Africa's Tech & Social Industry Giants

Issue 103

Why SMEs need Strategic Partnership Role of Technology in Nigeria's Economic Growth How Social Media can Grow Your Business

Tech & Social Industry Giants SPECIAL BUSINESS REPORTS: Microsoft4Afrika | HMD Global

Elon Musk s

Space X Makes History

STARTUP AFRICA: Techpoint Africa | Hashtag South Africa | Waystocap, Morocco

Taking your Business Personally.

Q&A Strategy Sessions Management Coaching Marketing Strategies International market entry strategy

www.zionitecg.com

DIGITAL MARKETING Our Strategies are Focused on Increasing the Reach & Visibility of Your Business.

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EDITOR’S DESK

Editor’s MESSAGE CHANGE IS CHANGING “You never change things by fighting the existing reality.

To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

- Buckminster Fuller

T

he modern-day human is constantly evolving. These winds of change are all around us. It affects our social interaction, human communication and evolution. Today's norm becomes obsolete as new ideas replace the existing.

ETHELBERT

To stay relevant, entrepreneurs and business managers are constantly revamping business processes and strategic initiatives to keep up with the changing business demands. Strategic insights must be mixed with cutting-edge processes to stay ahead of the competition.

The ever-changing consumer perception, wants and needs now necessitate the adoption of agile business model. Fluidity becomes the key to staying relevant!

Staying agile demands insights, strategies and processes that align with the new norm.

Smart SMEs are now turning to social media, and deploying cutting-edge technologies to meet business demands in the following areas: customer relationship management, customer engagement, customer retention, and the achievement of competitive edge.

In this edition of Business Elites Africa, we highlight the dexterity of a few Africa's Tech and Social Industry brightest minds: Tosin Eniolorunda of Teamapt, Odunayo Eweniyi of Piggyvest, Brandon Kynoch of Hardgraft Studios, Sazia Sousa of Technoplus just to name a few. This edition is also garnished with incisive and actionable articles. These hot stories and trends can only be found on no other platform but the very best- Business Elites Africa.

Happy Reading!

ETHELBERT NWANEGBO Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Disclaimer: The information on this magazine is for information purposes only. Business Elites Africa Magazine assumes no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All information can be withdrawn or changed without notice. Whilst every care has been taken in producing the information on this magazine, this does not guarantee the accuracy of the information. Business Elites Africa is not responsible for any opinion, expressed by its authors. Materials contained on this magazine are subject to copyright and other proprietary rights. No material on this magazine can be reproduced, adapted, distributed or stored in a retrievable system or transmission without a prior written consent from Business Elites Africa Magazine. © 2019 Business Elites Africa Magazine. All rights reserved.

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OUR TEAM

OUR TEAM Emma Ossy Isidahomen

Victor Oluwole

Ogbonna Oguh

Asst. Editor/Copy Writer

Asst. Editor/Copy Writer

Marketing Director

He is best known for writing on diverse topics including features, news, politics, sports and technology.

He enjoys spending his leisure hour with family, singing away with his local church choir or watching movies.

Connect with him @

He is an uber-talented copywriter and content strategist who specialises in writing on SME's, Entrepreneurship, Digital marketing, SEO and more.

Connect with him @

emma.ossy@businsselitesafrica.com

victor.olu@businesselitesafrica.com

Ogbonna Oguh is a result-oriented marketing professional with an eclectic cocktail of experience in diverse sectors. He is an accomplished marathoner, podcaster, a lover of the arts and anything creative.

Connect with Ogbonna @ ogbonna.oguh@glimpse33.com

Olayinka Daodu

Dolapo David O.

David Hundogan

Account Executive

Social Media Manager

Social Media Manager

She is an ardent advertising pundit with a knack for marketing and PR. She loves public & motivational speaking. She is also an avid reader and astute media enthusiast. Connect with her @ olayinka.daodu@glimpse33.com

He is a seasoned digital media expert and strategist. He is also a Marketing Inuencer on LinkedIn and specialises in analytics, SEO, email/content marketing, and Social Media. Connect with him @ dolapo.olarinoye@businsselitesafrica.com

David Hundogan is a Social Media Analyst with good years of experience in social media marketing and inuencing, He is also a Poet and Writer.Connect with him @ david.hundogan@businsselitesafrica.com

Oladele Kayode Pius Creative Art Director A dexterous Art Director who possesses top-notch practical/technical experience in Visual styling, Imaging and Digital branding. Connect with him @ oladele.kayode@businesselitesafrica.com

NIGERIA: 90 Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

Tel: +2349099430429, +2348104352513 USA: 4811 Beach Blvd Jacksonville, FL 32207 | Tel: +904-240-7044 SOUTH AFRICA: 73 Booysens Road Conner Withycombe Street Johannesburg 2091 South Africa.

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Contents Tosin Eniolorunda 8 Founder/CEO TeamApt Limited

The Fintech Mogul Who Founded a Multi-Million Dollar Tech Startup Staying Bootstrapped.

Odunayo Eweniyi 12 Co-Founder, PiggyVest The Fintech Mogul Who Founded a Multi-Million Dollar Tech Startup Staying Bootstrapped.

14 Spacex

Makes history by completing the first private crew capsule mission.

Brandon Kynoch 18 CEO, Hardgraft Studios Behold Africa's youngest iOS game developer.

Sazia Sousa 20 Founder Technoplus Where Beauty, Brain & Technopreneurship Meet.

22 The Role of Technology In Nigeria’s Economic Growth

26 Hashtag Going a Notch Higher With South Africa

Marketing & Brand Influencing

Africa 30 Techpoint Reshaping the future of Technology in Africa.

Niama El Bassunie 42 HMD Global & 34 Founder/CEO WaystoCap The E-Commerce Platform Helping African Merchants Build Online Empires

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Techpoint partner to advance Nigerian SMEs

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Contents Microsoft4afrika Initiative Empowers 1.7 Million African SMEs

Bhadmus Habdulameem Social Media Influencer Meet the Internet Influencer Redefining the “Concept of Celebrity

44 50

Oluwatosin Ajibade 52 New Media Entrepreneur Into the world of OloriSupergal Content Strategist, Blogger and Writer

Whatsapp 56

Marketing Strategy

Adegoke Pamilerin 58

Brand Influencer & Marketer Marine Engineer - turned Social Media Influencer & Marketer

Eguavoen Matthew 60 Portrait Artist & Clapback King From Portraiture to “Micro-Celebrity”

62 How Social Media can grow your Business

68 The Future of

Drone in Business and Commerce

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72 Why SMEs need Strategic Partnerships

TECH KING

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The Fintech Mogul Who Founded a Multi-Million Dollar Tech Startup Staying Bootstrapped. By: Victor Oluwole

Tosin Eniolorunda Founder/CEO TeamApt Limited. - Nigeria

W

henever we talk about a million-dollar tech startup, the first question that comes to our mind is: How much money it has raised till now? But, the real question to ask is: If it's possible to build a multi-million-dollar tech startup staying bootstrapped?

Yes of course!

Take Tosin Eniolorunda, a Nigerian-based founder who built a multi-million dollar Fintech company - TeamApt Limited - without any funding. TeamApt Limited is a fast-growing financial technology company with a mission to create financial happiness through technology.

Launched in 2015, TeamApt Limited, through their technology has digitalised banking experience in Nigeria and Africa for top financial institutions including Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, UBA, among others. And in three years grew to a 7-figure (in dollars) annual revenue startup. Enjoy his exclusive interview with Business Elites Africa below.

Describe your company services /products and any other information you would like to provide.

Today, one of the major products that banks use is around digitalising banking experience for their customers, and TeamApt is proud to be one of the key companies accelerating this drive in Nigeria and Africa generally.

At TeamApt, we provide a white label solution that we give to banks, allowing them to quickly leapfrog and get their applications in front of their customers.

This application does not carry our name; it carries theirs, but at the backend, it is powered by us. So, in our mission of facilitating financial happiness, it's our joy to see people use this w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

backend application to pay, collect, manage, and grow their money while saving time. This product is called Moneytor.

Another of our products is Profectus.

This product automates E-banking processes such as settlements, reconciliation, dispute and chargeback processes of all banks products and channels from several providers including ATM, Mobile, Web, QR and POS so that they can actually make their customers happier at both the frontend and backend.

We also have a third product called Aptpay. This product that has been built to be secure and reliable. It includes a payment gateway that allows banks to transfer money between themselves either for interbank transfers or for directly debiting customers.

Tell us about your background, what did you venture into before starting up in this sector?

I've always been fascinated with technology and I have always been a builder. I was the type of child that would prefer to receive a Lego kit than a toy as gift, just so I can

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build stuff for myself. In my undergraduate days at Obafemi Awolowo University, I ran a business that built solutions for students projects. I had a team and together build these projects.

I used the money from the business to fund myself through school and rarely depended on home. I think those were some of the entrepreneurial beginnings and those are some of the things that toughened me to become who I am today.

After school, many people expected me to set up something for myself, but I knew I had to gather some industry knowledge before setting up my own company.

Fortunately, I was hired on recommendation by Interswitch and from there I learnt about how to develop software in enterprise scenarios, how to build products, among other things. I considered staying there for a while, but I had to reawaken the entrepreneurial dream, hence TeamApt was born.

TECH KING

front for some of our products. So, we used some of these upfront payments to fund the startup of the company.

Everybody needs to be happy in their lives and technology is supposed to play a major role in it”.

TeamApt wants to be the company building the technology that is creating financial happiness and freedom for Nigerians and Africans especially.

What is the best way startups can raise funding to set up a business?

Seed funding is not a path that I would recommend for people, especially budding entrepreneurs that are building enterprise or B2B solutions. I would not advise you to raise funds when you are still trying to figure out your business models. We should try not to be carried away with the hype of raising funds. It is good, but I can tell you at the end of the day many of them come back to say it was not a wise decision. I think founders and entrepreneurs should be careful to balance value with hype especially when it comes to raising funds.

The truth is you do not need money to start a business, but you also need money to start. Nevertheless, what you need is the ability to make money. That is why you are in business. You can have an idea and begin developing it little by little before finding a way to accelerate it. This is a model we call “Bootstrapping”. In my own case, what started the business was getting a deal. I did not need money and that can be what will start your own business too.

You can even get a deal without having the product. These are the kind of ideas needed to set up a business.

What problem does your business solve?

