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The Grammy Awards were held for the 66th annual time this past week. The show is always full of monumental moments, triumphant or controversial. It is also a perfect look into the music industry and the trends that are currently happening. From the acts performing to the artists winning, much of the show can be read into. 

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With the releases of movies and television shows such as “Return to Seoul,” “RRR,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and “Alice in Borderland,” 2022 has been an explosive year for the international film industry. In fact, foreign entertainment content has experienced significant growth as streaming service-giants like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime continue to expand their audiences and markets.

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Somali-based piracy cost the international community over $6 billion in 2012, but the decrease over the past few years has been due to increased reliance on maritime security. The decrease in piracy around the Eastern coasts of Africa can be seen as a success; however, piracy is increasing off the coast of Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. The piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is likely due to the lack of prevalent law enforcement, the easy access to illegal markets, and a target rich environment.

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Nigeria needs money. Specifically, it needs $3.5 billion worth of cash flows for their $15 billion government driven deficit. The recent global oil glut has left Africa, and especially Nigeria, competing for oil contracts in Asian markets. Other countries, like Kenya, are facing similar untimely crises as the decade-long commodity boom is coming to an end. Before, growth in Africa relied upon the abundance of land, which left no necessity for advanced infrastructure or substantial growth in other sectors. Dependence on uncontrollable factors, it seems, has left Africa’s largest and most advanced economies in the early stages of economic stagnation.

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Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, is seeking loans from the World Bank and African Development Bank (ADB) to help fund its forecasted budget deficit. Historically, Nigeria’s budget has been financed primarily with oil revenues, but the recent plummet in oil prices has slashed the amount of funding produced by this sector. Nigeria is not alone in this situation, as other nations such as Azerbaijan, Venezuela, Algeria, and Iraq are also in dire economic straights due to an overreliance on oil production.

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Across Nigeria, low cost goods imported from China are rampant, further providing evidence of Beijing’s growing dominance in global trade. While the trade flow from China has helped to keep life affordable for some Nigerian families in times of economic stagnation and plunging prices, low quality and counterfeit products are becoming a major problem within the country. For example, dozens of fires each year can be connected to electrical wiring, outlets, and power strips from China found in the homes and offices of Nigerian citizens. Not only are poor quality items posing safety risks, but they are also taking away employment opportunities from workers in Nigeria.

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Nigeria is a country that is steeped with opportunities and chances for economic growth, but has its problems and challenges as well. Between 1990 and 2010, Nigeria re-based its GDP, which resulted in an 89% increase in the economy's estimated size. Now, Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa with a nominal estimated GDP of  $590 billion, surpassing South Africa’s $340 Billion, and has maintained over the past decade an average growth rate of 6.8%, higher than the West Africa sub-region.

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When commodity prices tumbled last year, economists worldwide forecasted a steep decrease in GDP growth for many African countries. For decades, the continent has been worryingly dependent on commodities to power economic growth. So when prices collapsed, economics would also theoretically nosedive. While this was true of some nations, others managed to weather the storm. The dichotomy is most illustrated by the stark differences between the Sub-Saharan and East African regions.

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With changing political office, comes changing economic policy. At least, that is what millions of Nigerians are hoping for from newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari. The Nigerian capital market responded positively to the change in leadership, gaining 8.30%, its single biggest daily gain all year. High optimism for the new leader to follow through on his promise to reshape the national economy is sorely needed at this point.

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There is no question that Nigeria will face many challenges in early 2015, which could individually or collectively have serious economic implications for the nation and the region. The constant threat of violence from the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, upcoming political elections, and the decline in oil prices all threaten the political and economic stability in Nigeria. The question is will Nigeria be able to weather the economic onslaught that these events could produce.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $354 billion last year, making it the second largest African economy behind South Africa. This past Sunday, for the first time in a decade, Nigeria’s statistician-general announced a revision in its GDP from 42.4 trillion naira to 80.2 trillion naira.  How could an economy grow so much in just one night?

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In 2001, economist Jim O’Neill identified the world’s strongest emerging economies as the BRIC countries, which is an acronym that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China.  Thirteen years later, O’Neill has offered another acronym defining today’s emerging economic powerhouses – the MINT countries.  Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey all show signs of strong future GDP growth and the potential to become major players in the global economy.

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In a recent study done by Chatham House, a world-leading source of independent analysis based out of London, it was found that large amounts of Nigerian crude oil was being stolen. The research discovered that at least 100,000 barrels of oil per day, or around 5% of total output, were stolen in the first quarter of 2013. The extensive network of exported stolen oil includes thieves, financial centers, commodities traders, politicians, and international trade.

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When a business expands into a new international market, many obstacles and uncertainties stand before it. Although Africa is the fastest-growing continent today, managers in the region must deal with a variety of questions in order to achieve continued growth. In a market that has a volatile history like Africa, managing uncertainty effectively has been a critical aspect for many companies. International business managers also deal with many uncertainties as regulatory differences and political disputes are common when a company operates in several markets. Analyzing how managers in Africa deal with uncertainty can provide us with great insight on how to successfully manage an international business.

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Nigeria’s economy has been faltering due to struggles in the oil industry. The country is the largest oil producer in Africa, outputting around two million barrels per day and consuming just 267,000 barrels per day. Interestingly enough, Nigeria has a strong dependence on fuel imports. Their struggles stem from the fact that they simply don’t have enough refineries, and the ones that exist are not maintained well enough to work to their full capabilities. The industry has been slipping into turmoil, as industrial scale theft and inefficient fuel subsidy policies have slowed production significantly.

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Dubai was always seen as the future and had unimaginable developments throughout the emirate. After tough economic times Dubai had temporarily stopped many of its large glamorous projects. Why is it then that Nigeria has invested US$52.2 million into the emirate’s property market in the first six months of this year? Without ever stepping out of Dubai airport Central Bank of Nigeria official, Osita Nwanisobi, was convinced to buy a flat in Dubai. He believes Dubai is a guaranteed return on investment and sees it as a world center.

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Africa is the second largest mobile phone market in the world. Does this fact surprise you? Probably, but Africa is expected to reach over 700 million mobile subscribers in the next year. Not only is the African mobile market large in size, it is also the fastest-growing on the planet as well.  This provides an abundance of opportunity for investors, technology and mobile companies, and service providers.

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There has been a debate going on for many years, the true value of investing in frontier markets. The results of investing in frontier markets seem inherently leveraged when compared to the results of investing in the more steady paced developed markets. While people with safety as the forefront of their current investment philosophy may not have any desire to invest in these markets, the intelligent investor with the time and knowledge to invest for the long run can benefit greatly from investing in the frontier. I believe that right now is a good time to put money down for the long run in these growing markets.

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Think that the United States being in financial limbo has no repercussions on the rest of the world? You’d be thinking wrong. In Nigeria, financial authorities have attempted to construct strong fiscal measures in an attempt to extricate the country’s stock market in the wake of the collapse of major U.S. financial institutions. Nigeria’s two chief government-operated financial policymakers, The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission have announced new policy measures they plan to enact in order to prevent this hemorrhage of assets in the Nigerian capital market. The plan includes measures set forth by the Central Bank such as reducing the Monetary Policy Rate, reducing the Cash Reserve Ratio, and reducing the Liquidity Ratio. Following three years of spiraling growth and high returns, the Nigerian market is now seeing prices crashing beneath initial quotation.