lining their pockets, it's hard to agree to give up pay. The government has no credibility here, and the union is capitalizing on it.
-Perhaps the worst part of it all is that the strikers are saying they aren't paid enough, but their actions are hurting the poorest the hardest, because higher-income people have insurance and use the parallel private system.
Some context:
-Inflation is ~5% at the moment; the government has agreed to a pay increase of 7%, but the strike is all about an extra 1.6% (for a total raise of 8.6%) and a housing allowance of R300/mo (about $40).
-Average public sector salaries are 30% higher than average private sector salaries (not necessarily comparing similar positions, though)
-According to an ad in the paper by the Minister of Education, a 5th year teacher at a public school makes about 235,000 rand (~$30,000)/year in total comp. That seems a little high, but if so, that's pretty good pay considering the cost of living and average salaries here.
-Last year all public sector workers received an 11% increase. The government agreed in order to avert a strike before the World Cup.
Some good reads from the Sunday Times:
-Strike chaos
-The court order and the union response, including a flat-out statement from the union leader that they will continue the essential services strike despite the court ruling
Monday, August 16, 2010
A different economic paradigm
Nigeria boggles my mind in a lot of ways, not the least of which is the finances around here. The per capita GDP adjusted purchasing power parity is approximately $2,400, and ~65% of people live on under $1.25/day. However, real estate here rivals and may even surpass NYC. From talking to people, a decent 2 or 3 bedroom place in Lagos will easly run around $4000/month. Rents in Abuja are lower, but still dramatic. I saw an Abuja real estate flyer where most properties were 3-5 bedrooms for $1-3 million, and everyone has told me that you don’t get what you think you would for that money.
Looks like a nice house except that it hasn't been kept up at all.
There are a lot of half-finished buildings around. I found out that one of the drivers is that you can’t really get a construction loan; rates on loans here are so high (25-40%) that they are all short term. It really seems to be restricted to working capital needs and import/export companies – things where you can use the money to buy a tangible asset that will quickly be flipped for a profit to pay off the loan. This means that if someone runs out of money, that’s the end of it. What I still can’t figure out is why they remain empty – I would expect someone else to buy them at a discount and complete the building – but there are half-completed ghosts of buildings, frequently with scaffolding still in place and grass growing inside the walls, right next to thriving areas. I fly over an area going into Benin City that has a lot of these. It looks like ruins of an old civilization, except they are probably only a couple of years old and were never used.
I’m trying to untangle how these property prices can exist in a country like Nigeria. I haven’t put everything in its place, but here are a few reasons:
-Infrastructure is bad, meaning more people are looking for places within a smaller radius.
>Phone/internet/mail are all iffy, which puts a premium on face-to-face dealings. I think culture adds to this.
>Roads are bad; if you drew a circle around downtown Houston that represented a 15 min max commute, it might be several miles. Here that same distance might represent a 1 hr commute. (One guy has a friend who works in Lagos; he leaves for work every day at 0530 and drives an hour, sleeps in his car outside the office, and then works. If he leaves any later than 0630 it is a 4 hr drive.)
-In the words of a Nigerian, “95% of houses here are things you wouldn’t think about living in. That means there is a big price separation between the 95% and the 5%, and you’ll only see the 5%.” Even the 5% isn’t all luxury as defined by Western standards.
-There are a lot of expats here who are on expat housing packages, meaning they have a fair bit to spend and aren’t price conscious up to a certain point.
-International companies could build a compound outside the expensive area, expats want to be able to interact/have a life and the same traffic issues affecting commutes mean that if you live in a compound elsewhere it either needs to be of “critical mass” size or it.
I saw an ad on the TV the other day for a community outside Lagos. The ad started by lamenting the fact that Nigerian comforts lag behind other countries, then touting a new community specifically supplying “the Western lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to in the Nigeria that you love.”
Contrary to expectations, lots of things are on par or more expensive here than in the U.S. It’s because they import almost everything. I scanned prices at a grocery store in Abuja; everyone told me it is one of the most expensive in Abuja, but I was still blown away by prices like N4000 ($27) for a half gallon tub of ice cream, or N1750 ($12) for a 900g bag of frozen veggies. At a local grocery in Abuja, local brand ice cream is still about $12/tub.
For an idea of income, my Abuja driver probably makes about $200/month. He lives 1.5 hrs outside of the city and commutes in by “public” transit (meaning taxi bus) every day to pick up the car and drive.
