20 Trending & Most Profitable Business Ideas in 2021

ISSUE 114

TRENDING & MOST PROFITABLE BUSINESS IDEAS IN 2021

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20 Habits of Highly Successful People Unveiling Africa's Untapped Business Potentials E-Commerce Dominance & Social Commerce Growth in Africa How Exactly Does One Become a Social Media Influencer in Africa?

ALSO INSIDE:

Interview with Teni Adesanya, Oxford Group Founder How Hello Tractor's Oliver Jehiel is Enriching African Farmers Ronald Nzimora: From Hawking CDs to Becoming a Real Estate Titan How Aerobotics is Using AI to Empower African Farmers

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Bixex Market Place is your Best Bet. Created by a FREELANCER for FREELANCERS. w w w. b i x e x . c o m

EDITOR’S MESSAGE Charging Your Organization's Battery

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otivation has always been a thrill for me.

It is a daily mental exercise for the willing heart. Why is it that some employees within an organization perform and others don't? The answer lies within the commitment and drive of these employees within the organization. What does a charged organization look like; and how can you charge your organization's battery?

Any organization with dead morale is like a car with a dead battery. The symptoms are usually very clear but ignored by most business owners and management; especially when the cash flow of the organization is not critically impacted. Some of the identifiable symptoms are: a persistent negative attitude to work, poor work performance, an overactive grapevine, customer complaint, lack of enthusiasm, and breakdown in discipline, just to name a few.

Yes, this has been a trying time for businesses and entrepreneurs around the world. We must also remember that this isn't going to be the last time the world will get tried and tested. The question remains: are you keeping your organization's battery charged up? “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.”– Martin Luther King

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At Business Elites Africa, our commitment to serve our readers and audience at large remains solid. We understand that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward.”

–Kierkegaard. We are committed to content leadership in our publications in 2021 and beyond.

Our vision to lead as Africa's SMES partner in success is unwavering.

In this edition of Business Elites Africa, we are proud to present some “Trending Business Ideas of 2021”; blended with success stories from brilliant minds across the continent. You'll also find invigorating articles to help power your mind and business IQ; articles like: 20 habits of highly successful people, artificial intelligence & edgecomputing for video; e-commerce dominance in Africa, and how exactly does one become a social media influencer in Africa, just to name a few.

At Business Elites Africa, we are motivated by our mission to be the voice to the vibrant men and women of our continent. Our commitment to be the epicenter of undiluted business information in Africa is unwavering.

Happy reading!

Meet our team

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Kasa Ejinkeonye

Damilola Akinlude

Social Media Strategist

Social Media Strategist

Contents 8

After Two Failed Businesses Dr. Teni Adesanya is now building a Conglomerate

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Derrick Ashong says African Entertainment Industry Needs Urgent Improvement

16

Gbenga Eyiolawi Started Rice Farming for Fun and Now Making a Fortune Doing it

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Ronald Nzimora went from Hawking CDs to Becoming a Major Player in Real Estate.

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20 Habits of Highly People 28 Successful

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Dominance and 36 eCommerce Social Commerce Growth in Africa Africa's Untapped Business Potentials 42 Unveiling

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Some Key Players in Africa's Multi-Billion 64 Dollar Agribusiness Industry

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Why Africa's fitness Industry is growing fast

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Leveraging cryptocurrencies in Africa Amid Tough Regulations

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Contents Nearly 2 Years After Leaving Ringier Mark Slade Founded Lagos’ Favourite Resort Oliver Jehiel Talks Agribusiness and Hello Tractor's Mission to Improve Income for Smallholder Farmers in Nigeria How Aerobotics is Using Artificial Intelligence to Empower African Farmers

How Fashion is Shifting to Second-hand Clothing Business

32 20

Co-working Spaces: The New Normal in a Post Covid-19 World

56 58

Africa's E-commerce is Thriving Amid Challenges

62

How to win at Digital Marketing in 2021 E-learning: Digital schooling is here for good

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Is Digital Media Strangling Traditional media in Africa?

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How exactly does one become a Social media influencer in africa?

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INTERVIEW

By | Dimeji Akinloye

AFTER TWO FAILED BUSINESSES THAT ALMOST ABORTED HIS DREAM, OXFORD GROUP FOUNDER, DR. TENI ADESANYA IS NOW BUILDING A CONGLOMERATE

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e f o r e D r. Te n i A d e s a n ya became a serial entrepreneur, he had seen dark days. As a fund manager at an investment company, where he rose from an ordinary marketer to a regional manager role, he had garnered the requisite training and experience that prepared him for a career in finance. Adesanya switched from being a salary earner at the job to a commission basis as he saw that it was a juicer wage. Rightly so, he made his first million nairas and this stimulated his affinity for entrepreneurship.

Little did he know that the road to entrepreneurship is paved with rocks and thorns. He failed woefully at two business ventures and was forced to take on a paid job to keep body and soul t o g e t h e r. H i s d e c i s i o n t o g i ve entrepreneurship a last chance was what gave birth to Oxford Group, his third business that worked and now opening doors of opportunities for him in high places, both in Nigeria and beyond its shores.

With offices in 17 states and more than 20 in Lagos alone, the company has business portfolios in almost every sector of the Nigerian economy – from agriculture, oil & gas, real estate, banking, dredging, education among others.

In this interview with Business Elites Africa, he tells us how he almost settled for the bad meal life dished him, the mistakes he made when things started looking good and how he was able to replicate success in every business venture Oxford took on.

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You started the company in 2016, what people see now is the success and the glamour, how did you get here?

The success of Oxford can be attributed to three things; one, dedication, two; our vision, we were passionate about our vision and three; we're futuristic, we look at the future before we take any decision. Those things have really helped us to sharpen the goals and objectives. We started very rough, it was a rough journey. We were one of those people that believe in starting without capital. It will interest you to know that we even had to contribute money among ourselves to register the company with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). One of the things that facilitated me during that period was the passion people brought into the business and today, the stor y is different.

You were in paid employment before you started Oxford, at what point did you realise that you needed to start your own business?

I started my journey at an investment company as a fund manager. What we were doing basically was that we were selling shares. One of the things I enjoyed about the job is that we got adequate training. That was where I learnt entrepreneurship. I started from receiving a salary and switched to a commission basis because it looked wonderful and that was the first time I earned my first million in business. I rose from an ordinary marketer to a regional manager in that business.

Then I moved from there during the period capital market fell because nobody was buying shares. The business wasn't comfortable taking all

of us, so I left for the United Bank of Africa (UBA) Met. The company was a c o n j u n c t i o n b e t we e n U BA a n d Metropolitan Africa. It is an insurance firm but they had a product there called investment. As a fund manager, we could actually market investment in form of insurance. If you paid a premium for five years and nothing happens to you, the money automatically goes into an investment and you'll get your money back. I think I left UBA Met to Pacific Oil. I moved to oil and gas, and the reason is very simple – I had a greener pasture. I became the Managing Director of Pacific Oil at the time. What I did was to move petroleum products from one location to the other. From there, I left to start my own business, which is Pacific Asset. We were able to do some investment businesses but something happened and the business crashed.

a wage kind of person. I want you to give me the cut of what I do. I remember that during the time I was at home not doing anything, I got a hotel job. We used to send a bill to MTN every month. We'd send a bill of N8 million or N10 million and this man (the hotel owner) would pay each of us N50, 000 as salary. That was when I knew this salary thing wasn't meant for me. Moving on, I came together with some people and we started Oxford, which was supposed to be my last entrepreneurial skill test. So it was a door-die trying matter. I won't attribute the success to that but I think the combination of all the experiences and the determination to make this work, and the right business was what brought us this far.

We did a bit of credit and when it was time to move to another level of capitalization, there was an issue so the business crashed. Then I started a n o t h e r c o m p a n y, P e a k a f l e x Investment Limited, which was the last one I did before Oxford. One of the things the business enjoyed at the time was that we had the opportunity to do credit business. We were hoping to become a microfinance bank but we couldn't capitalize the business. At some point in between, I'd be at home, I'd be looking out for jobs. I had worked for some people for 2 – 3 months and I'd say to myself, 'you what, let me go and start my own business' but things didn't work out quite well. Then I thought to myself that maybe I'm not supposed to lead or maybe I'm not supposed to do any business. So I put my entrepreneurial mindset aside and thought I should serve someone else.

Then I joined a real estate firm. The reason why I joined the firm was that I had a friend that was already into real estate when I was in my other business and I saw the way he was progressing.

When my business crashed, I saw another friend that was also starting a real estate firm, so I joined him. So we started working together and within six months, we started doing well and buying cars. I thought I should give my entrepreneurial skill another chance, probably the last chance. I had always known that I'm not a salary person. I'm

Oxford is like your third business that worked. Now Oxford has over 30 subsidiaries I believe. At what point did you think it was time to birth more businesses?

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I'd like to correct the notion that oxford has 30 subsidiaries before LIRS will start running after us. We're a group of company that is involved in different businesses. Some of them are direct subsidiaries and some of them are not.

Some of them are just partnerships while some are from startups. Our businesses are twofold – we have the inflow organization and the outflow organization. I used those two words because I don't want to use our

confidential words that we use inhouse. We have a set of organization that what they do is to generate income and the second organization uses the generated income to make a profit – they invest it. We've been able to invest money in various sectors of the country. Let me start with oil and gas.

We came into oil and gas and now we own fuel stations, some of which are on lease. We came into agriculture, and what we do is agriculture with impact.

They call it precise farming. Most of the agricultural products we go into are the ones that we are sure are exportable, it has off-takers.

There are ready markets for the products. That was how we started with a g r i c u l t u r e a n d f r o m t h e r e we maneuvered into different types. What we want to do is to have a complete agricultural value chain, which we're still working on. We're also into finance. All aspects of finance – we're in banking, precisely microfinance and mortgage, we are in asset management, we're also into foreign exchange and we're also into money transfer.

Basically, those are the things we're doing in finance. We also have Oxford pharmacy, we have the hotel and we have Oxford creative school. We have a bit of almost everything. And the essence of generating money is to keep recapitalizing those businesses and keep increasing in value and assets.

What matters at the end of the day is the value chain you're creating along the business line. Like I tell investors,

when you put money in Oxford, we are not just putting money in one line of business, we're putting money in a chain of business that we have used different sectors of the business to mitigate risk. So if education is not paying because people don't have money, if doesn't mean they won't buy fuel, it doesn't mean people will not buy land, it doesn't mean they won't buy houses and it doesn't mean they won't buy our agricultural products. So we can't actually conclude that Oxford has a certain number of subsidiaries, I'd rather go with we're involved in almost all sectors.

In an environment where there is a trust deficit, how do people trust their money with you?

I tell people that trust is like something you preempt and it's something you can value over time. It doesn't just happen once. It's something that is systemic. It happens bit by bit. People begin to look at what you do and begin to gain trust.

From 2016 to date, we've had series of customers. Like I was talking to a customer today that there are some questions you would ask me in 2017 and the only thing I'd assure you is to please trust us – word of mouth. But now I can tell you that Oxford has properties and businesses that can guarantee you returns because it's a chain. You can't have a bank or you can't have an agricultural business or a real estate business or a dredging business, and somebody is asking you how do you make money. For God's sake, all you need money for is expansion. And over time, our customers have not had any reason to say they're not getting their money back.

You just returned from Rwanda where are trying to acquire a microfinance bank. Tell us about that and why the choice of Rwanda?

Although our businesses in Rwanda, for now, are confidential, I'm just going to mention that our interest in Rwanda is because the economy is coming up.

Rwanda is good for two things – financial service and Information

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Technology. We're looking at tapping into the opportunities in both areas.

And not just that, we want to use Rwanda as a gateway to the East of Africa.

One would expect that it's when you conquer a place that you think about expanding to another terrain. Would y o u s a y y o u h ave N i g e r i a o n lockdown?

There is something we started in January 2021, we called it '36 states lockdown'. Today, we 17 offices in 17 states in Nigeria. In Lagos alone, we have over 26 offices, we have 5 offices in Ogun state and we're increasing. While we're increasing in office space. We're also increasing in land acquisitions in almost all the states. The essence of that is to pitch our tent all around and then use the media to connect where we are to the people but notwithstanding, we're not a country that is bound by the vision of Nigeria. We're bound by the vision of Africa. If you look at our website, you'd see that we have Oxford Group Africa. So we can't leave those opportunities unattended even while we're trying to lockdown Nigeria. So there are some gateways in the East that are connected directly to Nigeria. So we need to move at the same time to lock down those opportunities.

Looking back, what mistakes do you think you have made in the cause of building your businesses?

The mistake I made was that I didn't start Oxford on time. But it's still not a mistake because the ground we have covered in five years, we might not have covered it in 10 years. The mistake I've really made was that I've not been working with the set of people I'm working with right now. If they had been in my life for the past 15 years, we would have been the Elumelus of Nigeria by now. But it's not too late. I have one of the greatest assets in human capital that any organization could ever think of. And most of the time when people ask me how I made these multiple businesses, I say I'm not everywhere, I just duplicate myself e ve r y w h e r e. I n a l m o s t a l l o u r businesses we have human capital

assets that are dedicated to the job and people that are giving their lives to make sure the business moves forward.

I must also say that the kind of Oxford we're building is not a one-man business. It's an employee-based business. An employee can grow from an ordinary marketer to become an Executive Director, so because of that, it has encouraged a lot of people to put in their best to make sure that the business does not go down.

What would you say to entrepreneurs who are frustrated with their business and thinking of quitting?

First of all, if you look at my youtube channel, I'm doing a weekly series about why it is important for everyone that is trying to become somebody not to quit. I'm doing that series because I want them to follow step-by-step how I got to where I am. If you're in business today, you need two things – human capital and opportunity. And the reason why it has not worked out is that those two are not available. So you to prepare yourself for those two and one of the things I will also say is that if an opportunity comes and you're not prepared, you'd lose it. If the human capital comes and you don't have the basis to hold them, you'll lose them.

While the business looks like it's not working, keep preparing yourself for the opportunity that will come because definitely it is going to come. For example, imagine a supplier in the oil and gas market and the only thing you do is one or two trucks per week and you're not preparing yourself for a day someone would say you should supply 50 trucks, by the time that opportunity comes and you're not able to deliver, you'd not be able to meet up and they would not give you the job. You know why? Because you don't have the capacity to deliver. Another thing you need to pray about while you're waiting for your opportunity is for God to bring you the right people because if God put the right peck in the right hole for you, the sky is your limit. I've had people come into my business and there was a whole lot of change. It'll not just change the organization, it will also give you rest, as the person piloting the vision.

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

Derrick Ashong, CEO of AMP Global, Says African Entertainment Industry Needs Urgent Improvement

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or more than twenty years, Derrick Ashong consistently established himself as a major player in Hollywood and the global entertainment industry. He appeared in a Steven Spielberg film, collaborated with global music stars like Janet Jackson and Debbie Allen, and produced hit television shows that aired on major networks like the BBC World Service, MTV, and the BET. But that's not all; the Harvard graduate has also hosted top shows on Oprah Radio, Aljazeera, ABC/Univision, etc. And for all his accomplishments, he has won numerous awards and was nominated for three Emmy awards.

Now he has a new project which he is quite passionate about, and it is all about helping to position African entertainment on a global stage. In this exclusive interview with Business Elites Africa, he spoke extensively about how he and his team at AMP Global Technology are using TV shows like The Mic: Africa to accomplish just that.

Enjoy the conversation.

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Nice to meet you, Mr Ashong. Briefly tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm Derrrick Ashong, originally from Accra Ghana; raised there, as well as in Brooklyn New York and in the Middle East. My career path has been at the intersection of technology, media and entertainment.

For the benefit of some of our readers who may not know you very well, can you talk to us about some of the things you've done in the field of technology and particularly what you do at AMP Global?

Yes, for sure. So, when I was at Harvard Grad School doing my PhD research along the lines of how trends in opensource software could map unto ideas of open-source content; basically how the future of technology could change the future of entertainment. I got recruited out of that PhD programme and I wound up working for a lot of luminaries in the IT industry. I've worked for big companies, consulted for Visa, Nokia, Interscope, Myspace (when it was hot). I also got to work with major figures like Steven Spielberg,

Oprah Winfrey, worked with big media companies like BET, Aljazeera, ABC, Disney, Univision. Throughout this time, I basically developed an expertise on how to scale multi-platform media assets. What do I mean by multiplatform media assets? It's TV and social media, it's radio and it's digital, it's livestreaming and chat. So, I was able to scale assets to over 300 million households around the world.

Along the line, I realized that we were reaching this incredibly large audience and we didn't really know who they are.

And that was when I had the vision of 'could you build a data solution that would help you as a content owner to understand the audience watching your content while also protecting the users' privacy?'. That impetus to ask that question eventually led to the birth of AMP Global. We focus on helping the media know their audience the same way that eCcommerce companies know their customers. Or better still, putting content consumers at the centre of the value change, whilst protecting their privacy.

How would you describe the role AMP Global plays in positioning African entertainment?

I think we have a really unique and wonderful opportunity. I mean, we have a lot of very experienced people on the team. In the last project we worked on, we have about three Academy Awardssubmitted producers on the project. And because we do tech that serves the entertainment industry, we realized that the best way to showcase to that industry what's possible is to actually have the tech leveraged in the industry itself. So, some years ago we created a project called “Take Back the Mic the World Cup of Hip Hop” in Latin America. We got two Emmy nods, we got two-time E m my f i n a l i s t s f o r o u t s t a n d i n g interactive programme for that series.

What did when we came to the continent (i.e., Africa) was to create something that is specific for Africa but that can speak to a global audience. In the course of our research prior to settling for this concept, we asked what are the big shows that were out there and people were like 'oh we've got Big Brother, we've got Idols West Africa, Real Housewives of Johannesburg, etc.'

And these are all very cool shows. I love them. But the ideas for these shows all came from the outside. Where's the indigenous format that was conceived on the continent and went to the globe and then brought the money back home?

It turned out it had never been done. So, what AMP Global did is that we created two things. First, we created a series called “The Mic Africa” which is partly a travel show and partly a musical competition. The audience cast and curate what the show should be all about. We did it in six countries this first season – Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ruanda, Mauritius, and South Africa.

The audience selected three artists to represent their communities. There were 1,200 registrants and 18 were selected for the show. In addition to “The Mic Africa” series, we created the Take Back the Mic app which enabled the audience to scout, curate, and select the outcome of the show and were rewarded for their participation in it.

The big step I think we took recently in the creative and cultural industries on the continent is we showed that you could elevate ar tists from the communities across the continent by

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empowering the fans to tell the global audience what is hot. Also, the taste that those kids have in the streets of Lagos, Kigali, Johannesburg and Nairobi can help identify world-class talents. And now our goal is to help scale those talents to global audiences.

Let's talk about The Mic Africa 2020; what was the experience like running the show? Any plans for a sequel this new year?

We had a fantastic experience. It was very intense as well. I mean, as you know, everything changed in March when the COVID lockdown began. But we were fortunate, in that we earlier had to put measures in place to address the problem of travel restrictions after realizing that some people were facing this problem as early as February last year. So, a month before the lockdown began, we had created an alternate model that would enable us produce the show without having to travel. And that meant building local partnerships with some really high-end filmmakers. So, we just started leveraging our partnerships to figure out who were the right people to work with. Interestingly, once the lockdown happened we were already ahead of the curb. We already had a model. So, plan B became plan A. And it was a wonderful experience because normally when you see stories about Africa, you have someone coming into your country with a particular lens basically telling you 'this is how we see you'. It doesn't matter to them whether the vision is true or not. In this case, we said no, here is a story about a Kenyan filmmaker telling stories of Nairobi through the eyes of Kenyan artists. So, it's just a beautiful representation of African youth culture. And despite the challenges of doing it during a pandemic, the attendant economic slowdown, and obviously public health concerns for everyone, we were able to do it very, very well. And I think when you see the output, it's world-class. And it shows our communities and creatives in the light that they deserve to be seen.

It appears your shows are produced with a global audience in mind. Do you have plans to capture more local viewers as well?

That's a very good question. And the answer is yes. However, it is not only for global audiences. At the moment, we

actually have three Africa-based distributors. We have a partnership with Megalectrics in Nigeria, then we have partnerships with multimedia groups Joy FM and Joy prime in Ghana, and Citizen TV and Radio in Kenya. Within that first week of launch, we went from three to eight partners. And that was very exciting and rewarding for us. At a point, we had to stop accepting new partners because we realized that some of the audience may have finished the new season while others were half-way through.

