#8 Indian CEOs

Leena Nair has been appointed as Chanel’s new global CEO. She joins a growing list of Indian CEOs at huge multinationals. Google also appointed Sundar Pichai in 2015, Mastercard had Ajay Banga at the helm from 2010 until his retirement last year. At Microsoft, they have Satya Nadella. Indra Nooyi was calling the shots at Pepsi until 2018; Shantanu Narayen has been Adobe CEO since 2007; and we won’t forget Parag Agrawal who has been CEO at Twitter for less than a month after Jack Dorsey stepped down. The list is much longer. At Nokia, you’d have found Rajeev Suri until recently, and at Deloitte, Punit Renjen. Add IBM and WeWork, and you’re starting to see that something worthwhile is going on in India.

What is in Indian food that propels one all the way to the tippy-top of global commerce? If I change my diet to strictly Indian, how long do I have to wait before Aston Martin’s people give my people the call? Or does one have to be born there? I thought I was going to start Spanish lessons soon but I might have to reconsider. How about learning some Hindi?

To understand Indian exceptionalism, we may begin with Google CEO’s own comments during his interview with CNN two years ago. He mentioned how everyone in his community valued the pursuit of knowledge. He was brought up in a community that celebrated erudition. He claims he picked up his thirst for learning from his mother whom, despite dropping out of school, never lost her appetite for the written word. I can relate. One of the habits that have served me in this life is my reading, a 7-year old habit. Since I was advised to read by a knowledgeable Zimbabwean national at a hotel in Ezulwini one cold night in 2015, I haven’t looked back. He gave me a gift. A gift that keeps giving.

Growing up in the second most populous country in the world, you can imagine the kind of odds one has to beat. Some of the CEOs mentioned here grew up pretty modestly. Their lives were punctuated by uncertainty. At times they couldn’t even tell if they would have available the most basic of essentials at dawn. Growing up in an environment where you have to deal with change and uncertainty as soon as you exit the womb might just be the perfect conditions to nurture a leader that can cope with the 21st century business climate. Oversimplified perhaps but as for me, my monthly budget for Curry has trebled, effective immediately. You have to start somewhere. We’re dashing toast and replacing it with samosas. No French fries, give me naan and Tandoori chicken.

This is not to play down the famed Indian immigrant work ethic. A keen work ethic is a non-negotiable at the highest level. We wish Leena Nair all the best as she grapples with the business of high fashion for the first time. I am sure her 30 years at Unilever have prepared her well enough.

Afghanistan Taliban Rule

In 1995, Afghanistan saw the coming into power of a militarist group called the Taliban. Most Afghans were approving of Taliban rule because they were seen to uphold traditional Islamic values and they had been successful in stamping out corruption, curbing lawlessness and making the roads and the areas under their control safe for commerce to flourish.

Afghanistan is a patch of geography that has a long history of foreign conquerors dating back to the times of Alexander the Great. Even Genghis Khan’s territory included this region at some point. The Brits fought 3 wars there between 1839 and 1919. Soviet Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979. This is when the U.S. decided to cut off assistance to Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden enters the story around this time. He joins the rebellion against the Soviets occupying Afghanistan and Al Qaeda is born as the U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia sign a peace treaty in Geneva.

In 1995 then, Afghans, understandably, had had enough of strife and famine and it was a case of anyone will do. The Taliban proceeded to ban television, music and cinema to bring under control western influence. They disapproved of girls aged 10 and over going to school. Afghans started accusing the Taliban of various human rights and cultural violations. It was turning sour at breakneck speed.

Osama then bombs down 2 American embassies in Africa to Bill Clinton’s annoyance. America retaliates with a series of cruise missile attacks. The Taliban fail to cooperate with the American government and refuse to extradite Bin Laden who is now widely regarded as a “terrorist”. The twin towers in New York fall shortly after and it is pinned on Osama and his group of insurgents. U.S. and British airstrikes become commonplace in Afghanistan and the Taliban flee. NATO begins “peacekeeping” operations in 2003. In 2011, Osama is killed in Pakistan and 10 years later NATO exits Afghanistan and the Taliban seize the vacuum and resume their reign that had been on ice for 20 years.

This is where we are now, in 2021. There were legions of Afghans who wanted to leave with NATO forces fearing the worst about a Taliban rule that was still killing journalists, judges, peace activists, women in positions of power. The Taliban do not seem to have abandoned their extremist ideology. The humanitarian and political consequences are already being felt. More than 300 000 Afghans have illegally fled to Pakistan and we have had two suicide bombings already, killing at least 169 people.

What is Going on in Turkey?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has an interesting take on economics. The Turkish currency, the Lira, has shed 40% of its value in the last 3 months and inflation topped 20% last month. President Erdogan has responded to this double whammy by cutting interest rates which goes against everything I was ever taught in macroeconomics. President Erdogan’s actions are the exact opposite of what theory posits.

To cope with an overheating economy, you don’t make money cheaper, by cutting interest rates, you have to make it more dear by increasing rates. When money is cheap, economic agents take on more debt and more money circulates in the economy. The higher the supply of money → the cheaper the money gets → the less you can buy with it. People with more money in their hands tend to consume more and the more people go to stores to buy, the longer the queues.

Entrepreneurs will respond to higher demand for their products by increasing prices and there you find inflation popping its ugly head. When inflation goes up, your pay check cannot go as far as it used to. People start demanding higher wages just to maintain their lifestyles. Entrepreneurs will grant these higher wages, and since labour costs have gone up, entrepreneurs will hike prices to maintain profit margins and now you’re in an inflation spiral. This vicious cycle of higher prices causing higher wages which in turn cause higher prices is an economic armageddon.

Erdogan has already announced a 50% hike in minimum wage next year. Economists all over the world are looking at Turkey’s situation in utter disbelief. Turkey will become the newest case study in what not to do in Economics lectures in 2022. This also casts some doubt over the independence of the Turkish central bank. Another mistake. Is the president at war with the markets?

President Erdogan’s economic policy adviser must have attained his credentials by getting lucky in a multiple choice exam. He should have advised “contractionary monetary policy” (jargon alert) instead. Increase interest rates and decrease the supply of money. With less money in the economy, there are fewer purchases and entrepreneurs have to lower prices to attract customers. This effect happening across all industries in the economy will cause inflation to slow so people may continue to afford just being alive.

What I’m Reading

I am reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Or shall I say, I am reading an English translation of Alexandre’s novel. I’m not an expert in French literature but I am reliably informed that this is a French classic. Some may have even read this for school. I am only starting in the third week of December 2021, at my big age. I only read Les Miserable (another French classic) in 2019 or so. I am still making my way through the classics to understand why they are regarded as classics in the first place.

This is the first time I get the opportunity to mention a novel that I’m reading here and I do not know how much to say, because - SPOILERS! So far into the story, there are two blokes who are hating on a third bloke for different reasons. One man is jealous that he is so good at his job that his employers have promoted him to captain of a ship. The other gentleman is hurt for mjolo reasons. He is mad that a damsel of interest has put him in the friend zone so she may get on with Mr. Captain. (Why did I write this like that? Why didn’t I use their names?)

I do not know if I read a review somewhere or if it’s my intuition but I think these two haters will do something crazy to our protagonist who will then have to avenge whatever misdeed these two looneys come up with. The book is so well written. I don’t know if that is credit due to Dumas or the translator 🤷🏾‍♂️. If it goes well, I’ll also watch the movie.

If anything else happened this week, I missed it (except Spiderman, I would NEVER miss Spiderman). Till next Sunday 👋🏾.