TeamApt's mission is to facilitate financial happiness using technology. What we have reckoned to ourselves is “everybody needs to be happy in their lives and technology is supposed to play a major role in it”.

TeamApt wants to be the company building the technology that is creating financial happiness and freedom for Africans especially.

What advice do you have for young and budding entrepreneurs?

How did you raise funds to set up your business?

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. You do not need to be an entrepreneur to be happy.

Entrepreneurship is in fact, one of the hardest ways to find happiness in life. If you can eat, live and be happy with whatever you do, you have achieved your life's objective in my own opinion.

For the size and scale we have achieved so far, I can proudly say that we are one of the few companies that did not raise funds initially. TeamApt until late last year did not raise funds and we grew from zero employees to about 50 employees before raising funds.

We grew from zero to millions of dollars in revenue before raising funds, and we created three to four products before raising funds.

If you now chose to go through the path of entrepreneurship, my advice is to take it as a marathon and not a sprint.

Think of it as a lifestyle, because if you do, you will not have to think of balancing work and life. In my own case, I go to work, spend time with my

TeamApt was set up by improving efficiency, incurring the costs that we absolutely had to incur, and ensuring our customers paid us good money up

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wife and family. That is my lifestyle.

Describe how you felt when you received payment for your services for the first time.

[Laughs] I felt “this is it”, like I have arrived. Assuming you were someone earning around 300k-400k monthly and the first payment that comes to your account is in tens of millions [laughs]. It was a major feeling of elation and a small sense of pride that I now have tens of millions in my account.

How has your company fared since you the very start?

It certainly has not been a smooth journey.

We have had our highs and lows. I think the way to think of running a company is to think of it as a marathon and not a sprint. One of the techniques of running a marathon is being able to control your breathing while running. What this means is to be aware of the journey and know

TECH KING

that you are not rushing to get somewhere and stop. In the same way, business is a continuous process and with this mindset, we have been able to take each day as it comes with a bit of urgency so we do not relax. The highs we rejoice, the lows we mourn, but then, we are happy with what we are doing.

to be honest. In retrospect, one of the mistakes we made is ignoring building our brand to focus more on the internal culture and work ethic. Even though we are fundamental, we should have at least started building our brand on time. That is one way to look at it.

How did you deal with failure, and what did you learn from it?

Who is your role model?

Growing up I had different people I looked up to based on what I read about them. I adore people like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and the founder of SONY, Masaru Ibuka. I also admire the likes of Tony Elumelu, Jim Ovia, and Aigboje AigImoukhuede. These men are worth millions of dollars but have built billions of dollars of value for their generation.

What has been your biggest mistake since setting up?

We have not made many terminal mistakes, w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Failure to me is until you quit before it is final. Initially, when you fail, a disappointment comes with it. For example, if you lose a deal, you would actually feel bad about it and that is normal. I think you should even grieve about it because if you ignore it, you will not learn. If you also dwell on it for too long, you will not move forward. The point is whenever such issues happen; you should actually grieve, do a postmortem and learn from it so it does not happen again.

MASTERS OF INDUSTRY AWARDS 2019 http://businesseliteafrica.com/moi-award/about-moi/ Since 2012, Business Elites Africa, formerly Entrepreneurs Anchor's

“MASTERS OF THE INDUSTRY AWARDS BANQUET” has been shining a light on the finest entrepreneurs by promoting success, Innovation and vision within the region's

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TECH QUEEN

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Odunayo Eweniyi, demystifying the ‘savings’ perception By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

O

dunayo Eweniyi has stood out to become a dominant force in Nigeria's FinTech industry. Having started off by developing entrepreneurial concepts back in university with two of her friends (Joshua Chibueze & Somto Ifezue), the trio came back together after graduation and founded a number of startups including popular online job platform – PushCV – as well as other businesses. But after journeying in the financial and tech circles for nearly a decade, they successfully launched Piggybank.ng (now PiggyVest), an automated savings platform which has blossomed to having over 1 million active users.

In this interview with Business Elites Africa, Odunayo sheds light on her entrepreneurial voyage including her challenges and triumphs. Enjoy he read:

Describe your company, services/products and any other information you would like to provide.

PiggyVest (formerly Piggybank.ng) is an automated savings platform that helps people manage their finances by making the process more transparent. Our platform helps Africans save and invest automatically. We are focused on low to

middle income earners who are struggling to meet up with their responsibilities and payments because they have no way of saving up. The current African banking system as it is, is heavily transactional. We automatically deduct fixed amounts of money from our users' accounts periodically, according to their instructions, towards a target.

Tell us about your background, what did you venture into before starting up in this sector?

Before we started PiggyVest we had been working on a number of other startups. We founded PushCV, one of the largest employment platforms in Nigeria. We also had a bunch of ventures that didn't pan out, like 500dishes.com, and 99staff.com.

The founding team went to the same university, and we have worked together for nearly a decade and previously launched a successful startup with over 1 million users and 600K monthly active users. We started PiggyVest in January 2016 and have been on it ever since.

Odunayo Eweniyi CO-Founder, PiggyVest - Nigeria

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How has your company fared from the very start?

We launched in 2016, and in that year, we saved 21 million naira. But we invested heavily in customer service and product development and we saw that pay off, because by the end of 2017 we had experienced a 3000% growth across board.

And we kept on iterating, with our users' needs and feedback in mind helping us grow into the robust platform that we are now.

Today, PiggyVest is the largest online savings & investment platform in Nigeria with almost 200,000 users who have saved over $15Million (7Billion Naira) so far. In May 2018, we closed $1.1M in seed funding, and in January 2019, our users saved over N1 Billion naira!. We have had the privilege of winning some awards along the way like: The Future Awards Africa Prize for Technology and The Africa Fintech Summit Tech for Good Award. We were also one of Business Day's top 100 SMEs 2018.

What problem does your business solve?

Our platform exists because 80% of Nigerians - and probably Africans - need to save at least 40% of their monthly income to survive. Because we have no credit system, most of our payments are done in bulk, upfront and in cash.

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TECH QUEEN

More so, we realised that Nigerians were saving in actual wooden boxes, “Kolo”.

That told us that Nigerians wanted to save, especially because most of our payments are in bulk and upfront, but the infrastructure available was not quite right.

So, we built and launched the platform to give people a viable, sustainable alternative to that, while also encouraging them to save more.

We exist to help people better manage their finances, flexibly, conveniently and with discipline. And we have seen results that prove that the platform does indeed help people save up for their responsibilities (rent, fees, etc) and dreams without interruption in their daily lives and routines.

[L-R: Co-Founder/CMO Piggyvest; Joshua Chibueze, Co-Founder/CEO Piggyvest; Somto Ifezue, Co-Founder/COO Piggyvest; Odunayo Eweniyi]

How did you raise funds to setup your business?

are more than 50% better than that of commercial banks.

When we started, we were completely bootstrapped – using our own funds to run the business. But in May 2018, we closed $1.1M in seed funding for license acquisition and product development, from local (Leadpath Nigeria, Ventures Platform) and international (Village Capital) investors.

What has been your biggest mistake since setting up?

We started with our users in mind and continued doing so based on user feedback and needs. And while the entire process has been a learning curve, we have not made any noteworthy missteps yet. And we hope we continue to get it right.

What's your business philosophy?

Trust your intuition, believe in your brilliance, and take advantage of the opportunities in front of you.

Describe how you felt when you received payment for your services for the first time.

When PiggyVest was launched, it was solely for people who wanted to save money daily (we added weekly and monthly savings eventually), and the first time a user saved on the platform, his feedback, excitement and encouragement meant and changed everything.

How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?

Unlike the banks and our competitors, we not only encourage saving by automating the savings process, we created an access barrier for our customers by only allowing users four free withdrawal days in a year, outside of that, withdrawal attracts an early withdrawal fee.

We also offer savings interests rates that

How do you deal with failure, and what did you learn from it?

No one is perfect, so I am relatively comfortable taking responsibility for my shortcomings. My approach is to figure out what I could change to avoid similar circumstances in the future.

Where do you see your business in the next five years?

Over the next few years, we will be the future of savings and investments. We're growing from just a savings product into a robust financial management platform.

We will be developing and including more financial features to make the platform more robust and primed to reach more users across the continent, and eventually, the world, by offering more financial services - including insurance and group investment options, while maintaining the simplicity and convenience that has been its trademark.

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If someone gave you $100,000 to invest in your business by the end of the week or lose it, what would you do?

It completely depends on who the person is. I don't believe in raising money for money's sake, and outside of a fundraising round (and even within), I would not accept capital injection from anyone without additional tangible value. We've learnt to only accept smart, connected money, because money can only take you so far. So, I guess I'll take it if the person comes with great value, outside of cash.

“

Today, PiggyVest is the largest online savings & investment platform in Nigeria with almost 200,000 users who have saved over $15Million (7Billion Naira) so far.

BUSINESS TRENDS & HOT TOPICS

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737 MAX

Boeing 737 Max8: In the eye of a Crashing Storm

I

n the wake of the March 10 Ethiopia Airlines plane crash that killed all 157 passengers on board - making it the second fatal air accident involving the 737 Max 8 model in less than five months, the Boeing plane makers are under world scrutiny as investigations and enquiries are on to ascertain what could have gone wrong leading to the recurrent air disasters which in both cases, the passenger jets went down shortly after take-off.

Following the Ethiopia Air mishap, Boeing's international problems started to mount as more countries, airlines and jurisdictions joined the long list of those choosing to ground the company's narrow-body series 737 Max 8 aircraft over growing concerns about its safety, as a large number of regulators across the globe expressed caution until more investigations are concluded and more information are known about the reason for the crashes.

Although the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had initially maintained the “continued airworthiness” of the model, it later made a U-turn announcing that it has grounded Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft over safety fears just days after other countries halted its use.

“The grounding will remain in effect pending further investigation, including examination of information from the aircraft's flight data

recorders and cockpit voice recorders,” the agency said in a statement.

Federal Aviation Administration chief Daniel Elwell cited unspecified evidence found at the crash scene as part of the justification for the agency to reverse course and temporarily halt flights of Boeing's largest selling aircraft. The FAA explained that the decision was based on new evidence gathered at the Ethiopia Airline crash site, near the capital Addis Ababa, as well as "newly refined satellite data".

"The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analysed today," the FAA said in a statement.

Following the FAA statement, Boeing had to announce a temporary suspension of the "entire global fleet" of the 737 MAX aircraft.