Currently, we are looking at how to expand our reach across Africa. We are also looking at how to expand into more countries globally. The series was done in English, French and Hindi. So, the next iteration will actually be reaching audiences across Africa, Asia, and Europe. At the end of the day, it will give this opportunity for African artists to reach a much global audience than much of the other competition shows on the continent can. The typical competition shows on the continent are very much for the local market. And that's cool. It's good because it can drive a tone of engagement. But our value proposition is quite different. Our mission is to take African artists and put them on a global stage. It's great to be a local star. But the money is in going to the rest of the world and that is where we think we can add value.

The Coronavir us pandemic has basically grounded the global entertainment industry to a halt. Tell us a bit more about how it has affected your company.

Like I mentioned earlier, we were very fortunate in that the pandemic didn't really affect us as it could have. As a matter of fact, we accelerated due to Corona. Once we figured out the model that we thought made sense in February, we started working on it in February, March, April. And by the time we were in May, the model was already so robust.

So, once we started shooting in October, we were shooting in six countries simultaneously. When must of the world was grounding to a halt, we shot in six countries at the same time. One of the reasons we were able to do that is because not only did we have a model that made distributed production

possible, it also made it possible for us to work and collaborate with the distribution partners, the media partners and sponsors right from where we were.

N o r m a l l y, w e h a v e t o f l y t o Johannesburg, we need to be in Nairobi, we need to be in Lagos and Accra, etc.

But in this case, we didn't have to go anywhere. Everybody was on Zoom.

Everyone was on Microsoft Teams and Google Meets. And so we were able to leverage this moment of uncertainty and say 'hey guys, this is a new way to do something and we guaranty that what we deliver is going to be absolutely stunning with a high-end production value than what you normally get'.

That's exactly what we did and now we have the opportunity to scale.

Te l l u s a b o u t y o u r p l a n s a n d expectations for the new year.

The Mic Africa will definitely be coming back. And there are some really cool things that will be happening with it which we are very excited about. We will also be expanding to include more c o u n t r i e s a n d m o r e l a n g u a g e s.

Additionally, there's a very cool project that will happen in the latter part of the year…I can't announce the details yet.

But the project will enable most of these artists that we've discovered to stand on a global stage.

We also have some really cool projects that we've been working on outside of the continent. This is the beauty of The Mic Africa. Again, it is designed to include the continent. It is also designed to be a format that was born in Africa that expands and draws in audiences and creators from around the world. So, The Mic Africa will give birth to The Mic Asia, The Mic India, The Mic Europe, The Mic Brazil, etc. It is going to be a very big franchise. And our hope is that along the line, we will take some of our African values and put them out there to the rest of the world.

Now, how are we going to be able to do this? The first question should be how do people normally do it? Well, they usually start from the position of an entertainment company and typically focus on local distribution. Sadly, local audiences alone can hardly make that work. But when you are innovative and

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start from the position of 'we are first of a technology company and most of our annual budget goes towards engineering and product development', you begin to realise that you have the ability to speak to a global audience and then partner with local distributors in each of these territories. And that is what is ultimately going to make this very special and give these artists the opportunity to step up to a global stage.

How would you appraise the African entertainment industry?

I think on the music side, there's a lot of really amazing and dynamic stuff going on. Unfortunately, African music is sadly undervalued at this point. I mean, you see some artists that are already standing on the global stage; Burna Boy would be a good example that easily comes to mind. You have global superstars like Beyoncé coming to the continent to try and draw in African inspiration into her own works and collaborating with amazing African talents. With all of these, African music should be a driving force in the global music industry and it's not there yet. But I do think we will get there. I envisage much more investments being put into the African entertainment industry by some of the big global players.

On the TV and film side, we also see a lot that's been happening. I think it's very positive the fact that Netflix has stepped up on the continent. However, there is a lot of room for growth, particularly in the quality of the production. Every time I turn on the local television when I'm in Accra, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Mauritius or wherever I am on the African continent, the typical TV production is of a much lesser quality compared to what you will see on local TV stations say in the US or Europe.

Part of this problem is due to budget constraints. But then again, it is also due to the models that have developed overtime in that the content creators and content distributors have come to the consensus that this is the standard that our audience will accept so this is what we are doing. Now, what ends up happening is that you have some wonderful talents that may never be known beyond their locality because the methodology and the infrastructure of storytelling is not at a global standard.

That, I think, has to change. And that is where I think that we've developed some really cool and innovative processes for doing high-impact, high-quality productions at low cost so when you see it you can feel it because it's premium, dope, and super fly. It doesn't have to cost as much as it would if we had shot it in Los Angeles, New York, or London.

And if we are successful as we believe we will be, it won't just be that we will empower the audience, the advertisers or the distributors. Instead, the real joy would lie in the fact that the actual content creators (the producers) will all of a sudden realise that they have the tools and the infrastructure to tell better stories and reach bigger audiences.

You have accomplished quite a lot in the course of your career, including an Emmy nomination. Do you feel there is more you need to do?

I mean, at this point I've had three Emmy nominations but no Emmy trophy. So, obviously, the job is not done.

(Laughs). So, I think there's a lot of work to do. I appreciate the positive sentiments. I'm very blessed that I've had some good people around me opening doors and guiding me through my career in the entertainment and technology sides. I see much bigger possibilities of what can be done on the continent and the role that Africa can play in a more global discourse around the culture and creative industries. I envisage a lot of capital that could be brought into the ecosystems at the intersection of technology, media and entertainment. I also see myself leveraging some of the skills that I acquired from spending 20 years in Hollywood and apply those skills to the African continent and the Global South because at the end of the day this is where most of the world's population reside and much of the world's future economic growth is expected to come from these places. So, I see a huge opportunity and I hope that I am able to contribute to growing the ecosystem. If I can do that in effective ways then I might feel more satisfied.

But right now, I feel I'm still in the beginning of my journey.

For most small and medium-scale enterprises like yours, the biggest challenge has always been about getting access to funding. What is your experience in this regard?

Yes, it's been quite an endeavor raising capital. We started raising in the US and it was very, very difficult. There are a lot of issues that came around it.

Consequently, we expanded our horizon and started looking globally. And I'm very pleased to say that while we were completing production on The Mic: Africa series, we were also able to secure $2.8 million in C-funding. And that has enabled us to do some really special things, including the launch of our mobile app as well as the launch of the series. We are also in the process of launching a mobile-optimised web platform later this quarter and there are other interesting things that will be coming later this year. Let me point out that we have learnt a lot through that funding process and we are very excited about our next capital raise. We've already gotten some interests in it and we haven't even opened the round yet.

So, I think the lessons were hard. But for us it was a winning strategy to come home with all these skills we've developed all these years from around the world. Obviously, half of our team are still in the US. We have people in Buenos Aires, in New York, in Los Angeles and in Silicon Valley. But a bunch of us are here on the continent.

We are in Accra, we have people in Mauritius and Lagos and we are still expanding. We are looking at how do we really build this thing as an African venture with a global viewpoint. And I know the opportunity is there. And while I think in the early days the funding was hard to come by, in recent years it's become a lot easier for us. We raised more money last year than we have in three years prior. And that acceleration appears to continue into the new year and that will enable us to stand on a much firmer footing to accomplish greater things.

What advice would you give African entertainers who are aspiring the become the next big music stars?

I have a couple of advice actually. First, master your craft. It is so important to be

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really great at what you do. I know this is a regular advice. But it can never be overemphasised enough. Secondly, I think every artist needs to build a movement around their music, acting/filmmaking.

It's important to do that because it is the people who become an early part of that movement that will enable you to expand and grow your audience.

Thirdly, I will say build bridges with artists in other countries. And that d o e s n ' t m e a n yo u h ave t o g o immediately from here to Brussels. No. What I'm saying is if you are in Botswana, see what is bumping up in Bamako. If you are in Accra, think of how you can collaborate with somebody in Ibadan. We must continually think a b o u t h ow t o e f f e c t i ve l y b u i l d connections among ourselves. One thing we noticed in The Mic Africa is that the artists who were most successful in the campaign are those ones who have international reach. Oftentimes, that reach was mostly on the continent. But they have crew across multiple countries and they leveraged that to elevate their voices. I understand that you now reside mainly in Mauritius and I find that interesting because you can actually live anywhere in the world that you choose to. Any particular reason why you chose the tiny island country of Mauritius?

That's a wonderful question. You know, I do miss home deeply. I'm missing my jollof rice and my Kelewele. It's hard to find proper plantain in Mauritius, you know. But we made the decision to domicile our operations here for strategic reasons. We know that the kind of work we do actually has applicability across the Global South because the markets where we saw the most opportunities are in Africa and South East Asia. Now, even though we now here on the home continent, I am still required to travel a lot. Today I'm in Singapore, tomorrow I'm in New York, Hong Kong, London, and just all over the place. And so I started thinking where could I live where it is more manageable to fly from to all these places that I am always traveling to. So, as I looked around, I realise that Mauritius is truly the gateway to Africa and a gateway to Asia. It is much easier than even being back home in Accra.

You know, one of the things I think has got to be rectified at some point in the future is the fact that traveling within Africa is quite expensive. If I am going from Accra to even Dakar, it's a 'situation'. So, that's why I would rather be in Mauritius than Lagos or Accra.

Another choice would have been Dubai.

But then again, I wanted to build the business in Africa and Mauritius is in Africa, but just more strategically located than mainland continental Africa. But that notwithstanding, we still have people in Accra and we intend to grow there. We intend to grow in Lagos, in Nairobi, Kigali as well.

I'm very blessed just to have been able to come back to the continent. And I think that as we grow and we are able to carry a banner of African excellence to South East Asian markets and ultimately around the world, it will be a source of pride and also a source of bringing resources back to the continent.

Anything else you may want to tell our readers?

Yeah. You know, it is not such a common story to hear about someone leaving a career in Hollywood to come back to Africa. But I think that this is a ve r y p o w e r f u l m o m e n t a n d a n opportunity to tell stories that transcend the geographic and political boundaries.

I think that African culture and creativity must be a central force in all new global conversations. I hope we will be able to help in that regard. We are also open to collaborating with others that are looking to take the creative industry to the next level.

INTERVIEW

By | Dimeji Akinloye

Gbenga Eyiolawi Started Rice Farming for Fun and Now Making a Fortune Doing it failed at other businesses due to lack of capital and bad government policies. To him, you don't need passion to be successful in business. He attributed the accelerated growth of his company to him treating the business as a fun game that he played right, in addition to the right team.

I know you were raised by a struggling mother who slaved to make food available to her children, at least she ensured you had rice in the house.

Share with us how that experience gave birth to Titan Farms.

T

he agro-industry in Nigeria is experiencing a renaissance.

Thanks to the quagmire the Nigerian economy plunged into after years of over-dependence on oil. Out of necessity, the government had to diversify the economy and agriculture was the viable alternative.

Engr. Gbenga Eyiolawi was one of the entrepreneurs who took action and plugged into a wave of opportunity in the sector. Although his mom had persuaded him two years earlier to give the food processing business a shot, he was neck-deep in his real estate business, which he has run for 11 years.

Hence, the government developed policies geared towards encouraging farmers and investors. Rice, a major staple in many Nigerian homes, was at the center of the gover nment's intervention as an embargo was placed on the importation of foreign rice, paving way for local rice farmers to thrive.

But the day he decided to give the business idea a try, he hit the ground running. He established Titan Farms, which is now a leading rice manufacturer and trader, with a strong market presence in South West of Nigeria. Eyiolawi recounts his humble childhood in this interview, and how he

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It's euphoria for me. I've always wondered how she was able to do that.

We, my siblings and I knew there was no money at that time. In a day, her entire sales from her business may be around N250 and we'd wake up the following morning and see rice in the house. Despite the bad sales, we'd eat.

Little did we know that all we were eating was her entire sales. We'd go to school and they'd send us back home for non-payment of school fees but we'll still get home and eat. Nothing else other than rice. That made me discover that no matter how bad the situation is, food, especially rice, will always sell.

There used to be a time that every Sunday, we'd eat Jollof rice. We'd eat rice for breakfast every day, then Jollof rice on Sundays. That way our own Christmas day. And when we were sent back from school, you should go home dejected and sad, but not for us. We'd stay at home and still eat until she's able to raise the funds to go back to school. I kept wondering why didn't she use the money she spent on food to pay our tuition so we could return to school. I didn't understand the logic behind that until later.

So at what point did you think you should go into the business of rice farming?

I didn't think so at all. I've been in real estate for 11 years. So after two years,

my mom, who now has a food processing business, called me one day and asked; 'don't you think it's time for you to diversify?'. She said I should think agriculture and think food. We didn't have that conversation again until one day that she came to my house with a bag of packaged Garri (Yam flour) made by her friend. She said this was what I was telling you some time ago. Immediately she left, something clicked and I thought to myself that why don't I just tr y this. I like challenges. I like new ventures. So I started this as an adventure so to say but as it turned out, it's now a full-time thing for me. Eventually, I had to leave my real estate to someone to manage because this is quite interesting. The fact that you are unable to predict what tomorrow might be is interesting for me and that's what the rice business is in Nigeria. You know the price today and tomorrow you don't know how much you'll sell. At the point of purchase of your paddy in the north, you know how much you're buying but by the time you get to the south where you want to sell, you don't know what the market trend would be. That's interesting. For some people it's risky but for me, I see it as fun. I can play with time and also play with price.

Does your company buy rice in its raw form from farmers and you process or how exactly does your operation work?

At the moment we do not have a processing facility of our own. What we do now is what we call contract milling or manufacturing. We have partners in the north that when we buy the paddy, we supply them and they process for us and we bag our products.

It's less than a year that you started the business but your accelerated growth makes it look like you've around longer than that. How have you been able to grow so fast?

Interest. As I said, it became a fun thing for me. Some people would say go for your passion. For me this is not a passion, I see it like I'm playing around and that's why it's interesting for me.

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When I come to the office every day I don't see it like I'm going to work. And before taking any step, we pre-plan. We know where we're going in the next two to five years. The first day I started this rice business, I knew what I wanted to do in three months and the minute we clocked the three months I made a decision that we were going to have our rice mill in a year of operations. And as I speak to you we're already building our rice mill in Ibadan. It's just like playing a game, you know someone has the higher score and you want to beat that score, so you have a target. And that target is what is pushing me. So the accelerated growth you're seeing is not a mistake, it's a collection of teamwork and the projection we're pushing.

I believe another factor that worked out well for you was because the government banned the importation of rice. Hence, there was a boom for local producers but despite that many people aren't patronizing the local rice because they complain it's not as good and sweet as the imported ones.

What do you think?

I'd say the ban on the importation of foreign rice helped in a way but for me, there should be no ban. That would challenge us to produce better quality.

If you want to stay in business, you have to produce better quality that can match up with your competition. If you're closing the border against rice importation that means you're not enabling competition. You're killing the local production instead of boosting it.

Government just needs to make sure the imported ones are properly taxed because we also pay our taxes, this will enable fair pricing. For example, around October/November 2020, there was a price surge for local rice. it was very high and around that period, miraculously, foreign rice came into the country (obviously illegally), and what happened eventually was that the price for local rice dropped. That's the way it should be. Then again, why just rice?

Why are we not banning other food products from coming into the country?

To me, it doesn't make any logical sense. If you want to grow the agricultural sector, let foreign goods

come in so we can learn from them. I produce rice and I also buy other brands to check the quality of what they produce. I cook and eat other brands of rice to understand what makes one better and makes another worse so I can know what to do better. And until I'm able to inculcate that into my brand or make my brand better than others, then I'm not yet in business. There is a saying that you cannot see beyond your nose and one rich person in the middle of 7 poor people is also poor. You can only say our rice is the best local rice but when your rice gets to other markets, can it survive? So give us a level playing field.

The reason why you see poor quality rice in Nigeria today is that they're tr ying to reduce cost. For rice processing, each stage is costly, and to reduce the landing cost, you remove a phase. For example, we have rice producers that reduce the stoning process. When you buy such rice, you eat stone. Some will not skip the stoning process but would use a substandard machine.

There is a grading system for the stoning machines, there are some that use just the filtering system. You look at the one that is cheaper for you and buy it because you don't want to spend much. If you do and the rice is too expensive, people will not buy it. So people try to cut costs. For a local producer like us, we pay taxes and we use the best equipment but foreign rice importers don't pay taxes because most of them smuggle their rice into the country, there is no way we would be able to compete favourably with them.

That's the problem we have. They said foreign rice has been banned but some of them are still smuggled into the country without paying a dime to the government. Tell me how they're not going to be cheaper than Nigerian rice.

Would you say Titan rice matches international standards?

Of course! Most people mistake our rice for foreign rice. Some people even re-bag our rice and sell it as foreign.

And I know that our cost per unit would reduce the target market but the people who appreciate the value still buy them.

The first time you buy Titan rice, you may think it's expensive but you would come back to buy more after eating it.

And you'd even recommend the product to your friends and family. The word of mouth spread the market faster than pricing can do. If it's cheaper and it's bad, I won't go back to buy it but if it's expensive and I buy it by mistake, and it's really good, I'd go back to buy, that's the way it works.

Let's talk about passion in business.

Some people would argue that you need to have passion for what you do to be successful at it. Where do you stand?

I mentioned earlier that it's not about passion. It's all about fun, if you're having fun then you're good to go.

What if you're having fun and it's not translating to revenue?

If you're having fun and you're doing it right, you'll make money. If we were doing the same business, and you're doing it for the money while I'm doing it for the fun, the money would follow me. The more fun I'm having, the more challenges I'm going to see, and the more I want to overcome those challenges. And each time I overcome those challenges, the money flows. Like when we started, we had issues with market penetration and acceptability because it was a new brand and Nigerian rice brand for that matter. But the moment we crossed that hurdle, it became a sail-through for us. Other brands started coming and trying to copy our model, that's because we did something right. We could have backed out because of the challenges but we stayed and saw it through. We were able to clear the path for other brands to follow. That's fun, not passion.

How prepared were you before you launched out?

I wasn't prepared. If I was waiting to be prepared, I probably wouldn't have started anything. That's why I said I started like 'let's just play around this thing'. Until now, I had never done the food production business in my life.

Although my mom has been doing it for over five years.

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You said you said switched from real estate to agriculture. Everybody knows real estate is a lucrative industry. What's so much interesting about farming that made you choose it over real estate?

I didn't do a total switch. The real estate business is still running but real estate is monotonous. You do the same over again every day. You can predict your profit margin; you can predict how much you want to spend. It's not the same for food processing. You don't know how much you'd make tomorrow or next tomorrow. You don't even know how much you're going to buy paddy next tomorrow. But for real estate, you can calculate. You can even project your profit margin over the next 10 years. The expectations and uncertainty are what make agriculture interesting and fun.

From your story, it doesn't seem like you have failed at anything in business.

I've failed a lot. I used to run a printing business. That was what I used to see myself through school. But I didn't have the capital to scale it. I also started my real estate business when I was about to leave school but I could pull the money I made in real estate into printing that was not certain, so I just left it. I started another business in 2013 while still operating in real estate, Knack International Limited. We were producing branded tablet pieces and laptops. We were producing from China but government policies at that time frustrated the effort because that was when the government stopped the importation of certain items. They could not stop the importation of electronics but they increased the taxes

we were to pay. So, unfortunately, we were unable to compete with the likes of Samsung and co. A new and unknown brand in the market and trying to sell at the same price as the like of Samsung that is already a household name. Of course, it didn't work. We operated the business for about 7 months, and we made money quite alright but the policy was not friendly so we had to quit. So failure is a part of business and a part of life. If you don't fail and you don't overcome, you would not know what happens next. When the business shut down, I was not doing anything for about 6 months. I was just at home eating and sleeping. My real estate business was ongoing, I had managers there. At that time, I was 25 years old, my partner was 19. The fact that we started something from scratch and turned it into multimillions was an encouraging factor for me. I thought to myself that if I could do this, nothing is stopping me from replicating it. That's what keeps pushing me.

What do you advise entrepreneurs who are still struggling to get their business out of the woods or maybe contemplating to quit even?

