Rebirth of England.

Chapter 827 Nigeria
One thing that may be unexpected is the smartphone market in Africa, one of the reasons is that there is a severe shortage of electricity there...

This may seem strange, but it is true.

Not to mention that many families here cannot afford to buy computers. Even if they can get one, they probably cannot afford the electricity consumed by the computer.

Therefore, relatively speaking, the broadband construction here is even behind the construction of mobile networks - because the power consumption of smartphones is much lower than that of home computers, and they can also complete some computer work...

Take mobile payment for example. People in many parts of Africa have difficulty accessing bank branch services. But starting last year, mobile payment in Africa has become more active because people can use smartphones to make some payments instead of bank card transfers...

For example, the mobile payment service launched by the United Bank for Africa and Klarna in West Africa is very popular among people in the countries surrounding Colo.

They only need to go to a big city to open an account, and after binding it, they can easily transfer money to their relatives far away...

In Nigeria, this mobile payment business is also developing rapidly...

Of course, unlike other countries, Kolo has long realized the limitations of power shortage on economic development, and fortunately, they already have abundant offshore oil and gas resources!
Therefore, after the establishment of the West African Electricity Group, several LNG power stations were built in Kolo. LNG power generation is considered a type of clean energy and can also provide sufficient electricity for Kolo.

West African Power Group is a joint venture company in which Kolo Industrial Investment Fund (state-owned) holds 25%, West African Group holds 45%, and United Energy Group (directly held by United Power Group) holds 30%.

The company holds more than 85% of the electricity distribution market in Colo, and has plans to invest in a number of LNG power stations and thermal power stations in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger - although Burkina Faso has limited oil resources, its coal resources are relatively abundant.

Even British Nuclear Energy, a British nuclear company in which West African Electricity Group and United Energy Group hold shares, is conducting a feasibility study on building West Africa's first nuclear power plant in the coastal area near Kolo and Benin.

Currently, South Africa is the only country in Africa that has a nuclear power plant. If a nuclear power plant can be built in Kolo, it will be able to provide electricity output for the entire region and will also provide impetus for the development of the region.

In addition, Colo itself will also develop in the blockchain field represented by BitC. After having relatively "cheap" nuclear power, it will be able to attract some "BitC mines" to settle in Colo in the future, thereby boosting the local economy.

……

Immediately after signing the relevant agreements on the West African Free Trade Organization, on November 11, Kolo President Thomas Kaboré led a delegation to Nigeria for a five-day visit.

The purpose of his visit this time is very clear. The Kolo side does not want the establishment of the West African Free Trade Organization, an economic organization, to affect their relationship with Nigeria.

Nigeria is the most important country in the Economic Community of West African States, and at the same time, it is also one of the most important countries in Africa as a whole - in many cases, the word "one of" can even be removed.

Nigeria has an area of ​​more than 92.3 square kilometers, which is roughly equivalent to the area of ​​Qinghai and Hunan provinces in China. If we only look at the area, let alone the whole of Africa, even in West Africa, it is not as large as Mauritania, Mali and Niger...

But Nigeria can be called the largest country in Africa... The main reason is that Nigeria is rich in resources. Its current population is 1.65 million, making it the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world.

As of 2011, Nigeria's total economic output ranked second in Africa (after 2014, it surpassed South Africa to become the largest in Africa). It can be said that Nigeria has the largest market in Africa and is an indispensable trading partner of Kolo.

You know, the whole of Africa gives people the impression of poverty and chaos - 50 of the world's 35 poorest countries are in Africa; 25 of the 20 countries with the lowest per capita GDP are in Africa.

Entering the new century, Nigeria is one of the few countries in Africa with good economic development and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The most important thing is that Nigeria has rich mineral resources and oil and gas resources. In terms of reserves, the oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Guinea are not inferior to those in the Persian Gulf. Nigeria has the second highest oil resources and the highest natural gas resources in Africa, and is the largest oil and natural gas exporter in Africa.

All of the above also determines that Kolo will not easily give up the good relationship with Nigeria.

Although Kolo's per capita GDP is much higher than Nigeria's, Kolo cannot give up Nigeria's vast market.

Therefore, during Thomas Kaboré's visit to Nigeria this time, the two sides once again deepened their cooperation, including Kolo Oil Company investing in an oil refining base in Nigeria to help Nigeria refine crude oil products.

In addition, the Brita Stock Exchange will also cooperate with the Nigerian Stock Exchange headquartered in Lagos. The two sides will gradually form stock interconnection and cooperate in digital transformation.

Currently, the Brittany Stock Exchange and the Nigerian Stock Exchange are the first and second largest stock exchanges in West Africa respectively. The cooperation between the two parties will provide more financing options for enterprises in the entire West African region.

At the same time, Kolo also signed a financial cooperation agreement with Nigeria, which will allow banks from both sides to conduct more business in each other's territory. The United Bank of Africa will set up a branch in Nigeria and carry out business expansion and investment.

During this visit, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who had just been re-elected in the general election in April this year, expressed his willingness to propose that Kolo join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at the next meeting of its members.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was established in September 1960 by oil-producing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to coordinate their oil policies and oppose the exploitation and control of Western oil monopoly countries.

Its headquarters is located in Vienna, Austria, and it currently has 14 member states, namely Kuwait, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Libya, Iraq, Venezuela, Algeria, Gabon, Indonesia, Nigeria and Congo.

Currently, due to the discovery of its offshore oil fields, after years of development, Kolo's production is enough to be ranked among the OPEC members.

Since joining this organization means having a certain say in global oil and gas exploration, Colo is also happy to join it.

(End of this chapter)