Side note: I learned about the approximate driver’s salary when I learned about “phone flashing.” Calling uses minutes, but receiving calls doesn’t. I told one of my drivers to call me when he arrived. I thought the cell network was down because every time he would call and I would answer, the line would be empty. My Nigerian colleague laughed and explained that the driver wanted me to call him back so he wouldn’t get charged for the minutes; it’s like going back to the time of pagers. Now I don’t even bother to pick up. I just send him to voicemail and he knows that there is the mutual understanding that he has arrived.
Looks like a nice house except that it hasn't been kept up at all. There are a lot of half-finished buildings around. I found out that one of the drivers is that you can’t really get a construction loan; rates on loans here are so high (25-40%) that they are all short term. It really seems to be restricted to working capital needs and import/export companies – things where you can use the money to buy a tangible asset that will quickly be flipped for a profit to pay off the loan. This means that if someone runs out of money, that’s the end of it. What I still can’t figure out is why they remain empty – I would expect someone else to buy them at a discount and complete the building – but there are half-completed ghosts of buildings, frequently with scaffolding still in place and grass growing inside the walls, right next to thriving areas. I fly over an area going into Benin City that has a lot of these. It looks like ruins of an old civilization, except they are probably only a couple of years old and were never used.
I’m trying to untangle how these property prices can exist in a country like Nigeria. I haven’t put everything in its place, but here are a few reasons:
-Infrastructure is bad, meaning more people are looking for places within a smaller radius.
>Phone/internet/mail are all iffy, which puts a premium on face-to-face dealings. I think culture adds to this.
>Roads are bad; if you drew a circle around downtown Houston that represented a 15 min max commute, it might be several miles. Here that same distance might represent a 1 hr commute. (One guy has a friend who works in Lagos; he leaves for work every day at 0530 and drives an hour, sleeps in his car outside the office, and then works. If he leaves any later than 0630 it is a 4 hr drive.)
-In the words of a Nigerian, “95% of houses here are things you wouldn’t think about living in. That means there is a big price separation between the 95% and the 5%, and you’ll only see the 5%.” Even the 5% isn’t all luxury as defined by Western standards.
-There are a lot of expats here who are on expat housing packages, meaning they have a fair bit to spend and aren’t price conscious up to a certain point.
-International companies could build a compound outside the expensive area, expats want to be able to interact/have a life and the same traffic issues affecting commutes mean that if you live in a compound elsewhere it either needs to be of “critical mass” size or it.
I saw an ad on the TV the other day for a community outside Lagos. The ad started by lamenting the fact that Nigerian comforts lag behind other countries, then touting a new community specifically supplying “the Western lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to in the Nigeria that you love.”
Contrary to expectations, lots of things are on par or more expensive here than in the U.S. It’s because they import almost everything. I scanned prices at a grocery store in Abuja; everyone told me it is one of the most expensive in Abuja, but I was still blown away by prices like N4000 ($27) for a half gallon tub of ice cream, or N1750 ($12) for a 900g bag of frozen veggies. At a local grocery in Abuja, local brand ice cream is still about $12/tub.
For an idea of income, my Abuja driver probably makes about $200/month. He lives 1.5 hrs outside of the city and commutes in by “public” transit (meaning taxi bus) every day to pick up the car and drive.
Side note: I learned about the approximate driver’s salary when I learned about “phone flashing.” Calling uses minutes, but receiving calls doesn’t. I told one of my drivers to call me when he arrived. I thought the cell network was down because every time he would call and I would answer, the line would be empty. My Nigerian colleague laughed and explained that the driver wanted me to call him back so he wouldn’t get charged for the minutes; it’s like going back to the time of pagers. Now I don’t even bother to pick up. I just send him to voicemail and he knows that there is the mutual understanding that he has arrived.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Abuja adventures
Abuja is much more modern than Benin, meaning wider roads, better construction, more formal traffic, etc. It was a planned city, purpose-built as the capital in the 70's.
The way people deal with traffic here is to go around. That means jumping onto the sidewalk and driving or going to the other side of the road and driving against traffic. Yes, it is a common sight to see cars driving on the wrong side of the road (see previous post)
Last weekend I was with two Zimbabweans and we checked out a local market. As we were leaving a guy was walking around with live roosters. He walked past one of the Zims, who shied away. I didn't move and just watched, and the guy went off on the Zim -- something about "see, the white man isn't scared of power, but the black man is!" I didn't catch it all, but it was some of that combined with what I guess was disdain for someone who was shying away from the realities of African life. However, someone said that the guy "wasn't from here" -- he meant not from Nigeria, but the guy interpreted it differently and asked if he was from California. (Why CA, I don't know.) The Zim guy just said "yes" and suddenly our rooster seller cut him all kinds of slack and wanted his picture taken. I guess Americans are held to low standards on some things...