The grounding of its planes by major players is seen in the aviation circles as a major blow to w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

the company leading to losses in billions of dollars in value in just weeks as more than 40 nations have suspended the uses of the 737 Max planes series. "We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's president, CEO and Chairman in a statement on the company's website. "We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again.

“On behalf of the entire Boeing team, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in these two tragic accidents,” Dennis added. Though Boeing confirmed that for the past few months it has been developing a "flight control software enhancement" for the aircraft, and were confident they are safe to fly, the plane

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BUSINESS TRENDS & HOT TOPICS

plane have been flown to Paris for investigation.

According to information on the Boeing website, the 737 MAX is the fastest-selling airplane in the company's history, accumulating almost 4,700 orders from more than 100 customers worldwide. The Next-Generation 737 provides airline customers with superior reliability, fuel efficiency and high-value returns operators require in today's competitive market.

The Boeing Company is an American multinational corporation that manufactures, designs, and sells airplanes, rockets, rotorcraft, missiles and satellites. The company also provides leasing and product support services.

Based on its 2017 revenue, Boeing is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers, is the fifthlargest defense contractor in the world and is the largest exporter in the United States by dollar value.

manufacturers are currently facing their worst crises in years as its shares fell by 3 percent immediately President Donald Trump urged the company to ground all 737 Max planes.

The shares then rebounded in a sign that the grounding had been largely priced in to Boeing's stock. But even after ending on March 13 slightly higher, the stock is still down more than 10% since the crash, wiping more than $25 billion off the company's market value.

As investigations continue in order to identify the causes of both crashes, the plane company has so far lost more than $27bn (£21bn) on the company's market value. Also, the shares of the three US airlines that had been using the planes - United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest saw their shares briefly shoot lower on the news, and then quickly went back to positive territory.

Aviation authorities around the world are waiting to know the results of the investigations, as airlines are making adjustments in order to accommodate passengers affected by the grounding, making it probable that Boeing will compensate the carriers that are directly affected by dip in revenues owing to the temporary grounding.

Meanwhile, a preliminary investigation into the first crash showed that pilots in the Lion Air aircraft struggled to get the plane in control after the nose was forced down by an automatic safety feature. The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines also said his pilots also were reporting problems controlling the plane before the crash. British regulators however, highlighted possible trouble with a reportedly damaged flight data recorder.

Also, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a probe into whether there were lapses in the approval of Boeing 737 Max planes after a fatal crash in Indonesia last October, the Wall

Street Journal reported. The probe is focused on a flight safety system suspected of playing a role in the crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air. The Lion Air flight descended and jetted up more than two dozen times as pilots fought against the plane's automated safety system that was trying to push down the nose.

The captain of the Boeing Co. 737 Max 8 asked in a panicky voice to turn back only three minutes into the flight as the plane accelerated to abnormal speeds, reports had said. All contact with Flight 302 was lost five minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa and even before the captain's radio message, controllers knew he had an emergency, according to media reports.

Regulators in the U.S. and Canada have said the profiles of the two short flights are similar, but haven't yet concluded they were caused by the same problem. The Lion Air flight in Indonesia descended and climbed more than two dozen times as pilots fought against the plane's automated safety system that was trying to push down the nose.

The voice and data recorders from the Ethiopian Airlines w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

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TECH KING

Behold, Africa's youngest iOS developer By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

B

randon Kynoch became an internet sensation after his app, Torus was chosen as game of the day on the iOS App Store in 137 App Stores worldwide. With his programming skillset, even from a tender age, the name - Brandon Kynoch is already resonating among software developers and gamers who are already adoring his creations; “Blast”, “Torus” and “Sector”. Following his worldwide acclaim, the young chap is rewriting the gaming narrative by building unrivalled gaming experiences with his combination of player customisations, exquisite g raphics, immersive audio, simplicity and fun.

In this interview with Business Elites Africa, Brandon talks about how it all began, his strides and what the future holds:

Tell us about yourself and your brand services and any other information you would love to provide.

My name is Brandon Kynoch. I am a 17 year-old game developer from South Africa and I have been into programming since age 11. The name of my company is Hard Graft Studios, which is an upcoming mobile game development studio run by me.

What was your background like, and what did you venture into before starting up in this sector?

I have been extremely interested in technology from a very young age. I

Brandon Kynoch CEO, Hardgraft Studios - South Africa

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started programming at the age of 11, soon after I realized that game development is the perfect medium to combine my passion for art and programming. I knew exactly where I wanted to be when I was older, this is why I have and will continue to teach myself and work hard to achieve my goals.

What problem does your business solve?

I create fun by programming highquality mobile games for the world to enjoy.

TECH KING

How did you raise funds to setup your business?

Start-up capital for my company was extremely low as my first published app Blast (A Tank Game) was developed completely by me. However, I outsourced the audio design for this game. I built the app from the ground up which also meant that I didn't have to pay any royalties on assets. This app took me just under 2 years to develop, however I consider it a huge success as it put my company on the map and established a good reputation for myself amongst mobile game developers.

Describe how you felt when you received payment for your services for the first time.

“

My first real payday came after the launch of Torus, my second game.

I finally felt that all of my hard work and dedication over the previous 5 years had started paying off, I couldn't be happier.

My first payment came soon after the launch of Blast. It only just covered the costs of developing and publishing the game but, nonetheless I had a sigh of relief as I knew that greater things were to come. My first real payday came after the launch of Torus, my second game. I finally felt that all of my hard work and dedication over the previous 5 years had started paying off, I couldn't be happier.

How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?

Unlike most developers, I build my games around the user experience and not because I want to make money. My ratings on the App Store are testimony to this. I also believe that my games are very unique in concept and design.

Who can you say is your role model?

was well prepared in starting my company and publishing games in that I had been developing for 5 years beforehand.

How do you deal with failure, and what have you learn from it?

Out of the three games that I have published, I consider them all to be very successful. However, I have come close to failure in the development process, and I have always been able to overcome this. I believe that the most important thing is just to persevere and remain determined.

Where do you see your business in the next five years?

I will be moving to America to study computer science next year. At the same time, I would like to establish my company in the United States and employ full time developers. I hope to be releasing apps and updates a lot more regularly and would also like to venture into other areas of technology.

If someone gave you $100,000 to invest in your business by the end of the week or lose it, what would you do?

I would run advertising campaigns to promote my games so that I can reach new users.

What major challenge have you had so far as a company, and how were you able to deal with it?

The most challenging part of my art is making time to work on my games, as I am still in high school. However, I make the most of my holidays and am very productive in this time.

Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

What has been your biggest mistake since setting up?

Tell us about your new products/ services/programmes that your company is embarking on?

I have been fortunate enough to be able to say that I haven't made any noteworthy mistakes yet. I feel that I

I am currently working on a major update for Torus which I hope to be releasing in the coming months.

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TECH QUEEN

While the tech industry has long been a male-dominated eld, an increasing number of women are entering tech and making fantastic contributions every day.

By: Victor Oluwole

WHERE BEAUTY, BRAIN & TECHNOPRENEURSHIP MEET

Sazia Sousa

Founder Technoplus - Mozambique

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azia Sousa, founder and CEO of Technoplus, is one of the women leading the way in helping Africa’s tech industry become more diverse.

Despite gaining admission to study orthodontics, she fell into the tech world and ended up studying Computer Engineering. After graduation, she worked as an IT Executive for two companies, learning about software and tech tools while helping her parents run their business. These early experiences caused her to fall in love with tech and entrepreneurship, and she used this to guide the rest of her career to founding Technoplus.

In this interview with Business Elites Africa, Sazia Sousa speaks on how she has grown her career in the tech industry and overcome challenges and adversity during their career.

Describe your company, services/products and any other information you would like to provide.

Technoplus is a company with 100% local capital focused on Information Technologies. We provide Innovative and Results Oriented solutions, always seeking to exceed the most demanding expectations of the market. Our mission is to provide to our customers agile, organised and objective solutions, generating gains and guaranteed results.

With our main objective being one of the main suppliers of solutions in computer science, we try to consolidate and to expand markets through a highly competitive technology. We are a young, highly qualified and hardworking team that provide the right technological solution to any kind of business; we work as both hardware and software, and even understand that in some cases these together are the solutions our customers seek.

Tell us about your background, what did you venture into before starting up?

I wanted to be an architect, but when I finished high school, architecture was no longer on my “wannabe” list. I gained admission to study orthodontics but ended up studying Computer Engineering. It was during my undergraduate days that I started my first business, which was craft invitation cards and wedding gifts. I ran the business for a couple of years even after I started my actual business.

I also did websites as a freelancer and worked in two companies as an IT Technician where I gained a lot of industry experience. While I was doing all that, I helped my parents - who are entrepreneurs to - run their company, and that is where my vision for entrepreneurship manifested.

What industry challenges does your business face, how can it be remedied?

As a company, our first challenge was to help companies deal with their ICT w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Infrastructure and that is the first problem my company solves.

We are facing a big digital gap in our countries in Africa, and this is a barrier for development because we buy solutions designed and developed by Europeans and Americans, but our reality is different from theirs. Every time we face this situation, we have to adapt our business to fit into their systems.

But if we are the ones developing our solutions based on our reality, it would be easier to make our people use and grow with it. It is possible to follow international standards with an African face. By so doing, we will empower people digitally, grow faster and possibly be at the same level as some reference countries in the world.

How did you raise funds to set up your business?

Starting up, I did not have to invest in equipment or anything at all. All I needed was myself, my knowledge, my

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TECH QUEEN

How did you distinguish yourself from your competitors?

Our focus is on our clients' needs, not only on new and fancy technology. The technology, we deliver or produce is to solve problems or increase our client's productivity. And we do innovate.

Who can you say is your role model?

My parents for sure! They are entrepreneurs and ended up unconsciously becoming my inspiration and mentors. I am not the kind of person to have famous and international role models. Although I like Elon Musk, a lot, I am too realist to make him my role model.

What has been your biggest mistake since setting up?

Trusting my business to a friend. I lost the business and a friend.

How did you deal with failure, and what did you learn from it?

Starting up, I did not have to invest in equipment or anything at all.

All I needed was myself, my knowledge, my experience, some curiosity and the internet”

- Sazia Sousa experience, some curiosity and the internet.

My first office was at the garage of my house and my first client was my neighbour who signed a $100 contract.

That was enough to start looking for more clients and opportunities.

