Chukwudi Iwuchukwu wrote:
CZ , Lobbying And What Nigerian Businesses Can Learn From The Owner Of Binance
The Central Bank of Nigeria last year banned Nigerian banks from facilitating payments for crypto transactions.
The billionaire owner of Binance, known as CZ by his fans knowing what is at stake, put on his thinking cap to find a solution and to see how to penetrate the inner cabal of the policy makers in Nigeria.
What influenced him to do this was not farfetched.
Nigeria is one of the biggest markets for crypto currency transactions in Africa and in the world.
According to a new report, approximately 33.4 million Nigerians, or 35% of the country’s adult population, are holders of cryptocurrencies or have traded them in the past six months. The report attributes the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies to rising inflation and the plunging value of the local currency.
Nigeria is one of the crypto markets with the fastest growth, its peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading volume exceeded $1 billion between January 2022 and June 2022.
That number is enough to move CZ into action to act and to protect his business, Binance, which is the world’s largest global crypto trading company with over $50 billion in daily crypto trading taking place on the Binance platform all over the world.
CZ engaged lobbyists who swung into action and, after a series of lobbying and negotiations with money exchanging hands,
Today, the Nigerian government, through the Nigerian export processing zone authority, announced that Nigeria and #Binance are in talks to create a digital economic zone that will support blockchain technology adoption.
The new digital economic zone will assist entrepreneurs to veer into blockchain technology in the nation of West Africa. According to a declaration by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, the partnership aims to create a digital hub "similar to the Dubai virtual free zone."
Also, Binance is at the moment, lobbying CBN to lift the restrictions on bank facilitating crypto payment but I was told that they are waiting for the next government to take over next year before they increase the momentum of the lobbying.
Imagine if CZ had folded his hand. We would have woken up on one hand to hear Lai Mohammed announcing that Binance has been officially banned in Nigeria and there is nothing that CZ could do about it.
As your small business or start-up grows, please make sure that you are in tune with the politics of the environment where the business is located and you have first-name relationships with policymakers and government officials.
In this part of the world, business and governance work hand in hand.
They are Siamese twins.
If your business is generating 1 billion or above in revenue yearly, you owe your business this sacred duty to establish what is called an inter-governmental relations office domiciled in your company.
The mission of this office is simple: to lobby the government on all fronts on behalf of the company in order to enact favorable policies that will benefit the company and the products on the market.
Let’s say, for instance that I run a tissue and diaper business in Lagos called Visage paper mill and Visage diapers.
The inter-governmental relations office in my company can lobby the minister of trade to make a proposal to Federal executive council banning the importation of foreign tissue and foreign imported diapers just to favor and give advantage to my business that is locally produced.
We can even lobby the government to reduce tariffs that do not favor our business growth or a policy that is hurting our sales, exactly what CZ did.
Or even sef,lobby the minister of trade to shut the factofy of a bigger competitor down so we can gain an advantage over them( An example, what Dangote did to Ibeto cement)
Business is war and brutal, so there is no space for emotion or sentiment.
Dangote has this office.
MTN does, and most businesses that have a revenue of 500 million and above in Lagos have it too.
Most of the time, the government inter-relations office is manned by a veteran who has worked in the government space for a long time and has the access, the contacts, the charisma and the finesse to get deals done within the government circle in a short period of time.
This is what CZ has done by lapping up to a Nigerian government that is hostile to technology and innovation just to protect his business using the vehicle of lobbying
The Nigerian business landscape is filled with landmines so that one day a governor can wake up and close your business because the governor’s side chick had personal issues with you and there is nothing you can do about it.
But with strong lobbying ethics and a vibrant intergovernmental office, you protect your business and minimize stories like this from being the norm rather than the exception.
Lobbying is powerful and it is a must-have weapon and tool for any company looking to navigate the volatile business environment in Nigeria.
Attached in the picture below is CZ(on white) the founder of Binance and the president of Central Africa Republic.
Topic: CZ , Lobbying And What Nigerian Businesses Can Learn From The Owner Of Binance (Read 240 times)
