MINT: Will Nigeria be among the ten largest economies?
13 years ago, the term ”Brics” was coined by Jim O’Neil, a chief economist at Goldman Sachs. The acronym ”Brics” was used to describe the four countries [Brazil,Russia, India and China, later South Africa] O’Neil predicted would emerge among the next global economic giants. This would have been a flawed conception but for China.
Recently, Jim O’Neil came up with a new acronym ”MINT” which represents Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. He predicts that these countries could be among the ten largest economies in the next 30 years.
Numerical strength and youthful population amongst others are key factors in the possible economic emergence of the MINT countries.
However, will Nigeria be one of the ten largest economy in the next 30 years? Will numerical strength do for Nigeria what it did for China?
Nigeria, is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria’s economy is the second largest in Africa, and the 37th largest in the world. A middle income, mixed economy and emerging market, with expanding financial, service, communication and entertainment sector. Her role in Africa, although supported by her numerical strength and financial capacity puts her in the spotlight. But have Nigeria’s endowment been harnessed and translated to economic development to the extent of having noticeable impact in the globe? Is there any glimmer of hope that Nigeria could be one of the ten largest economy in the next 30 years? Read more
Is Africa’s young population a risk or an asset?
Africa has more people aged under 20 than anywhere in the world and the continent’s population is set to double to two billion by 2050.
However, this demographics if not properly harnessed could spell doom for Africa. In Nigeria, the culture of corruption have been imbibed by a large section of her youthful population. Get rich quick syndrome has eaten deep in the subconsciousness of younger generation, and the biggest challenge for these youths is the fear that their country holds a gloomy future for them. True?
Their interpretation of this inherent fear as to an uncertain future, the means in which they go about addressing this fear,and the will by the government of the day in formulating policies that would allay this fear would determine if Africa’s young population becomes a risk or an asset. Read more
Foreign investments in stock exchange hits N747bn
Between January and August 2013, the Nigerian securities boast of a total of N747bn (including inflows and outflows of Foreign Portfolio Investments) in foreign Investment.
According to Punch news ” Investigations by our correspondent on Friday at the NSE showed that between January and March 2013, the foreign transactions totalled N217.57tn, representing 42.7 per cent of the N510.1bn worth of transactions recorded in the first three months of the year.
For April to June, a total of N365.07bn worth of foreign transactions was recorded, while for the month of July, the total amount of FPIs in the NSE was N93.71bn.
The amount for July and August stood at N164.59bn, which is higher than the N150.24bn recorded at the end of June, according to the latest figures provided by NSE on its website.”
Mr Oscar Nyema ,the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange affirmed that various reforms carried out in the Exchange Market in the last few years is the reason why foreign investors who are usually on the lookout for strong emerging markets have been showing interest in the Nigerian market. He also affirmed that local investors had begun to return to the market after their huge exit following the global meltdown and the banking crisis in 2009.
Punch
8 Indisputable Reasons Why We Don’t Need Offices
Looking back a decade or so ago it was absolutely essential to have an office, or more likely, a cubicle. That’s where we had meetings, saw our coworkers, and just got work done. But today do we really need corporate offices? New technologies allow us to “connect to work,” meaning that all we need to get work done is an internet connection. Employees are working from co-working spots, cafes, and home offices all over the world without ever having to step foot into a corporate office. In fact the 2013 Regus Global Economic Indicator of 26,000 business managers across 90 countries, revealed that 48% of them are now working remotely for at least half of their work-week.
There are 8 reasons why our reliance on corporate offices is dwindling.