As time passed by, more clients and contracts came up and the money I made was reinvested back in the company. My family and friends were also very important in that phase as I tried to always to play safe and not take a step bigger than I could.

Describe how you felt when you received payment for your services for the first time.

I felt like the recognition of my hard work had finally paid off. It was as if I received a prize and I wanted to show it to everybody. It was not a large sum, but it was definitely a motivation to make more! At that moment I realised that from where that money came could come lots more, and the source was not my client, but my dedication, passion and focus.

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I learn a lot from all my mistakes and failures, and I always give myself a second chance to do better.

Where do you see your business in the next five years?

I see it as a small icon on more than 5000 0000 mobile phone screens around Africa. We are currently working on transforming our IT Support into an App to provide IT Support Services all over Africa.

If someone gave you $100,000 to invest in your business by the end of the week or lose it, what would you do?

I would make my next five years closer by investing in the project that I am already working on.

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A RT I C L E

THE ROLE OF

TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH By:Victor Oluwole

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echnology is constantly disrupting the everyday lives of Nigerians, leaving a profound impact on how businesses operate in today's digital economy.

The Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector is playing an increasingly important role in consolidating regional trends in business, investment and modernisation, which is why we are witnessing a spike in the mobile technology market, the Internet, information technology, software and hardware, as well as the technological infrastructure.

Nigeria, Africa's largest economy and population, has a crushing appetite for technology, which has led to the emergence of innovations and a strong drive for digitisation. For a sector that had more than 161 million lines fully connected in the second quarter of 2018, one cannot neglect technology's contribution towards making Nigeria one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

In 2017, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Nigeria ranked 143rd in the 2017 World Ranking of the ICT Development Index (IDI). According to the 2018 Nigerian Mobile Report by Jumia, Nigeria takes up w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

184.6 million of the total population in Africa and out of that 98 million Nigerians are active on the Internet with a 65% penetration rate compared to 53% in 2016. 154.3 million Nigerians have a mobile Internet connection, with 21 million being smartphone users, and 17 million being active social media users via their mobile phones. This interesting analysis supports the argument that Nigeria is the continent's largest Internet market and hub for mobile phones, devices, mobile money and e-commerce services.

The ICT sector in Nigeria has grown rapidly over the years, with current statistics indicating that ICT contributes

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10% to Nigeria's gross domestic product (GDP) annually. Beyond GDP growth, technology also provides opportunities to pursue social and developmental objectives. Throughout the developing world, technology is connecting remote populations to markets and strengthening the overall efficiency of service delivery in areas such as health, education, livelihoods and financial inclusion, as well as creating access to government services for the most marginalized populations.

According to a recent report by Nielsen Media Research, Nigeria has a rapidly expanding middle-class population of over 42 million people. This has become evident in the entrepreneurial spirit of her people and in the increasingly important role technology plays in their life. Today, millions of Nigerian youths are beginning to give up formal employment to learn hands-on ICT skills such as Programming, web design, and networking to position them for better opportunities. According to another data presented by Partech Ventures, Nigeria attracts more start-up funding than anywhere else in Africa.

diversify its oil economy. From an international perspective, the Managing Director of Huawei Nigeria, Frank Li, observed that, to fast track the nation's development through ICT, governments should lead by example in digital transformation for enterprises and citizens, and increase spending on ICT infrastructure to impact the public.

The Impact of Technology in the Economy of Nigeria Technology has an impact on Nigeria's society from two perspectives: Education and Economy. In education, technology ensures lifelong learning through elearning, providing the skills to explore economic opportunities. On the economic front, technology has impacted health care, agriculture, services and tourism. Technology has also created opportunities for various forms of investment via the digital market, improving productivity and quality in the Nigerian banking and financial sector revolution.

Telecommunication

The Nigerian telecommunications sector is the most important segment of its information and communication sector.

Telecommunications has attracted more than $68bn in private sector investments since 2001 and the sector is largely dominated by key players such as MTN (with 37.21% market share), Airtel, Glo and 9mobile (formerly Etisalat). Over the years, the sector has contributed immensely to the economy and the lives of Nigerians, simultaneously growing rapidly and simplifying our everyday lives in According to a areas such as social recent report by media, banking services Nielsen Media (mobile banking applications) and access Research, to online learning Nigeria has a platforms.

The rise of technology in Nigeria has also been recognised internationally. At least 7.1 million Nigerians use Facebook daily, and the rapid mobile internet growth is opening up opportunities for significant revenues for the social platform. As a result, the social network is looking to forge stronger ties with businesses in Nigeria and help create more compelling mobile-based marketing campaigns.

As Nigeria continues to be seen as a centre for investors and entrepreneurs who are attracted by the prospect of growth in services to Africa's largest population and largest economy, experts have opined that the industry can do more if the government can focus on the industry and encourage players, especially now that the country needs to

rapidly expanding middle-class population of over 42 million people

Banking e-banking makes use of the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), improving the

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operational efficiency of many banks in the country and also allowing customers to operate their accounts, transfer funds and pay bills with the operating banks from their mobile phones.

Fintech For years, Fintech company, Interswitch, has been at the forefront of simplified payment solutions serving as a gateway for debit cards in Nigeria. Quickteller, a digital payment solution, facilitates online payments for all kinds of bills. Other big players in Nigeria's Fintech industry are: E-Tranzact, Flutterwave, Paystack, Piggybank, Renmoney and Remita to mention a few.

These Fintech companies have built excellent business models, processing billions of dollars in transactions, while generating revenues in millions too.

Lifestyle The growing middle class in Nigeria is growing interest in online shopping.

Websites like Jumia, Konga, and Jiji are the go-to platforms for online shopping in Nigeria.

Iroko TV, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-deman is one of Africa's biggest mainstream online movie streaming websites with instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood movies.

Today, technology has been recognised as the engine of growth and a source of energy for the social and economic empowerment of all countries, particularly third world countries.

Through technology, these countries are empowering the masses, as it can be an effective shortcut to higher levels of equity in the new global digital networked information economy.

Exploring the impact of technology on Nigeria's economy is certainly a key enabler that can be deployed strategically to improve productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy. With this, businesses can establish direct contact with consumers through e-commerce, generate high revenues and accelerate the growth of the Nigerian economy as a whole.

Branding Services Research & Insight Content Optimization Web Design/Management Marketing & Strategy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Media Marketing Email Marketing Services Google Ads Media Planning & Buying Local Business Listing Services Monitoring & Engagement Analytics & Reporting For more enquires

+234 810 435 2513, +234 9099430429 www.glimpse

.com

360 Digital

Marketing

Solutions for your Business

You can reach us on our social platforms:

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S TA RT U P A F R I C A

HASHTAG

South Africa

Going a Notch Higher With Marketing & Brand Influencing By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

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ashtag South Africa was born out of the need to educate and offer tech solutions to South Africans on modern day technologies especially in the area of internet based services. As at today, the Johannesburg-based startup has trained over 19,000 individuals from various African institutions on digital media strategy, content creation, marketing and production, Social Media Campaign and everything in between. Having championed the cause to explore the tech education and services sector for 8 years, Hastag South Africa Founder and CEO, Conrad David was recognised as a Top 100 Most Inuential South African in the area of Science and Technology back in 2016 and received the award for excellence and innovative concepts for the company in Geneva Switzerland in 2017.

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on the doors of businesses and government parastatals. And 8 years later, Hashtag South Africa has grown into is a six-figure enterprise.

The company has financially recorded year on year growth with its 2018 opening year sales of $2807,51 and a closing sales of $107 413,16 while maintaining lean expense costs of $4000 (on the average).

Hashtag South Africa has also made it through the worst times and have come out of such circumstances unscathed. It however continues to grow into a trusted and reliable service provider, enabling businesses, individuals and organisations on technological tools and providing internet-based services, online marketing of products and services.

How Hashtag South Africa Started Hashtag came into existence back in 2011 when South Africa first publically shared its plan for the Year 2030. David harped on the vision of growing the awareness of South Africa (People, Places and Culture) by the means of empowering government agencies and private businesses, utilising his core areas of expertise - digital media marketing, Social Media and the web based services.

Today, the Hashtag brand has carved a niche over the African continent by

developing into a well-rounded digital marketing, advertising, monitoring and analytics, media strategy, events promoting and training services company and can boast of having trended every event, idea, content and brand it has taken aboard over the 8 years of its existence.

Initial Funding & Brand Growth David, who was raised from a disadvantaged background, borrowed R100 ($8) from his mother and used the funds to register and create his company's website, hashtagsa.com. He then began to knock w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Despite running its operations from Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is digitally connected to be able to monitor traffic and operations remotely while on the move to local and international destinations. With just 1 full time and 4 complementing adhoc staff, Hashtag South Africa has so far been able to carry out its projects optimally by optimising small serviced office spaces and the engagement of regular creative and production personnel on a freelance basis.

Employee Motivation and Inspiration The tech-driven firm seeks for new ways to inspire its team members by promoting them to discover and improve on their talents, from skills development programs to social networking engagements. The company strives to attain staff motivation

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Recent Achievement Hashtag South Africa has been a well recognised enterprise, in 2018 it received an online review and was ranked the Best Social Media Management Company in South Africa.

by allowing employees exibility of time, freedom of expression of ideas/creativity and enabling them have ďŹ nancial security.

Even at lunch time, workers catch up on latest Youtube Videos and discuss new trends online.

As for the company's dress code, it is quite casual, but corporate for client engagements and corporate event.

Giving back?

The company maintains a CSI perspective to the business every year by helping NGOs promote what they do with the Social Media and attending charity programmes and education workshops.

Plans and Programmes Hashtag South Africa is looking to digitise the courses it has developed over the past 8

years into online courses by April 2019 to enable people from all over the world to enroll and participate in any of its courses.

It strives to spend more on digital advertising to promote its online courses across key SADC regions for a period of 4 months. Hashtag South Africa plans to launch an #SouthAfrica consumer product online for sales distribution. It is also seeking to pursue research and development purposes to expand its current business operations in preparation into the 4th Industrial Revolution in Tokyo, Japan.

Business Goals for the next 5 years?

On clocking 13 years in operation, Hashtag South Africa hopes to be an established Digital Media Service company with clients w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

across the world assisting individuals, governments and businesses in achieving their goals and to help develop technological awareness that will truly shape future generations.

