No it isn't true.
Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About
- Thread starter TommyHilltrigga
- Start date
No it isn't true.
Mr Bubbles
Superstar
Which part, breh? I'm just trying to learn more about our people. Africa is so deep and rich with history yet the US doesn't teach a damn thing about it. You hear so many different things from so many different sources that it is hard to see who is being truthful and who is just trying to downplay us. I know there is no way that the pictures of people I've seen are all results of interracial breeding.
There are tons of naturally light brown Africans.
After realizing NBA dream, Serge Ibaka working to help reshape Africa
By Adrian Wojnarowski8 minutes agoYahoo Sports
.
View photo
Serge Ibaka helped refurbish two regional orphanages in the Republic of Congo. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
GRANADA, Spain – All around Serge Ibaka, the children in the Republic of Congo's capital city of Brazzaville had come clutching belief in the sudden possibilities of a basketball life. Fathers and sons marched to Ibaka on a charitable July journey back to his boyhood home, elders declaring the kids had stored soccer balls and devoted themselves to the pursuit of NBA dreams.
Beneath Ibaka's feet on the old neighborhood court, cardboard inserts once separated the holes in his shoes and the gruff, dirt surface. Now, it had been all replaced with a glistening, modern court. Above Ibaka, bent rims and hollowed-out backboards had been transformed into FIBA-standard goals.
Back to present a transformed court on this summer day, back to play a part in the refurbishing of two regional orphanages, what washed over Ibaka was a sense of how deep his roots remained, how far had he had come, how long the odds.
Ibaka's eyes were growing wide now off the lobby of a hotel lounge several weeks later, his voice rising, his cadence accelerating. For there's no Spanish gold medal in Madrid next week, no NBA championship for Oklahoma City in the States next spring, that could touch him as did a trip as a UNICEF emissary had this summer. He changed basketball in the Congo, and plays a part in shaping its future throughout Africa.
Luol Deng now.
"Imagine this day of Twitter and social media and satellite television, the way NBA has gone global, imagine Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe at their peaks," Toronto president and general manager Masai Ujiri, a Nigerian, told Yahoo Sports. "If people there could've really seen the Dream winning championships in Houston, as it was happening, Africans would have gone nuts.
If Deng's proud and accomplished heritage has come under a disgraceful scrutiny this week because of the Atlanta Hawks fiasco, Ibaka gives the Congo and Africa a World Cup of Basketball stage to reaffirm the kind of character and toughness and talent that comes out of those lands.
Everyone who has played and worked with Ibaka in Oklahoma City will tell you there's no better teammate, no one as fiercely loyal as Ibaka. In Kendrick Perkins' experiences, only Kevin Garnett could compare in the locker room, Perkins told Yahoo Sports.
When Thunder physicians told Ibaka he would be lost for the Western Conference finals – perhaps two months – with a calf injury, he refused to recognize the prognosis. Rehab the tear, push through the pain and I'll see everyone in Game 3.
"To myself, I say, 'I don't feel nothing that says I'll wake up tomorrow and be done [for the season]," Ibaka says. "All my life, I believe what my mind tells me; what my heart tells me. All the way back to Congo, it has worked for me. I'm going to have this life, I have this life. And … hey … it's working! So why this time, I'm not going to trust that? I'm going to keep trusting that. My heart and my mind were telling me, don't believe that."
Soon, his body followed, and the forward that the Spurs coach Gregg Popovich calls the best defensive player in the NBA found his way back into the playoffs. This is so much why they love him with the Thunder, a selflessness that's transcended to the Spanish team.
After becoming a naturalized citizen, Ibaka's been willing to play a secondary role to the Gasol brothers – Pau and Marc – on the national team, the way he does Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook with Oklahoma City. Spain plays with a tremendous chemistry, the biggest threat to beat the United States in a long, long time.
View gallery
.
Serge Ibaka plays on a refurbished court. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
Nevertheless, Ibaka is a truth teller, and laments nothing of the NBA's Most Valuable Player bailing on Team USA in the World Cup of Basketball.
Miss Durant in the tournament?
"No, no, no. No … nobody wants to play against Kevin," Ibaka says. "Who wants to play against him? Hell no. I saw in the Americans final in [2010] Turkey. Every time he take a shot, people start crying. No … no … no.
