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ECONET :
DREAM NIGERIA DARE NOT KILL.
By ADEWALE
ADEOYE.
Recently, over
a hundred African Economic Editors gathered in South Africa this
month specifically to deliberate on 'Reporting Wealth Creation in
Africa." It is and has always been, the biggest gathering of African
Editors, and if you like, the most significant of such an even around
the globe. The World Bank representatives, and other key players
in the African economy were guests, including the robust, soft spoken
Governor of the South African Central Bank (Reserve Bank), Tito
Mboweni, who drove himself to the venue of the conference, and as
usual, without a police orderly, nor a retinue of servants as characteristic
of most African countries.
However for
the African Editors Forum, the question they asked us, the Nigerian
delegates on the Econet adventure in Nigeria were embarrassing.
Is it true that some of the investors in this great company are
cheats.? Did some of the investors got phony overdrafts.? Did politicians
dabble into the accounts of Econet during the last elections and
therefore forced some of the investors to part away with their money
though reluctantly. One Editor from South Africa wanted to know
whether 'a Telecom group from South Africa actually bribed some
of the Shareholders so as to kick out Econet in Nigeria. One other
Editor said he heard that some politicians at gun point forcefully
extracted 30million dollars from the company so as to fund their
electoral fortunes. No doubt, for the Editors, especially the Nigerian
delegates, the most important figure in the 3-day event was the
Chief Executive Officer of Econet Wireless International, Strive
Masiriya.
Some of us had
feared Masiriya would not be at the occasion, simply because in
his home country, Zimbabawe, the recent event leading to the closing
down of Daily News by Robert Mugabe had drawn his attention, himself
being one of the back-benchers of the free press crusade in former
Rhodesia. Though, many conscious and progressive African people
know the implication of running down a business empire with over
N5billion turnover a month, especially when the company is arguably
the most influential business empire that is owned by a blackman,
but the Nigerian delegates, and I was one of them, were bent on
hitting Masiriya below the belt. No doubt, Econet lay claim to an
outstanding podium. Because of the history of African people , the
history of repression in the days of slavery and servitude; and
the ineptitude of post-colonial leadership, it is indeed a rare
development, to see an African dream succeed in the business realm.
And good enough the meeting place was South Africa, the second home
of Masiriya.
Really, the
whole of Southern Africa has always fascinated me, not just because
of her sexy climate, or her robust economy- today Botwana has the
fastest growing economy in the world- but also because of her people.
It is amazing to discover that despite the darkest days of tyranny
and political ignominy, Southern African states, including the tinniest,
provide the most auspicious signs of African rebirth. Apart from
giving the continent Nelson Mandela, one of the world's most respected
statesman, noted for his strong character, coolness, calmness and
moral vigor, it is from this region that African's potential in
competing with the world in modern technology comes from. If you
are in doubt, by the time you listen to the story of the Econet
boss, Strive Masiriya, you may begin to believe that the next wave
of technological development would definitely move from Asia, as
it is now, to Africa, and Southern Africa may be its most astonishing
gateway.
On Monday morning,
the Editors had been treated to the scintillating stories of Old
Mutual, the great advancement being made by Sappi into the Nigerian
Newsprint market, and the adventures of De Beers, in the vast diamond
fields of Africa. But nothing fascinated the Nigerian delegates
like the fact that the Econet boss, was coming to address the Editors.
Perhaps, it was one of the longest held breath in the Editors' media
career. The Editor of Business Times, Bola Onanuga with the Daily
Times told me: We'll tear this man into pieces today. One of Thisday's
Editors, Sam Famakinwa was fuming in anger, waiting to 'deal ruthlessly'
with the Econet boss as soon as he finished addressing the economic
editors. On my part, I had never liked Econet, not for any reason,
except that when I won the Cable News Network, CNN African Journalist
of the year in 2000 and MTN gave me a beautiful handset, NOKIA 5210,
which was latter stolen on the rickety streets of Lagos though,
I felt as soon as GSM hit Nigeria, I and my family should reciprocate.
Econet recent
shareholders cut-throat crisis further strengthen my desire to live
and die with MTN. I was prepared to do battle with Masriya and if
possible, persecute him. D-Hour. Professor Nixon Kariithi from Rhodes
University of South Africa read a brief C.V of the subject, and
that was the beginning of the cold feet for some of us. Masiriya
had been listed by the American most influential Time Magazine as
one of the world's ten most influential busineessmen. He is on the
board of the Rockefellar Foundation, perhaps the only African, who
knows? The most interesting was that our character has adopted 5,000
orphans, offspring of people living with HIV/AIDS. And then the
beat went on and on. Short but firm Masriya mounted the talk-table
as we prepared for dinner on the woolly night . We all (Nigerians)
held our breath. He cleared his throat and began his spell-bound
story which must hold anyone captive. A young engineer as he was,
had approached the government of Zimbabwe to register a Telecommunications
company in the early 1990s.
