A business manager has compared business and team building in Nigeria and South Africa and concluded that Nigerian business owners were hungry for success but unable to work as a team.
Daniel Ikechukwu, country manager for the wellness and health chain Forever, spoke upon return from the outfit’s global rally in Stockholm, Sweden.
Forever’s profile is growing most in both Nigeria and South Africa, but the rally looked to measure both countries against one another.
“Nigeria cannot be compared to South Africa, because presently, Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people, while South Africa has just 56 million. You also remember that the products we are dealing with are drinks, personal care products, products that people consume regularly, then you discover there is a large gap between the Nigerian and South African market,” said Ikechukwu.
“However, when you weigh in on which country is hungrier for success. From that viewpoint, you find that South Africa with a background of apartheid, knows much more about collective struggle and how to fight as a team. That, is slightly lacking in Nigerians, as our people struggle with working as a team.
“Our people are yet to embrace the importance of team building in business, cooperation and collaboration. Here, we like to work for ourselves and many don’t care about uplifting others, even when those people actually look up to them. However, we are working hard on the ‘teamwork culture’ and we are positive it will yield success.”
Some 148 Nigerians were among nearly 15,000 business owners at the rally.
They rocked attires in Nigeria’s national green-white-green and Ankara for the global rally where Forever rewarded business owners who had performed well in previous years and motivate others.
“Everyone was amazing and regardless of the turbulent times in the economy, we represented our country well and gave a good account,” Ikechukwu said on his return from Stockholm.