"Every time he got ball, people are saying, "Nooooo … Noooo…"
Ibaka rolls back his head and laughs again.
"Nobody want to play against him!"
Oklahoma City has always been ideal for Ibaka, because it gave him a sense of belonging, community, that he hadn't always had in his nomadic life. Nearing the beginning of the third season in his five-year, nearly $50 million-plus contract, Ibaka wants to play Durant for the long run, but understands like everyone else the growing burden to deliver a championship in Oklahoma City. Existing within the countdown to Durant's 2016 free agency will take a toll on Oklahoma City, especially with Durant so far so eager to explore the market.
"He's a grown man," Ibaka says. "He runs his life. But one thing I know about Kevin. He likes to win. No matter what. That's the one thing I know: He likes to win. That's for sure.
"Of course, I think it's too early to talk about Kevin staying or going. It's going to distract people. It's going to distract the team. He's got two more years. Let's [talk] when the time comes, and we are going to see. It's too early. We have to work to do. We have things to do as a team."
From Madrid this week to Oklahoma City next season, Serge Ibaka leaves the summer with a most important reminder: He's playing for so much, playing for so many more. Sometimes, it is good to go home and remember: Inspiración, it is everywhere.
By Adrian Wojnarowski8 minutes agoYahoo Sports
.
View photo
Serge Ibaka helped refurbish two regional orphanages in the Republic of Congo. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
GRANADA, Spain – All around Serge Ibaka, the children in the Republic of Congo's capital city of Brazzaville had come clutching belief in the sudden possibilities of a basketball life. Fathers and sons marched to Ibaka on a charitable July journey back to his boyhood home, elders declaring the kids had stored soccer balls and devoted themselves to the pursuit of NBA dreams.
Beneath Ibaka's feet on the old neighborhood court, cardboard inserts once separated the holes in his shoes and the gruff, dirt surface. Now, it had been all replaced with a glistening, modern court. Above Ibaka, bent rims and hollowed-out backboards had been transformed into FIBA-standard goals.
Back to present a transformed court on this summer day, back to play a part in the refurbishing of two regional orphanages, what washed over Ibaka was a sense of how deep his roots remained, how far had he had come, how long the odds.
Ibaka's eyes were growing wide now off the lobby of a hotel lounge several weeks later, his voice rising, his cadence accelerating. For there's no Spanish gold medal in Madrid next week, no NBA championship for Oklahoma City in the States next spring, that could touch him as did a trip as a UNICEF emissary had this summer. He changed basketball in the Congo, and plays a part in shaping its future throughout Africa.
Luol Deng now.
"Imagine this day of Twitter and social media and satellite television, the way NBA has gone global, imagine Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe at their peaks," Toronto president and general manager Masai Ujiri, a Nigerian, told Yahoo Sports. "If people there could've really seen the Dream winning championships in Houston, as it was happening, Africans would have gone nuts.
If Deng's proud and accomplished heritage has come under a disgraceful scrutiny this week because of the Atlanta Hawks fiasco, Ibaka gives the Congo and Africa a World Cup of Basketball stage to reaffirm the kind of character and toughness and talent that comes out of those lands.
Everyone who has played and worked with Ibaka in Oklahoma City will tell you there's no better teammate, no one as fiercely loyal as Ibaka. In Kendrick Perkins' experiences, only Kevin Garnett could compare in the locker room, Perkins told Yahoo Sports.
When Thunder physicians told Ibaka he would be lost for the Western Conference finals – perhaps two months – with a calf injury, he refused to recognize the prognosis. Rehab the tear, push through the pain and I'll see everyone in Game 3.
"To myself, I say, 'I don't feel nothing that says I'll wake up tomorrow and be done [for the season]," Ibaka says. "All my life, I believe what my mind tells me; what my heart tells me. All the way back to Congo, it has worked for me. I'm going to have this life, I have this life. And … hey … it's working! So why this time, I'm not going to trust that? I'm going to keep trusting that. My heart and my mind were telling me, don't believe that."
Soon, his body followed, and the forward that the Spurs coach Gregg Popovich calls the best defensive player in the NBA found his way back into the playoffs. This is so much why they love him with the Thunder, a selflessness that's transcended to the Spanish team.
