African Development: Why Business in Nigeria Is Stuck Between Karma and Corruption

The Paradox of African Development

Every few years, the headlines recycle the same optimism: “Africa Rising.” Yet when you zoom in on the ground—say, in Nigeria—the picture looks less like “rising” and more like “perpetually waiting for takeoff while someone siphons the jet fuel.”

And it’s not just poor infrastructure or bad policy. The deeper issue with African development is cultural wiring: the way status, wealth, and power are expressed. In much of the West, the ideal is “everyone has what they need.” In Nigeria, the unspoken ideal often leans toward: “I have something you’ll never afford, and that makes me superior.”

Oh sure, because nothing screams “progress” like building a mansion next to a pothole the size of Lake Victoria.

When Wealth Becomes a Spectator Sport

Here’s the irony: in Europe or the U.S., success is measured by how accessible basics are—roads, healthcare, social safety nets. In Nigeria, success is measured by how inaccessible your lifestyle is to others.

This creates ripple effects in business in Nigeria:

• Staff pay becomes optional. Why reinvest in employees when the real flex is your convoy of SUVs with tinted windows?
• Neighbors become rivals. Living “amicably” is for people who aren’t busy installing the tenth layer of barbed wire on their fences.
• Inequality becomes aspirational. Instead of asking, “How do we lift communities?” the focus shifts to, “How do I climb above them?”

If the West sells equality as a brand, Nigeria has perfected exclusivity as a religion.

The Hardwired Challenge: Soul-Level Economics

So here’s the uncomfortable take: the lack of economic growth in Africa isn’t purely about colonial legacy or bad leadership. It’s about values baked into daily life.

• Money doesn’t just buy comfort. It buys elevation over others.
• Public goods (electricity, water, security) are privatized luxuries, not rights.
• Corruption isn’t an accident. It’s a lifestyle choice disguised as survival.

And before you say, “But that’s unfair generalization,” remember: satire points out patterns, not individuals. The reality is that this wiring filters into how governments function, how companies operate, and even how neighborhoods coexist.

Historical Context: Colonial Ghosts and Modern Choices

Of course, history didn’t help. Colonial powers built extractive systems, not inclusive ones. They handed over fragile states with borders drawn by rulers who thought a straight line looked tidy on a map.

But seven decades later, when politicians still loot budgets like they’re playing supermarket sweep, blaming colonialism alone starts sounding like using “my dog ate my homework” in your 40s. At some point, the responsibility shifts inward.

Business in Nigeria: Where Spiritual Principles Go Missing

Let’s return to the soul-level part. Remember the earlier conversation about karma in business? Apply that lens here.

When you underpay workers, overcharge customers, or hoard resources, it isn’t just immoral—it’s strategically self-defeating. Yet across much of Africa, especially Nigeria, this model repeats.

Businesses operate as if short-term greed will somehow magically produce long-term stability. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Ask the countless failed Nigerian startups whose leaders treated company funds like personal piggy banks.

Is Development Impossible?

Here’s the human question: Is Africa doomed never to “develop” in the Western sense?

The honest answer: not doomed, but deeply conflicted. Development requires shared standards—roads, schools, systems that work for all. But if cultural wiring celebrates inequality as success, then every reform effort is like filling a leaky bucket.

Until values shift toward collective progress, “Africa Rising” will remain more of a branding slogan than a lived reality.

Signs of Hope (Yes, Really)

Before you close this tab thinking it’s all doom and corruption, here’s the nuance: there are sparks of balance.

• Tech hubs in Lagos and Nairobi are building inclusive ecosystems. Startups solving real problems—fintech for the unbanked, healthtech for rural clinics—prove that spiritual principles of balance can work in business.
• Social movements are pushing back. From #EndSARS to youth-led entrepreneurship, younger generations are increasingly allergic to the old systems of wealth-signaling.
• Global partnerships (when not predatory) bring in both accountability and fresh models of shared value.

So no, Africa isn’t hard