This might just be the answer to the power crisis here in Nigeria and around the world.

Happy New month friends

The participation of President Tinunbu in the just concluded Summit for a New Global Financing Pact has continued to be a talking point on social media and I wish to add my little voice to this discuss. I was a participant at the Summit under the Civil Society Forum. My participation was funded by the Paris Peace Forum.

The first day of the summit had the opening session where President Macron gave a welcome address plus good will messages from some high-profile development partners. There were six roundtable sessions where presidents were grouped with heads of development organisations, investment companies and financial institutions and that presented opportunity for issue-based discussions according to country situation, dialogue and I will add lobbying for investment. There were also side events that ran concurrently with the roundtable sessions at different rooms at Palais Brongnairt, UNESCO and OECD buildings. These were the main events for Thursday apart from the dinner for heads of states, the global festival concert and small activities that held at other locations. The second day which was Friday was for prologue, closing ceremony and press conference. Invariably, Thursday was the day of action and engagement. More importantly the six roundtable sessions and that is where my focus is on.

The six roundtable sessions were held at the auditorium of Palais Brongnairt at different times. Nigeria's session was the last at about 6pm CET. There was high anticipation from Nigerians and other African participants. Everyone wanted to hear from Nigeria's new president, after all, it was his first official summit. The subject of the session was "Ensuring more reliable, comparable information and data" and those on the table with Mr. President were: David Craig, Co-chair of the Task force on nature-related Financial Disclosures; Mark Carney, Co-chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero; Mary Schapiro, Vice-chair of Global Public Policy at Bloomberg; Sabine Mauderer, Vice-chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System and Catherine McKenna, United Nations Special Envoy. Anyone in the climate finance space will know that these are heavy names in terms of investment into green infrastructure, smart cities, etc. But our (Nigeria's) president did not show up to talk to them.

Grouping presidents alongside these heavy investors was to give opportunity to the presidents to discuss emerging issues in their countries, actions they are already taking, areas they need more assistance and their strategic plans. At least, these were what I heard from the other presidents during their sessions and many of them sealed deals before leaving the summit.

To me, this was a missed opportunity for Nigeria. Summits are not for political gimmicks nor fun-fare. They are opportunities to engage and discuss real time solutions. That was what the Summit for new Global Financing Pact was about. Unfortunately, Nigeria as usual was there for paparazzi.

Changing Text Case In Microsoft Excel

I've had an interesting experience for the past few weeks and what I have learnt is, if you want to get answers to a proposal, go straight to the decision makers.

Some employees start forming god-complex when you try to get some basic information on how best to get your proposal aporoved. However sometimes, you just realize that it is much easier getting all you need sorted out when you go straight to the top.

Have you been in a similar situation? Let me hear your story.

I saw this post on Quora and couldn't help but share it.

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How can you tell whether a new entrepreneur will make it or not?

“What are you doing, Luigi?” Mario asked.

“I’m starting my e-commerce web store,” Luigi said.

“Tell me about it,” Mario requested with curiosity. “Sounds like a very interesting project. What’s your strategy?”

Luigi got all excited and a little arrogant.

“Well, Mario, I’m going to crush the market with efficiency,” Luigi said.

“Efficiency? That’s your strategy?” asked Mario.

“Nobody will be able to beat me. I’m investing heavily in the best computers and the best software. I’m not cheap like you, Mario!”

“Well, I don’t necessarily call it cheap,” Mario said.

“I’m setting up the fastest servers with the latest e-commerce tools. I’ll be able to process thousands of orders per day! You know how the saying goes, ‘Go big or go home,’ Mario!”

“Interesting strategy,” said Mario respectfully.

“What about you, Mario? What’s your strategy?” Luigi asked while showing off his powerful servers.

“My strategy is more into being the most effective, not necessarily the most efficient,” he said.

“What does that mean?” Luigi asked.

“It means that while you’re focused on speed, I’m focused on direction. Yes, while you may have the ‘fastest’ servers, they’re worthless if they’re not effective.”

Luigi sat quietly for a few moments thinking.

Mario continued, “Efficiency is just one of the multiple variables needed for achieving success in business. Yes, it’s good to go fast, but know that the faster you go in the wrong direction, the faster you will dig your own grave.”

To answer your question, how can you tell whether a new entrepreneur will make it or not?

Most are obsessed in DOING, and not thinking.

In war and in business — “Strategy wins wars.”

All your hard work and resources will be worthless if there’s no market for your product or service.

When starting, do NOT focus on the HOW — focus on the WHO you’re serving.

#bebusinesssmart

~Hector Quintanilla

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