After becoming a naturalized citizen, Ibaka's been willing to play a secondary role to the Gasol brothers – Pau and Marc – on the national team, the way he does Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook with Oklahoma City. Spain plays with a tremendous chemistry, the biggest threat to beat the United States in a long, long time.
View gallery
.
Serge Ibaka plays on a refurbished court. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
Nevertheless, Ibaka is a truth teller, and laments nothing of the NBA's Most Valuable Player bailing on Team USA in the World Cup of Basketball.
Miss Durant in the tournament?
"No, no, no. No … nobody wants to play against Kevin," Ibaka says. "Who wants to play against him? Hell no. I saw in the Americans final in [2010] Turkey. Every time he take a shot, people start crying. No … no … no.
"Every time he got ball, people are saying, "Nooooo … Noooo…"
Ibaka rolls back his head and laughs again.
"Nobody want to play against him!"
Oklahoma City has always been ideal for Ibaka, because it gave him a sense of belonging, community, that he hadn't always had in his nomadic life. Nearing the beginning of the third season in his five-year, nearly $50 million-plus contract, Ibaka wants to play Durant for the long run, but understands like everyone else the growing burden to deliver a championship in Oklahoma City. Existing within the countdown to Durant's 2016 free agency will take a toll on Oklahoma City, especially with Durant so far so eager to explore the market.
"He's a grown man," Ibaka says. "He runs his life. But one thing I know about Kevin. He likes to win. No matter what. That's the one thing I know: He likes to win. That's for sure.
"Of course, I think it's too early to talk about Kevin staying or going. It's going to distract people. It's going to distract the team. He's got two more years. Let's [talk] when the time comes, and we are going to see. It's too early. We have to work to do. We have things to do as a team."
From Madrid this week to Oklahoma City next season, Serge Ibaka leaves the summer with a most important reminder: He's playing for so much, playing for so many more. Sometimes, it is good to go home and remember: Inspiración, it is everywhere.
Gulf Companies Commit $19 Billion to West Africa Infrastructure Projects
African countries secured commitments from companies in the Persian Gulf totaling $19 billion to invest in roads, railways and airports at the first West Africa Investment Forum held in Dubai on Tuesday.
Construction firm Trojan General Contracting, owned by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, committed to invest up to $16 billion in roads and railway projects across the West African Economic & Monetary Union, a group of eight African countries that organized the event in the U.A.E.
Officials from the union, which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, were in Dubai canvassing investment for 17 public-private partnership infrastructure projects in West Africa. The group said it also had received a $1.98 billion commitment from Essar Projects, the U.A.E. subsidiary of India’s Essar Group, to co-invest in road, bridge, airport and thermal-power-plant projects in Benin, Guinea Bissau and Niger.
A further $700 million was committed by Oman’s Hasan Juma Backer Trading & Contracting to a dry-port project in the Ivory Coast, the union said. No additional financial details of any deal were disclosed. The union added that each party had six months to sign a firm deal based on their commitments.
On Monday, one of the Dubai government’s major investment arms, Investment Corporation of Dubai, said it would buy a minority stake in Nigeria’s Dangote Cement for $300 million, as Gulf entities’ ties to West Africa deepen.
African countries secured commitments from companies in the Persian Gulf totaling $19 billion to invest in roads, railways and airports at the first West Africa Investment Forum held in Dubai on Tuesday.
Construction firm Trojan General Contracting, owned by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, committed to invest up to $16 billion in roads and railway projects across the West African Economic & Monetary Union, a group of eight African countries that organized the event in the U.A.E.
Officials from the union, which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, were in Dubai canvassing investment for 17 public-private partnership infrastructure projects in West Africa. The group said it also had received a $1.98 billion commitment from Essar Projects, the U.A.E. subsidiary of India’s Essar Group, to co-invest in road, bridge, airport and thermal-power-plant projects in Benin, Guinea Bissau and Niger.
A further $700 million was committed by Oman’s Hasan Juma Backer Trading & Contracting to a dry-port project in the Ivory Coast, the union said. No additional financial details of any deal were disclosed. The union added that each party had six months to sign a firm deal based on their commitments.
On Monday, one of the Dubai government’s major investment arms, Investment Corporation of Dubai, said it would buy a minority stake in Nigeria’s Dangote Cement for $300 million, as Gulf entities’ ties to West Africa deepen.
white couples or asians will not produce black offspring. black ppl with lighter skin must have had a history to interact with amongst themselves (light skin) or arabs (light skin) or europeans/portuguese at one point... which is where they got the light skin from.