In light of the above, Hashtag South Africa is in search of Investments on South Africa's journey to 2030 with many great leaders and masters of industries working together to eradicate poverty across the planet. Also, the company will see more countries gaining greater awareness online, promoting trade and industry to boosting education and ensuring access to the Internet becomes a basic necessity in the future.

Issue 104

UPCOMING ISSUE

The Circle of

Africa's

Chefs

STARTUP AFRICA

30 Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 103

Africa Reshaping the Future of Technology in Africa By: Victor Oluwole echpoint Africa is a leading media platform dedicated to startups, entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology in Africa. The company was founded in 2015 with a strong desire to take technology mainstream, and that is what they have since committed themselves to doing. The company is made up of a team of passionate individuals who are dedicated to helping Africans understand how technology affects business, lifestyle and culture, especially on the continent.

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technology space. Techpoint Inspired - its agship event - is arguably the largest technology conference in Africa. The startup and SME conference - Techpoint Build - has, over the last 2 years, convened more than 10,000 startup and SME owners around West Africa. Additionally, during the annual Techpoint Innovation Tour, the team periodically tour regions in Nigeria and West Africa to discover hidden tech talents in emerging markets, while also reporting the technology trends in these circles.

S i n c e 2 0 1 6 , Te ch p o i n t A f r i c a h a s consistently hosted some of the largest events and startups competitions in the

STARTING UP Techpoint Africa started with a goal of telling African entrepreneurs stories from a w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

relatable point. The platform was created for people all over the world to read about Africa and how she is shaping her future through technology. Having taken a 2-year break from tech reporting, the Founder/CEO Techpoint, Yusuf Adewale dedicated his time to professional photography and made some money, a lot of which became the seed capital for the company. However, that money ran out quickly. Eventually, Techpoint got some timely assistance from people who believed in the company and has since 2017 thrived solely on revenue.

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People

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&Culture

A cross-section of the audience at Techpoint Build 2019

Techpoint has only one office in Lagos, Nigeria with about 16 employees. That may be hard to believe for many who have seen what they have been able to achieve in the space of 4 years. But that is a testament to the boundless power of technology and internet that Techpoint advocates for.

MILESTONES ACHIEVED The most recently celebrated achievement was the successful hosting of the West African edition of Techpoint Build, which involved organising regional semi-finals across West Africa and the bringing West African startups to Nigeria for the first time.

The company's core staff values of openness, honesty and fairness are reflected even in the way they dress so it is not unusual to see team members wearing native attire or T-shirt and jeans on a Monday.

Techpoint also believes more in productivity than busyness, however, they place focus on cleanliness and professionalism especially when dealing with thirdparties. The work environment too is friendly enough that the staff do not need to formalise team bonding except for occasional team bonding exercises like karaoke evenings, TGIFs and team outings. Teamwork is very important for Techpoint. “We would not be where we are without the team,” Mr. Yusuf says.

A Pitch Friday session

GIVING BACK Techpoint is very big on giving back in their own little way. The company recently moved to a new and bigger office and as part of their CSR efforts, give out free working space for a few hours a month to anyone who is interested. They also have a thriving startup community called “Pitch Friday,” where budding entrepreneurs meet once a month to share and learn business experiences. Their annual Techpoint Innovation Tour is also another way in which the company gives back.

THE FUTURE… In June 2019, Techpoint Africa will be hosting the third edition of Techpoint Inspired, which will convene no less than 5000 technology enthusiasts, experts and industry stakeholders from around Africa to discuss the future of technology on the continent. It will be Techpoint's first paid attendance event. The tech-based startup also plans to hold an East African edition of Techpoint Build sometime in December.

Techpoint Africa today, is an information warehouse for technology and innovation in Africa. In the next 5 years, Techpoint will be “the” information warehouse for technology and innovation in Africa.

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Going Above and

BEYOND

…celebrating top-of-the-crop staff members in Africa’s work space

Yinka Awosanya

Layo Ogunbanwo

Markets and Industries Reporter, Techpoint Nigeria He covers a wide range of topics including e-commerce and telecoms to mention a few. He is also the author of Techpoint's quarterly and annual Nigerian Startup Funding reports.

Vice President, Product Strategy PiggyVest, HQ, Lagos-Nigeria Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Kong Wing Jr. Sales, Technoplus LDA, Mozambique Employee of the month January 2019 Best Performance in January of 2019

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She led user research to dene product audience and develop user personas.

She was integral to the redesign of the company website and app.

She helped overhaul the user signup and onboarding process resulting in 40% monthon-month increase in user activation rate.

She headed a reactivation campaign for inactive users yielding 35% Month-on-Month reactivation rate.

She has spearheaded the entire overhaul of user experience and user interface for our mobile apps.

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Going Above and

BEYOND

…celebrating top-of-the-crop staff members in Africa’s work space

Felix Ike

Auriane Cadja

Chief Technology Ofcer Team Apt, Lagos Nigeria He is called Mr. Fix it!

He is the one everyone runs to for anything technical and hands-on.

Account Manager, Benin Republic She performed the daily management of the customer/supplier database, realtime merchandise inventory, and accounting, which allowed the company to expand its presence in the Beninese market and expand the team."

Clayton Matule Font End Developer, Technoplus LDA, Mozambique Employee of The Year 2018 For Best performance and Commitment During the Year of 2018

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WaystoCap: The E-Commerce Platform Helping African Merchants Build Online Empires By: Victor Oluwole

Niama El Bassunie Founder/CEO WaystoCap - Morocco

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iama El Bassunie is the founder and CEO of WaystoCap, the first African focused B2B online platform that enables buyers and suppliers meet, manage, and pay for their goods in a verified and trusted environment. Founded in 2014, WaystoCap is also the first Moroccan startup to complete the Y Combinator accelerator program in San Francisco in 2017, before raising US $3 million in its seed round, financed mainly by Y Combinator itself. We caught up with Niama to learn more about her background, and how she founded a niche in the online business to business (B2B) marketplace in Africa.

Describe your company, services/products and any other information you would like to provide.?

WaystoCap is the first online business to business (B2B) marketplace in Africa. We help businesses all over the continent connect in a secure environment to trade. WaystoCap offers three (3) discrete services: WaystoCap Marketplace, WaystoCap Local, and WaystoCap Logistics.

Tell us about your background, what did you venture into before starting up in this sector?

After graduating from the London School of Economics, I worked for

PwC in London for a few years. While at PwC, I was approached by a friend to get involved in a startup business in the biofuels sector, which I obliged. I helped him source products from North Africa, and that was my start into the complex world of international trade. Following this experience, I launched my own company in the more traditional trading sector, but with a central focus on Africa.

A few months later, I found myself on a flight to Conakry, Guinea to discuss a particular opportunity, and what was supposed to be only a few days visit, turned into an 8-month long trip that completely changed my life! Following that experience and realizing how much more could be done to help both w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

small and big businesses on this vast continent was when the idea for WaystoCap emerged.

I also spent some time in Silicon Valley after my time in Guinea, where I further explored and refined the idea with friends and contacts.

What problem does your business solve?

There is a lack of trust in cross border trade in Africa. WaystoCap creates this trust.

How did you raise funds to set up your business?

We received our first investment in late 2016, from Jude Gomila, a prolific

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early-stage investor from the US. He is someone I knew personally and he had tracked my progress from the earliest stages of setting up WaystoCap. Also, Y Combinator helped us reach our goals faster. We met many great investors and advisors through their network. For a company that is focused on Africa, and the first to ever participate in the accelerator program from Morocco; it was helpful in opening doors.

Describe how you felt when you first received payment for your services.

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in the cultures we operate in at WaystoCap. However, from my experience in Silicon Valley, failure is something that is discussed both openly and without judgement. This can be extremely helpful when analysing anything. I hope this is something that can become more prevalent in other cultures too.

Where do you see your business in the next five years?

We're only just getting started! There is so much we still want to do to unlock African trade to help small businesses all over the continent grow and succeed.

Awesome! And a sense of vindication.

How did you distinguish yourself from your competitors?

At WaystoCap, we offer our users a platform to trade in a verified ecosystem on the exciting and dynamic African continent. This manifests itself as a competitive advantage in the way our product suits the environment, how we handle payments, how we create trust, how we verify, etc.

Who can you say is your role model?

My role model has been my mother, who managed to create a successful business and support our family.

What has been your biggest mistake since setting up?

I do not like to focus on the mistake itself, I prefer to rather think about what I can learn from situations. Hiring is an area I find I am constantly learning, and always looking for different ways to evaluate people and their potential.

How did you deal with failure, and what did you learn from it?

Failure is something people often do not like to face or discuss, particularly

If someone gave you $100,000 to invest in your business by the end of the week or lose it, what would you do?

WaystoCap offers 3 discrete services: WaystoCap Marketplace, WaystoCap Local, and WaystoCap Logistics. Each one is unique to the African context, and solves a different part of the trading paradigm.

WaystoCap Marketplace solves the problem of finding a verified buyer or supplier, anywhere in Africa. That includes helping with insurance and payments.

WaystoCap Local helps a supplier and a buyer get closer together, and trade in local currency and in smaller quantities; at a much faster rate. It includes payments, delivery, and payment terms.

WaystoCap Logistics helps a supplier and a buyer get their goods delivered on time, at competitive rates, and cleared to the right place.

I don't like hiring fast, and 1 week would probably be too quick to make a good decision, but certainly hiring would be a priority.

How has your company fared since you the very start?

From the time we started, we already had customers. Also, I was keen on engaging users as soon as I could. This is the only way to make sure what we were doing made sense.

What major challenge have you had so far as a company, and how were you able to deal with it?

All startups face challenges, it is how you deal with them and learn and go beyond them that matters. In WaystoCap, the major challenge was bridging the gap between a supplier and a buyer in different countries who have never worked together previously, and it's the reason we exist. WaystoCap acts as that bridge and creates trust.

Tell us about your new products/services/programmes that your company is embarking on

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At WaystoCap, we offer our users a platform to trade in a veried ecosystem on the exciting and dynamic African continent.

This manifests itself as a competitive advantage in how we handle payments, how we create trust, and how we verify

- Niama El Bassunie

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B U S I N E S S T R E N D S A N D H OT TO P I C S

Aside from an instrument-laden dummy named Ripley, SpaceX's Crew Dragon didn't carry any passengers on the flight.

But the success of the shakeout cruise suggests that this huge milestone isn't far off.

