Your Companion

London, England (CNN) -- In a business culture where negotiations are fluid and what's agreed on Monday might not necessary mean the same thing on Tuesday, how do you get the job done? It's a challenge some foreigners encounter when doing business in Nigeria. However, things don't have to be difficult explains Dean Foster, president of the cross-cultural training company Dean Foster Associates and author of "The Global Etiquette Guide to Africa." According to Foster, as long as you understand the cultural etiquette, doing business in Nigeria can offer vast opportunities. But, he says, success comes down two key factors: contacts and commitment. " The bottom line is that you cannot expect to go into Nigeria, make the deal, turn around, walk out and expect things to go as planned ," Foster told CNN. "If you're committed to business in Nigeria you have to know that you're entering an environment that requires your constant attention and ...

Harvard Business Review: Did you know that Africa is one of the fastest-growing economic regions? Check out this infographic for reasons why: http://s.hbr.org/g6AAip

HarvardBiz: Did you know that Africa is one of the fastest-growing economic regions? Check out this infographic for reasons why: http://s.hbr.org/g6AAip

CTO 2011 -- Computers/Peripherals, Computer Software, Computer Services, Telecommunications Eq., Telecommunications Services Location/Date: MUSON, Lagos, Nigeria 05/09/2011 - 05/13/2011 Event Summary: The U.S. Commercial Service Nigeria will host CTO/NUSA 2011 from May 9- 13, 2011, at the MUSON Center in Lagos with a focus on the technology solutions available to the financial services sector. The CTO/NUSA exhibition is a market development tool of the U.S. Commercial Service in Nigeria that showcases the best technologies that U.S. companies and their Nigerian partners have to offer the region and this will be its 21st running. While the show began back in 1989 with a focus on encouraging office automation in Nigeria using computer and telecommunications technologies, it has since expanded to include the entire spectrum of high-tech U.S. products that often utilize a whole host of hardware, software, telecommunications, and on-line solutions that enhance trade and investment as the ...

To help governments especially in the Less Developed Countries have a policy direction in the pilot of affairs in their countries, the UN provided development templates referred to as the Millennium Development Goals and with a timeframe, 2015 to achieve these goals. The ‘mother’ of all the goals is universal education because of its multiplier effects. An educated person is less likely to suffer extreme poverty but more likely to embrace changes that bring about improved quality of life. One of the tools that is available in the 21st century and capable of fast tracking the process of achieving universal education is Information and Communication Technology, a combination of newer technologies of wireless phones, networked computer and the internet. According to Frances Caincross, 2001, in her book, The Death of Distance, ‘the revolution that have arisen as a result of communication is simply democratic and profoundly liberating as it levels the imbalance between large and small, rich...

Water-related diseases such as Cholera are among the most common causes of illness and death, affecting mainly the poor in developing countries. They kill more than 5 million people every year, more than ten times the number killed in wars. According to experts at the National Council on Water Resources (NCWR) that met in Abuja recently, Nigeria currently has the highest prevalence of water borne diseases in the world. This, they added, has resulted in high infant mortality in the country; a discouraging report in the realization of the UN Millennium Development Goals on reduction of child mortality and improvement in maternal health by the year 2015. Women Villagers leave their homes in search of water. AP/Pervez Masih Tackling this epidemic should be of concern to all.The good news is that an Israeli company, CQM has come forward with a product capable of abating the incidence of water borne diseases especially in poor and rural communities where potable drinking water is rare. Howe...