Country Survey

April 14, 2013
Instructor: Larry Nichols
LA3200 International Law

Abstract This paper is about a company called Cornmate and its ability to gain access into the African country of Nigeria’s market, along with ethical dilemmas. This paper will discuss the history behind Africa along with its population, culture, political environment and its legal environment. It also discusses ethical dilemmas dealing with corruption, bribery and trafficking. As we all know the proper research will guide Cornmate in the right direction and in the long run everyone will benefit from its production and quality service it provides.

Nigeria has a diverse history and its first inhabitants are thought to be the Nok people. Islam was introduced in the 13th century, and the empire Kanem ruled the area from the 11th century to the 14th. During World War I, native troops from the West African frontier force joined the French in order to fight off the Germans in Cameroon. Nigeria has the biggest population in Africa. In 2010 it was estimated to have 152,217,341 people living there. Its largest cities are Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, and Kaduna. Nigeria has a very diverse culture which consists of over 250 different ethnic groups. There are three main ones that stand out and those are the Ibo out east, Yoruba in the west and the Hausa up north. The Muslim religion is very dominating in the north while Catholics in the east and animists are in the west. In order to create a successful social business we must understand the overall goal for the long term as well as how customers react thru social media. I will be creating my own social business that benefits everyone in a competitive way and will name the company Cornmate. A plan will be implemented with a profit-sharing strategy thru arrangements with different shopping centers, which will stock the product within the fair trade standards. Cornmate will work hand and hand with banks, farmers, and cooperatives to support its developments throughout the United States. Cornmate will be designed as a nonprofit organization within the United States and a team of professionals will manage the company from the CEO all the way down to its most important clients. Key principles will consist of advance payment, contracts, fair price, and fair trade. The producers of the corn will be ensured a fair share of the profits as a whole. There’s a few key elements that will be adhered to and they will be collaborators buy-in, farmers/co-ops translate learning’s to actions, premiums trickle down to farmers, buy-in is converted to involvement, and the market is available for the produce. Of course we would have to understand the behaviors of the customers to ensure the success of cornmate. Cornmate will use personnel interviews, focus groups, and internet surveys to analyze the customer’s typical behavior. In order to figure the best sales channels for cornmate we will use a few key criteria’s which are: brand building opportunities, margins over cost, market penetration, scalability, and competitive pressure. There will be a few operational requirements and that will consist of farmer level, miller level, and supermarket level. In order to make all this happen proper investments thru the right companies will be used for advertising in order to catch the customer’s attention. Ads thru websites, billboards, post office and any others will get the word out about what cornmate is trying to do for the United States. Why do companies choose to enter foreign markets? There are a lot of reasons companies choose to enter them. One reason would be more buyers or customers you have means more profit. Also with more customers the more income and that usually leads to lower cost for products. Another reason to enter would be selling potential, which the more widespread your product is the more selling power. As we all know