MAKES HISTORY BY COMPLETING THE FIRST PRIVATE CREW CAPSULE MISSION

S

paceX took a giant leap toward launching humans from Cape Canaveral for the first time since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011, after the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule safely splashed down in the Atlantic, making it the first privately built crew-capable spacecraft ever to complete a mission to the International Space Station.

DEMO-1 UN-CREWED MISSION.

On March 2, SpaceX launched the first test flight of its Crew Dragon spacecra . (SpaceX)

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B U S I N E S S T R E N D S A N D H OT TO P I C S

On Saturday, March 2, at 2:49 a.m. EST, one of the company's Falcon 9 rockets lit up the pre-dawn sky, lofting the Crew Dragon spacecraft designed to carry humans—but carrying only a stuffed globe and a manikin named Ripley outfitted with a space suit and suite of sensorsto the International Space Station (ISS). It circled the Earth 18 times, firing its engines to ensure it would be on track for a rendezvous with the orbital outpost before eventually docking autonomously at the ISS (International Space Station) with the new International Docking Adapter.

SpaceX's first Crew Dragon is seen at the International Space Station just before docking on March 3, 2019, during the Demo-1 test flight.

The spacecraft launched toward the station about 27 hours earlier.

The 400 pounds of supplies were emptied, but the “anthropomorphic test device” known as Ripley — basically a space crash test dummy — stayed in her seat on board.

After a five-day stay at the space station, the Crew Dragon spacecraft undocked and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean at 8:45 a.m. EST on Friday, March 8. The craft re-entered Earth's atmosphere and then deployed a set of parachutes to slow down and safely land in the ocean where a recovery vessel was waiting to meet it.

“If you just think about the enormity of this flight and all of the prep that went into it – getting the pad refurbished, getting the flight control room set up, getting the vehicle built, getting the Falcon 9 ready, all of the analysis and mission support that went into it – it's just been a tremendous job. Our NASA and SpaceX teams worked seamlessly not only in the lead-up to the flight but in how we managed the flight,” said Steve Stich, deputy manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

“We were all very excited to see re-entry, parachute and drogue deploy, main deploy, splashdown – everything happened just perfectly. It was right on time, the way that we expected it to be. It was beautiful,” said Benji Reed, director of crew mission management at SpaceX. Next up is the first crewed flight for the Crew Dragon. It's slated for Summer 2019 and will carry American astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Called Demo-2, that flight will be a 14-day mission to the ISS. If all goes well, the Crew Dragon will be put to work ferrying up to seven astronauts at a time back and forth to the ISS.

A recovery ship hauls SpaceX's first Crew Dragon capsule out of the Atlantic Ocean after the spacecraft's splashdown on March 8, 2019.

But before that can happen, SpaceX will conduct a different kind of test flight. This time, the same Crew Dragon capsule will initiate an emergency abort shortly after launch, allowing the Dragon to test its onboard escape system. During the test, eight SuperDraco engines attached to the spacecraft's hull will ignite and carry the vehicle away from the rocket. If everything checks out, the next Crew Dragon spacecraft will carry two NASA astronauts—Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken.

THE NASA 'SPACE TAXIS' Since July 2011, NASA hasn't launched to orbit aboard a homegrown spacecraft when the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on the final mission of the shuttle program. Ever since then, the United States — and every other nation that sends people to and from the ISS — has been dependent on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which launch atop rockets of the same name. The Soyuz sports three seats, each of which currently sells for about $80 million.

In 2014, NASA put its faith in the commercial sector, entrusting two companies, SpaceX and Boeing, to build its future space taxis.

SpaceX got $2.6 billion to develop Crew Dragon, and Boeing received $4.2 billion to work on its CST-100 Starliner capsule.

Boeing started from scratch, building a thimble-shaped capsule designed to hold seven passengers. The CST-100 Starliner is designed to hitch a ride to orbit atop an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance. SpaceX, meanwhile, updated its Dragon

SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, left, speaks with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, center, and Bob Behnken, right, who are assigned to fly on the crewed Demo-2 mission.

cargo capsule to carry a crew of seven, flying on top of the company's Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA hoped their spacecraft would start flying in 2017. Both SpaceX and Boeing have been hampered with delays — but 2019 could be the year they start flying crew. Boeing's target schedule is similar.

Starliner's uncrewed test flight to the ISS, abort test and crewed ISS test flight could occur in April, May, and August, respectively, if everything goes well.

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Government officials still have safety concerns about both spacecraft, according to a recent Reuters report and documents from NASA's safety advisory panel, all of which will need to be resolved before they can fly humans. But Elon Musk's space exploration company is one step ahead of Boeing, as it will get key data from this demo mission to make final adjustments ahead of its inaugural crewed flight.

YOUTREPRENEUR

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TOO BROKE TO START A BUSINESS? DO THIS INSTEAD By:Victor Oluwole

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ntrepreneurship is all the rage these days. In this present day and age, an army of “wanterpreneurs” are constantly drawn into the world of startups, and the 9-5 is quickly becoming the bane of many salaried employees' existence. The cool kids of yesterday aspired to get MBAs from Ivy League schools and work their way up to become CEOs/Managers at top fortune 500 companies. Nowadays, it is not that difficult to find people who want to quit their job to live the glamorous, flexible life of business owners.

The unfortunate reality about business is that many dreamers are too broke to start a business. High levels of debt, limited access to finance, and responsibilities at home are among the biggest obstacles Africans face when thinking about starting a business.

So what do you do when you're too broke to start a business? Here are a few things to start with. .

1. Start Small Do you want to become a fashion designer or start a catering business? Why not try your hands at a fashion blog or being an Instagram foodie. The startup costs to open a website or a social media page are minimal and your personal finances can cover the expenses for things like data subscription and a good camera phone. Once you're able to succeed in the digital marketing aspect, you'll attract some customers and your business venture will be ready for weightier ventures down the line.

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2. Learn from the best If your entrepreneurial dream is to be a photographer, why not reach out to an already established photographer and offer to be an assistant or second shooter. Never underestimate the power of working for successful people in the industry you aspire to work in. You can build your network and knowledge as you prepare to build your own empire.

3. Start freelancing Assuming your freelance gigs wouldn't require tons of expensive equipment, you can very well start something with little or no overhead cost that could fuel your entrepreneurial dream. If you'd like to have a tech startup someday, you could offer programming services or write codes to time-strapped founders. You could also design websites or UI/UX interfaces for IT companies, banks etc.

The possibilities are endless but the goal is the same: get your

YOUTREPRENEURS

entrepreneurial juices flowing so you know what to expect when you're about to launch your business.

4. Start making money fast or upfront.

After you've gotten your freelance game on, getting paid fast is crucial.

Nothing will help your cash flow quicker than getting paid up front.

Here are some ways to get paid quickly: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Request an initial payment of at least 50% upfront.

Offer incentives to pay early.

Show up in person, if your clients are local.

Send invoices at least once a week.

Set up an automatic payment system.

5. Learn from your first customer(s) The more you spend time with customers, the more you'll be able to figure out everything you need to know about your business. Try to find out reasons why they may or may not want w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

to patronise you, what they think you can do better, what they think about your services? etc. These people can help your business grow real quick as their opinions will enable you know what is good and what to discard.

6. Get a co-founder with money.

Many successful businesses started with two or more founders. Having a co-founder will not only increase your chances of success, but will also help you in several ways including; Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Making better decisions Holding you accountable Expanding your horizon Helping you bounce off ideas Scaling your business It's a bit like getting married!

You may be too broke to pursue your entrepreneurial dreams today, but you do not have to exclude it completely.

Yes, you can start a business without money, but expect to also spend years developing your business instead of several days. Persistence is the key.

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YOUTREPRENEURS

7

LEGAL MISTAKES SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS MAKE

HOW TO AVOID THEM. By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

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mall business owners often turn their attention away from issues surrounding law, human resources, competition and many other sundry issues especially at the very beginning of their businesses.

Unfortunately, it is precisely these kind of things that bafe them and can drown their business.

These mistakes not only expose a company to all types of legal dispute, but are also costly and time consuming. These problems can easily make the difference between a struggling or growing business and a successful one.

Here are 7 top legal mistakes that small business owners make and what they can do to avoid them: Non Registration / Incorporation of Business Every business need the right legal foundation and structure otherwise they begin to have issues when they need investors to get on board. They get sued by a customer or employee, or begin to have problems when the founders leave.

Not registering your business in the eyes of the law can open it up for personal liability.

The best way out is to get legal counsel from experienced practitioners to determine what legal structure is best suited for your business in your location.

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No shareholding agreement The shareholding structure of a company becomes crucial when issues emanate from ownership of the company. Like when the owners decide to part ways there is a need to know who gets what, when it is time to sell the company or when the founder leaves. In any of the above circumstances, a shareholding agreement guides everyone's actions.

Sometimes in business, these foundational issues can rip an organisation apart right in the middle.

Seek legal counsel and get an attorney to draft a legal document that states in clear terms how issues of such nature will be decided between shareholders when the inevitable occurs.

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Small business scams and unfair contracts Small businesses are reported to have lost millions to scams and unfair contracts all over the world. One of the common scams small businesses suffer is the issuance of fake invoices which entrepreneurs or bookkeepers will pay automatically. Another is where contract clauses create unexpected upsets. Also, instances where rollover contracts lead to annual debits, can lead to stagnated growths in small businesses.

Legal counselling services are always required to assist the small business owner to draw up standard contracts and also assist entrepreneurs to interpret hidden ploys by partners, stakeholders and investors.

Human Resource guidelines not well laid out There is a great need to have a clear cut and detailed employee manual. Many small companies run into brick walls and gone under owing from lawsuits from aggrieved employees. This is where a well-structured employee rule-

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book becomes imperative.

The way out is to get the assistance of human resource personnel to develop a ďŹ tting policy for your company.

Non-remittance of taxes Taxes are statutory payments to the government which is backed by the laws of the land. Whether they come in form of Value Added Taxes, Payroll Taxes, etc, small businesses must make sure that they operate within the ambits of the laws of the country they operate. Most small scale businesses who avoid paying taxes usually end up being shut down or pay huge sums for defaulting which they most likely be unable to afford.

The remedy is to pay all taxes before the deadline so as to avoid accumulation and being hit by penalties and jail terms from the government agencies.

Not using trademarks, copyrights or patents Many new small-time entrepreneurs fail to take necessary steps to protect their intellectual property right until another individual or company steps in to take

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it. Intellectual protection is exclusive legal rights for words, names, sounds, ideas, arts, etc, given to a category of services or goods. Meaning that once you have registered that content others cannot use same without your permission.