We l l , t h e y c a n q u i t . I ' m n o t a motivational speaker. If they quit, hunger will send them back to the streets and they'd try again, and then quit again until they're tired of quitting.

I have been on the street and hunger has thought me lessons. I know the only way out is to make your own money. If I try something and it fails, I try again and I keep trying until I get it right. If you quit, people will not help you in the corner of your room. They have to see you doing something.

FOR MORE ENQUIRES: +234 810 435 2513, +234 9099430429 // michael@glimpse33.com www.glimpse33.com

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

NEARLY 2 YEARS AFTER LEAVING RINGIER TO START HIS OWN COMPANY, MARK SLADE REFLECTS ON HIS EXPERIENCE

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n October 2019, Mark Slade surprisingly announced that he was leaving his Managing Director position at Ringier Africa Digital Publishing, owners of Pulse Nigeria. One month later, he unveiled Jara Beach Resort which he Cofounded with his wife, Millie Slade.

It's been many months since then with lots of interesting ups and downs, including the Coronavirus pandemic which halted business activities throughout much of last year.

Business Elites Africa recently spoke to Mr Slade to find out how the company is fairing. We also asked about how he and his team are bracing up for Valentine's Day. Enjoy the conversation.

Nice to meet you, Mr Slade. Tell us a little about your background and how your entrepreneurial journey began.

Great to meet you and thank you. Probably in my teenage years at school. I had always worked as much as I could - I started as a paper boy then worked in local pubs as a pot washer, then waiter, then bar man! My first real introduction into business and entrepreneurship was when I first came to Lagos in 2008. I've always liked to create, build brands and teams.

It's been almost two years since you left Ringier to establish Jara Beach Resort. What has the experience been like so far?

That's right, well perhaps closer to 18 months. I started my transition out [of Ringier] in August 2019. In November we opened Jara Beach Resort. It's been absolutely incredible. Highs, lows, tough days and amazing ones. As my wife Millie and I reflect on what

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we've created - we're proud.

One question some people silently asked themselves when you unveiled the resort was 'why hospitality business?'. So, why hospitality? Is it something you've always been interested in?

Who are those people? ;) Hospitality for us wasn't brand new. I grew up in a Bed and Breakfast and we've always liked to host friends/ family etc. In 2014 I opened Lotus Bar - Lounge in Victoria Island which ran well for a few years and in 2017 Lil Zanzibar beach house in Eleko. Millie has worked in aviation (service) for her whole career, so for us it was an easy choice. We had previously discussed other businesses, including a little gift shop and a British fish & chip offering - Jara has allowed us to combine them both.

Last year, the hospitality industry around the world was pummeled by the pandemic. In what ways did it affect your operations and how were you able to navigate the challenges?

Having opened in November 2019, we were only open for three months before the initial lockdown set in. It was extremely difficult, but we doubled d ow n o n o u r o n l i n e m a r k e t i n g activities so that when we were able to reopen, Jara would be front of mind. It worked. When we opened in June 2020, we very quickly become fully booked. We had a two-three-year plan to add to our six rooms. In November 2020, we opened rooms 7-9, our three beautiful family cabins, pleasing after only nine operational months.

What are your projections for 2021, seeing as the pandemic is still very much a cause of concern?

Hospitality is about being consistent, so that will be our focus. Ensuring all guests get the very best, safest, Jara experience. The pandemic is a huge concern, though our small boutique

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size is a benefit, we were fortunate not to be closed as long, or as affected as other hospitality businesses. We always knew our guests would be domestic visitors and that has been the case.

What is your overview of the Nigerian hospitality industry?

I think if anything the last 12 months has demonstrated huge improvement.

New venues opening up and many existing ones reinvesting knowing Nigerian's are in search of local leisure offerings. Our own vision was to give Lagosians an international experience without needing to fly.

Tell us about your experience doing business in Nigeria. What are the challenges you've encountered?

I don't think there is a facet of the business which doesn't encounter frequent challenges. Everyday there will be something - whether personnel, logistics, utilities / infrastructure, pandemics/ riots etc (it's been quite a year). Our job is to focus on, solve and learn from each of them. In hospitality,

guests rightly don't care what's going on behind the scenes, they expect to receive the value they've paid for.

Let's talk a bit more about Jara Beach Resort. What are the services you offer and how expensive/affordable are they?

Jara provides Nigeria's premier allinclusive beach experience. We have overnight and day guests, with all food and drinks included. The intention is that guests need not think about their wallet or additional costs as everything is included within their booking fee. We cater for celebrants and special occasions, couples and families, business retreats, weddings and intimate private celebrations.

Is this a competitive market?

There are many great resorts in the city, most of which are much larger. Jara offers an altogether more exclusive experience, with just nine rooms. It's somewhere to unwind, disconnect and indulge!

INTERVIEW

By | Dimeji Akinloye

Ronald Nzimora Went from Hawking CDs to Becoming a Digital Marketing Genius & a Major Player in Real Estate

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anding a one-on-one interview with rising entrepreneurs these days is like trying to book a date with an A-list Hollywood star. And it is understandable. They have too much to joggle at the same time. If they're not busy trying to land their next big gig, they're executing a current one. The cycle never ends.

Unlike many others, Ronald Nzimora, a thoroughbred Nigerian entrepreneur and digital marketing genius, was not into too much official stuff. He chose Twitter chats over email correspondence and eventually, the interview date was fixed – March 19, 2021, a Friday. The time was 11 am.

To avoid the notorious Lagos traffic, Business Elites Africa team hit the road early - at 08:48 am. Destination was Lekki. Surprisingly, the road was free and it was a good call that we took off early. However, leaving the office without confirming with Ronald if the appointment was still intact was a bad move.

We arrived at his office building at 10: 10 am. The reception area was empty and quiet but the sound emanating from our editor's shoes as it came in contact with the tiled floor announced our presence. A lanky-looking man showed up at once. 'Good morning', he said. 'Good morning, we're here to see Ronald', we announced. From his

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expression, we knew it was bad news.

Ronald forgot the date.

The staff called him on the phone and passed the phone to our editor. He apologised instantly and asked if we could reschedule. Of course! We couldn't miss the window of opportunity. We rescheduled for Monday, March 22 and this time, Ronald made up for the initial disappointment.

In this no-holds-barred interview, Ronald, a University dropout, told us how he started his first business with just N960 and a laptop, the mistake that cost him about N10 million, and how he incidentally launched his second company. His two businesses – a digital marketing agency and a real estate company - now rake in tons of millions of naira in revenue.

Your early days as an entrepreneur were interesting. The odds were against you - a broke University dropout who had only N960 (less than $2 in the current exchange rate) left in his pocket. How did you build from there?

It was hard. I borrowed some money from my sister to attend a seminar. I had paid for the seminar and run my first ad which flopped. I also had to feed from that money and one morning woke up to realise that I was down to N960. I had assured myself that 'if I finished all

this money and there was nothing left, my sister would certainly not give me any more money' and there was nobody else I can go to and ask for money. So I had to think of something. I started thinking of what I could do with N960 and remembered that at the seminar I had attended, I saw a guy selling CDs there, and I thought to myself, I could do this.

I went to a cybercafé and downloaded some ebooks that I knew were going to be really interesting – private label rights (PLR) ebooks, precisely because that gives you the right to resell them.

After downloading these ebooks, I called my sister again and this time, not to ask for money but to ask for her laptop. So I got her laptop and used it to burn the ebooks from the folder onto CDs. By the time I got to CD number 38, the CD burner stopped working. It had been overworked.

I packed up everything, listed out the titles of the ones I knew were catchy and I labeled them as: “These are the best marketing and sales books you'll ever find – all in one place”. Then I went to the next seminar venue and sold my CDs N1000 for one. On the first day, I sold 22 pieces. I sold 9 on the second day and later figured that a lot of people that bought on the first day I had duplicated the information and shared with their friends for free. I sold more on the third day – in total I sold 39

pieces. What I did for several months after that was to burn more CDs at Computer Village, Ikeja (a Lagos area bazar where all things computer, phone gadgets were traded). From there, I was attending different seminars advertised on pages of newspapers, I would target the break period when people come out for refreshments and market my CDs. I did this for two months and raised over N300,000. Basically, that kicked off everything for me.

An average person today would tell you they don't have the capital to start a business. What gave you the guts to think you could start one with as low as N960?

Well, I didn't have a choice. That was all I had and I had to be really creative and resourceful. I sat down and asked myself 'what can I do with N960?'

Obviously, I couldn't rent a shop with that or import something with it.

Besides, I had been reading books prior to that. That's how I learnt about private label rights, I knew that if I sold private label right products I wouldn't be liable for copyright infringements.

The thing is, when you have your back against the wall and you don't want to fold up and die, you basically have to work with what you have. That way, you'll come up with something.

From there on, have you been recording success in your business ventures or did you fail at some things?

Of course, I failed at a lot of things. In 2015, I started a network marketing team, because one of my future goals is to own a supplement company and market the product using a network marketing model. So I needed to get involved, learn and understand the industry. My goal was to bring in a company to Nigeria – I didn't want to just sign up as a distributor because I spent all of 2014 buying courses, books, watching videos and attending both paid and free online events. Prior to that I hated the industry, I didn't like the business model. I Knew that I needed to get to that point where it was acceptable to me, so I had to do a lot of mind reset about the industry. I had to begin to understand the industry for exactly

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what it was – a legit industry. There were just a few people in the industry that gave it a bad name. In the cause of doing the research, I figured out that if you bring a company into a country first, you get to be number 1 and in many cases you even get to be on the board of the company locally. You're not just a distributor, you're also an owner. So I started talking to a company in the USA and got word of mouth assurances from them that they could launch in Nigeria if we had at least 200 people. And in three weeks we had 204 people signed up.

Unfortunately, the company decided they were not expanding to Nigeria anymore. I had spent money renting an office and building a team, in excess of over N6 million.

How did you feel?

I took it badly. I was angry. But not so much at the company, more at myself.

Because I should not have taken the word of mouth assurances as a basis for spending a lot of money. I should have waited for them to come or not come before making all the arrangements. I was trying to do it to preempt them and to show that we were ready for them to come. I had to call the 204 people to tell them the company wasn't coming again and that we were disbanding. And I had to refund everybody out of my pocket. I must have lost N8m to N10m in all of that.. So I was kind of pissed off and stayed away from the industry. I had to

go back to the drawing board and spoke to a lot of top earners in the industry a n d t h o s e w h o h ave r e t i r e d . I discovered why the company refused to come. First of all, I didn't have a background in the industry, so they were never even going to work with me.

Those word-of-mouth assurances weren't something I should have banked on. Second is, a lot of companies don't want to deal with the Nigeria business climate.

After building the digital marketing agency, Digital Nexus Interactive, at what point did you think it was time to launch another business and why the choice of real estate?

After building Digital Nexus for years, it started taking a toll. To be Frank, I began to fall less in love with the business model because it required a lot of back-and-forth with client interfacing, doing presentations and all.

Although we trained people in-house to do that, some clients still required that you should be involved in the entire process. So I started falling out of love with it in increasing doses if you'd call it that. Plus, we had a lot of cash that was just sitting there and we were like, we need to do something else. I worked with a lot of real estate clients in Digital Nexus and we observed that it was a sector that had a lot of growth. We have a better understanding of the real estate market, having sold millions of dollars worth of products for other companies

in that sector and it didn't seem like a hard thing to get into. We were also looking at starting a supplements company. At some point we considered streamlining publishing business and turning it into a real business. Up until then, we basically just run it as a hobby.

We were looking at those options until the 2018 World Cup in Russia. We were in Volgograd, a very lovely city. We flew to St. Petersburg where Nigeria played Argentina. When we got to our hotel in St. Petersburg, it took my breath away.

It was this massive building that had like 300 suites – all occupied. When we got to our rooms, it was like what we call self-contained in Nigeria. But the way the whole thing was designed and arrayed was out of this world. And we were like 'mehn, we should build something like this in Nigeria'. So immediately we got back to Nigeria, we decided we were going for the real estate business. The next thing was we needed to understand the intricacies of the business. So I called one of our clients, Mr. Debo Adejana, owner of RealtyPoint Limited. I told him we wanted to get into the business and we needed his expert insight. He obliged.

He didn't mind that you were going to become a competition?

I think growth-minded people really don't care so much. And in any case, they had an advantage over us. They have been selling real estate for over 20 years. It wasn't like we were going to come and upstage them.

So we met with him and he basically told us everything that we needed to hear. He told us to start with lands and not to get into development until we understood the business. We've made a lot of contacts in government circles and all of that. He told us how to buy the land the right way, where to check and more.

After meeting with him, we traveled to Dubai to develop a marketing strategy for the business. And the second reason we went to Dubai was that Dubai real estate was one of the fastest-growing real estate sectors in the world. So we wanted to know how they sold real estate. We went to some of their real estate companies, and noted how they

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approached us, how they presented their products and how they sold us.We gathered all of that information and added it to what we were already planning. We came back to Nigeria and started BuyWell Properties in 2018.

You know the real estate business terrain in Nigeria is a different bore game, how did you navigate the 'Omo Onile' phenomenon?

Absolutely! I tell people all the time, yo u h ave t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e environment that you do business in and work alongside it not against it.

What we took from Dubai was mostly the marketing approach. For example, in Dubai, if you buy real estate you're not really paying the real estate company, you're paying a government agency that is in charge of real estate because.They want to make sure they protect the integrity of the investment.

And they don't give the money to the real estate company at once. What they do is that every project has a timeline, if it's 12 months it has to be completed within that duration, unless something untoward happens, and the company would be paid instalments. For example, if the project timeline is 12months, the government would divide the entire thing in three – the company would do the first phase of the project for four months, and the government would pay them 40% of the monies that the client has paid. They'd do another four months and the government would pay the next 40%.. When the project is finally completed, the government gives them the balance. That way, the investors are protected. However, it comes with a caveat, especially if you're paying in installment, the moment you miss a payment, you've lost everything you paid before then. But in Nigeria you're paying to the developers or whoever is selling the property.

Now with 'omo oniles', what we do is that we talk to the families who own the land. So don't deal with the 'omo oniles', the owner family deals with them. In any case, they're part of the family. You just need to have this agreement ahead of time.

How has it been running a business in Nigeria?

It's tough. This is because government policy never sits for two months before it changes. But as bad as it is, Nigeria is a growth place. There is room for growth. It's been worse for the last 6 – 7 years but the potential is there. What we have done is to be on top of the marketing side. There is no business problem marketing can't cure. If you know how to sell, if you know to create the best offers, you're always going to come out on top. Provided that you're selling valuable products, what people want. And again, we try to cut cost to the barest minimum. What I mean is that there is no show-off, no untoward flossing unlike a lot of other real estate companies. That's why it seems like we are not really out there. There are certain types of advertisements we won't be caught dead doing, because they're mostly ego trips. They're not necessarily giving you a return on that investment. It's like saying 'hey, we're here'. So we just focus on the kind of marketing that will give us ROI. Are you saying it's wrong to make a lot of noise with your business?

No. You have to understand that every industry matures. Let me use the sports betting industry as an example. When NairaBET, our client and the first in the country took off, it was basically direct marketing – they come in, you tell them this is what you can do to make money and more.

We did that repeatedly and it worked for a lot of years and then it got to a point where the industry had matured to where practically everybody is selling the same thing. So there is very little to differentiate you from the other. What you now need to sell is your brand – reliability. Like saying 'we'll pay you immediately' sort of thing. At this point you cannot be saying 'come and bet with us, we have the best odds', nobody cares. The odds are kind of the same anyway – the differences are insignificant so you can't use it as an advantage anymore. What you do now is to make sure your name is in people's faces and heads. At that point, yes noise is important.

You put out a tweet recently saying to make big money, you have to be able to

multiply money or multiply people.

Can you expatiate on that?

When it comes to making money, you have to understand that leverage is important. Multiplying people or mu l t i p ly i n g m o n e y i s b a s i c a l ly leverage. When you put money in the stock exchange or you buy crypto, you're basically multiplying money because now the value is going up without you being directly involved.

What you want to do to create longterm wealth is to have investments that increase in value without you being directly involved. Because you only have 24 hours every day., you can't manufacture more time. So when you invest in things like crypto or gold or you buy shares, it is basically other people doing the work to increase the value of those things. Of course, you need to be careful of what you choose to put the money into to multiply it because if you choose wrongly, the values are going down, but if you choose right the value will go up.

To multiply people is using other people's time. For example, I multiply people here by hiring more and more people to handle our business so that I just coordinate. I just make sure they do 25. | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 114

their best to bring out good output for the company. So the bigger the company grows, the more people they can hire. Another way to multiply people is by star ting a network marketing team because you can have distributors sell for you. Another way to multiply people is to have affiliates.

That way you're not spending your own money to advertise. For example, you can say, 'if you sell this for me, I'll give you 40% of the profit'. They set up the marketing process by themselves, they run the ads by themselves. You're not going to give them the commission until they make a sale and the more of them you can get, the more sales you're going to have. One of the companies that are doing that brilliantly is Amazon. It has hundreds of thousands of affiliates reselling their products for them and they pay them anywhere between 6 – 7%.

What do you tell entrepreneurs who are still struggling with their business or maybe contemplating quitting?

The standard answer for this kind of question is 'persevere, keep pushing' but I don't do generic answers. A lot of time generic answers don't generally work. If

you're struggling with your business, you need to find out the root cause.

Why are you str uggling? Is it a marketing problem? Is it a businesstype-choice problem? You need to be sure. If you're good with marketing and you're still struggling, it means the kind of business you're doing or your business model might be the problem.

So it's either you figure out a way to change the model or simply switch to another business. Sometimes, people need to quit what they're doing. I know the mantra is don't quit, keep pushing.

But a lot of the time it's BS. Some people just need to quit and do something else. But before you quit you also need to evaluate, so that you're not just quitting something prematurely.

michael@glimpse33.com

ARTICLE

By | Ruth Okwumbu

T

here's one phrase that always shows up when you try to dene success: 'Different strokes for different folks!'. For some, success is about recognition and inuence. Some view it in monetary terms while like to see it strictly in terms of impact.

Whatever you choose as your denition of success, there are some habits common to highly successful people in different elds.

They are consistent with their morning routine. No successful person wakes up in the morning and lazes around in confusion. They usually have a

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dened morning routine, like yoga, running, drinking water, and they stick to it. They start the day with small meaningful tasks, completing one thing before moving on to another.

They don't need an alarm clock to wake them up. Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos says he never needs an alarm clock to wake him up. Same goes for Oprah Winfrey who wrote in her Wellness diary, that she does not believe in alarm clocks as they are 'alarming'. If you have passionate goals to pursue everyday, chances are you would not need an alarm to prompt you up.

They plan their day ahead. Decision making can be mentally tasking and is often a poor way to start the day. Most prominent people in different spheres agree that it is more productive to plan your day the night before.

They take responsibility for their actions. Even when it would be safer and easier to lay back and push another to the fore, most successful people will choose to bear the consequences of their actions.

They don't play the blame game. Founder of Air Peace, Allen Onyeama was speaking in an interview when he explained how he had guaranteed a loan

20 Habits of Highly Successful People successful people attest to reading daily.

It could be anything from a news article, to a book on self-development. The important thing is exposing yourself to new information daily and improving the brain function.

Building networks and associating with smarter people: Successful people are very deliberate about building and sustaining relationships with other successful people. In fact, Author Thomas Corley says 79% of wealthy people spend at least ve hours a month deliberately networking. While they may not be the smartest, they surround themselves with smarter people.

of over 100 million naira for some fellow without investigating the man's line of business. Eventually, it turned out false and the fellow absconded with the money. Even though Onyeama had yet to sign the papers which would have roped him in, he chose to bear the brunt of his careless actions and repaid the sum in full to the bank.

One goal at a time: For many people, it is often tempting to pursue different goals concurrently, especially when each has a sure potential to be successful. However, successful people note that they record more success when they focus on one goal at a time, only moving to the next when they have achieved the desired success.

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Giving: Simple as it sounds, this is a habit common to most successful people. They are always giving out of their wealth to charity and supporting noble causes. You can see this in the lives of Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu and Mark Zuckerberg.

Deliberate spending: Funny how successful people can be very deliberate in their spending even when one naturally expects them to be liberal with it. Successful people are not stingy, but they are hardly known for impulsive spending.