Just stop please. You are ruining a good thread.
any of you guys interested in doing the african ancestry test yourself one day?
tests are for the white man
Not necessarily. Africans have migrated all over Africa since humans have existed so pinpointing 1 place isn't really my concern.
Ghana hopes long-delayed 'game-changer' gas plant will transform economy
10 SEP 2014 13:50CHRIS STEIN
President John Dramani Mahama has labelled the new facility even more important than the discovery of oil.
Natural gas processing plant in Atuabo, outside a village on Ghana's remote west coast, pictured on September 2, 2014. The country is looking for an economic boost. (Photo, AFP)
CAN a long-delayed natural gas plant transform a nation’s economy? Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama certainly hopes so, labelling a new facility even more important than the discovery of oil.
The plant in Atuabo, outside a village on Ghana’s remote west coast, is finally due to open in December, producing a projected 500 megawatts of electricity. It will help save the treasury about $500 million (385 million euros) every year in crude oil imports.
In turn it is hoped that the facility will boost oil production to ease the power outages that are becoming increasingly common nationwide—both vital improvements as Ghana’s economy stutters.
“This plant, I believe, is even more important than oil because of its multiplier effect in terms of job creation and in terms of its importance to Ghana’s energy security,” Mahama said on a visit to the facility last week.
“I feel more excited about this gas plant than I did with the production of (Ghana’s) first oil,” he told reporters, calling the towering facility a “game-changer”.
Ghana—a rare stable democracy in turbulent West Africa and a major producer of gold and cocoa—needs help to restore its economy’s flagging fortunes.
The country has lost some of its lustre among investors in recent months as dropping commodities prices and a stubborn 10.1% budget deficit have sent consumer prices and business costs soaring.
The local currency has plummeted against the dollar and things have become so serious that Mahama decided last month to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help, while also issuing a reported $1 billion in Eurobonds.
The government’s money worries have had a knock-on effect on the oil sector, which before Mahama’s election in 2012 was hailed for its potentially transformative power.
In particular, Ghana’s inability to process the natural gas that bubbles up along with its crude oil has frustrated Mahama’s efforts to arrest the economic slide.
Anglo-Irish firm Tullow, lead operator on the offshore Jubilee Field, for example, said they were unable to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day because there was no plant to handle the gas.
Deadlines missed
Construction on the Atuabo facility started two years ago and the government last said that it had been due to come online in December last year.
But several deadlines for opening have been missed, as Ghana quibbled with China over a $3 billion loan it was using to fund the construction.
Last year, a container of crucial equipment was lost at sea as it was being shipped to Ghana.
Analysts agree that a more reliable power sector could help Ghana restore confidence.
“Clearly, we could have made better progress than we have made now,” said Steve Manteaw, chairman of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas.
“If the infrastructure had been ready earlier, we would have been producing much higher volumes than we are now.”
The World Bank said in a report last year that Ghana was spending $1 million per day on crude oil imports to keep its power plants turning, with thermal and hydro-electric facilities operating below capacity.
As a result, rolling blackouts sweep the country, driving up costs with businesses such as mines and large firms forced to rely on generators to keep the lights and machinery on.
“That has affected business confidence,” said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, managing director of New York-based consultancy DaMina Advisory.
“Had the gas come online earlier as scheduled, it would have strengthened business confidence.”
Mahama said the plant would save around $500 million annually in crude oil imports.
But the World Bank suggests that Ghana requires $4 billion of investment over the next 10 years to close its power deficit.
The Atuabo plant will not be a quick fix: a reliable supply of gas to the plant will only be guaranteed in 2017, when two new oil fields are expected to begin production off Ghana’s coast.
“It (the new plant) has not really met our total energy demand,” Manteaw said. “But it will reduce substantially the load shedding which has become quite a thing recently.” (AFP)
10 SEP 2014 13:50CHRIS STEIN
President John Dramani Mahama has labelled the new facility even more important than the discovery of oil.
Natural gas processing plant in Atuabo, outside a village on Ghana's remote west coast, pictured on September 2, 2014. The country is looking for an economic boost. (Photo, AFP)
CAN a long-delayed natural gas plant transform a nation’s economy? Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama certainly hopes so, labelling a new facility even more important than the discovery of oil.