In order to avoid losing out completely from what you created, make sure you get legal advice from an attorney, do an inventory of the company's intellectual property and get them patented, copyrighted or trademarked as soon as possible.

Fighting too many legal battles Unneeded litigations can hamper the growth of small businesses. Instead of settling issues amicably, some business owners decide to slug it out in the law courts and these legal battles can linger for years, costing both parties huge sums than initially intended.

The best way out is to settle disputes as quickly as possible before they get to the courts. But if the lawsuits are already taking their course, ďŹ nd a way to settle out of court.

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HMD GLOBAL & TECHPOINT PARTNER TO ADVANCE NIGERIAN SMES By: Victor Oluwole

(L-R: Renmoney CMO; Apekhade Idogho, Head of Marketing, West Africa at HMD Global; Olumide Balogun, Moderator; Adewale Yusuf (CEO Techpoint Africa), Head Commercial Banking Union Bank; Adekunle Sonola and Founder Leti Arts; Eyram Tawiau at Techpoint Build 2019)

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n a bid to show their unparalleled desire and commitment towards the advancement of technology in Nigeria, HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, partnered with Techpoint Africa for the second year running to emphasise the importance of tech startups and SMEs to the development of the technology industry in Africa at the recently held Techpoint Build 2019.

Techpoint Build is an annual tech conference that brings together over 30 thought leaders, 5,000 tech enthusiasts, startups, SMEs and innovators across West Africa. It is the biggest tech conference and exhibition that connects startups and SME communities with all industries, driving conversations that shape thoughts and

industry direction for all concerned stakeholders.

Speaking on a panel session tagged: ‘The Challenges of Building a Pan African Business’ Olumide Balogun, the Head of Marketing, West Africa at HMD Global hinted that there is the need for businesses, especially startups and SMEs to understand the importance of solving problems with their business solutions.

According to him “As a Global startup, HMD Global understands the need for startups and SMEs to connect their ideas to problems, just as the firm is doing

with its range of Nokia devices, looking at consumers' pain points such as battery life, camera, pure, secure and up-to-date operating system, and developing devices that meet such needs.”

Olumide also called on businesses to

Head of Marketing, West Africa, HMD Global, Olumide Balogun, speaking with Business Elites Africa

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prioritize structuring their businesses just the same way they pay attention to their business solutions, as this will help them focus more on the business side of things rather than the technical bits only.

Following his panel session Olumide Balogun, spoke with Business Elites Africa about HMD Global as Tech startup and their efforts to equip Nigerian SMEs.

SPECIAL BUSINESS REPORTS

solutions that help consumers get things done faster and better. An example is the Nokia 3.1 Plus, which has a two-day battery life, and the Nokia 6.1 Plus, which has amazing camera capabilities for low light. So, I think that the kind of solutions our mobile devices proffer to consumer problems has been instrumental in achieving that level of success.”

On the efforts of HMD Global towards delivering top-notch technology for Nigeria's SME market, Olumide said:

Speaking with Business Elites Africa on where HMD Global stands among the Top African Tech Startups, Olumide said: “I think we definitely consider ourselves as one of the largest tech startups globally, not even in Africa alone. HMD Global as a company started just over two years ago. We have the exclusive licence to build, design, manufacture and distribute Nokia branded products across the world. We have offices in many countries across many geographies, and last year we made unicorn status meaning we are valued at a billion dollars. Looking at the scale we have achieved over time, I think definitely we are one of the largest tech startups globally.

Also, one of the reasons for this is because of the solutions we offer. The Nokia mobile brand is known for quality and ease of use. We offer

“When we look at Nokia phones and how we build them, it is important for us that our products are able to solve problems.

For SMEs, there is a big problem around logistics and infrastructure, and we know we have products that are able to offer solutions to those problems. We continue to provide the right tools to help SMEs be more efficient even in terms of their resources, time management and skills, and that is the picture we continue to see. So, I think we've got great tools that definitely help SMEs. Another way to look at it is just being at Techpoint Build. For us, it is not only talking about what we have in terms of products but also about sharing knowledge. Just sitting on that panel and being able to talk to technopreneurs about how we build structures and how HMD Gobal has been able to build marketing skills across many countries in the last two years is something for them. So giving back knowledge in these types of forums is something we take very highly as well.” w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

On what new products releases/technologies HMD Global is planning, Olumide said: “The mobile industry is a fast pace industry, and like I always say, we are always cooking something new. We recently introduced the Nokia 8.1 and Nokia 3.1 Plus, something in the mid and something in the entry range. In the next couple of months, we will be introducing new products into the market as well. It is not all about technology for the sake of technology, but about how we build products that help users' daily activities. We have two-day battery life on our Nokia 3.1 Plus, which means you have more juice to get on the road and get stuff done.

So, we continue to consider those problems and we are always cooking something. So watch out!”

At the sideline of the event, The Nokia Phones experiential booth witnessed the presence of many event attendees who were keen on experiencing the range of Nokia devices running on pure, secure and up-to-date Android, as well as participated in the Nokia phone selfie competition with three winners emerging and getting rewarded with Nokia devices.

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SPECIAL BUSINESS REPORTS

SPECIAL BUSINESS REPORT

MICROSOFT4AFRIKA INITIATIVE EMPOWERS 1.7 MILLION AFRICAN SMES By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

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mall and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME's) and startups are key to the development of advanced and growing economies of the world. Same goes for Africa, where small and medium enterprises are pivotal to its promising economic growth. For many years, high-level players in the public and private sectors of top organisations globally have discussed at numerous fora on the need to create more enabling and self-sustaining ecosystems for small businesses, where innovation can ourish and businesses can grow.

T

he 4Afrika Initiative by Microsoft came to birth on the above premise to empower individuals, small businesses and organisations in Africa to attain skills, develop innovations and have affordable access to technology and the internet. This stance is already gaining grip. Launched in 2013, 4Afrika is enabling Microsoft's global

mission in Africa to accelerate digital transformations in this era of intelligent cloud, and unlock Africa's potential to create technology not just for the continent, but for the world.

So far, the 4Afrika project has coasted to empowering 1.7 million SMEs in Africa, bringing 728,000 online to help them transform and modernise their w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

businesses and over 500,000 of them now actively consuming Microsoft cloud services.

On its expedition to the current strides, 4Afrika entered into strategic partnership with Vodacom and Descasio to build capacity and help improve operational efďŹ ciency among its customers using the Microsoft

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Azure Cloud suite platform services.

Microsoft Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform which enables customers to rapidly build, deploy and manage its applications, data, runtime, etc, in the cloud. The platform allows users to leverage existing skills using the world's most popular languages, tools, and frameworks in a resilient, scalable and reliable global data center network.

Hence, following that trend across the continent, Microsoft 4Afrika is forging partnerships with several players in the SME ecosystem – from banks to telcos – to enhance SME offerings and reach broader audiences on access to finance, technology, skills and markets.

This is why the 4Afrika project partnered First Bank Nigeria Limited – West Africa's premier and the leading banking services solutions provider in Nigeria. The two organisations hosted a free-to-attend event for SMEs in Nigeria earlier in January – an event which was designed to promote technology adoption and skills development for small businesses.

Hosted under the theme; Accelerating Impact of Digital Transformation on Business Growth in Nigeria, the event featured SME-related discussions and panel sessions, with deep insights on how to leverage technology to drive business growth.

SPECIAL BUSINESS REPORTS

Also, participants experienced firsthand, Microsoft tools that enable them to operate both efficiently and productively within the Nigerian business ecosystem.

The First Bank partnership also reemphasised the need for capacity building and digital transformations for local SMEs by providing them with exclusive and tailored non-financial solutions such as skills development resources, access to business networks and educational platforms.

According to Taiwo Shonekan, Head Customer Experience and Value Management, First Bank of Nigeria Limited: This partnership with Microsoft enables us to deliver a portfolio on non-financial solutions to our SME customers.

We have over the last 125 years supported SMEs in building their business, whilst contributing to the national economy.

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This partnership is a landmark step in our quest to leverage the influence of technology in businesses, especially in today's digital age.”

“With this partnership, FirstBank customers can buy Microsoft products at discounted rates in the local currency – the naira – as this seamlessly aids technology adoption, skills and capacity development among SMEs in Nigeria,” she adds.

Amrote Abdella, Regional Director of the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative, says: “For SMEs, integrating technology into their operations is no longer an option, but a necessity for future growth and success. We're looking forward to engaging in discussions that explore how technology can extend reach to new markets and improve productivity, which results in better customer service, more competitive offerings and the ability to act with agility.

“Technology and the relevant digital skills today play such an integral role in business success. We're working with organisations to extend this support to as many SMEs as possible, ensuring not only their success but the growth and competitiveness of our continent in an increasingly digital world,” Abdella added.

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A RT I C L E

COMMON BUSINESS MYTHS

& WHY THEY

DON'T MATTER By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

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tarting your own business sounds great, and it can be an incredibly rewarding experience if only you understand some of the hard realities that go along with such an enterprise. But if you are to succeed, you need to know that some are true and some aren't. Here are some of them and how you can shake off those initial assumptions to get your business stated:

Investors will throw Money at any great idea

demand that investors will want to buy into.

Being your own boss

Most new entrepreneurs imagine that they could simply summarise a potential market scope, present an excellent product concept, and walk out of any meeting with a closed investment deal. Even if you have a great business concept, finding investors who are willing to risk their money in a start-up business venture can be a daunting process.

A common thought among new business minds is that you can discover something great and then sit back and watch people buy it. The reality is that you need to develop the right product at the right time for the right price in the right market to be able to make people buy it. Even with an amazing product idea, a lot of work and resources must be put into it to create a

One major reason why many people want to start a business of their own is so they can be their own boss. Sorry to burst your bubble - but you still have a Boss! Your investors, customers, and even employees are now your bosses. The difference is that instead of answering to one boss, you now need to answer to many.

first once you get paid as a businessman.

They also say you should consider saving as investing in your business and yourself – which is “pay yourself and then, everything else with what's left.”

It might not seem fulfilling to save for an emergency, but when that day comes, you'll be pleased you did. Start by setting a financial goal for yourself - like saving the equivalent of six months' revenue and take small steps to achieve it.

Your revenue must increase before you can save

Whoever makes the first move takes it all

Saving should be on a monthly basis no matter what your circumstances. The thought that a higher turnover will make you save will possibly never come as one excuse or the other will follow after another.