Reading: Is it not said that readers are leaders? Well, this is very true and most

Foresight and Eagle-like vision: Successful people usually have the foresight to predict a trend before it happens. They can look ahead and predict trends in their elds long before things actually happen. Jim Ovia, founder of Zenith bank in his biography, says that as an undergraduate, he used to sneak into computer science rooms in the 1970s, because he saw that computer science technology would dene the future of business. Successful people start with the end in mind.

They are risk takers. If you take a close look at successful people, you will nd that they are the ones who would go for that big ugly frog no one else is willing to take a second look at. Tara Fela-Durotoye recalls that she launched into make-up at a time no one thought make-up was worth paying for. Today, she is a force in that industry.

They are people-oriented. One thing common to some of the most successful people is that they build their businesses around a need or problem of the people around them, not necessarily to satisfy their selsh interest. They are mostly

thinking about how to take a problem out of people's lives, or make things easier or faster.

They are conscious of their health: They are conscious of their health. They know that success requires mental and physical tness. Most successful people eat healthy, sleep 6-8 hours, have a workout routine; drink a lot of water, and keep regular appointments with the doctor for a comprehensive checkup.

They pay attention to details and are good listeners: A little extra attention to details can save you a lot of valuable time and money, and greatly improve the quality of your output. Highly successful people do not want to have to repeat a task, so they pay attention to accuracy and quality, and this explains why their results are usually miles ahead of the regular.

They lter out activities and opportunities which do not align with their goals at the moment: The easiest way to not be successful is to latch onto every opportunity that comes your way.

Highly successful people are open to

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opportunities but they also have dened goals. And so, are able to screen out opportunities which do not align with their prospective goals and plans. So no matter how juicy an opportunity may seem, if it does not align with their goals, they know that it could become a distraction and they stay away from it.

Self-awareness and condence in your abilities: If your target is to be highly successful, a good way to start would be having a deep understanding and awareness of your strengths and abilities.

Add this to a cock-sure condence in your abilities and you are good to go. This condence helps them channel their energies without restraining from taking on new challenges.

They avoid time wasters: These could be some routine task which takes too long to accomplish with much less results, or it could be some friend who only comes around for idle chit-chat.

Highly successful people consciously spend time to relax when they want to, and then work when they should. They set high standards for themselves and don't compromise on it.

They don't wait to get lucky: Highly successful people create their own luck by continuous learning and putting in all the hard work. They are willing to start small and patiently grow to expand as they self-evaluate and learn from their mistakes and those of other people.

They don't spend forever planning without taking action. Time is a critical resource and so is planning, but if you spend all your time planning without getting to work, you will remain where you started. Highly successful people know that they should plan but they don't need to have it all gured out before they start. They don't wait for the right time. They create the right time.

They are self-disciplined. There is a quote that says if you have not conquered yourself, then you cannot conquer the world. Successful people understand and live by this code.

FOR MORE ENQUIRES: +2348104352513 // dimeji@businesselitesafrica.com www.businesselitesafrica.com

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

Oliver Jehiel Talks Agribusiness and Hello Tractor's Mission to Improve Income for Smallholder Farmers in Nigeria the world where I got exposed to emerging markets and conflict zones.

The same brought me face to face with the reality of people living in dire poverty. I realised that smallholder farmers don't have the machinery they need to fully cultivate their land. With access to a tractor, however, these farmers can plant 40 times faster at onethird the cost. Thus, Hello Tractor was born.

P

rior to his decision to delve fully into entrepreneurship, Jehiel had a very successful career in corporate America. He had worked in various capacities at KeyBanc Capital Markets, one of America's leading investment advisory firms. But in 2014, he decided it was time to put his knowledge in agriculture to good use.

What he did next was, however somewhat fascinating: he came all the way to Nigeria to establish Hello Tractor, an agritech startup that “connects tractor owners and farmers through a farm equipment sharing application”.

In this interview with Business Elites Africa, he spoke more on how his journey as an entrepreneur began, the problems he and his team are solving, and the challenges of doing business in

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Nigeria as an American. Enjoy the conversation.

Nice to finally talk to you, Mr Oliver.

Kindly tell us about your background and how you became an agritech entrepreneur.

Hello Tractor's central mission is to improve income for smallholder farmers. We saw an opportunity to get involved in mechanization because that's one of the few areas in agriculture where there's a lot of untapped commercial potential, and for me, a commercially viable solution that could scale was something I saw as really important, majorly because of my private sector background.

Prior to founding Hello Tractor, I worked in global finance and agriculture. This job took me around

Your company, Hello Tractor, is solving a very specific problem in the Nigerian agriculture industry. Could you elaborate more on your activities?

Hello Tractor is an agricultural technology company that enables sharing of tractors across sub-Saharan Africa. We have developed a digital solution that bridges the gap between traditional farming and more technologically advanced approaches, connecting tractor owners to farmers in need of tractor services. Tractors are expensive and most farmers in Africa cannot afford one. However, if farmers have access to a tractor, that's as good as owning one. By suppor ting the productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers, Hello Tractor is also providing a marketplace that helps tractor owners make more money from their tractors when they would otherwise be sitting idle.

Additionally, we recently entered into a finance project with Mastercard that will empower youth and women entrepreneurs with flexible financing to buy tractors and earn a living providing service to smallholder farmers. This

will encourage investment from banks and other financial institutions who previously struggled with investing in agriculture due to a lack of transparency and data to make informed decisions, as well as increase food production in Nigeria. This novel approach to farm equipment finance will accomplish both social impact and above-market returns.

Te l l u s m o r e a b o u t h ow yo u r background in agriculture influenced your decision to establish Hello Tractor in 2014.

As previously mentioned, I had worked in the global finance and agriculture sector, where I got to see firsthand the challenges smallholder farmers face in accessing machinery to cultivate their land. I spent a lot of time with my uncle who used to work at Deere as a mechanic in Alabama but on the weekends would volunteer with Tuskegee University to train the farmers in the area. Many of these farmers were sharecroppers and even ex-slaves. My uncle would train them on the benefits of mechanization in improving their yields and income, and I found his work to be very inspiring.

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with Hello Tractor, can you tell us a bit more about how the platform works?

Hello Tractor sells a GPS monitoring device that is installed onto a tractor.

Owners can subscribe to the softwareas-a-service solution app to track their tractor and monitor the work it is doing, the operator's performance, fuel usage and maintenance needs. Our technology is powered by what is known as the Internet of Things, an extension of Internet connectivity to physical devices such as a TV or a fridge, enabling them to receive instructions over the internet and to send data back. Hence, we simply connect tractors to the internet through our GPS devices and collect important data from the machines while they work on the field. This data is then pushed to our mobile and web applications where they are displayed in a user-friendly format to provide valuable insights to tractor owners,

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allowing them to make better-informed decisions and increase their profitability.

We also have a separate application that allows farmers to book tractor services via the assistance of youth agents within their communities who have been trained on how to use our app on a commission for every completed job.

As the season approaches, the agent will book the farmer's field for service.

Once that booking occurs, our platform will route the request to the next nearest available tractor with an applicable implements, ensuring that farmers are serviced on time and machines are adequately utilized wherever they are across the country.

A lot of people are fascinated by your decision to play in the Nigerian agritech ecosystem instead of the more attractive fintech. What drew you to agritech?

The motivation for me has always been t o d o m e a n i n g f u l wo r k t h a t i s commercially scalable and sustainable.

Growing up, I always saw myself as a social entre preneur despite not knowing what the term was. I have always wanted to do work that is impactful and as my awareness has

broadened, so has the scope of my work. I was always involved in volunteer work, very thoughtful about the kind of work I was engaged in. I would often ask myself questions like what creates sustainability? Who knows best what is needed for a community to become sustainable?

What kind of assistance can be provided and who should deliver the service? How can I make a difference?

I started off my career in investment banking and was focused at that time on developing a skillset to help lowerincome communities raise capital.

With that goal in mind and my initial background working in finance and ag riculture, the ag ritech sector definitely appealed more to me.

Do you own any tractors of your own?

Hello Tractor does not own tractors as we are exclusively a software service provider. In early 2017, we pivoted our business model from being a tractorselling company to strictly providing the technology that makes it easier for tractor owners to better connect with smallholder farmers after realizing that this was the path that led to profitability while still providing a positive impact on the end-users. This shift has allowed

us to partner more closely with existing tractor manufacturers such as John Deere and Kubota who no longer view us as a threat but as a partner in the space that can improve tractor utilization.

Have you faced any challenges in the course of doing business in Nigeria?

H ow d o yo u n av i ga t e t h e s e challenges?

Personally speaking, one of the biggest challenges I'd faced initially was just not being from the countries where I was doing business. I focused on listening and interacting, trying to understand the country contexts before even starting the business side of things.

Shedding Western bias was very important and is something that I still struggle with. We've been conditioned to think we're superior. When the barrier of that bias is shed, it is easier to connect with people and move faster from a business perspective. That fundamental social understanding is crucial to laying a solid foundation for a business partnership.

We faced a few challenges when we first launched in 2014. Our flagship product at the time was a low-horsepower tractor fitted with our technology. The idea seemed great for a while until the realities and drawbacks started to set in.

The machine in itself is great and very useful for smallholders, but when you import it into the region, the cost of the machines goes up by about 40%. When costs go up, the utilization rate also needs to go up in order to reach that economic break-even point and that is where our technology comes in. The issue however was that to ensure reaching the break-even point, it implied heavy usage of the tractor leading to wear and tear and series upon series of breakdown, and we were saddled with the responsibility of taking care of every issue the customer faces.

In addition, we had to manage our spare parts supply chain which also was

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not easy. It was simply a daunting task selling the 2 wheel tractors whilst providing the kind of good quality after-sales support that the customer needs.

Hence, in January of 2017, we made the strategic decision to shift our business to focus solely on technology offering and fleet management services.

Since this time, Hello Tractor has established itself as the preeminent technology provider in the lowhorsepower tractor segment, growing to over 3,000 tractors on our platform that have ser viced over 500,000 smallholder farmers.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your operations last year?

The COVID-19 pandemic placed a significant strain on the broader global economy. And generally speaking, in any economic downturn, agriculture gets hit the hardest. As a business, we definitely experienced a good amount of downward pressure due to the effects of the pandemic. We had to respond proactively by making some difficult decisions around cutting costs to survive this crisis and continue our important work.

We also had to prioritize strengthening the digital elements of our business since our ability to do in-person business-related activities such as field demos and training became nonexistent due to movement restriction policies put in place to contain the spread of the disease. We revamped our short and medium-term strategies to focus on using our current technology to meet the immediate mechanization needs of smallholder farmers and as a last-mile distribution channel for tractor owners and input providers.

It appears your operations are mainly focused on the Northern part of Nigeria. Any expansion plans in the nearest future?

Hello Tractor already has a wide reach across Nigeria and not just in the northern parts. Equipment owners on our platform have their tractors located

in various states in every region of the country. We do our best to ensure that once there's a high volume of demand for tractors within any state, the machines are deployed to service farmers in need.

In addition, we have been able to further expand our operations into other countries across Africa and Asia including Kenya, Angola, Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mozambique, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda. We are really excited about the growth we have been able to accomplish thus far and are very keen on keeping the momentum going as we continue to progress.

What funding options are you currently prospecting?

We are currently fundraising to support our Pay-As-You-Go financing project for tractor ownership in Nigeria. We are accomplishing this by leveraging on market forces and prospecting new capital that traditionally has been on the sidelines of agricultural investment in Africa. The result of these investments will be a reinforcing ecosystem of farmers willing and able to pay for tractor services and tractor owners delivering these services, with financial investments coming from both local and international sources.

We have so far already been able to raise over $1M towards this work.

FOR MORE ENQUIRES: +234 810 435 2513, +234 9099430429 // michael@glimpse33.com www.glimpse33.com

ARTICLE

By | Bimbola Bankole

eCommerce Dominance and Social Commerce Growth in Africa Many are familiar with the concept of eCommerce but Social Commerce is relatively a new term gaining traction rapidly.

Before we go into the crux of the article, we'd take a quick look at the difference between the two.

While eCommerce is a shopping experience via a website or dedicated branded app, Social commerce is selling products directly on social media platforms, making the experience much more interactive for customers.

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An overview of eCommerce in Africa

A

bout 11 years ago, eCommerce was Africa's tech ecosystem's p o s t e r c h i l d . I t wa s t h e promising venture experts envisaged would define the space, with a mission to add the buying behaviour of millions of Africa's consumers from brick and mortar to online. But due to a number of unique problems, the growth from then till now has been at a snail speed if compared with counterparts in the global eCommerce industry.

On one hand, Africa's eCommerce landscape is booming but could have reached its full potential if last mile deliver y problems, low inter net penetration, poor addressing system, low unbanked population among others, were not in its way. However, with the rapid Internet penetration through smartphones over the past years and the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns narrowed shopping options down to only online. eCommerce is increasingly disrupting the retail industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya dominating the space.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that the number of online shoppers in Africa surged annually by 18% since 2014.

According to the Inter national Telecommunication Union statistics, the share of population segments using the Internet increased from 2.1% in 2005 to 24.4% in 2018. Also, Africa's payments services architecture is evolving in response to changing customer expectations and technology, offering a range of disruptive payment models enabling more people, even without a bank account, to take part in online shopping.

A significant share of the African population remains unbanked as affirmed by the International Monetary Fund's estimate that only 20% of the population has a bank account.

In developed countries, a large

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proportion of payments for online purchases are done using bank cards but this payment channel is not optimal for Africa. Due to low penetration of bank cards and other str uctural deficiencies, e-commerce operators in Sub-Saharan Africa face unique challenges compared to their counterparts who operate in the developed world.

Emerging payment solutions More recently, innovative payment options have surged in Africa in a bid to address specific payment issues.

Mobile-based payment solutions have also emerged as the main driver of the African e-commerce revolution, as these have mitigated the payment barriers to e-commerce. While cash on delivery is the preferred payment method by online shoppers in Africa's e-commerce market, there are also many risks and inefficiencies that come with it. One is higher operating costs. In a n a t t e m p t t o g r ow t h e i r s a l e s e f f i c i e n t ly, s eve r a l e - c o m m e r c e companies have introduced some initiatives aimed at improving the payment experience and options.

For example, Jumia, Africa's largest eCommerce player, had launched Jumia app which provided users with access to all of Jumia's services, such as payment transactions, shopping and advertising goods on the platform. The users can pay for purchases through

PayPal and major card brands while Jumia's integration with M-PESA, a mobile money solution, enabled its customers to pay for their purchases via M-PESA in Kenya.

Throughout Africa, there is a rise in the number of fintechs disrupting the payment industry. Several fintechs provide innovative payment solutions designed to address payment issues in Africa's e-commerce landscape. The strategic partnership between Nigeria's Interswitch Limited and Visa has undeniably advanced the digital payments ecosystem across the continent.

Interswitch, in addition to its switching and processing services, is operating the payment platform Quickteller. This multichannel consumer payments platform is driving e-commerce growth as well as financial inclusion across Nigeria, as the company has numerous access points from which users can initiate peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, airtime purchases and other e-commerce transactions. In 2018, Interswitch launched its new product, Quicktellers Global Mall, as an added feature to its Quickteller electronic payment platform, which enabled users to shop directly from a large range of online stores from the United Kingdom and United States, while paying for the products in their local currency. This service tackled the problems associated with shopping on international sites,

s u c h a s p ay m e n t m e t h o d s a n d exchange rates. VoguePay launched a digital banking platform branded VoguePay3.0. The multi-currency payment platform allowed merchants to accept payment in British pounds, Ghanaian cedi, euro, South Africa rand, Nigeria naira, US dollars, Kenyan shillings and bitcoin, enabling them to sell their products to global customers. This application has improved e-commerce transactions in Africa as it enables merchants to give their customers more online payment options ranging from mobile payment, wallet transfers, subscription billing, Internet banking, QR codes to bitcoin payments.

Tackling the trust issues in Africa's eCommerce Distrust is one of the main obstacles to shopping online in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Due to the importance of establishing trust in this sphere, the eCommerce Forum South Africa (EFSA) launched Africa's first eCommerce Trustmark, a b a d ge p r ov i d e d t o e - c o m m e r c e platforms that are compliant with EFSA's South African Code of Conduct checklist. eCommerce Trustmark assists online businesses in sharing with their customers that they passed the security and privacy tests, proving that their online transactions are safe. Some eCommerce companies offer escrow services to navigate the customer trust issue.

A number of fintechs have developed trust-centred solutions like Mobicred, to promote online shopping. Mobicred is an online credit product offering a centralised account that users can access across a number of merchants.

The product provides online shoppers the option to buy now and pay at a later stage. This was designed for individuals who are reluctant to use actual credit cards to make online purchases due to fear of cyber fraud and those that may be cash-strapped or not in possession of a credit card.

The rise of Africa's Social Commerce Social commerce, a relatively new subset of e-commerce, is blurring the line between social interaction and

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online shopping. Not only does it offer a convenient online experience and better bargaining power for underserved customers, it provides small businesses and microentrepreneurs with a simple way to formalise aspects of their businesses and streamline their purchase processes.

In Africa, social commerce is not a term you hear thrown around often unlike ecommerce which has taken off.

Advancements in this subset of e-Commerce where the experience is fully within social media channels have taken off in Europe, the US, and Asia where the basic infrastructure such as p ay m e n t o p t i o n s a n d n a t i o n a l addressing systems exists to support and accelerate online commerce. In the US alone, e-commerce sales are projected to reach $491.5 billion in 2018.

GeoPoll survey released in 2018 found that 32% of online shoppers buy through social media, with Facebook proving to be a formidable albeit odd player in the e-commerce space, heralding the rise of social commerce in Africa. The vanguards are informal entrepreneurs who utilize social media channels, primarily Facebook and Instagram to market and sell their products through Facebook groups, similar interest groups and their followers.

Africa is experiencing a social media boom due to the rise of smartphone

uptake and usage, coupled with a young demographic. Africa is by far the youngest continent in the world, with 51% of the 1.2 Billion population aged below 19 years. In 2017, WeSocial statistics show that there were 170 million active social media users with Facebook and Whatsapp having the highest usage. African Facebook users now stand at 17 million with one in every 10 internet users active on the platform.

A closer look at the continent's consumer landscape will put the oppor tunities in Africa's social commerce in perspective: Ÿ 1.3 Billion African customers by 2030 Ÿ 100 million middle class customers with purchasing power of $400million per day as of 2018, that figure would have doubled in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic. Ÿ Poverty is dropping rapidly, from 40% in 2018 to 20% in 2020 Ÿ In 2050 about 60% of Sub-Saharan Africa will be in cities Ÿ There is a rapid shift from the reliance on Minerals to Consumer spending.

The combination of Africa's explosive p o p u l a t i o n g r ow t h a n d m o b i l e adoption, combined with social media's extensive reach, screams opportunity. Social commerce has been dubbed 'the new retail frontier' by many industry professionals, because in Africa, some would go as far as to say social “is the internet”.

FOR MORE ENQUIRES: +234 810 435 2513, +234 9099430429 // michael@glimpse33.com www.glimpse33.com

INTERVIEW

By | Simeon Onoja

How Aerobotics is Using Artificial Intelligence to Empower African Farmers

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s Africa’s population continues to grow at a rapid rate, the challenge of feeding the vast population is intensifying with every p a s s i n g d a y. A c c o r d i n g t o Worldometer, Africa’s population is more than 1.341 billion with a growth rate of over 2.5% per annum. This was a fact that entrepreneurs, James Peterson and Benji Meltzer caught up to at an early stage, and so they set out to find a sustainable solution.

What started in 2014, as an experiment at a citr us farm in Cape Town, blossomed into one of Africa’s leading agritech initiatives - Aerobotics.

Leveraging drone and ar tificial intelligence, the company generates indepth insights for tree and fruit farmers to better manage their resources.

Over the years, Aerobotics has received millions of dollars in funding to scale its platform and empower farmers, investors and insurers across South Africa.

Business Elites Africa caught up with the co-founder, James Peterson on the trajectory of the company and state of agriculture in Africa.

What inspired the launch of Aerobotics?

I grew up on a farm outside of Cape Town, learning firsthand the challenges faced by my family and community of growers. Years later, at the university, I met Benji. Together we decided to see how we could use our combined skills in aeronautics and machine learning to find ways of solving the challenges faced by the agricultural sector.