The plant in Atuabo, outside a village on Ghana’s remote west coast, is finally due to open in December, producing a projected 500 megawatts of electricity. It will help save the treasury about $500 million (385 million euros) every year in crude oil imports.
In turn it is hoped that the facility will boost oil production to ease the power outages that are becoming increasingly common nationwide—both vital improvements as Ghana’s economy stutters.
“This plant, I believe, is even more important than oil because of its multiplier effect in terms of job creation and in terms of its importance to Ghana’s energy security,” Mahama said on a visit to the facility last week.
“I feel more excited about this gas plant than I did with the production of (Ghana’s) first oil,” he told reporters, calling the towering facility a “game-changer”.
Ghana—a rare stable democracy in turbulent West Africa and a major producer of gold and cocoa—needs help to restore its economy’s flagging fortunes.
The country has lost some of its lustre among investors in recent months as dropping commodities prices and a stubborn 10.1% budget deficit have sent consumer prices and business costs soaring.
The local currency has plummeted against the dollar and things have become so serious that Mahama decided last month to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help, while also issuing a reported $1 billion in Eurobonds.
The government’s money worries have had a knock-on effect on the oil sector, which before Mahama’s election in 2012 was hailed for its potentially transformative power.
In particular, Ghana’s inability to process the natural gas that bubbles up along with its crude oil has frustrated Mahama’s efforts to arrest the economic slide.
Anglo-Irish firm Tullow, lead operator on the offshore Jubilee Field, for example, said they were unable to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day because there was no plant to handle the gas.
Deadlines missed
Construction on the Atuabo facility started two years ago and the government last said that it had been due to come online in December last year.
But several deadlines for opening have been missed, as Ghana quibbled with China over a $3 billion loan it was using to fund the construction.
Last year, a container of crucial equipment was lost at sea as it was being shipped to Ghana.
Analysts agree that a more reliable power sector could help Ghana restore confidence.
“Clearly, we could have made better progress than we have made now,” said Steve Manteaw, chairman of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas.
“If the infrastructure had been ready earlier, we would have been producing much higher volumes than we are now.”
The World Bank said in a report last year that Ghana was spending $1 million per day on crude oil imports to keep its power plants turning, with thermal and hydro-electric facilities operating below capacity.
As a result, rolling blackouts sweep the country, driving up costs with businesses such as mines and large firms forced to rely on generators to keep the lights and machinery on.
“That has affected business confidence,” said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, managing director of New York-based consultancy DaMina Advisory.
“Had the gas come online earlier as scheduled, it would have strengthened business confidence.”
Mahama said the plant would save around $500 million annually in crude oil imports.
But the World Bank suggests that Ghana requires $4 billion of investment over the next 10 years to close its power deficit.
The Atuabo plant will not be a quick fix: a reliable supply of gas to the plant will only be guaranteed in 2017, when two new oil fields are expected to begin production off Ghana’s coast.
“It (the new plant) has not really met our total energy demand,” Manteaw said. “But it will reduce substantially the load shedding which has become quite a thing recently.” (AFP)
10 September 2014 Last updated at 19:29 ET
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Nigeria's growing number of female oil bosses
By Orin Gordon BBC Business reporter
Catherine Uju Ifejika is one of Africa's few female oil industry bosses
The oil and gas industry is still overwhelmingly male, with surveys showing that the executive boardrooms of petroleum companies are mostly a boys' club.
In Nigeria, a number of well-financed businesswomen are aiming to change the picture there. The Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is a powerful figurehead for them.
"The fact that two of the biggest cabinet positions in Nigeria, petroleum and finance, are held by women, show how far we have come," she told a recent meeting in Vienna, referring to the other prominent female member of the cabinet - Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
"We are there not because we are women. We are there because of our competence as managers."
Yet as surveys make clear, women managers are still in the minority in the world's oil and gas companies. Laura Manson-Smith, a consulting partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says the representation picture is dismal.
"I was surprised at how low the percentage of female directors was [in oil and gas firms around the globe] - 11%, most of them are in non-executive positions, 1% of executive board seats are held by women."
