My Grievance

 

 

 

I know it’s probably too early and probably of no use to bemoan the shylock tendencies of majority of African leaders (business leaders alike) but I have chosen here and now to say it as I consider it. The pyramids in Egypt reminds me of a lost opportunity. We blew it. I do not intend to ruffle any feathers but I do hope that the handwriting stays on the wall. The key difference between the horsemen of the American and African revolution is the low-balling, often un-enterprising pursuits of the latter.

 

 

John D Rockefeller founded Standard Oil; one time biggest global corporation. He re-organised a second rate market into an industry. This man was a monopolist but he found the use for petrol. What has our oil, cement and commodity barons found a use for?

 

 

Thomas Edison and JP Morgan created what later became General Electric through the brilliant marriage of innovation and finance. I must mention that their union wasn't a perfect one. Morgan consolidated industries with the objective of fostering efficiency. He created what at a point was the biggest corporation in the world US Steel. The company was built to a legendary status by Andrew Carnegie (another titan). He (JP Morgan) financed the building of Panama Canal. He created modern finance as we know it to be. What has our Forbes-posing, too-quick-to-declare-victory leaders done?

 

 

Henry Ford fought the crippling monopoly of a cartel and won. Cornelius Vanderbilt didn't rest until America was connected by rail. Both men were separated by almost a generation. Haven't we come far enough to have the things we can be proud to call our own?

 

 

Now, their methods weren't always all saintly. The human existence itself is fraught with contradictions. What those men had that the men who rule Africa don't was pure enterprising vision. In all their pursuits, they sought to move the cause of humanity forward.

 

 

We need men who are capable of birthing Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) like making Africa the best place to live and do business by 2050 because it is possible. It is imperative. It shall be done.


A ray of hope. That is what the pyramids in Egypt whisper to my youthful soul.

 

Image Credit: Google