In the beginning, we brought together a team to assemble our own drones and fly them on my family farm. We were soon able to validate that we could use artificial intelligence to process aerial imager y, and identify problems invisible to the naked eye.

Today, we have flown and generated insights for over one hundred million trees to help growers, investors and insurers improve their production and profitability.

How is Aerobotics advancing its use of artificial intelligence?

Our proprietary machine learning algorithms are trained to process highresolution imagery and generate farm insights for customers.

AI has enabled farmers to mitigate risk and increase yields by collecting data at scale, often using autonomous systems, applying predictive analytics to identify

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problems and opportunities early and actioning decisions using autonomous applications such as variable rate spraying systems. These advancements have allowed farmers to free up time, focusing on high-impact decisions and strategy, rather than day-to-day monitoring as an example.

How is the company navigating the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Agriculture is an essential industry and we have ensured that our customers continue to receive the best service possible. Our drones are still flying and collecting data around the world, with processing systems still operating and delivering. We’ve got our technical assistance skills on standby and ready to help at all times.

Each country that we operate in has implemented different regulations for businesses during this period. However, in most countries, governments have classified Food and Agriculture as a critical sector. Aerobotics provides an enabling service to this sector. So our service is, in most countries, regarded as essential and exempt from lockdown policies. It also helps that No physical contact is required between farmers and drone pilots. Our pilots continue to work independently on farms and only need to speak to farmers on the phone

in order to arrange access. Regulations are more restrictive in countries that are in a state of “full lockdown”. The Aerobotics team and drone pilots are instructed to take the necessary health precautions as outlined by the World Health Organisation and local governments.

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What would you say is the biggest c h a l l e n ge A f r i c a n f a r m e r s a r e currently facing?

When working towards improving sustainable food production, we know that African g rowers are doing ever ything to the best of their knowledge. With that being said, h owe ve r, t h e r e w i l l a lway s b e

challenges on an orchard and farm level. Optimising production through minimising the limiting factors on every farm will always be a pivotal challenge for growers. Time is never enough, and thus, growers will often find themselves between a rock and a hard place regarding managing their limiting factors and focusing on sustainable high quality yields.

SPECIAL REPORT

By | Fikayo Owoeye

Unveiling Africa's Untapped Business Potentials

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frica is a continent that has high economic potential.

Thanks to its favourable climate for agriculture, abundant natural resources; wildlife and improved macroeconomic policies. It is undoubtedly an ideal spot for investment.

More than 80 percent of Africa's population growth over the next few decades is expected to occur in cities, making it the fastest-urbanising region in the world.

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At the same time, incomes are rising a c r o s s mu c h o f t h e c o n t i n e n t , generating new business opportunities for companies and investors.

This article will help you explore some untapped business potentials across various sectors and countries on the continent.

1. Agribusiness According to a World Bank report, Africa's agribusiness industr y is expected to worth $1 trillion by 2030.

With up to 60 percent of the world's uncultivated arable land, fertile soils, abundant labour, and all-year sunshine, sub-Saharan Africa has an untapped potential to become the world's biggest exporter of food products.

Sadly, African countries import more than 70 percent of wheat consumed, over 300,000 tons of chicken, and spend more than $10 billion on imported grains, especially rice.

Most countries on the continent are major raw material exporters to Europe, with very little participation in value addition for final products. This presents a business opportunity for investors willing to make some cash in the value chain

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Oil giants such as Nigeria and Angola t h a t h ave h i t h e r t o n e g l e c t e d Agriculture are now more open and supportive of agribusiness initiatives.

malls in their cities.

Nigeria has seen substantial inflow from foreign and local investors in the development of retail shopping malls.

2. Consumer Retail In recent times, across the continent, both local and international supermarket brands like Shoprite, Game, Checkers, Woolworths, Edgars, and Spar are springing up as they scramble for every inch of available space in shopping and retail infrastructure developments.

Africa is now one of the fastest-growing retail markets in the world, buoyed by a large and growing middle class, increasing local spending power, and a boom in the number of foreign workers.

The shopping trend on the continent is on steroids.

Countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa have seen a massive increase in the number of shopping

In April 2016, the Mall of Africa, massive 131,000 square metres of retail space, opened in South Africa.

It is the largest shopping mall in Africa ever to be built in one phase.

Also, Two Rivers mall opened in Nairobi, Kenya. This is also the largest shopping mall of its kind anywhere in East Africa.

3.Startup financing Investors are sending bigger cheques to African startups due to rising confidence. They can see how previous i nve s t m e n t s h ave h e l p e d t h e s e companies grow and mature to levels that deliver mouth-watering returns on investment.

So far, six key industries have been favoured by the investor deal flows, and the balance is skewed toward techbased startups. They are fintech, agritech, clean energy, eCommerce, education technology, and healthcare.

According to a 2020 report by Disrupt Africa, 397 African tech startups secured US$701.5 million worth of investment. With Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt as major destinations.

Investing in startup and early-stage businesses is on the rise globally, accounting for 67 percent of all venture capital (VC) funds in North America and increasing 19-fold in Europe.

Across Africa, start-up companies are attracting the interest of venture capital, private equity, social impact funds, and angel investors who are looking for higher returns on invested capital.

The recent acquisition of Paystack, a fintech payment platform by Stripe provides visible evidence of how lucrative funding startups at an early stage could be. The early investors in Paystack are currently smiling to the bank after cashing-out from the new acquisition.

4. Off-Grid Solar Solar energy is free, absolutely clean, and abundant. And it provides the best alternative for people in remote parts of Africa who are out of reach with electricity grids.

On the contrary, over 600 million people on the continent, especially in cities and rural areas, don't have access to reliable electricity.

Power outages are the norm in most cities and towns in Nigeria, and people often have to rely on noisy petrol and diesel power generators.

Seeing the huge potential in off-grid solar power, some smart entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge. For example, M-KOPA, which provides 'pay-as-yougo' solar power systems has attracted investments of up to $40 million.

This Kenyan-based business has already provided solar power to nearly 300,000 homes in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

5. African Arts Surprised?

After decades of neglect, both antique and contemporary works of African art are attracting high prices in the world's major art markets.

the largest ever sum realized from the sale of African art in the USA. Nigerian and South African investment funds are acquiring works and betting on rising demand in the decades to come. An increasing number of highnet-worth individuals located in Nigeria are eyeing up investments in painting or sculpture at auctions in London, New York, or South Africa.

According to Nigerian Art Market Report, 90% of the value and 64% of the volume of sales at African Art auctions at Bonhams came from works

by Nigerian artists.

6. E-commerce The growing internet penetration in Africa makes the case for online business more compelling. Selling goods and services online has become another lucrative business idea in Africa.

The biggest challenge is Fraud. Hence, to be successful in this business, you need to come up with a way of eliminating fraud.

Buoyed by a growing market of indigenous investors, African arts are highly priced at the world's auction houses.

A customer-friendly environment and adequate advertising are also needed for this business to thrive.

Buying and selling African-focused artwork will surely bring in some cash.

The likes of Jumia and Konga provide a model for the online marketplace.

In November 2014, a collection of antique African art from Mali, Gabon, Congo, and Liberia was sold at Sotheby's in New York for a recordbreaking price of $41 million. This is

7. Event and party planning This is another lucrative business as Africans are known for holding parties and celebrations such as weddings, funerals; birthdays, regal coronations and housewarming.

However, planning and organising a party is very stressful, especially trying to work out the required resources for the targeted people. The business also requires a huge investment in tools and equipment.

Starting a business in this sub-sector can cost several millions depending on the range you want for your business.

Some notable event planners in Lagos

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charge millions depending on their clients.

(SME) and affluent segments and, increasingly, in the mass-market segment.

8. Taxi Services Setting up a taxi business is also a good business idea especially in big African cities. The emergence of the likes of Uber and Bolt have proved that this space is very lucrative.

A majority of middle-class and highincome earners prefer cabbies for longand-short-stop journeys. Companies are also hiring cabs for their senior managers instead of providing them with vehicles.

However, to succeed in this business, ensure a high level of vehicle safety and ensure to employ proper time management and scheduling efficiency.

Also, countries such as Kenya and South Africa, have come to stay with many raising millions of dollars in seed funding.

By using mobile phones and the internet, fintech entrepreneurs across the continent are unlocking incredible market opportunities in financial services. And the opportunities range from processing payments and money transfers to savings, and access to credit.

It's hardly surprising why there is a gold rush in Africa's fintech industry.

requirement of $363 billion.

In Angola's capital, Luanda, prime office rents are among the highest in the world at US$150 per sq metre per month. In Mozambique, property prices at the seaports, particularly for warehouses, are one of Africa's most expensive.

The key markets for real estate on every investor's agenda are Angola, Nigeria, Egypt, Mozambique, South Africa, and Kenya. All of these countries are experiencing a real estate boom like never before in history.

Africa's large and youthful population, an expanding middle class; increasing urbanization, influx of expatriates and multinational companies are the key drivers of demand for both commercial and residential real estate.

9. Digital financial services Africa's underdeveloped financial services industry presents very tough, important, and widespread problems that need concerted urgent attention.

After more than 50 years of banking on the continent, just about 34 percent of adults in sub-Saharan Africa have bank accounts or access to formal financial services.

The traditional model of banking is too slow, inflexible, and incapable of spreading financial access at the pace the continent requires.

10. Real Estate

According to a report by Mckinsey & Co between 2014 and 2019, Nigeria's bustling fintech scene raised more than $600 million in funding, attracting 25 percent ($122 million) of the $491.6 million raised by African tech startups in 2019 alone—second only to Kenya, which attracted $149 million.

Africa's housing crisis opens a lot of interesting opportunities for several industries; from cement production and furniture making to building contractors and mortgages. Real Estate on the continent is a multi-billion-dollar o p p o r t u n i t y, a n d s e v e r a l n e w millionaires will build their fortunes in this market.

In Nigeria, the sector is still relatively young. As Africa's largest economy and with a population of 200 million—40 percent of which is financially excluded—Nigeria offers significant opportunities for fintech across the consumer spectrum, notably within the small and medium-sized enterprise

In almost every corner of the continent, real estate projects are emerging. The biggest attractions are high-rise hotels and office buildings, residential homes and apartments, and shopping malls.

In Nigeria alone, there is a deficit of 17 million housing units, with a funding

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While Africa's infrastructure still lags behind that of other developing regions, significant progress has been made. Africa's annual investment in infrastructure has doubled to around $80 billion a year since the beginning of this century.

That represents a big opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs with the imagination to help solve Africa's infrastructure challenges. Successful African innovators are also deeply conscious of the barriers to their business success, and careful to build long-term resilience into their business models. For entrepreneurs ready to solve problems and innovate to meet Africa's unmet needs, there is a tremendous opportunity for growth.

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TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Simeon Onoja

Africa Must Seize the Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing

The Future is AI

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ver since the creation of the first ar tificial intelligence (AI) program in 1955, the tech world has continued to explore the vast possibilities of this technology. The idea of machines having thought processes like humans and being able to find creative ways of handling complex tasks might sound like something for the sci-fi movies, but interestingly, AI is becoming a reality with the passing of each day. It continues to develop in

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leaps and bounds, providing amazing real world solutions.

Some everyday examples of AI are ride hailing apps like Uber and Lyft which use machine learning, a form of AI to determine the cost of your ride, minimise waiting time and match you with other passengers going your route.

Airlines use AI to autopilot planes; your email spam filter uses AI to filter spam messages based on what you consider spam. This way Gmail is able

to filter 99.9% of spam mails .

Plagiarism checkers, paraphrasers, face detection and contextualisation of emojis on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are demonstrations of some of the amazing things AI can do in the real world.

It's increasingly becoming evident that the future will be largely shaped by AI. However, concerns remain about the negative impact this technology will have on the human race. There have

been talks about AI causing job loss, privacy infringements and even autonomous weapons that could fail and go off on their own.

There's actually a lot at play with AI technology and Africa is gradually getting on board with the trend, both for b u s i n e s s a n d eve r yd ay l i f e. To understand the opportunities and risks associated with the use of near sentient computers on the continent, we'll need to trail the entrance of the technology into Africa and how far African tech minds have been able to explore this technology. The Coming of AI to Africa In April 2009, global tech giant Google, launched its first AI research centre in Accra, Ghana. The AI laboratory is focused on developing solutions in healthcare, agriculture and education.

Africa is known for leapfrogging technologies, and with the rise of AI focused startups on the continent such as Aerobotics - providing agricultural advise, Affectiva - analyzing human emotions for deeper insights, Dataprophet - automating manufacturing, Clevva driving better corporate decision making, Tuteria - an online tutoring platform and Finchatbot - providing conversational AI solutions for the financial services industry, It's safe to say Africa is starting to get on board with the AI trend.

Taking AI to the Edge It is often said that technology cannot be stopped, and the increased development in AI is a proof of that statement. As the world shifts from cloud-computing to something faster and more efficient - edge computing, AI finds a fresh usage as what is now being called edge AI. This new application of AI technology could be the defining factor in the true value of its technology to the world. In order to understand Edge AI and its vast benefits in enterprise, it's vital to understand edge computing.

What's Edge Computing?

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generating data, and as the number and capability of smart devices continue to increase, the load of data that needs processing overwhelms the central cloud servers and then speed and quality issues arise. This is where edge computing comes to play.

wide area network (WAN) devices.

Edge Devices on the other hand process user generated data to enhance response speed and quality. They include a variety of devices such as IoT sensors, laptops, smartphones, security cameras and even microwave ovens.

Rob High, Vice President of IBM Edge Computing, defines edge computing as “placing work loads closer to the edge where the data is being created and where actions are being taken as much as possible”.

E d ge c o m p u t i n g t e c h n o l o g y i s becoming more crucial than ever considering that the IDC revealed in a recent report that by 2025, 175 zettabytes (or 175 trillion gigabytes) of data will be generated around the globe and edge devices will create more than 90 zettabytes of that data.

We are experiencing what can easily be described as a boom of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The implication here is that the regular approach of using central servers (the cloud) to process data from these devices would no longer be efficient. Hence the need to take the computing power from a central point to smaller points (the edge), which is the devices producing these data themselves. Take Apple's Siri for example, the computation of the voice commands you give Siri is performed on your device, this way feedback is almost instant. If it were to be sent to the cloud for processing then you'll have to wait longer for a response.

Rob went on to explain that there are t wo k i n d s o f e d ge c o m p u t i n g capabilities, Edge Servers and Edge Devices. Edge ser vers deal with internet based computing. These include routers, routing switches, integrated access devices (IADs), multiplexers and a range of metropolitan area network (MAN) and

Edge Computing for Video With increase in smart web cameras and high demand for video streaming and conferencing across the globe, it is becoming obvious that this bandwidthheavy resource will require more p r o c e s s i n g p owe r. R a t h e r t h a n delivering video across all network points from a centralised core network, video edge computing intelligently orchestrates, stores, and distributes video files as close to the computer as possible.It like a content download network (CDN) dedicated solely to video, located right at the end-users' fingertips.

It is best for sports stadiums, concerts, and other localised events whose revenue depends heavily on live video streaming to a large number of people.

Media processing applications running on mobile edge servers and hotspots

can rapidly serve freshly generated video clips and live streams to paying customers in highly remote locations.

This reduces ser vice prices and eliminates a slew of quality problems that can arise when mobile networks are clogged with terabytes of video traffic. We can expect the adoption of 5G edge computing to be a huge boost in this promising and emerging industry.

Where Edge AI Comes In This is simply edge computing powered

by AI. Edge AI processes data generated by a hardware device at the local level using Machine Learning algorithms. The device does not necessarily need to be connected to the Internet to process such data and make decisions in real time. This reduces the connectivity costs that come with cloud computing. Edge AI, in other words, brings data and its processing to the user's closest point of contact, whether it's a phone, an IoT system, or an Edge server. The Google Homepod, Alexa,

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and Apple Homepod speakers are examples of this technology, as they have mastered words and phrases using Machine Learning and then stored them locally on the computer. When a user interacts with an app like Siri or Google, the voice recording is sent to an Edge network, where it is translated to text using AI and a response is created.

The response time is usually less than 400 milliseconds, but without an edge network it will be much longer.

How Edge Computing Will Benefit African BusinessesWith edge computing Africa can expect reduced spending on clouding computing, smarter customer service, improved security and increased revenue. Let's have a look.

Reduced IT Expenses The increased creation of cloud computing centres by leading tech giants such as Amazon Web Services, IBM and Huawei in Africa is a signal of how much money businesses are

injecting into this industry. With cloud computing taking the back seat to edge computing, we can expect a more cost e f f e c t ive a p p r o a c h t o h a n d l i n g enterprise data on the continent.

Improved Customer Experience Edge computing has proven to be powerful in addressing issues in the retail sector and delivering a better customer experience by analysing user generated data. Considering that The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a boom in Africa's retail and e-commerce sector. Edge AI can go a long way in improving customer experience on the continent by offering customised and immersive shopping experiences that are impossible to recreate in conventional stores.

Data Security and Efficiency Processing large amounts of data in close proximity to the source is more safe and effective. As data is stored and computed at the edge rather than in the cloud, internet bandwidth and costs are reduced, resulting in increased

performance. This is a big win for dataintensive businesses in Africa that prioritise data efficiency and security.

Increased Revenue Edge computing will not only reduce IT costs, but it will also provide businesses with new and creative revenuegenerating opportunities. It is currently the only path that will enable the deployment and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies like selfdriving cars and surgical robots.

Problems Africa Must Fix to Leverage AI for Business As an emerging technology, AI will continue to evolve and provide more business opportunities, and for Africa to gainfully partake, the following issues must be addressed.

AI Startups in Africa Struggle with Investments AI startups in Africa are faced with highly ske ptical venture capital investors, considering that it is an emerging industry that is still proving its traction and revenue potential and traction.

The founder of South Africa-based AI s t a r t u p, X i n e o h , Vi a n C h i n n e r provided insights on this issue in a

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session with the World Economic Forum. Having experienced the startup ecosystem in the US and also here in Africa, he stated that in a single morning in North America, more VC funding is raised than the entire South Africa. This can be said for most African countries, considering that South Africa is one the continent's most vibrant ecosystem.

As per the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, the region's VC industry invested $77 million in 2017, while KPMG estimates $84.24 billion in US VC deals for the same period.

Finding Suitable AI Talent is a Major Hassle Getting highly qualified data scientists who will build the backbone of Africa's essential AI companies is a difficult task, as it is still a skill in short supply on the continent.

Almost every university in Europe and North America has responded to the challenges and opportunities of data science by developing new institutes, divisions, and degree programmes in this area. However, educational institutions in Africa have only recently begun to close the gap. The continent

must begin to lay the road map for the upcoming generation to ease into the use of artificial intelligence.

The Governments are Yet to Actively Participate in AI Development Most of the exploits we've seen in AI on the continent are mostly driven by the private technology sector. With Africa's rapidly increasing population estimated at 1.3 billion as at 2018. It is estimated that by 2100, Africa will be the home to three of the world's largest cities. Lagos - Nigeria which is expected to have 88 million people, followed by Kinshasa - Democratic Republic of Congo, with 83 million people, and Dar Es Salaam - Tanzania, with 73 million people. This will create increased pressure on the Governments on the continent to find better ways of meeting the needs of the people, especially in combating poverty, cybercrime and political instability.

AI can provide a viable means for tackling these challenges, and the governments of Africa must recognise this and begin to actively to create grants and set up bodies that are focused on using AI to drive innovation across various sectors.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Bimbola Bankole

The Rise of Mobile App Development and Trends that will Dominate 2021 An extraordinary digital revolution is turning the page on the inadequate global economic opportunities for Africa, especially for its youth population. Technology has leveled the playing field and has changed the way we live and do business, forcing smart African entrepreneurs to reskill, retool and adopt strategies that'd give them accessibility to this window of global opportunities.

n 2020, tech businesses became even more indispensable when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. People all over the world depended on Internet-facilitated services to survive, and the situation remained the same even after the lockdowns, signifying this is now the new normal.

I

solutions to problems we never thought existed, while existing firms have recorded dramatic growth since the pandemic, with global tech giants racing to hitch investment deals with them. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say Africa's prosperity is on the horizon.

behaviour changed globally, with more people depending on online t r a n s a c t i o n s, c o m mu n i c a t i o n s, entertainment, etc. which necessitated old and new businesses to optimize their online presence and resulting in a dramatic demand for mobile applications.