"'People trust women more," says Ladol's Amy Jadesimi
Offshore drilling
Nigeria, the world's 14th-largest oil producing country with 2.4 million barrels a day, has taken steps to open up its oil industry to locals, a policy known as "indigenisation."
Now a handful of female entrepreneurs are hoping to build on that, by increasing women's stake in the industry.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
You have to have a watertight proposal, make a good financing case and be confident in your pitch”
Amy Jadesimi Ladol
"When we were growing up we only had Margaret Thatcher," says Amy Jadesimi, the managing director of Ladol, a petroleum services company based in Lagos.
Dr Jadesimi, a thirty-something former Goldman Sachs analyst, medical doctor and MBA says that today, "woman are taking for granted, that of course a woman can reach the highest levels of society".
Ladol has turned a site reclaimed from a swamp and an industrial wasteland into a $500m (£300m) port facility to support offshore drilling operations, including ship repair, maintenance, engineering and construction.
It is planning a second phase of expansion that will take the investment to $1bn. "Nobody had done what we'd done before across the whole of West Africa," says Dr Jadesimi.
Catherine Uju Ifejika is chairman and chief executive of the Britannia U Group, a group of oil and gas companies. Her business bought a stake in a major oil and gas field, Ajapa. The reserves, according to Britannia, are worth $4.3bn.
"You men, you don't even know how to boil water or where the children's school uniforms are," she jokes.
"We are able to hold your homes together, and we are beginning to translate that into boardroom jobs, and then owning companies. In six years I have formed seven companies."
She says 70% of her staff are men, "and they're not used to having a woman as a chairman or chief executive - a woman, a black woman, a black African woman."
Ladol plans to invest up to $1bn developing port facilities in Lagos
Thinking big
Oil accounts for 95% of Nigeria's foreign exchange revenues. And though it supplies only 15% of the country's GDP ($522bn) it is the most symbolic industry.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
In Africa we really don't have information about gender issues”
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide Lagos-based entrepreneur
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide, a Lagos-based entrepreneur and former lawyer, is a leading advocate of research on women in business and government.
She argues that one of the reasons South Africa was the dominant economy in Africa for so long is that South African women have been deeply involved in businesses of all sizes.
"They dominate the low capital businesses, the 'informal sector' such as manufacturing knitwear, tie and dye and homemade food for sale in municipal markets."
"At the level of small to medium enterprises, they're well ingrained and established."
She wants Nigerian women to think bigger - and to investment in areas such as oil and gas.
"When I was working for a large investment company in the City of London, the other woman on the board was the human resources director," said Jennie Paterson, founder of the financial consulting firm Fraser Whitley.
"I think we need to encourage women to have a broader executive skillset."
Containers in the main Nigerian seaport in Lagos Oil accounts for 95% of Nigeria's foreign exchange revenues
Women 'are trusted more'
Yewande Sadiku is chief executive of the Lagos-based financing firm Stanbic IBTC Capital. She says that the lenders providing loans to Nigerian and other African women too often had a limited outlook.
They only think women are good customers for micro-finance loans, she argues.
"[This mentality] says, let's give them lots of small loans, 50,000 to 100,000 naira, ($300 to $700), so they can run small businesses and feed their families," she says.
"Raising funds is difficult, but to be honest, people trust women more," Amy Jadesimi laughs.
"You have to have a watertight proposal, make a good financing case and be confident in your pitch."
A series of studies by McKinsey titled Women Matter, found that companies with a higher proportion of female executives showed stronger financial performance than those with no women in top positions.
The study showed that women tended to apply certain "leadership behaviours" more than men. They included people development, setting expectations and rewards and acting as role models.
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide welcomes these studies. "In Africa we really don't have information about gender issues", she said. "Nothing on how we are doing in the economy."
"In oil and gas, women are emerging. There is a business case for it."
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29127436
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Nigeria's growing number of female oil bosses
By Orin Gordon BBC Business reporter
Catherine Uju Ifejika is one of Africa's few female oil industry bosses
The oil and gas industry is still overwhelmingly male, with surveys showing that the executive boardrooms of petroleum companies are mostly a boys' club.
In Nigeria, a number of well-financed businesswomen are aiming to change the picture there. The Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is a powerful figurehead for them.