Collaborative technologies
New technologies are allowing employees to “connect to work,” meaning that the only thing we need to get our jobs done is an internet connection. From there we can access all the people and information we need to do our jobs. We can have virtual meetings, create assets (documents, presentations, or anything else), get updates from our team, and stay connected to our global workforce without daily face to face interaction. Additionally collaborative technologies allow us to work while we are on the go from our mobile devices. Read full Article from source
6 Ways to Keep Your Fruits and Veggies Fresher for Longer
The availability of fruits and vegetables have always been challenged with the problem of keeping them fresh . Most of us don’t have the time to visit our grocers daily to get fresh produce, and instead buy everything at once. Sadly, with even the best intentions and voracious appetites, by the week’s end we often find ourselves with more than our fair share of wilted greens, bruised fruits and moldy berries. Thankfully, all that good food doesn’t have to end up in the compost – with just a little bit of extra attention, there are plenty of ways to keeps your greens and berries in prime shape for that summer salad or cake. Read on for 6 of our tips on how to keep your fruits and vegetables fresher, longer! Read more
Can Going In and Out of Air Conditioning Cause Colds? How exposing the body to extreme temperature swings can lower our natural defenses
The Wall
Street Journal
For most people, summer involves numerous daily shifts between scorching outdoor heat and frosty air-conditioned interiors. But does exposing the body to extreme temperature swings make people sick? Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in Wales, which performs clinical trials for treatments for coughs, colds and flu, explains why keeping a sweater at work isn’t such a bad idea.
Chill Defenders
As warm-blooded animals, humans are hard-wired to keep our body temperature at around 98 degrees Fahrenheit. So when a person is exposed to frigid environments after being in the summer heat, the body “will do whatever it can to defend itself against chilling,” Prof. Eccles says.
One such defense: A thermal regulator in the brain, after receiving messages from temperature sensors in the skin, automatically alerts blood vessels there to constrict. “You can see this when someone suddenly goes into a very cold building, they go pale or their skin mottles,” says Prof. Eccles. The next stage is shivering, which will raise body temperature by generating heat. Read more
13 Ways To Live Your Life To The Fullest, Not Merely Exist
1. Feel it in your heart
In life, whenever you feel confused, frustrated, lost or do not know what you really want, you can always seek guidance from your heart. There are too many things in this world do not have a perfect or a definite answer. Some answer will unfold naturally as you proceed in life, while some answer will never reveal by itself unless you seek it attentively. The question “what is the meaning of life?” is one very good example of which you cannot find a perfect or a definite answer from the others. You can Google and YouTube the meaning of life (which is a fun thing to do), but at the end of the day, you would be only learning what is the meaning of other’s life, not yours. Along your journey of life, there are many questions like this where there’s no one can give you the best answer and you are the only one who can find the answer for yourself. If you happened to feel lost in life, not knowing what to choose or to do next, then perhaps one of the best sources you can tap into is your heart. Let it whisper to you what you truly want in your life. Find your true calling, your destiny, your fate, and then live your dream like how you want it to be.
“Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it.” ~Merida, Brave
2. Be part of something you believe in
One of the best thing if life is you are free to take part in the things which you believe is true and meaningful. Different people in this world fight for different things in their life. Some fight for the animals and give them a lot of love unconditionally, some protect the future generation ensuring they have sufficient and up to standard living condition, some save the earth and call for a greener and cleaner place to stay, and some provide urgent medical care in countries to victims of war and disaster regardless of race, religion, or politics. Ask yourself what do you truly believe in and what you think it is worth to strive for in your life. Join related non-profit organization and start taking action. You can enrich your life while doing all the meaningful right things.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill
“The purpose of life is not to be happy; but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.” ~Leo Rosten
3. Travel to your wherever you want, be a stranger in that place.
There is a dream place in your mind that you would like to visit at least once in your lifetime. Deep inside your heart, you are shouting to see the place with your own eyes and to feel the breeze there. The reason why you want to visit that place is irrelevant. The purpose of your visit can be very simple, plain, or even crazy. It doesn’t matter at all. The most important thing is that you must start planning the trip now and really visit your dream place one day, so that you will have no regret in life, the day you take your last breath. If you have a place pop up in your mind right now as you are reading this, then perhaps that is your dream place. Write down the name of the place in your personal journal and make a promise to yourself to visit there one day. Read more
– See more at: http://inspirationboost.com/13-ways-to-live-your-life-to-the-fullest-not-merely-exist#sthash.EAREBZ2n.dpuf
Rivers Crisis
VIDEO: Governor Rotimi Amaechi Adresses Rumors Surrounding him On BBC HardTalk
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State in southern Nigeria on BBC HardTalk programme.
Freebee!!
iKnowNaija beautifully packages Nigeria's history from 1900, as well as important Facts, and Places of Interest.
Across streets 