More African tech companies are birthing to provide seamless digital

Given the consequences that followed the pandemic last year, consumer

It's almost the end of the first quarter of 2021 and things remain the same,

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because the pandemic is still here. It's completely justified for video conferencing, virtual delivery systems; remote education and media streaming mobile apps to continue to dominate the mobile landscape. This has also skyrocketed the demand for mobile app developers.

To put it in context, GSMA Intelligence reports that 477 million people in SubSaharan Africa subscribed to mobile services in 2019, accounting for 45% of the population. The mobile market in the region will reach several important milestones over the next five years: half a billion mobile subscribers in 2021, 1 billion mobile connections in 2024, and 50% subscriber penetration by 2025.

Smartphone adoption continues to rise rapidly in the region, reaching 50% of total connections in 2020, as cheaper devices have become available.

Smartphone financing models are gaining traction, demonstrated by the recent partnership between Safaricom and Google, allowing low-income consumers to pay for 4G devices in daily installments. Over the next five years, the number of smartphone connections in Sub-Saharan Africa will almost double to reach 678 million by the end of 2025 – an adoption rate of 65%.

The mobile app development industry is evolving at a break-neck speed and to survive and thrive in this digital era, staying up to date with the latest trends is arguably the most crucial aspect of success in this space.

Here is a fact-based list of the top app development trends that will dominate 2021.

1. Internet of Things (IoT) App Integration The IoT is far from a new concept. But the rise in mobile penetration across a broad range of sectors has created seemingly endless opportunities for the Internet of Things.

People have grown accustomed to using technology to improve their everyday life. IoT describes the growing network of devices connected to the Internet, providing convenience and automated control to consumers.

Smart home technology is a perfect example of the rise in IoT and mobile app development.

Mobile apps can be used to adjust the thermostat in a house from a remote location, lock or unlock a front door, and connect to home security systems.

Refrigerators and other household appliances can also be connected to mobile apps.

The global Internet of Things market is expected to reach $222 billion in 2021. $161 billion of that estimate will come from software, like mobile apps.

According to Statista, the revenue from technology associated with the Internet of Things will eclipse 1.6 trillion by 2025. In 2021, industry experts advise that household devices, automobile and healthcare are three specific markets to keep an eye on.

2. Apps For Foldable Devices Phones have clearly changed over the last decade. Touch screens with one or no buttons have taken over the market.

But over the last couple of years, foldable devices have begun making a comeback. 2019 saw the release of foldable devices like the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Huawei Mate X, and the new Motorola Razr.

These smartphones fold to compress or expand the screen size based on user preferences. For example, a user might make a call with the device closed, but watch a video on a larger screen by unfolding the device.

From an app development perspective, resellers and content creators need to account for these devices when building or updating an app. The idea is that an app should seamlessly adjust its display as the screen folds or unfolds.

Right now, foldable devices are just a sliver of the overall smartphone market share. But this will change in the coming years. According to a 2019 study by USA Today, 17% of iPhone users and 19% of Android users are excited about buying a phone with a foldable design.

According to Statista, roughly 3.2 million foldable phones were shipped in 2019. This forecast is expected to reach 50 million units by 2022. For that growth to happen, 2021 will be a big year for foldables, which means app developers must plan accordingly.

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3. Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Everyone is aware of the famous mobile application, FaceApp, which rose to fame overnight because of its brilliant use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It adds filters to a user's photo to show what they would look like when they are older, younger, etc. As of October 2019, the app's total revenue was $1m.

Recently, popular mobile apps like Re p l i k a , C o r t a n a , a n d G o o g l e Assistant have dug their heels further deep in this field to see a ray of success.

Apple, at the WWDC 2019, also welcomed Core ML 3 — the latest version of its machine learning model framework designed to help iOS developers embed AI smarts into their apps. Thus, this year, get deeper into these technologies and get acquainted with their features and of many of its components.

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4. Chatbots

5. Wearable App Integration

More than 50% of buyers want more do-it-yourself (DIY) custom service tools to expedite making an online purchase. And chatbots are a perfect way to extend that sort of customer relationship management.

Wearable technology is progressively g r ow i n g a l l a r o u n d t h e g l o b e.

According to Statista, the number of connected wearable devices reached 453 million in 2017 and is expected to reach 929 million by 2021.

With technology advancement, we can expect wearable applications to soon become an important part of our everyday lives.

As of 2020, there are approximately 2.5 million apps in the Google Play Store and about 1.8 million in the Apple App Store, but there are just a few apps that have deployed chatbots to facilitate better UI/UX services.

One of them is Starbucks. They released an app called 'My Starbucks Barista' in which you have to tell the app the kind of coffee you want, and it places an order for you. With 80% of enterprises expected to use chatbots by 2021 and users appreciating quick and precise answers, it is a real business opportunity to integrate a chatbot to your mobile app — one of the important mobile app development trends to look for in 2021.

Apple, at WWDC conference, recently announced its WatchOS update. Apple Watch apps will no longer require a companion iOS app and will have its own App Store. This clearly signifies the rise in wearable technology.

With apps that operate independently from the iPhone, Apple has upgraded the stature of the Apple Watch to that of an independent device that users can apply to their digital needs.

This means app developers and businesses should get ready with apps that provide an excellent digital experience to users on Apple Watch, and thus gaining a distinct edge over those who do not.

TOP 30 WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS & INFLUENCERS IN AFRICA

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Ruth Okwumbu

How Fashion is Shifting to Second-hand Clothing Business

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lothing is a basic need, and virtually everyone will need to buy clothes at some point. In recent times, there appears to be a gradual shift to the second-hand thrift clothing line of business for both buyers and sellers, because and in spite of the recession. For third world countries where the recession is biting hard, and standards of living dropping by the day, thrift clothing can be described as a lifesaver.

For someone who is just trying to start a business, it is much easier to go into this line, because it has a lower start-up cost, 56. | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 114

and there is a high market demand already, meaning that your capital hardly gets tied down. Parents, workers and even students who are still trying to survive on less than $150 a month still find second-hand clothing a viable alternative to other expensive fashion lines. The truth is that the harsh economic realities on the African continent are a major contributor to the boom of the thrift cloth industry.

We l l , e v e n t h i s c l o t h i n g l i n e understands class segmentation, as the clothes come in different quality categories, with the highest referred to

as 'Grade A' or 'first grade'. The other grades are of course much cheaper and even though they do not look as attractive or durable as the Grade A, they also have their market share.

These clothes range from children's wear, adult wears, corporate wears, beddings and curtains to even underwears. The retailers buy them in bales and display them in stores, along roadsides and in recent times, we even find some thrift stores online, further reducing the startup cost for a secondhand cloth business.

A 100kg Grade A bale could be bought within the range of N45,000 and N60,000 while a 55kg bale sells for between N20,000 and N30,000, depending on market situations at the time. Whilst the 100kg bale may contain about 600 to 700 pieces of clothes, the 55kg bale may hold between 300 and 400 pieces. Most traders prefer to go for the 100kg bales which they say give them more profit.

One risk in this business is the fact that it remains sealed, so you cannot see what you are buying until you buy and open the bale. Occasionally, there could be some unsellable piece of clothing which is torn, damaged or stained in the bale. However, the traders insist that such occurrences are few and far between, and the profits from the good clothes make up for any loss such might cost them.

The wholesalers are fairly flexible and could divide a bale into three parts for the person who cannot afford to buy a complete one. Two people can also buy one bale and share right there in the market. Some who want to completely eliminate the risk of bad clothes could decide that they want the bale opened before they select. This of course attracts a higher cost than buying a sealed bale.

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So, where do the clothes come from?

Second-hand clothes merchants source the clothes from individuals who are trying to clear out their wardrobes, to either make some money or make room for new purchases. They package these clothes from countries like the United Kingdom, China, Italy etc, and some of these bales are even sold on ecommerce sites like Alibaba.

Wholesalers then import them in their numbers (for economy of scale) and ship them to warehouses and markets close to the ports. These bales are now bought and sold in different markets

across the world, and one is sure to get a better deal at places close to the ports.

Anyone who already has a store can decide to add the second-hand clothes to the items being sold therein, thereby further reducing handling and other overhead costs. For new entrants into the business, some could rent a store, go online fully, or do a combination of both. It all depends on what the trader can effectively manage and how (s)he chooses to.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

CO-WORKING SPACES: THE NEW NORMAL IN A POST COVID-19 WORLD

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egun has not stepped foot in his office for more than a year now. After the Nigerian Government imposed lockdown measures last April, the creative agency he works for quickly activated a business continuity plan which saw everyone working from home. This remote working model has so far worked out well for Segun and his colleagues, such that when the company's rent expired in December 2020, there was no immediate urgency to renew it. The company decided to do away with the office space.

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“

shut down our big office in August 2020. We figured that if we could function effectively for months working from home, there was no need to keep spending millions of naira in annual rents for a big office that we really do not need,”

“ At the moment, Segun does not have an office. Meanwhile, the nature of his job requires him to occasionally meet with clients. So, how does he do that now that he does not have an office? Well, co-working spaces have been serving t h a t p u r p o s e f o r h i m r e c e n t ly.

Apparently, Segun's company has an arrangement with one of the leading co-working space providers whereby he and his colleagues can occasionally walk in and use the facilities in a shared office whenever they need to use an office.

Segun is just one out of the thousands of Nigerian employees whose companies now prefer to use coworking spaces instead of paying full rent for their own offices. Such is the new normal in the aftermath of the C OV I D loc kdown. Ag reed, c oworking spaces have long been in existence before now. But the lockdown helped to amplify their relevance.

At the moment, a lot of Nigerian business owners (especially MSMEs) have come to the realization that they

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really do not have to keep paying rent; at least not when there are more affordable options like co-working spaces. This same way of thinking informed ORYX Africa's decision to “shut down our big office in August 2020.

We figured that if we could function effectively for months working from home, there was no need to keep spending millions of naira in annual rents for a big office that we really do not need,” according to COO, oluseyi akinyoyenu.

Expectedly, the growing demand for co-working spaces has provided immense opportunities for those offering the service. An October 2020 report by Fortune noted that WeWork and notable players in the global coworking space world are taking advantage of these opportunities. Back home in Nigeria, some of the leading players in this space responded to the growing demand by slightly adjusting their prices. They also intensified their marketing efforts (mainly through digital advertising) in a bid to attract more customers.

“We noticed that our competitors have started increasing their prices due to rising demand for the services we render. So, we q u i c k ly a d j u s t e d o u r o w n p r i c e s .

Surprisingly, this didn't stop people from calling and booking. I guess people are really just tired of working from home but reluctant to return to their offices…” said Mathew, a spokesperson for one of the main co-working spaces located in Lagos Island.

Meanwhile, with businesses doing so well, the co-working space ecosystem is becoming more competitive. This is because a lot more people are going into i t . T h e s e n ew e n t r a n t s i n c l u d e landlords whose properties were hitherto rented by companies until said companies remodelled their operations due to COVID-19. In the meantime, it's unclear how long this new normal will last. But for now, it seems to be working out just fine for all the parties involved.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS By | Simeon Onoja

HOW EXACTLY DOES ONE BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER IN AFRICA?

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s African brands continue to recognise the value that social media influencers offer, it's safe to say that the continent is poised to partake in what is fast becoming a m u l t i - b i l l i o n d o l l a r i n d u s t r y.

According to a recent report by Social Publi, 93% of marketers have used I n f l u e n c e r m a r k e t i n g. I n s i d e r Intelligence projects that brands will that brands will spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022. Here's a signal that now is one great time to become a social media influencer. Let's understand what it means to have an influence on social media.

What makes a social media influencer?

When you gain recognition on social media for your expertise on a particular subject, then you can say you're a social media influencer. Your followers consider you an authority in your subject matter, so they turn to you for

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guidance when the need arises. They'll most likely act on the advice you provide, thus you can shape how they perceive certain ideas or phenomena in your area of expertise.

There's no denying the potential to earn big in Africa as a social media influencer. Let's take Nigeria's Maraji, whose comedy skits have gained her over 1 million followers on Instagram.

The social media influencer surprised a lot of people in 2018 when she revealed in an interview that her earnings grew from N10,000 ($26) per Instagram post in 2016 to somewhere between N500,000 and N1 million ($1,300 to $2,600) per post. With numbers like that, it's not farfetched to aim at earning a living as a full-time social media influencer.

While some social media influencers were already famous from movies, music or some other creative fields, some were able to build their reputation

solely through social media. These kinds of influencers have shown that you can become a celebrity from the comfort of your home. Some of the high earning influencers from Africa who built their brand exclusively on social media are, Afua Rida - Ghanaian fashion blogger, Olupekan Tijesunimi Nigerian lifestyle blogger; Sharon Mundia - Kenyan fashion and lifestyle blogger. If you've got the chops for it, now is a great time to start building your personal brand on social media.

Like any other field, there are some entry barriers to becoming a social media influencer in Africa, you don't often hear people talk about. But these barriers can make it a really daunting task to make your social media influencing dreams a reality.

Let's take a look at these challenges and how you can get past them.

THE BIGGEST HURDLES TO BECOMING A SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER IN AFRICA Cost of Data: It is often presented that with a decent smartphone and an internet connection, you're well on your way to becoming a social media influencer.

Why this is true, it also ignores the intense data consumption rate of browsing social media and the high cost of data that is prevalent in Africa.

According to Cisco's online VNI Services Gauge Tool, one hour of social media browsing will consume 90 megabytes of data, which is more than twice the amount of data consumed per hour for streaming music in standard quality.

This means browsing social media for an hour daily in a month will cost you 2.7 GB of data. When you consider the high cost of data in Africa and the hours you'll have to spend on social media building your profile as an influencer, you've got to have a robust and effective budget for data.

Poor Power Supply: Whether you're starting out with a budget or high-end smartphone, battery life will still take the back seat, because in Africa, you've got a poor power supply to contend with. Most countries here are known to face this struggle. According to the Spectator Index, the countries on the continent with the worst power supply are Nigeria, Malawi, Ethiopia, South Africa and Algeria.

Confused niche Social media influencers thrive on being associated with a particular activity by their numerous followers. It could be fashion, music, comedy or news. You must stick to a niche. This can be tricky because if you're someone who has a wide range of interests you might make the mistake of featuring an unexpected niche on your social media.

This could put-off some of your followers and you might lose them.

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Mediocre Gadgets The quality of videos on YouTube is somewhat a categorising factor that users focus on even without realising it.

Imagine you searched on YouTube, 'how to become a social media influencer' and while watching from the search results, you come across a video that's of low quality, this will easily be a tur n-off because you've become accustomed to watching high-quality videos on the platform. It also makes you question the overall value of that video.

This is where the quality of the camera and microphone that you use as a social media influencer can either add or remove from your chances of engaging with your audience. Don't be too simplistic with your gadgets when launching your personal brand, because it'll be obvious that you simply aren't yet ready for the competition.

Poor social media planning Social media influencing can benefit from some social media planning.

Consider creating a flexible social media calendar, highlighting your key posts. You can decide to plan for a week or a month. However ensure you don't set anything in stone, because you might want to jump on trends and get the boost that comes with it.

Scheduling social media posts helps you to be consistent in growing your following. People need to trust that they'll get a regular dose of awesomeness from you. There are widely used social media management tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social which you can leverage to get some automation going.

False expectations There's a lot of revenue potential in influencer marketing, but it takes time.

It will most likely take you 6 months to a year before you start earning. Social media influencer, Sai de Silva whilst in a session with Business Insider said, “Patience is my No. 1 thing to tell someone. This is no overnight success unless you happen to go viral, and that's very hard to do". You must run with the idea that it's most likely not going to be an overnight success.

Understand that the main criteria for monetization on social media are followership and engagement. When you set realistic expectations and put in the work to create authentic content for your social media, it's only a matter of time before you start making good money.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Dimeji Akinloye

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here are two sides to taking stock of Africa's ecommerce sector – on one side it is green and growing larger, especially as, COVID-19 hit; the next is that Africa's growth has remained stunted due to multiple problems, including inadequate internet access and penetration, digital payment adoption, and last-mile delivery.

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Africa's E-commerce is Thriving Amid Challenges In the face of these challenges, some of which have improved over the years, Africa's online retail is growing at a fast rate, with over 264 e-commerce startups operational in more than 23 countries across the continent and online marketplaces projected to generate 3 million jobs by 2025.

S o m e o f t h e f a c t o r s t h a t h ave contributed to the growth of ecommerce in Africa includes the fact that the continent has the youngest and second-largest population in the world.

However, the advent of social media and internet marketing, with their ultrawide appeal to millennials and the younger generation, might turn out to be a good thing for Africa, after all.

Internet penetration has been on the rise due to an influx of smartphones and mobile devices with several digital payment options becoming more widespread within the continent..

According to Statista, as of January 2021, Southern Africa's internet penetration reached 62 percent, highest on the continent and above the world average of 59.5 percent. Northern Africa followed with 56 percent, Western Africa with 42 percent.

Eastern Africa and Central Africa recorded the lowest rates - 24 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Although there is a surge in the number of internet users and huge adoption of online shopping, which saw an explosion when the pandemic struck.

Digital buyers in Africa still prefer casho n - d e l ive r y a n d m o b i l e m o n e y payment methods. Mobile money allows customers to receive, store, and spend money using a mobile phone even without internet access. Cast-ondelivery, however, is the most common

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due to less trust in digital payments made in advance.

For example, as of 2017, Jumia, Africa's largest e-commerce platform, recorded 67 percent cash-on-delivery payments from its shoppers in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. In 2020, data showed that 27 percent of ecommerce payments in Nigeria occurred by card, and 24 percent by bank transfer. While in Egypt, Kenya, and Morocco, cash remained the main payment method used in online retail, accounting for 55 percent, 40 percent, and 41 percent of the total shares, respectively.

Jumia, present in over 10 African countries, is the leading e-commerce industry-force on the continent. Other key players are fighting for a share of Africa's fast-g rowing consumer spending, which is expected to top $2 billion by 2025, according to McKinsey. Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, and Egypt are the five

largest economies on the continent where several e-commerce companies are racing to make their presence known.

Nigeria is home to Konga, Jumia's major rival. South Africa's largest ecommerce platform is TakeAlot, while Kilimall dominates Kenya. And with mobile e-commerce becoming a cornerstone in the market, Statista ranked Jumia as the most popular shopping app in Nigeria and Kenya, coming second to Souq in Egypt. Souq is an Amazon company and the largest e-commerce platform in Arab-speaking countries. While in South Africa, SHEIN, a Chinese fast fashion brand tops mobile e-commerce.

A Statista data projected Africa's ecommerce market revenue to reach US$24,759 million by the end of 2021, with the largest market segment being Fashion, which is projected to reach a market volume of US$7,742 million by year-end.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

Some Key Players in Africa's Multi-Billion Dollar Agribusiness Industry dominant and profitable consumer goods makers in Nigeria, with varied product offerings ranging from cereals to beverages and food seasoning.

The company has been operating in Nigeria since September 25, 1969, is headed by Wassim Elhusseini who

A

2018 report by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) said the African agribusiness sector is projected to hit a $1 trillion valuation come 2030. Now, that's a lot of money. And what this means, in essence, is that the sector is well on its way to becoming the “new oil”, even as key industry players are poised to cash out big time. But this is not to say that they are not already cashing out. As a matter of fact, the African agribusiness sector is currently worth billions of dollars. Some of the biggest companies on the continent currently play in this sector.

Around the world, agribusiness has always been a cash-cow; literally. And this is mainly due to humans' ever present need for food, as well as the constant quest for raw materials and finished products. Some astute businessmen and women dedicate all of their time and resources towards harnessing the potentials inherent in agriculture and the entire agriculture value chain. It is, therefore, unsurprising that in return, they make a lot of money.

Keeping that in mind, this article

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examines the key players in the African agribusiness sector. We shall be looking at when they were established, what they specialize in, their leadership, and valuation. The companies are named in no particular order.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc: This Nigerian company, which is majorityowned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, is arguably one of the biggest sugar producers on the continent. The company was established in 2005 and fully engages in the entire value chain of sugar production, from plantation to refining and packaging. The Dangote sugar brand is widely sold in Nigeria and other African markets.