"The fact that two of the biggest cabinet positions in Nigeria, petroleum and finance, are held by women, show how far we have come," she told a recent meeting in Vienna, referring to the other prominent female member of the cabinet - Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
"We are there not because we are women. We are there because of our competence as managers."
Yet as surveys make clear, women managers are still in the minority in the world's oil and gas companies. Laura Manson-Smith, a consulting partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says the representation picture is dismal.
"I was surprised at how low the percentage of female directors was [in oil and gas firms around the globe] - 11%, most of them are in non-executive positions, 1% of executive board seats are held by women."
"'People trust women more," says Ladol's Amy Jadesimi
Offshore drilling
Nigeria, the world's 14th-largest oil producing country with 2.4 million barrels a day, has taken steps to open up its oil industry to locals, a policy known as "indigenisation."
Now a handful of female entrepreneurs are hoping to build on that, by increasing women's stake in the industry.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
You have to have a watertight proposal, make a good financing case and be confident in your pitch”
Amy Jadesimi Ladol
"When we were growing up we only had Margaret Thatcher," says Amy Jadesimi, the managing director of Ladol, a petroleum services company based in Lagos.
Dr Jadesimi, a thirty-something former Goldman Sachs analyst, medical doctor and MBA says that today, "woman are taking for granted, that of course a woman can reach the highest levels of society".
Ladol has turned a site reclaimed from a swamp and an industrial wasteland into a $500m (£300m) port facility to support offshore drilling operations, including ship repair, maintenance, engineering and construction.
It is planning a second phase of expansion that will take the investment to $1bn. "Nobody had done what we'd done before across the whole of West Africa," says Dr Jadesimi.
Catherine Uju Ifejika is chairman and chief executive of the Britannia U Group, a group of oil and gas companies. Her business bought a stake in a major oil and gas field, Ajapa. The reserves, according to Britannia, are worth $4.3bn.
"You men, you don't even know how to boil water or where the children's school uniforms are," she jokes.
"We are able to hold your homes together, and we are beginning to translate that into boardroom jobs, and then owning companies. In six years I have formed seven companies."
She says 70% of her staff are men, "and they're not used to having a woman as a chairman or chief executive - a woman, a black woman, a black African woman."
Ladol plans to invest up to $1bn developing port facilities in Lagos
Thinking big
Oil accounts for 95% of Nigeria's foreign exchange revenues. And though it supplies only 15% of the country's GDP ($522bn) it is the most symbolic industry.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
In Africa we really don't have information about gender issues”
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide Lagos-based entrepreneur
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide, a Lagos-based entrepreneur and former lawyer, is a leading advocate of research on women in business and government.
She argues that one of the reasons South Africa was the dominant economy in Africa for so long is that South African women have been deeply involved in businesses of all sizes.
"They dominate the low capital businesses, the 'informal sector' such as manufacturing knitwear, tie and dye and homemade food for sale in municipal markets."
"At the level of small to medium enterprises, they're well ingrained and established."
She wants Nigerian women to think bigger - and to investment in areas such as oil and gas.
"When I was working for a large investment company in the City of London, the other woman on the board was the human resources director," said Jennie Paterson, founder of the financial consulting firm Fraser Whitley.
"I think we need to encourage women to have a broader executive skillset."
Containers in the main Nigerian seaport in Lagos Oil accounts for 95% of Nigeria's foreign exchange revenues
Women 'are trusted more'
Yewande Sadiku is chief executive of the Lagos-based financing firm Stanbic IBTC Capital. She says that the lenders providing loans to Nigerian and other African women too often had a limited outlook.
They only think women are good customers for micro-finance loans, she argues.
"[This mentality] says, let's give them lots of small loans, 50,000 to 100,000 naira, ($300 to $700), so they can run small businesses and feed their families," she says.
"Raising funds is difficult, but to be honest, people trust women more," Amy Jadesimi laughs.
"You have to have a watertight proposal, make a good financing case and be confident in your pitch."
A series of studies by McKinsey titled Women Matter, found that companies with a higher proportion of female executives showed stronger financial performance than those with no women in top positions.
The study showed that women tended to apply certain "leadership behaviours" more than men. They included people development, setting expectations and rewards and acting as role models.
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide welcomes these studies. "In Africa we really don't have information about gender issues", she said. "Nothing on how we are doing in the economy."
"In oil and gas, women are emerging. There is a business case for it."
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29127436