The Robert Mugabe
regime would not allow that because already there was a "monopoly".
Strive went to court. His lawyers told him the case won't last beyond
6 weeks, but it lasted for almost 6 years. He lost at the Supreme
Court. He was unrelenting. When he met one of the founding fathers
of Zimbabawe independence, he was told to go and read the constitution
of his country before anything. One area of the constitution set
his adrenaline in perpetual conflict: "Every Zinbabwean has the
right to impact and receive information without any hindrance."
Strive began the battle again. After appearing in Court countless
times, bamboozling the judges, after all, he was fighting to ensure
the people of Zim have ordinary 'Walkie Talkie", so some of the
judges were told.
He won the battle.
Latter, Strive was in New Zealand, a purely European country. He
won the bidding. Dazed whites asked the question: Who is Masiriya?
And that makes him remember the question the British asked themselves
200 years ago when they were humbled by the Zulu warriors: "Who
are the Zulus".? Today, with a turnover of about 5billion naira
in Nigeria, Econet is arguably one of the greatest job providers
in Africa, by far one of the fastest growing company, and also one
of the greatest mobilisers of Foreign Direct Investment, FDI. Strive
owns about 75percent market share in Botswana, and the company works
in 5 other African countries. Strive says he is nurtured by 5 elements:
Vision, Insight, Attitude, Perspective and Passion. It was the first
element, Vision that took him to the British Broadcasting Corporation,
BBC where he told them: "You can make money from your BBC half hour
broadcast', to which he got the answer: "We're not in the business
of making money from news." Today, the BBC had changed its mind.
Now Nigeria: On the day Econet was launched in Nigeria, he recalled
that the longest queue was 5kms. When his topmost market official
visited Nigeria, a Norwegian which he had hired, he was flabbergasted
by the crowd on the streets of Lagos and wondered "What the hell
is going on here.? Where do I sell my products.?
Where are the
markets.?" But to Strive, the biggest supermarkets in the world
are in Nigeria, because they have no roofs. It worked. On the first
few days, the company, with their Nigerian investors was already
raking in tens of millions of dollars in one day.
But now, the
Econet group in Nigeria is in trouble. Why? This is the question
that should interest every Nigerian. Why is the company in trouble?.
Why do some shareholders decide to bring in Vodacom and now threaten
to through spanner in the works? Why can't the Nigerian government
register Vodacom as a separate entity to compete with the other
GSM operators.? Is Nigeria really a save place for foreign investment.?
Can any investor trust Nigerians with his money.? Masiriya told
the editors that his refusal to pay commissions totalling 15million
dollars to certain individuals, which is called 10 per cent in Nigeria,
was responsible for some of the problems now facing the company.
He alleged that at the heat of the last elections in Nigeria, the
pressure was intensified.
'The matter
was brought back to the board meeting, and our lawyers adviced that
it would be illegal in Nigeria for a company to make contributions
for a political campaign', he told us. From Strive's own account
to the African Editors forum, and from the accounts in the local
and international dailies, for the sake of foreign investment and
the credibility of Nigeria as a nation, it is time for the Federal
Government of Nigeria and her people, to show keen interest in what
is going on in Econet. This is necessary because Nigeria is now
gaining the reputation of a "country without morality", as one white
reporter put it to me. A place where you do your business with local
partners and walk on the streets with an eye on your shoulder. It
is even too bad now, especially in the contest of the description
of Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in the world. However
the interesting dimension is the decision of the company to seek
the intervention of the United Nations Commission on International
Trade Law (UNCITRAL), of which Nigeria is a signatory.
Once again,
the ass of the fowl has been blown by the wind, Nigeria, my country
is poised to espose her carcass to the rest of the world. Adeoye
is the CNN African Journalist of the Year (2000), Steve Biko Scholar,
the Nigerian Media Merit Award, NMMA reporter of the Year 2000,
and the Chairman of the Journalists for Democratic Rights, JODER
in Nigeria. He is also the Editor-In-Chief of the up-coming OduaMail
He worked in The Guardian of Nigeria for 8 years and The Punch for
5 years, he has contributed articles to local and international
media including The Sunday Times of South Africa.
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