According to information obtained from the Wall Street Journal's Market Data, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has a market capitalization of N204.67 billion. The company's total assets cur rently stand at N278 billion according to Bloomberg. Ravindra Singhvi serves as the Chief Executive Officer.

Nestle Nigeria Plc: This company is a subsidiary of Nestle S.A, the multinational Swiss food manufacturer. It is one of the most

serves as CEO. The consumer goods maker was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in April 1979. Its market capitalisation is over N1 trillion while its current total assets stand at N246.1 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Oceana Group Ltd: This South African company has been described as the largest fishing company in the whole of Africa. Founded in 1918, Oceana Group and its subsidiaries specialize in fishing, cold storage, and shipping. Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the company is one of the most capitalised food companies in

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South Africa. In specific terms, the company's market capitalization stands at R8.089 billion according to information obtained from Bloomberg.

Total assets, according to Dun & Bradsheet, is $315.2 million. The company is headed by Mustaq Ahmed Brey who serves as the Chief Executive Officer.

Tiger Brand: Established in 1920, Tiger Brand is a leading South African consumer goods manufacturer which specializes in the manufacturing, processing and distribution of food products such as flour, confectioneries,

edible oils, derivatives, and other general foods. According to Bloomberg, Tiger Brand has a market capitalization of R39.103 billion. The company is headed by Noel Patrick Doyle who serves as CEO. Flour Mills Nigeria: This company manufactures and markets flours. It also produces pasta, sugar, and engages in agro-allied business and other support services. The company was incorporated in 1960. It is also listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange where it has a market capitalization of N118.91 billion. The company's Chief Executive Officer is Omoboyede Olusanya.

TRIVIA

By | Simeon Onoja

Did You Know?

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t's amazing how some of the most intriguing happenings in the business world can go unnoticed. We're all simply too fixated on the big news and trendsetters that we overlook some of the mind-blowing details in between. Here are some business facts from across Africa and the world that you probably didn't know.

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Nigeria and South Africa account for nearly 50% of the continent's GDP (at 29.3% and 19.1% respectively).

However, both economies have been struggling in recent times.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's highest number of adults involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity.

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As of 2018, the top 30 African companies had operations in 16 countries across the continent, up from an average of 8 countries only 10 years before.

Apple's iPad retina display is actually manufactured by Samsung.

Samsung is a massive multinational conglomerate made up of more than 30 independent businesses. One such free agent is Samsung Mobile Display.

So while Samsung Electronics Company LTD and Apple battle in court, Samsung Mobile Display works with Apple at the same time.

5

4

The time in an official iPhone advert or press release is always 9.41 am (or 9.42 am).

This is because Apple launch events start at 9 am and big product reveal mostly happens just after 40 minutes into the presentation.

The first version of Google was named “BackRub” The search engine was renamed Google in 1997, a play on the mathematical expression for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. According to the company, this reflects its mission to organise the world's information highway.

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Facebook Logo is Blue Because Mark Zuckerberg is Colour Blind.

Mark Zuckerberg is red/green colourblind, and blue is the colour he sees best.

The Rubik's Cube is the best-selling product of all time, with the iPhone coming in second.

With 350 million units sold since 1980, the Rubik's Cube remains the best-selling single toy of all time. The product is still so popular that it has sparked major speed-cubing competitions decades after its invention.

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Foreign direct investments in Africa nearly tripled from 2006 to 2016.

Internet use in Sub-Saharan Africa varies significantly, with more than 50% of the population in some countries having access to the internet and less than 10% in others.

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10

Did You Know?

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10 countries with the lowest share of intra-African exports are Chad (0.2%), Guinea (1.6%), Eritrea (2.3%), Equatorial Guinea (3.5%), Cabo Verde (3.6%), Angola (3.9%), Libya (4.5%), Guinea Bissau (4.7%), Liberia (5.1%) and Algeria (5.5%).

12

The African automotive industry remains largely import-oriented, especially in the case of passenger cars, where the regional market accounts for less than 10% of exports and 2% of imports.

13

The Twitter bird has a name, and it's Lary.

Few people are aware that the Twitter iconic bird logo has a name: Larry T Bird. Twitter's co-founder, Biz Stone, is a native of Boston and a fan of local NBA legend Larry Bird.

Adobe was named after Adobe Creek, which flowed behind the house of John Warnock, co-founder of Adobe Systems Inc.

15

The world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa was built by Samsung C&T, the multinational tech company's engineering and construction arm.

UPS was launched by two teenagers with one bicycle and $100 borrowed from a friend. On August 28, 1907, Claude Ryan (18-year-old ) and Jim Casey (19-year-old) launched the company with one bike and $100 (roughly $2800 today) which they borrowed from a friend.

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Every two years, Amazon employees, including the CEO, spend two days at the customer service desk to help all employees understand the customer service process.

Rather than using mechanical mowers, Google regularly employs a flock of 200 goats to naturally mow and fertilise the lawns.

This is part of the company’s dedication to environmental-friendliness.

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Yahoo is an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”.

When you add /4 to the end of the Facebook URL, it'll take you to Mark Zuckerberg's profile.

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TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

Is Digital Media Strangling Traditional media in Africa?

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TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS By | Simeon Onoja

HOW TO WIN AT DIGITAL MARKETING IN 2021

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he lockdowns and economic hardship caused by the COVID19 pandemic has made it more crucial than ever for digital marketers to innovate. Troubling and disruptive as it came to be, social distancing caused by the pandemic has turned out to bring a huge boost to e-commerce in Africa.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), African e-commerce platform Jumia reported a 50% jump in transactions during the first six months of 2020.

With more people on the continent turning to the online marketplace, we can expect the influx of new technologies such as voice search, 70. | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 114

visual search tools and artificial intelligence that will better bridge the physical distance. There's also a prevalence of scepticism about buying things online in Africa due to endless cases of fraud on the internet, and as ecommerce becomes the norm, only the brands that are able to gain the trust of customers will continue to thrive.

Digital marketing in 2021 can no longer r e ly s i m p ly o n a n a ly s i n g d a t a originating from ads and customer purchases. With new channels and new trends in customer behaviour at play, a new approach must be taken in order to connect effectively with prospects. Let's look at how you can up your digital marketing game in 2021.

Less Google Analytics, More Business Intelligence While Google Analytics and other similar applications can be helpful, it does not take into account new channels that customers are using. Take artificial intelligence-driven tools like Pinterest Lens, for example, it allows customers to find products online simply by taking a picture of them.

With Google Analytics, you can't get data on visual searches and thus can't optimise your content for it. There's voice search, which is another source of traffic beyond the reach of regular analytics software.

Digital marketing guru, Neil Patel, suggests a shift to robust analytics software such as Amplitude or Google Data Studio which account for new kinds of customer data. Better still, using Business Intelligence will be a more proactive approach. This involves using various technologies and strategies to analyse customer data.

Emails may not be enough anymore Email marketing works and is probably going to be around for a long time.

However, new technologies like chatbots and push notifications are

transforming the process of digital marketing. You can choose to automate basic processes like contacting customers and getting their information, while you focus on crafting digital marketing strategies.

Branding is the new competitive advantage Gone are the days when businesses relied solely on a unique cost structure, technological or marketing advantage

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to get ahead of the competition. It's easy for anyone to copy your marketing strategy, all they have to do is observe your every move for a period of time.

H owe ve r, b r a n d i n g i s t h e n e w competitive advantage you must get on board with. Having a strong personal or corporate brand will go a long way in helping you outshine the competition.

When you're able to establish yourself as an authority and gain people's trust, you won't have to strain for their attention. They'll naturally gravitate toward you and your brand because

everyone wants value for their money and will only put it where they trust.

Content Personalization is King Getting visitors to convert is usually a difficult task. You might discover that a large portion of your visitors simply leaves without making any commitment. This is usually due to junk or unqualified visitors. These are either bots or people who just aren't interested in what you're offering.

Imagine trying to sell hotdogs to a vegan. This is where content personalisation comes in. It'll give you some background information about your visitors, so you can easily convert them to customers.

Content personalisation is the method of delivering different forms of content to specific customers based on their accessible data such as location, search queries, ads they clicked on, website visits and purchase history. This is then filtered through a set of variables you've

set up such as gender, age, location, device, date and time, among others, to determine the kind of content specific visitors engage with your website.

Some of the content personalisation tools you can use are Google Optimise and Amperity.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Simeon Onoja

e-commerce platform, organic growth can only take you so far. Online advertising helps businesses to get a larger number of target customers to notice their website. It assists in the optimisation of a website and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Online ads work even better when driven by SEO keywords, enabling websites or blogs to rank on the first page of search results. The whole process of searching for and finding a website or blog associated with specific goods or services can be streamlined by online advertising.,

How Online Advertising is Powering African Businesses

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nline advertising in Africa is shaping up to become a b i l l i o n - d o l l a r i n d u s t r y.

According to Statista, the value of online advertising in Nigeria will grow from $73 million dollars in 2018 to $133 million dollars in 2023. The research firm also reports that online advertising in South Africa is expected to account for 25 percent of the total ad market in the country, with a value of over $580 million by 2023.

So why the impressive growth? With South Africa and Nigeria being the backbone of Africa's economy, we can say businesses on the continent have realised the value of online advertising, considering that more and more people are using the internet in Africa. Statista reports that as of December 2020, Nigeria had over 203 million internet users, followed by Egypt with 54.74 million users.

With more Africans online, businesses on the continent are increasingly turning to online advertising to gain the attention of customers and make sales.

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The online advertising industry is playing a huge role in this new channel for connecting with prospective customers. Let's take a look at how online advertising is helping African businesses thrive.

It Helps New Businesses Break into the Market A lot of New businesses have been ble to break into the market via online advertising. It has proven to be a powerful tool for introducing a business to customers. This way, new businesses are able to quickly generate leads and drive consumer curiosity, which sparks interactions, conversions and sales. frican businesses, Patricia - a digital currency payment wallet, Farmcrowdy - an agritech company and Piggyvest an online saving and investment platform proved what it means to leveraged online ads when they were entering the market.

Drives Traffic to Business Websites Once a business has built a befitting website, the next important step is to get people to visit the platform. Whether it's a static website, web application or

Builds Trust with Customers Online advertising is good public relations when it's truthful. Engaging in ethical, honest messaging in online ads and avoiding bait-and-switch tactics goes a long way in building goodwill for businesses. When online ads present a clear picture of what the consumer would get if they click through, trust can be built in the process. We see a lot of false online advertising in Africa, which is in referral programmes. You are told to bring in a client and get a specified amount as a reward, only for you to discover that you can only receive your reward only when the client you brought makes a transaction, and if you deposit an extra amount or buy a certain token item, to redeem your reward.

Create Brand Ambassadors Creating memorable online ads can go a long way in creating goodwill for businesses and their customers, up to the point where buyers become brand ambassadors. Several established businesses have been known to create such captivating online ads that boost the interest of customers towards their brand. According to a report by Geopoll, Africans ranked the top three businesses with the best online ad when it comes to creativity and ad-recall factor as, Coca-Cola, Nivea skin care and Tigo.

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TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Dimeji Akinloye

E-learning: DIGITAL SCHOOLING IS HERE FOR GOOD A 50-student classroom with one teacher and an awful looking building would come to mind if you attended public school in Africa. The continent has come a long way from that, with the advent of technology and e-learning. Not that classrooms with such inhumane-conditions don't still exist. They do, but are being phased rapidly by technological advancement and modern opportunities in digital education.

B

efore the Covid-19 pandemic, elearning had already gained wide acceptance in the western world and was slowly being welcomed as a thing in Africa, in the face of a myriad of challenges. Then the virus hit and forced everyone to resort to the digital space for any form of education and communication.

Though the lockdowns were lifted, things would not remain the same.

Dependence on digital space is no longer an option. Whether Africa was ready or not, everybody has had to embrace the new normal – digital schooling – especially as it has become evident that the virus would be with us for a longer time. We have to live with it.

Despite the barriers and the skepticism of many stakeholders. Major areas of concern include, quality and reliability of available hardware and software, internet access, as well as quality and effectiveness of delivery in the area of practical skills. Africa's e-learning market is growing rapidly. The market reached a value of around USD 905 million in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.5% between 2021 and 2026 to reach about USD 2073 million by 2026, according to a report by imarc.

The e-learning market is segmented into three types - packaged content,

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services, and platforms. According to the above report, packaged content accounts for the majority of the total m a r k e t . Pa c k a ge d c o n t e n t s a r e materials prepared according to the standard curriculum and the requirements of end-users. It is then accessed through payment of fees or subscriptions. In the corporate, skilled and vocational training sectors, packaged content is used for providing generic functional and process-relation training.

The market is further segmented by technology, including mobile learning, simulation-based learning, game-based lear ning, lear ning management systems (LMS) among others. Mobile learning holds the majority of this market share.

Going by region, e-learning is gaining traction rapidly in South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia and Kenya, with South Africa representing the largest chunk, accounting for nearly one-fourth of the entire African market.

South Africa is also the early adopter of e-learning on the continent. The impact is clearly seen, with 63% of its population online, according to Statista.

and electricity, in a bid to making elearning accessible for all in the future,” s a i d Vi j aya k u m a r B h a g ava t u l a , Carnegie Mellon University's Africa director.

L a s t y e a r, t h e U N B r o a d b a n d commission reported that eight of the 10 countries with the lowest internet access in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa and the average broadband penetration of those eight countries was put at just 2%. It adds that 89% of students in the region do not have access to household computers, and 82% lack internet access.

Another participant, Paul Swaga, President of Davis College Rwanda suggests that players in the sectors must think out of the box to make the transition to e-learning smooth for all involved. He recommends better collaboration among educational institutions, regulators, inter net providers and employers, to ensure that e-learning programs can effectively deliver on the promise of high-quality student outcomes, now and into the future.

Regardless of the unimpressive stats, education experts and stakeholders admit that e-learning has come to stay.

They reached the unanimous decision at a roundtable co-hosted by Davis College Rwanda and Concordia on Africa's digital education transformation in December 2020.

“We need to ask ourselves how we are going to reach people who are difficult to reach and then work our way up to make education accessible to all.

Educators need to have a commitment to serve the vulnerable and provide all the tools people in underser ved communities need, such as the internet

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“There is a need for all education stakeholders to think about ways of scaling education in Africa, by leveraging the innovations in e-learning systems and learning from others who have been operating in this space, even prior to this pandemic. How do we make e-learning systems accessible and affordable to all categories of learners?”

Judging by the current tech trends, many children in Africa under the age of 12, would one day be employed in digital-driven jobs that do not yet exist.

Poverty gap is equally a technology gap.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the highest region on the continent with the highest rates of education exclusion. Over onefifth of children between the ages of 6 and 11 are out of school, followed by one-third of youth of ages 12 and 14, according to UNESCO. In view of this, Africa's education s y s t e m mu s t p r e p a r e i t s yo u n g populations for jobs in a tech economy, else the continent will further lag behind. This clearly suggests that the education technology (EdTech) market is emerging and has the tendency of becoming a major driver of education on the continent.

Some of the EdTech platforms already strategically positioned and leading in the industry include: Eneza Education – Kenya, Ghana and Ivory Coast eLimu - Kenya uLesson - Nigeria ScholarX - Nigeria Ubongo – Tanzania BeBlocky - Ethiopia Tuteria – Nigeria M-Shule – Kenya Snapplify – South Africa and Kenya Yusudi - Kenya Moringa School - Kenya BeBlocky - Ethiopia

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Dimeji Akinloye

I

t doesn't matter what part of the planet you live in, an increase in health issues, both terminal and non-terminal, has become a global problem. From the menace of cancer, diabetes and childhood obesity; mental health ailments, cardiovascular diseases and all the trauma that came with Covid-19 pandemic, the world is looking for solutions, with great blame games in high places.

It has been proven that physical activity and good exercise regimens, reduces the risk of these diseases. This means everybody needs to engage in regular exercise, making gyms and fitness instructors almost indispensable. This is a no-brainer. These growing health concerns have accelerated the growth of the global physical fitness industry, and with the coronavirus pandemic in the mix, keeping physically and mentally fit has become a top priority for many; thereby also increasing the demand for fitness centers and trainers.

This industry is largely classified into two sectors - fitness centers (also known as gyms or health clubs), and weight loss. As cited by Market Research, the total U.S. weight loss market grew at an estimated 4.1% in 2018, from $69.8 billion to $72.7 billion, and is expected to grow by 2.6% annually through 2023.

According to Statista, the global market size of the industry has been steadily 76. | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 114

increasing in recent years, exceeding 96 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.

the continent's middle class, described as the engine for economic and social development, was made up of 170 million people. A report by Council on Foreign Relations opined that the pandemic may push 8 million below this demographic.

How is the fitness industry doing in Africa?

In Africa, the problems are the same.

The solutions are the same. But considering the prevalence of poverty, would many people be able to afford to pay for gym subscriptions or hire a trainer, you might ask? Well, as much as it may be a valid concern, and a natural question to ask, it would be very myopic to also think that all of Africa is poor.

Also, the increasing urbanization on the continent and the unhealthy diets and lifestyles which are causing obesity and chronic diseases, are contributing factors to the high demand for gyms and physical activities in Africa.

With a fast-growing middle class, a consumption-driven section of its population, the continent is fast becoming a huge market for fitness and wellness business. Before COVID-19,

South Africa's fitness sector is leading the pack for the wrong reasons. The country has about 60 percent overweight population, according to Venture Africa. This is clearly why

South Africa has the highest density of gyms and health clubs on the continent.

Why not home workouts?

While this is an alternative for many who are trying to cut costs and still have to keep fit, it is incomparable to working out at a gym or joining a health club, for several reasons.

1. At a gym, you would have access to a full range of equipment, depending on your fitness goals. But achieving the same result at home may become a more expensive gamble. Overall, the cheaper and more beneficial option is to join a local gym and pay a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly fee.

2. Home exercise removes the benefit of accountability and motivation that you'd get at a gym. People are usually inspired, encouraged, and committed to doing more when they see other people pushing hard and getting results.

Who are the best customers to target in the fitness business?

One of the most important aspects of any business is to know who your ideal c u s t o m e r s a r e a n d t a r ge t t h e m accordingly. For a fitness business,

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there five categories of potential customers that should be in focus include: 1. Working class professionals: These are up-scale mobile, relatively young and socially active individuals, usually within the 25 – 45 age bracket; educated and having a 9 – 5 job regimen or operating their own businesses. This group is the middle-class income earners, relatively comfortable and economically stable. These can afford a reasonably-priced gym membership.

Their goal is not only to stay fit, but they also want to hang out and interact.

2. Women: Ladies are more obsessed with their physique and weight than the menfolk. So they're naturally an easy target. For some, they added weight after childbirth, some want to shed weight ahead of their weddings and other important dates, while others just want to stay in shape so they can have the perfect body to flaunt their clothes.

The list is endless. Women are probably the most loyal customers to fitness businesses.

3. Fitness Enthusiast: These are fitness

addicts, generally athletes, bodybuilders, and people who structure their mental wellness around exercises.

To them, this is the only way they relieve stress and get off a bad mood.

These are the first set of people who show up when a new gym opens in their neighbourhood.

4. Old Folk: Maybe the right thing to say is “senior citizens” or people from 50 – 80, as nobody wants to be called 'old' these days. These guys know that regular exercise could keep away heart attack, high blood pressure, diabetes and other illnesses associated with aging. So they appreciate a gym membership. However, additional services that could keep this set coming are amenities for health maintenance and monitoring like checks for blood sugar, blood pressure and bone density.

5. Expatriate community: Most foreigners in Africa for business or pleasure, especially the ones from Europe and America, already have a fitness culture. They're constantly looking out for fitness centers within their neighborhoods, making them a good target for fitness businesses.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | George Ndifreke

How COVID-19 Pandemic Opened Up a Value Chain in Protective Gears

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hen COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in December 2019, everyone went on sharpened heels for the solution.

Scientists worked round the clock, researching and experimenting.

Economic analysts and planners got saddled with the responsibility of salvaging our economies, which bore the heat of the time. But as days went by and we plunged deep into despair, heightened by persistent media alarm and updates, we witnessed yet another global wreck that gulped a huge part of our lives.

