South Africa & Nigeria: Which country really acts bigger?

Dear Africa Interested Individuals:

                                                        Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa while South Africa is the most advanced economy.  Nigeria is also the most populous country in Africa.  South Africa is not even among the top five most populous countries in Africa.  So which country is really bigger than the other?

MTN Group makes more money in Nigeria than from any other country it operates in including the home country of South Africa.  Over 33% of global revenues are from Nigeria only.   

DSTV (part of Naspers) increases bouquet prices by double-digits every 16 months on average and continues to operate a subtle monopoly which is a huge benefit given Nigeria's population and love for football (soccer).  Football is not the most popular sport in South Africa and is not even second.  Rugby and Cricket are way ahead in terms of popularity and viewership.  Naspers is the largest company in Africa by market cap at over $66 Billion.  This figure for one JSE listed company is more than the total market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.   

Nigeria's asset management behemoth (Stanbic IBTC) is majority owned by the Standard Bank Group.  This gives South Africa's and Africa's largest bank control over a significant portion of Nigeria's asset management industry.  

Shoprite (another JSE listed company) is opening new locations in Nigeria faster than many local banks.  It is literally hard to keep count of how many stores they have opened and are building in Nigeria at the moment.  Profit margins being made in Nigeria and elsewhere are trade secret.  I assure you the company is smiling to the bank beyond their expectations.  I hope they will publicly release (like MTN) the contribution of Nigeria to company-wide revenue.  Expect another eye-popping figure.  

Nedbank owns 20% of Ecobank Transnational.  Ecobank Nigeria is the largest subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational.  South Africa's fourth-largest bank pretty much owns 20% of Ecobank Nigeria which is Nigeria's 6th largest bank by assets the last time I checked.  ETI (Africa's largest bank by reach) could only succeed in getting approval for a representative office in South Africa.  The same approval it got in Ethiopia which I believe strictly prevents foreign participation in its banking industry. 

Barclays Africa has applied for a merchant banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria and is awaiting approval.  In the meantime, the bank is on a Nigerian strategic hiring spree as it prepares to take the Nigerian investment industry by storm in 2016.  

Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria already has its license and has been steadily increasing its contribution to group bottom-line over the past three years utilizing a good chunk of top USA business school alumni of Nigerian origin.  

The food industry has also felt the "big hand" of South Africa.  Dangote Flour, UAC Restaurants, UAC Foods etc. have all felt the big hand of South African companies.  While success has defied South African companies when it comes to "business of the Nigerian stomach," their presence is definitely being felt.  

CNBC Africa is another South African company where the market for CEO interviews and stock market discourse has been largely cornered in Nigeria, though, Bloomberg TV Africa is not backing down as it holds its own.   

South African Visas for Nigerians are usually issued for 90 days; this forces regular Nigerian travelers to continually pay money to South Africa (through its embassy) for visas which can add up to four payments in a year.  Remember Nigeria's population and the love of international travel by its people coupled with the strong tourism industry in South Africa.  On the reverse, it is almost all official.  South Africans coming to work in Nigeria on behalf of their employers and fund managers coming to Nigeria for management meetings and company visits.  Even the U.K. and USA issue Nigerians visas for longer periods on first application.   

There are two dedicated Nigeria mutual funds operating from South Africa; one is operated by Renaissance Asset Management and the other by Sustainable Capital.  Nigeria has nothing of the sort in the reverse.  

I have to run; but, not before saying Nigeria is being eaten alive while our legislators keep fighting (literally) to head committees.  The crown we wear may be lost in the next five years if Nigeria does not make its presence felt more in other African countries especially South Africa.  As it is right now, Nigeria has the numbers but not the savvy nature required to make economically beneficial business decisions beyond its borders.  Africa's most advanced economy has and still is advancing deeply into Nigeria.  Nigeria's sound is cacophony while that of South Africa is music.  Our asset (population) has become another country's asset to exploit while Nigeria continues to make noise on paper and in South African department stores when they go shopping after paying for South African visas.  There is a local adage in Nigeria that says "shine your eyes."  There is no better time to say this than now.  Africa's most advanced economy is taking its largest economy to the cleaners.  Nigeria: are you going to huff and puff or do something tangible about this?  Big and passive is called big for nothing.  Nigeria wake up!  There is plenty of work to be done.  Collective interests must override selfish interests if Nigeria is going to stem the tide and stand big on its feet and not by its mouth.  Let us watch and see how the story of these two African giants (one more physical and another more business-minded) plays out.  It should be interesting and hopefully not depressing.     

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