Side note: he, and everyone else I saw, were only selling cocks, not hens. I typically think of hens as the meat birds, so I'm not sure if that is different here or if everyone was selling for breeding (which I doubt).
Lots of cars have convex mirrors on the back like this. I'm guessing it's so the guy who is riding your bumper knows how close he can get, but that's all I can imagine.
Most people get around in local taxis. Actual taxis (vs. motorcycle taxis) are a much higher % of the traffic here when compared to Benin. There are places along the highway leading into the city that are unofficial taxi stops; everyone knows that you go there to pick up a taxi. They turn into mini-marketplaces, with people selling all sorts of stuff there. People sell things among cars stuck in the traffic jams at these locations.
The way people deal with traffic here is to go around. That means jumping onto the sidewalk and driving or going to the other side of the road and driving against traffic. Yes, it is a common sight to see cars driving on the wrong side of the road (see previous post)
Last weekend I was with two Zimbabweans and we checked out a local market. As we were leaving a guy was walking around with live roosters. He walked past one of the Zims, who shied away. I didn't move and just watched, and the guy went off on the Zim -- something about "see, the white man isn't scared of power, but the black man is!" I didn't catch it all, but it was some of that combined with what I guess was disdain for someone who was shying away from the realities of African life. However, someone said that the guy "wasn't from here" -- he meant not from Nigeria, but the guy interpreted it differently and asked if he was from California. (Why CA, I don't know.) The Zim guy just said "yes" and suddenly our rooster seller cut him all kinds of slack and wanted his picture taken. I guess Americans are held to low standards on some things...
Side note: he, and everyone else I saw, were only selling cocks, not hens. I typically think of hens as the meat birds, so I'm not sure if that is different here or if everyone was selling for breeding (which I doubt).
“White man”/big man on campus
I wrote earlier about how friendly people are. The rest of that story is that I have since realized that I am popular in part because I’m white.
I’ve experienced it before – people in China would come up want to take a picture of me holding their baby – but didn’t expect it here because Nigeria has a decent number of white foreigners running around (and a lot of Chinese) and I’m working with a fairly developed/international company that regularly partners with non-Nigerian companies.
I started to notice it when everyone I passed started saying “hello, sir,” when normally languid guards sitting in chairs would call out a hello to me, and when two random people (found out one is the cleaning lady, still don’t know who the other is) introduced themselves to me. I was convinced of it when those two started to drop by the room I work in just to say hi and chat. It was obvious when I walked past a guy who said, “White man! How are you doing, white man?” and shook my hand. (Three others have done the same since.) One older security guard calls me "master," which I frankly find a bit uncomfortable. Some of it is that I am in Benin City, which is not a foreigner hotbed. Another aspect is that a lot of people who gawk are in positions where they don’t travel and aren’t as widely exposed to the world.
It has its pros and cons. The upshot is that everyone takes me more seriously/respects me more simply because of my skin color. My older, more experienced Nigerian colleague has to show more deference to his own fellow nationals than I do.
There are downsides, however. Part of it is just not wanting to observe/engage Nigeria without sticking out (read Jurassic Park II), but no tanning bed will fix that. Part of it is the random drop-bys, since they interrupt work. Part of it is that some, at least, have stereotyped me as the rich American and want stuff (including help with visa applications to the U.S.). Admittedly I am rich compared to the Nigerian median.
I’d really be interested in knowing what they think I make; in US$ terms most of the people I work with make a multiple of what I do.
I’ve experienced it before – people in China would come up want to take a picture of me holding their baby – but didn’t expect it here because Nigeria has a decent number of white foreigners running around (and a lot of Chinese) and I’m working with a fairly developed/international company that regularly partners with non-Nigerian companies.
I started to notice it when everyone I passed started saying “hello, sir,” when normally languid guards sitting in chairs would call out a hello to me, and when two random people (found out one is the cleaning lady, still don’t know who the other is) introduced themselves to me. I was convinced of it when those two started to drop by the room I work in just to say hi and chat. It was obvious when I walked past a guy who said, “White man! How are you doing, white man?” and shook my hand. (Three others have done the same since.) One older security guard calls me "master," which I frankly find a bit uncomfortable. Some of it is that I am in Benin City, which is not a foreigner hotbed. Another aspect is that a lot of people who gawk are in positions where they don’t travel and aren’t as widely exposed to the world.
