#efta01195179
LightNews LightNews
epsteinweb.bsky.social
Parts 1-3/3 — EFTA01195179.jpg
#epsteinweb #efta01195179
https://epsteinweb.org
Available in the iOS app store now!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/epstein-web/id6758880661
EFTA01195155 | EFTA01195179 Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Kenya, those ten countries together account for 8o percent of the world's total "extreme poor." GDP, Coyle writers in her book, is a "made-up entity"-a product of the 1940s "designedfor the twentieth-century economy ofphysical mass production, notfor the modern economy of rapid innovation and intangible, increasingly digital, services." The good news is that the Nigerian government now has a better system for measuring its economy. The bad news? Knowing Nigeria has a 85m-billion economy doesn't reveal a whole lot about the welfare of its citizens. The change is noteworthy for, in the words of finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the "psychological impact" it will have on foreign investors. They will pay greater attention to Nigeria now that its economy casts a larger shadow than South Africa's and display new confidence that will potentially be rewarded with lucrative gains, especially at a time when value-laden sectors such as power are opening up in unprecedented ways. Business will also boom for hotel owners, travel agents, airlines, and events planners as the number of Nigeria-focused trips and investment conferences (already a booming industry since 2013) swell. Scammers might even be expected to cash in as well. ("Good Day dear friend, I am Lamido Sanusi, governor of the central bank of the newly rebased west African nation of Nigeria...") The one class of people who have nothing to gain will be ordinary Nigerians: the market woman in Ibadan, the itinerant shoe cleaner in Lagos, the motorcycle taxi rider in Makurdi, the cattle merchant in Potiskum, the shoe maker in Aba, the newspaper vendor in Abuja; the sprawling class of `bottom millions' condemned by their country to extreme poverty). The $1,200 by which Nigeria's per-capita income has suddenly risen will not somehow magically appear in their pockets. For this crowd the news is the sort of sleight of mouth that they've since grown to expect from the government. In the aftermath of protests against the removal of fuel subsidies in 2012, President Jonathan announced, in a public broadcast, the creation of 370,000 jobs. Just like that, because everyone knows jobs are created when well-meaning presidential words mix with faith in the hearts of job-hungry citizens. But for me the two big problems with Nigeria are the lack of transparency and rule of law, where there is neither. I first traveled to Nigeria four decades ago, it was still suffering from the aftermath of the Biafran War, and as far as I am concerned it is still a mess. With an estimated population of 174.5 million, land mass twice the size of the state of California and being the 8th largest exporter of crude oil, if Nigeria could ever get its act together, there is a possibility for it to become a true economic power beyond it regional power base. But until it institutes government policies that directed ground up, with full transparency and rule of law it will still be a long way from achieving South Africa's incredible success of more than quadrupling the size of its Middle Class in first ten years after majority rule in 1994 and doubling it again since 2004. We have to stop judging a county's success by economic numbers and instead concentrate on how to raise those condemned to extreme poverty at the bottom. And until Africa does this, it will still be the Dark Continent to me and other humanitarians who believe the greatest thing that we can do is champion policies and efforts that support the must unfortunate. c:!Inline image 10 The Austin City Limits Music Festival There is a new demographic shift in America as Millennials (people bornfrom the early 19805 to the early 2000$) are increasingly deciding not to cast their roots in New York and Los Angeles, and instead are moving to somewhere less expensive, less massive, less hectic, and—again for good measure—less expensive. Many of these people are now moving from Los Angeles to Charlotte, from EFTA01195179
May 13, 2026 at 2:34 AM