While we perched on the edge of fear and tensions waiting for the COVID-19 v a c c i n e, t h e Wo r l d H e a l t h Organisation recommended the use of

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face masks, hand sanitisers, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) as temporary measures, to contain the spread of the pandemic. And that brought the safety industry to the forefront of the fight, thereby injecting a sudden boom in the business of manufacturing, distribution and sale of PPEs across the world. These hand sanitisers, face shields, nose masks and other protective wears, which were once not given a second thought, became prerequisites for staying alive.

While it was expected that developed countries would lend a helping hand to under-developed countries, news reports across the world revealed that these same countries were hoarding those supplies in the heat of pandemic.

The World Economic Forum reported

that 'eighty countries and customs territories have banned or limited the export of face masks, protective gears, gloves and other goods… Al Jazeera Media Network reported with the headline, 'Pandemic Perfectionism: Nations hoard masks, ventilators, meds'.

Consequently, there was a shortage of protective gears around the world. Vox reported that ''Healthcare practitioners across the world cried out for masks a n d o t h e r p e r s o n a l p r o t e c t i ve equipment as theyre forced to wear bandanas and scarves—' for masks, trash bags for gowns, and reuse all sorts of medical equipmentheightening the risks of coronavirus infection and possibly death.

Cable Network News (CNN) on April 17, 2020, reported Nigeria's aggressive approach under the headline, 'Nigerian tailors are hand-making PPEs to fight Coronavirus'. The report specifically mentioned the overwhelming efforts in Abia State as one of the major manufacturers of PPEs — “As the world experiences a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, tailors in Nigeria are responding by hand-making equipment like overalls and face masks…”

“So far, tailors in Aba, the state's c o m m e r c i a l n e r ve c e n t e r, h ave produced 200,000 face masks and 3,000 overalls, the agency said. One of the tailors, Queen Duruibe, told CNN that the overalls she makes are waterproof and puncture-resistant, and are made from a polyamide fabric coated with protective materials.Her face masks are made with cotton and polypropylene and are hypoallergenic, she said. She alsoproduces decorative face masks made from a colorful print fabric, which aren't intended to protect from coronavir us. Dur uibe had been producing face masks since January but

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says she has now taken on more staff and converted her fashion store to make up to 10,000 masks per day.

Another report confirmed that a group of women in Northeast Nigeria, pooled their tailoring skills and set their sewing machines to produce thousands of face masks to help contain the spread of the virus. The mask production exercise was organised by the Nigeria Lake Chad Basin (NLCB) program in 'partnership with the Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs. The program, known as the North East Regional Initiative (NERI), was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Developments Office of Transition Initiatives.

“

With prices of protective gears varying from one hundred to three thousand, five hundred Naira, both online and offline traders (suppliers and retailers) continue to make profits as safety awareness becomes a part of our lives.

The pandemic has not only challenged our local manufacturers but also opened up another source of income and a dependable value chain for the public health and manufacturing sectors.

As the world experiences a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, tailors in Nigeria are responding by hand-making equipment like overalls and face masks’.

“

However, as a continent largely dependent on exports of medicals, Africa's reaction was quite unprecedented, as local tailors maximised their skills to save the continent. After the use of face masks was enforced in Lagos, Ogun State, and Abuja FCT in April 2020, followed by the presidential order on the compulsory use of face masks across the federation, the protective gears market opened up in Nigeria. Our dependence on importation of protective gears never happened, maybe not as anyone would expect.

Corporate organisations and individuals flooded the country with locally-made protective gears and hand-washing liquids both for sale and as philanthropic gestures. Cross River State garment factory produced and distributed face masks for its citizens and also sold one million face masks to Lagos state, Benue, Kano, and Julius Berger respectively.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

How Second-Hand Car Importation Business works in Africa

A

ccording to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerians spend an average of N1.08 trillion ($1.9 billion) per annum importing used cars from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Now, that's a lot of money! And it speaks to the immense opportunities that are inherent in the car importation business. Across the African continent, there's a huge demand for second-hand cars. This has been the case for many decades, mainly due to the prevalent economic situation 80. | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 114

on the continent which makes it difficult for most people to afford brand new cars. This, by the way, is not to say that Africans do not buy brand new cars because they do.

The incredibly huge demand for second-hand cars in Africa has led to the establishment of companies like Cars2Africa, Cars45, AutoPedigree and most recently, AutoCheck, etc. All these companies, and many others like them, specialize in trading on used cars.

To gain insider knowledge about how the used-car importation business works, Business Elites Africa spoke with Lucas Ojukoko. The Lagos-based car dealer has been importing and selling used cars for nearly ten years.

But before starting his company (Nomie Autos) in 2014, he spent time working as an auto dealership agent during which time he learnt so much about how the business really works.

This, he said, is the best way to start.

“I started as an agent. All I had then was my phone and the zeal to make it as a car salesman. So, I went from one car shop to the other, taking pictures of the cars and helping with the marketing. For every car sold, I was paid my agent fee. That's how I was able to gather money and experience before starting my own auto dealership in 2014,” Mr Ojukoko said.

How exactly does the car importation business work?

According to Lucas Ojukoko, the first step in the car importation business is participating in car auctions. But before you can participate in a car auction, you must be registered under an international car dealership company such as Car Max. You will also need to have a domiciliary account in order to facilitate payments. Now, at the end of every bidding process, only the highest bidder gets to buy the car. Of course, buying the car means that you will pay those selling it. You will also “pay the shipping fees so they can ship it to your country, in this case, Nigeria. When it gets to 81. | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 114

the Nigerian port, you pay all the necessary custom duty. And the interesting thing is that the newer the car the more the duty. And after the payment and subsequent clearance processes, the car becomes yours.”

It is also important to note that you are not allowed to sell imported cars in Nigeria without the authorization to do so. And what this means, is that you need to have the necessary permits.

According to Mr Ojukoko, the first step to obtaining a car dealership permit is to register your company with the Cor porate Affairs Commission.

Afterwards, you will approach the licensing department in the Federal Ministry of Transportation where you must submit your company's registration details, two passport photos, a means of identification, and a fee of N130, 000. After fulfilling these conditions, they will issue you a dealership certificate and a dealer's plate number.

How risky and profitable is the business?

Car importation business can be very risky just as much as it can be so profitable. According to Mr Ojukoko, whether or not you are profitable depends entirely on factors such as how you bid for your cars and how marketable they are. If, for instance, the car is “accidented”, it will be very difficult to sell and at the end of the day the dealer may end up running at a loss.

Also, if the car is not what is trending within the market where you want to sell it, nobody will want to buy it and this may lead you to under-selling it.

Also, if you bid the car above the cost price, you will definitely run at a loss.

Mr Ojukoko concluded by noting that second-hand car importation business can be very profitable. You just have to be shrewd to know what sells and avoid unnecessary costs.

ARTICLE

By | Victor Ejechi

D

ata analytics has been in great demand for the past few years and organizations have been investing much time and money in this technology. However, the current disruption caused by the COVID19 pandemic has created a sense of urgency to drive results. CEOs and boards of directors are beginning to wonder what the emerging trends in data analytics would be and how will they drive results.

For Chris Howard, Chief of Research at Gartner,a US-based organization that focuses on equipping executives across the world to make the right decisions and stay ahead of change, has noted that 2021 brings with it the imperative to generate more business value using innovative technologies and approaches to information.

According to Mr Howard, as business partners grow more comfortable with identifying and using technologies, IT leaders will need to become more sophisticated in their partnership and collaboration.

When people hear data Analytics, it usually appears like something abstract to understand. In simplicity, data analytics is all about the extraction of valuable information from structured and unstructured data by using various algorithms, tools, methods, and techniques. This technology also helps to display all the things that are efficiently working on the various platforms of social media, marketing, content writing, and much more.

Trends and Key players in Data Analytics across Africa

Increasing in this 21st century, our daily lives leave behind a detailed digital record: our shifting thoughts and opinions shared on Twitter, our social relationships; purchasing habits, information-seeking behaviours, our photos and video - even the movements of our bodies and cars are all big data that those interested in human behaviour will find irresistible to capture. Little wonder why in 2016, data was referred to as the new crude oil

by Clive Humbly!

In a similar report by Gartner, by 2023, data literacy will become an explicit and necessary driver of business value, demonstrated by its formal inclusion in over 80% of data analytics strategies and change management programs.

The above reports show the trend that businesses, organizations and SMEs that are involved in data analytics should start channelling their energy and strategies.

According to ReportLinker, in their Data Center Market report, Africa data

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centre market size is expected to cross $3 billion by 2025, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 12 per cent during the forecast period of 2020 - 2025. The report which was released in August of 2020 and titled “Data Center Market in Africa - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025” noted that the Africa data centre industry has witnessed a steady interest from major global cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft, along with Huawei over the last five years.

The increasing demand for cloud-based services and modular data centre solutions among enterprises, especially in SMEs and government agencies, are expected to drive the market in Africa.

It is expected that over 70% of organizations operating in the region

will shift to the cloud region by 2025.

This obviously will usher in a new trend in the business of data and it will be of great interest if organizations start embracing this trend.

According to the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs survey, 2020 as posted by StatiSense - a data tech company in Nigeria - the top three job

roles in increasing demands are Data Analysts and scientists, AI and Machine learning specialists, and big data Specialist. This shows that any data firm that positioned itself as professionals in this field and considered a Data Analytics training hub, would have positioned itself to meet the demand of the future.

In Nigeria, Rise Networks which is a Nigeria firm that is into Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Powered Learning organization has been at the forefront of educating and empowering p e o p l e i n d a t a a n a l y t i c s. T h e organization has positioned itself as a centre that improves the skill sets of people around AI, research and data analytics, thereby positioning people for the future of work. They are leveraging deep technologies and d i s r u p t ive i n n ova t i o n t o b u i l d progressive careers and a first-rate national workforce capable of aligning from the future of work and driving the digital transformation and economic growth for companies, communities and African countries.

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In a discussion with Valentine Aguoru, a full-stack web developer versed in data and database management with over 7 years of experience working in Africa, he noted that data analytics is about building a technology that solves problems. According to him, data analytics goes as far as providing valuable insights to facilitate building technologies that solve various problems - From what has happened (over a period of time), to why they happened; what is most likely going to happen, down to suggesting course(s) of action and ways to either avert or minimize negative impacts or take full advantage of events and occurrences.

Most organizations that are not so much aware of the latest technologies are bound to use the old and lesser advanced versions of various technologies. What they fail to understand is that these kinds of technologies are only going to make the situations worse and much more complex for any IT professional to handle. That is why it is much better to use data analytics to solve a large number of problems.

Understanding the trend around solving problems using data analytics, Unicsoft which is a South Africa based data analytics solution company has been able to define the importance of a p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g d a t a a n a ly t i c s technology. The firm which started back in 2005 has had a more than 500% growth rate and has continued to diligently strive to maintain a high quality of work, delivering bespoke s o l u t i o n s p owe r e d b y M a c h i n e Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and other rising technologies.

Another big player and trend in data analytics is Ma3Route in Nairobi Kenya. Ma3Route is a mobile/web/SMS platfor m that crowd-sources transport data and provides users with information on traffic, matatu directions and driving reports to inform their movement.

They use data to solve the problem of road infrastructure. This has been helping Kenya's government to make informed decisions on the best place to build a road network.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Emmanuel Abara Benson

Leading Online To-Let Startups in Africa T

here was a time, in a not-sodistant-past, when renting a new flat (apartment) anywhere in Africa could be a really arduous task.

Back then, the first step to renting a new place would be to walk around the neighbourhood you'd like to live in, looking out for “to-let” signs that might have been posted by agents. Some people also would choose to walk from one compound to the other, enquiring from tenants and landlords if there were vacant flats. Agreed, there were also some established estate agents during this period. But they mainly specialized in helping high networth individuals to secure properties in deluxe neighbourhoods. As such, not everyone could afford the services they rendered. Worse still, locating them was often quite as difficult as finding vacant flats to rent.

All that has changed with the advent of the internet and various online to-let startups. These startups make it a lot easier to rent and even buy properties.

Without a doubt, online to-let startups make up an integral offshoot of the tech

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revolution that is making our lives a lot easier.

That said, let us now briefly take a look at the leading online to-let startups across the African continent. These startups are arranged in no particular order of priority.

Nigeria Property Centre: Founded in April 2011 by Nnamdi Chineme, Nigeria Property Centre is undoubtedly one of the most dominant property websites in Nigeria and across much of Africa. On this website, you can easily find homes for rent/sell as well as lands, all listed by thousands of duly verified

agents. By simply searching words like “rent a mini flat in Lagos” on your browser, you will be presented with a wide array of options to choose from.

This startup has since expanded into other African markets. Currently, you have: Kenya Property Centre, Ghana Property Centre, Uganda Property Centre, and Ethiopia property Centre, and everyone of these has become a major player in each of these markets.

PropertyProNG: Established in 2012, this Nigerian company is one of the first to emerge on the online property space. It was co-founded by Fikayo Ogundipe (currently the CEO), Dapo Eludire (COO), Muyiwa Kolawole; Seyi Ayeni (CTO), and Sulaiman Balogun. For about six years, the company was known as ToLet.NG

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until its 2018 rebranding exercise which transitioned the company to its current brand name. Prior to that event, the company had acquired Jumia House, the property rental company which was a subsidiary of e-Commerce giant, Jumia.

PropertyProNG has so far raised $1.4 million from two major investors namely Frontier Digital Ventures and Spark. Although still headquartered in Nigeria, PropertyproNG announced in December 2020 that it was planning to expand into more African countries.

Currently, you can get the service in Kenya and Tanzania.

OLX Group: OLX is one of the world's largest marketplace networks, serving millions of people across the world.

H e a d q u a r t e r e d i n E u r o p e, t h e

company operates mainly in emerging markets where it amplifies brands and positions them for customers to buy.

Online To-Let is one of the businesses the company engages in. And in countries like South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, this service is very much available.

Other leading Online To-Lets that are worthy of mention include the likes of Homes Trovit, Gumtree, Property24, Property Partners Zambia, etc.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Simeon Onoja

The New Wave of Print-on-Demand Business in Africa

T

he recent boom in Africa's printon-demand industry is positioning the continent to grab its share of the global market worth $800 billion. With the rise of print-on-demand startups like Kikiaprints, Printivo, and Printhouse Nigeria, it's clear that this emerging industry is gaining traction.

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What is print -on-demand?

Print-on-demand (POD) is a method of customising white-label items such as tshirts, face caps or tote bags with your own designs and selling them under your brand name on a per-order basis. It involves a customer using an online portal to create a design on an item, let's say a t-shirt. This design is printed out on the t-shir t as specified in a c u s t o m i z e d o r d e r p r o c e s s, a n d delivered to the end-user for use in

personal consumption or promotion of an active brand . The seller is the middleman between the producer and the end user.

That means POD businesses don't have to pay for the commodity until after it's been sold, eliminating the need to buy in bulk or keep an inventory. The supplier handles everything after the sale, from printing to shipping. It just

takes a few clicks after you've set everything up to fulfil an order.

The Rise of Print-on-Demand in Africa In July 2020, an online design and publishing company, Canva partnered with Kikiaprint, a Nigerian print-ondemand startup, in a move to enter the African market. This makes it Canva's first collaboration with an African print-on-demand company.

Another impressive move was made in November 2020 by Printivo, another Nigerian print-on-demand startup when it launched its e-commerce platform called Promostack in Nigeria and South Africa. The platform allows i n d iv i d u a l s, S M E s, a n d l a r ge companies to order promotional goods, corporate gifts, and merchandise for any purpose.

As 2021 progresses, we can only expect greater expansion in Africa's POD industry. If you'd like to key into this opportunity, here's how you can start

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your own print-on-demand business.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the possible advancements that Africa can expect in this emerging industry.

An Increase in Demand As online shopping continues to gain popularity in Africa, we can expect that more people will turn to print-ondemand platforms for their product customisation needs. With startups like Printivo expanding into e-commerce to serve people and businesses, we can expect the customer base for these sorts of services to increase.

Improved Personalisation and a Wider Range of Products It's quite easy to deduce that the partnership Kiakiaprints with Canva, will only mean more customisation options for customers. We can expect to see a more Africa-centric approach to custom designs.

The rise in print-on-demand startup on the continent will most likely lead to a

wider assortment of customisable products. Gatis Dukurs, the co-founder of Print-on-demand company, Printify, said “Print-on-demand platforms should incorporate merchant suggestions for new products; examples include natural and organic clothing, new designs and, of course, face masks”. POD startups should continually work to deliver new products and onboard new global suppliers as part of the continuing transformation of the industry to meet changing consumer needs.

Increased Need for Consumer Data Analysis The print-on-demand business is all about translating the ideas of customers into a meaningful product.

And as more people in Africa turn to POD services for their custom printing needs, it'll become very crucial for these businesses to be able to forecast consumer trends. A lot of research will be needed and consumer data will form the building block. This will be a proactive route to offering better value to customers.

TRENDING BUSINESS IDEAS

By | Simeon Onoja

Leveraging Cryptocurrencies in Africa Amid Tough Regulations

C

r yptocurrency has gained popularity in Africa over the ye a r s. Wi t h m o r e p e o p l e realising the economic freedom that comes with this emerging financial technology. It is a completely digital form of money that operates on a decentralised network known as the blockchain. The most popular cryptocurrencies in the world right now are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin and Tether.

The tendency of cryptocurrency to skyrocket in value has encouraged a lot of Africans to start trading in the digital

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currency. Cryptocurrencies have been considered to be a viable path out of poverty in Africa due to the low barrier to entry as a cryptocurrency trader.

With as low as $5 dollars you can start trading Ethereum, the cryptocurrency currently trailing Bitcoin.

to actually ban cryptocurrencies because they are powered by the internet and banning them will mean shutting down global internet access, some of these countries have either declared cryptocurrencies illegal or made it almost impossible to buy them.

However, the decentralised nature of cryptocurrencies has raised concerns in some Africa countries. Worried that digital currency can be used for fraud or funding terrorists, these countries have decided to impose harsh regulations that make it very difficult to trade in cryptocurrencies. While it's impossible

C o u n t r i e s t h a t h av e o u t l aw e d cryptocurrencies include, South Africa, A n g o l a , N a m i b i a , Z i m b a b w e, Mauritius, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and most recently, Nigeria which has prohibited banks and financial institutions from trading in or facilitating transactions in

cryptocurrencies. Arguments have been made that rather than declare cryptocurrencies illegal, a better approach will be to regulate how it's used. Since cryptocurrencies need to be traded in and out of fiat currencies, this enables governments to control their usage through taxation, regulation of exchanges and creating a framework for Initial Coin Offering (ICO) - the cryptocurrency industry's equivalent of an IPO. While harsh regulation on cryptocurrencies is not solely an African thing, it's a huge drawback for a continent that is struggling with poverty. The World Bank reports that 40% of Africa's population is living below the US$1.90-a-day poverty line, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for two-thirds of the global extreme poor population.

Trading Amid Harsh Regulations Here's how you can get around the restrictions imposed by your country

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and start reaping the benefits of trading cryptocurrencies.

Peer to Peer (P2P) trading This is your best bet to get past the restrictions in your country. Think of it as you trading directly with other people without the mediation of crypto exchanges like Luno, Quidax or Paxful.

The two ways Africans are leveraging P2P trading in order to continue dealing in cryptocurrencies are crypto P2P trading and using messaging apps like Whatsapp and Telegram.

Crypto P2P Trading: This method pictures the early days of trading cryptocurrencies in Africa before larger and more secured e x c h a n g e s e n t e r e d t h e s c e n e.

Individuals who want to sell cryptocurrencies put up their offer and interested buyers bid for it on the blockchain network.

This means of trading cryptocurrencies can take a longer period of time to

complete because it lacks the structure that crypto exchanges offer. However, as more people turn to crypto p2p trading, transactions should get faster.

Trading via Messaging Apps This is another move cryptocurrency traders in Africa are using to bypass the restrictions imposed by their local governments. Buyers and sellers now conduct transactions via messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.

This depends largely on the ability of the traders to mask what they're paying for when making bank transfers.

However, this is a much riskier approach as users get scammed or face inflated rates from shady traders.

Despite the walkarounds, there remains the uncomfortable feeling and fear of having a run-in with the law. We can all hope that African countries that have barred the trade of cryptocurrencies will have a change of heart and explore other regulatory options.

D A T E A N D L O C A T I O N T O B E A N N O U N C E D .

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