It has its pros and cons. The upshot is that everyone takes me more seriously/respects me more simply because of my skin color. My older, more experienced Nigerian colleague has to show more deference to his own fellow nationals than I do.
There are downsides, however. Part of it is just not wanting to observe/engage Nigeria without sticking out (read Jurassic Park II), but no tanning bed will fix that. Part of it is the random drop-bys, since they interrupt work. Part of it is that some, at least, have stereotyped me as the rich American and want stuff (including help with visa applications to the U.S.). Admittedly I am rich compared to the Nigerian median.
I’d really be interested in knowing what they think I make; in US$ terms most of the people I work with make a multiple of what I do.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The weekend
I've been learning and doing, but not having enough time between the two of those for a lot of updates. However, I give you a pictoral review of my weekend in Abuja.
On Saturday I went with a couple others to drive around town. We looked at neighborhoods, checked out a hill overlooking the city, saw the National Assembly (their Congress), and went into the national church. We were told that non-Muslims can't visit the national mosque, but I have since heard conflicting reports, so I might check it out. I learned to play squash, and so far I think it is just a poor imitation of racquetball.
On Sunday I went to an international church and then to a fish market with some people I met. A whole fish and fries was ~$6, and you eat the fish with your hands.
I also had some very interesting chats with two Zimbabwean coworkers, which I'm sure will be the subject of another post.
On Saturday I went with a couple others to drive around town. We looked at neighborhoods, checked out a hill overlooking the city, saw the National Assembly (their Congress), and went into the national church. We were told that non-Muslims can't visit the national mosque, but I have since heard conflicting reports, so I might check it out. I learned to play squash, and so far I think it is just a poor imitation of racquetball.
On Sunday I went to an international church and then to a fish market with some people I met. A whole fish and fries was ~$6, and you eat the fish with your hands.
I also had some very interesting chats with two Zimbabwean coworkers, which I'm sure will be the subject of another post.
 |
| Cattle next to the highway between the airport/city. They range freely next ot the construction equipment and between the settlements. |
 |
| Misused quotation marks strike again. |
 |
| Every day is "take your kid to work" day. This is a common sight. |
 |
| "Do not urinate here." Duly noted. |
 |
| The unique church architecture has the congregation split, with the pastor/choir in between, meaning he will always have his back to half the audience. Solution? A rotating stage/pulpit. Interestingly, the church was built to have A/C, but rather than build in central A/C they built it specifically to use two dozen or so freestanding units. |
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| Fish'n'chips, Nigerian style. Everything on the plate is finger food. |
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| The fish market. It is a ring of 20 or so charcoal grills, with people busily grilling away. Surprisingly, there is no product differentiation -- everyone cooks the same thing (spiced croaker fish). Each griller has a waiter; the waiter is also tasked with grabbing people as they come into the market in order to claim their business. |
Friday, August 6, 2010
GPS would never re-route you this way...
I sort of fulfilled one of my life-long fantasies: driving against traffic and dodging oncoming cars. Two differences from the way it always played out in my mind:
1) We were in a Toyota Corolla, not a $200K+ sports car
2) WE were the ones on the right side of the road and THEY were the ones on the wrong side
The video.
Nigerians will also drive on the sidewalks to get around traffic.
1) We were in a Toyota Corolla, not a $200K+ sports car
2) WE were the ones on the right side of the road and THEY were the ones on the wrong side
The video.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Chiropractor checkup
Infrastructure probably right behind people as the backbone of an economy. Nigeria has pretty good cell phone service as far as I can tell; like most developing countries, cell phones dominate landlines. I use the same operator here (MTN) that I do in SA. I also have an MTN 3G card for my computer. We have a love-hate relationship because it can sometimes be fast (periodic averages of 400 kbps, faster than any landline I’ve had in Nigeria), but it is not dependable. As I am writing this I have no connectivity.
A store along a Benin City road. This is a nice store in the sense that it is an actual store, as opposed to a shack. The guy in front is a motorcycle taxi driver waiting to carry either a passenger or goods.
Nigeria shares some issues of other developing oil-rich countries. Despite having lots of crude production, it must import refined fuels. About a year ago they had so many issues that they had widespread fuel shortages. (Remember that this is even worse when everyone uses liquid fuel for power generation backup.)
Coke bottling plant in Nigeria -- and here it comes in true glass bottles. Coke's logistics and global marketing never ceases to amaze me.
Roads here vary. They are pretty good in Abuja and they are expanding a long stretch of the main road. In Benin there is some paved road, but a lot of packed dirt roads that are washboards in parts and collect small lakes when it rains. I’ve heard that the roads between cities are pretty bad. However, I have yet to be on a full domestic flight, so either a lot of people I haven’t met are driving between cities, or there isn’t a lot of travel.
