Discuss how the presence of TNCs like Shell and Unilever stimulated industrial
development in Nigeria. (9)
In my opinion, TNCs like Shell and Unilever in Nigeria provide a lot of jobs for local
people. Shell provides direct employment for 65,000 people and indirect
employment to another 250,000 people. This means that local people will be
employed and gain new skills and experience, which they can transfer to other
jobs in the future. I think this will give some development to Nigeria, as local
people will have more money to spend in the local economy; however, the highly
paid jobs often go to people from HICs and local people can be poorly paid.
TNCs like Unilever promote improvements in health, education and water supplies
as part of their social responsibility programme. This will mean that local people
will have the basic essentials they need to survive, which means they will be fit
and healthy to go out and work. I think this will help development as the
government will not need to spend as much on providing these services, and can
concentrate on developing the country’s economy and industry.
Some TNCs can generate pollution and health and safety issues. For example, in
the Niger Delta oil spills from Shell have caused water and soil pollution. This will
mean local people cannot grow their own crops or fish, which will affect local
industries. I think this could restrict development, as even though Shell provides
lots of jobs, this may be at a cost to local industries and other industries that could
develop in Nigeria.
Overall, I think that the positives of TNC’s in Nigeria outweigh the negatives, as
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Explanation
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Opinions/evaluation