Explain any four of the following terms: (a) Nationalization (b) Commercialization (c) Privatization (d) Indigenization (e) Joint Ventures.

Answer Details

(a) Nationalisation is the taking over of the ownership and control of privately owned businesses or industries by the government, so that they become public enterprises run in the public interest. Owners are usually paid compensation.

(b) Commercialisation is the reorganisation of a government-owned enterprise so that it is run on business (profit-making) principles like a private firm, becoming financially self-sustaining without government subsidy, while ownership remains partly or wholly with the government.

(c) Privatisation is the transfer of the ownership and control of a public (government-owned) enterprise, wholly or partly, to private individuals or companies, usually through the sale of shares, so as to improve efficiency and reduce the burden on government.

(d) Indigenisation is a policy that transfers the ownership and control of enterprises (especially those formerly owned by foreigners) to the citizens (indigenes) of a country, so that nationals participate more fully in the economy, as under Nigeria's Indigenisation Decrees.

(e) Joint ventures are business arrangements in which two or more parties (for example the government and private investors, or local and foreign firms) jointly own, finance, manage and share the profits and risks of an enterprise.

Any four, clearly explained, earn full marks.