A store along a Benin City road. This is a nice store in the sense that it is an actual store, as opposed to a shack. The guy in front is a motorcycle taxi driver waiting to carry either a passenger or goods.The power grid is not too good, and I would be interested in an estimated economic impact of its instability. In Benin, power goes out about 6x/day. Everyone has generators, so the power is usually only down for 15-30 seconds. In Abuja the power flickers but I haven’t experienced a full outage; I’m not sure if this is because the power didn’t go off, or if the Sheraton generators caught it and switched over before total power loss. I heard about a guy getting stuck in an elevator, so I know the power does sometimes go totally down.
Nigeria shares some issues of other developing oil-rich countries. Despite having lots of crude production, it must import refined fuels. About a year ago they had so many issues that they had widespread fuel shortages. (Remember that this is even worse when everyone uses liquid fuel for power generation backup.)
Coke bottling plant in Nigeria -- and here it comes in true glass bottles. Coke's logistics and global marketing never ceases to amaze me.Comparing SA and Nigeria might not sound good for Nigeria – Nigeria undoubtedly has more problems at the moment: South Africa’s power doesn’t cut off daily, a story of 500 people killed in religious or racial violence would be astounding, corruption is probably lower, and SA is starting way ahead in the infrastructure game. However, hope is the first derivative of condition: it measures expectations of rate of change, not the current situation. On the future expectations side, my small sample of Nigerians I’ve talked with seem more hopeful than my small sample of South Africans I have talked with.
Let that go down as a “hypothesis to investigate,” since I’m not yet qualified to make an observation on this point. I’m interested to see how my thoughts change on this subject after four months in Nigeria and then again after my year in SA.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Bookstore browsing
Over the weekend I checked out a Nigerian mall. It’s very different from a typical mall; this one has a small footprint and goes up 5 floors. It is brand new and not everything is finished. There is a bookstore that I perused; I was happy to find that books here are much cheaper than in South Africa, though still more expensive than in the U.S. It has an interesting mix of books: I would say that about 1/3 of the shelf space is dedicated to Christian books, 1/3 is fiction, and the other 1/3 is split between everything else but dominated by business books.
CDs are really expensive ($25-30 for a CD by a major U.S. artist). DVDs are actually cheaper, and after looking at a couple you realize why: they are mostly fakes. Unlike Chinese ones, which came in sleeves and made no pretense of being legitimate, these come in shrink-wrapped hard cases and look good until you look at details like misspellings or bad punctuation in the descriptions on the back.
We saw a movie in a theater that was small but as good as any in the U.S. -- reclining stadium seating, (too) loud sound, etc. The price was also U.S.: $10 for a movie. In SA it's only about $6.
CDs are really expensive ($25-30 for a CD by a major U.S. artist). DVDs are actually cheaper, and after looking at a couple you realize why: they are mostly fakes. Unlike Chinese ones, which came in sleeves and made no pretense of being legitimate, these come in shrink-wrapped hard cases and look good until you look at details like misspellings or bad punctuation in the descriptions on the back.
We saw a movie in a theater that was small but as good as any in the U.S. -- reclining stadium seating, (too) loud sound, etc. The price was also U.S.: $10 for a movie. In SA it's only about $6.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Political expression for foodies
A magazine restaurant reviewer assigned name to each of his star levels:
5 star: Desmond Tutu
4 star: Fantastico
3 star: Good
2 star: Julius Malema, head of the ANC's Youth League and demogogue. ANC (African National Congress) is the political party of Mandela that has ruled since 1994; Malema is seen as a strong contender for future head of the party/President. However, his actions and words make him seem to me (and may SAs) more like the political hit man/party partisan with a little Al Sharpton race demogoguery mixed in
1 star: Jackie Selebi, former head of SA police and Interpol who was recently convicted of massive corruption
Interesting political commentary via Italian food reviews.
5 star: Desmond Tutu
4 star: Fantastico
3 star: Good
2 star: Julius Malema, head of the ANC's Youth League and demogogue. ANC (African National Congress) is the political party of Mandela that has ruled since 1994; Malema is seen as a strong contender for future head of the party/President. However, his actions and words make him seem to me (and may SAs) more like the political hit man/party partisan with a little Al Sharpton race demogoguery mixed in
1 star: Jackie Selebi, former head of SA police and Interpol who was recently convicted of massive corruption
Interesting political commentary via Italian food reviews.
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