Experts advise that savings should come

A lot has been said about the first mover advantage in marketing, sales, branding and so on. However, for small and new businesses, it is better to be a follower than to be in the forefront. The reason is because experience has shown that those who win

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big are the ones that improve upon existing ideas.

The makers of the Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, etc., were not the first automobile companies, but their products are among the most sophisticated automobiles on planet earth today. While the inventors of an idea will spend so much time and resources to improve on their concept, another company will take their end product and run off with it without having to start from scratch.

Others Will Take Care of the Details While You Work Fewer Hours Starting a business is not really a way to gain more free time. Although you can organise your own schedules as a business owner, you will probably end up working a lot of hours to get things done and rightly too.

There are entrepreneurs who put in 100 hours per week, including lots of weekends and late nights.

The fact is that most business owners take on a lot of responsibilities and handle matters - small and great to keep the business going, especially the things no one else wants to do. Yes, you will have to handle key tasks like business strategy and planning, but you will need to mop the floors, handle the trash, run your own errands at first.

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well-structured 40-page document. What you need is like a roadmap to a destination and how you intend to get there.

Having Your Own Business Will Give You More Control Over Your Income As a business owner, you will have little or no control over your income. Even when you work hard all the time, there will be times where there will be a lot of income and times where there will be none.

Incomes for small business people can be very volatile and unstable as some incomes will ultimately depend on fickle customer decisions and economic forces beyond the control of the business owner.

People are born-entrepreneurs You are likely to hear this more when you are just starting from people just to discourage you – especially when they don't see what you see. They might also say that there's just one kind of person who makes it in this business – a natural marketer, one who doesn't sleep, one who has the funds to invest, etc. Truth be told, these are all false.

When you find the business you truly want to do, with hard work, persistence, knowledge and other skills, you will find success.

You Don't Need a Business Plan

50% of businesses fail in the first few years:

The popular aphorism that says, those who fail to plan have already planned to fail is very true in the business world. You do need a business plan! But it doesn't need to be a

This is one of the most often repeated assumptions in the start-up space. Though this theory is true that about half of new small businesses close within five years, few

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may have actually failed. While many of the owners may have moved, chang ed businesses, or even made so much money that they had to check out, about half of those businesses are still afloat and according to estimations, a third of all establishments will still be in business for a 10-year period. There you have it!

Determination and Risk-Taking Can Overcome Any Obstacle Determination and risk-taking are perhaps the most important qualities to look out for in the business world today, but the ability to manage risks and know when to be determined bothers immensely on starting a business with the right opportunity.

Throwing everything into starting a business venture that has almost zero chance of success due to limited market size, no demand for the product or other faulty assumptions and flaws can be counterproductive. While determination can get you started and keep you going, the viability of the business is very key to ensuring a prosperous venture.

If You're Not Selling Much, It Doesn't Count as a Real Business The size of a business doesn't really matter especially in the eyes of the government when it comes to taxes and regulations. If you are selling 3 items or 30 Million of same, your government expects you to follow all the rules guiding that sector, declare your income when due, pay taxes and do what every legitimate business has to do.

SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

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Meet the Internet Influencer Redefining the ‘Concept of Celebrity’

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nstead of turning to the pages of magazines, red carpets or movies, Generations Y and Z now look to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook in search of their idols. These idols are the bloggers, photographers, writers, trainers and influencers who have become recognised names simply by attracting huge followings on their social media accounts. They control most of what we see on our timelines with their steering trends and campaign agendas, while raking in cool cash for posts regular users post so freely.

Bhadmus Habdulakeem a.k.a Bhadoosky is a prime example of how anyone can establish themselves outside of the standard channels, by simply using Twitter, Instagram, Faceboook and other platforms at their disposal. Learn more about his career journey as a social media influencer and his approach to handling criticism in our exclusive interview:

Bhadmus Habdulakeem Social Media Influencer - Nigeria

By: Victor Oluwole Tell us about yourself: Name and what you do.

Bhadmus Habdulakeem is my name. I hail from Ona Ara L.G.A, Ibadan of Oyo State. I am the Founder/ CEO of Bhadoosky Media House (BMH) and CashDigital Paypoints. I am a graduate of Forestry and Wood Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Akure. I also bagged a Master's Degree in Forest Economics and Management from the prestigious University of Ibadan. I am a well vast personality in managing large scale social media channels and creating new engagement campaigns to raise awareness for products and services, as well as improving customer experience.

How did you become a Social Media Influencer?

Being a social media influencer is not something I planned to become. It just happened with time. In 2011, while I was observing my National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in Osun state, I would often come on Twitter to see what was happening, pass a few comments and engage other users. In 2012, I started blogging to express

myself, report things happening around me, and teach people little things I had knowledge of.

And from there, people started visiting my blog and timeline every day to read and see the information I had for them.

Before I knew it, individuals and brands started contacting me to help them shape narratives and spread information about their products and services with my platform. That was how it all began.

What does a typical day in your week look like?

Simply put, I am a very busy person. Its either I am writing an article, drafting plans, executing jobs at hand, attending to my family or hanging out with friends. I wake up before 6 am daily and go to bed late. As a young man, I believe this lifestyle helps me to set many things in motion to ensure the future is bright and profitable for myself and those around me.

What would you say is the #1 key to success in your line of business? w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Dedication! I always put in my all in whatever I do. I see every opportunity that comes my way as an avenue to make a mark and be known for something. I believe so much in the power of referral, and that is the reason why I always ensure I give 110% every time.

What three (3) things does anyone starting in your industry need to know?

Content is king! For anybody who wants to become an influencer, you must be ready to feed your audience with rich content. If you can achieve this, trust me, you are almost there.

Also, you need to grow your network by engaging your followers. You can't be dishing out content like a robot. You must find time to engage your followers.

Lastly, be consistent. You can't afford to go low on your energy. Consistency is highly important.

Tell us about the biggest failure you have had. What did you learn from it?

My biggest failure will be the fact that I grew so well on many social media platforms but did not work on creating

51 Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 103

my own. I have come to realize the hard way that these social media platforms are like lands that belong to someone; you come to use their land and they can decide to evict you anytime they feel like without cogent reason. I have learnt that the best one can do for oneself is to have one's platform and work hard to get people to embrace and use the application.

How did you feel when you received the first payment as an influencer?

[Laughs], it was funny and came as a shock to me. It was back in 2012. I was going about writing my articles, publishing news, music and stuff, then a guy sent me a message to make an enquiry about publicising his song on my Blog and Twitter page. I was surprised because I had no idea people were paid to do such on social media. I wanted to turn him down, but I didn't. I later sent him a rate together with my account details and got paid that same day. I couldn't believe it. It was a memorable day for me.

What would you do differently if you were starting in your industry now?

[Laughs] This is not possible (otherwise, someone please tell me where can I get one of those time machines). I have learned several valuable lessons throughout my experience, but if I could start all over, it will definitely be managing my time better, and also thinking bigger.

What tools do you find indispensable for accomplishing your task?

To become a successful social media influencer, one has to find and use effective applications. Investing in the right tools such as Buffer, Tweetreach, Tweetbinder has helped me to get things done professionally. These apps help me to manage and optimize my posts and reports.

What keeps you going when things get tough in your business?

SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

The Never say die spirit. I hate failure so much.

What's your best advice for handling criticism?

First of all, you need to decide if the criticism is worth taking on. Let's face it, the world is full of critics. What you need to decide is how much authority you want to give to the person who has criticized you to begin with. If they're doing it anonymously (like on social media), then I would recommend “not much”! But if they are familiar, people who generally would not be critical without a good reason, then maybe their feedback is worth trying to understand.

correctly.

How do you balance work and family demands?

I try my best to attend to my family when they need me and I do my best to deliver as expected by clients. Yes, it' not very easy, but what is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

Do you have upcoming plans or projects you want to embark on soon? If yes, tell us about them There are lots of projects I will be embarking on this year. I have started some, while others will commence soon.

I will be glad to give updates as I proceed.

Which people or books have had the most influence on your growth & why?

One of the best things about the social media community is everyone's willingness to share insights and help others. A great way for you to learn about adaptive strategies is through the real-life experiences of other social media Influencers. Some of the people I have always looked up to in the industry are Tosin Ajibade (@Olorisupergal), Demola Adetona (@DEMOLAEXPOZE), Paul Ezeudoh (@TweetOracle) and Wale Adetona (@iSlimfit).

Also, Books like 'Likeable Social Media

by Dave Kerpen' and 'Content Rules by Ann Handley and CC Chapman' also helped shaped who I am today.

What is still your biggest challenge as an influencer?

As a Social Media Influencer, one's biggest challenge is meeting people's expectation for a response. People consider you as an authority and they want to discuss things with you, so when you have following in thousands, you can understand the number of questions an Influencer faces in a day.

Social Media Influencing could be timeconsuming and tedious and can cause one giant headache if not managed

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

My biggest failure will be the fact that I grew so well on many social media platforms but did not work on creating my own.

I have learnt that the best one can do for oneself is to have one's platform and work hard to get people to embrace and use the application

- Bhadmus Habdulakeem

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SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

Into the world of OloriSupergal Content Strategist, Blogger & Writer By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

Oluwatosin Ajibade New Media Entrepreneur - Nigeria

T

osin Ajibade popularly known for her lifestyle and entertainment blog; OloriSupergal, is an embodiment of everything new media. After schooling in Lagos, Nigeria, she began working as a publicist in 2009. A year after, she set up her site, olorisupergal.com. In 2011, she worked as web manager at BlackHouse Media but left in 2012 to pursue her blogging dream. Today, she is the convener of the annual New Media Conference – a forum to deliberate new media experiences and possibilities. She is also a content strategist and author. In this interview with Business Elites Africa, she reminiscences about how it all started and dishes winning tips for young and aspiring media personalities.

Tell us about yourself: Name and what you do My name is Oluwatosin Ajibade. I'm an influencer marketer, an author (From Social Misfit to Social Media Hero), CEO of Olorisupergal Media (Lifestyle and Entertainment website) and also the convener of the New Media Conference that is held annually in Nigeria.

How did you become a Social Media Influencer?

I started social media campaigns in 2008, using Facebook, I was passionate about having current information, and I always shared the information on Facebook; with no intention at that time to become a media influencer, just passion. So, I built a presence for myself on the Facebook platform and soon I had a large following. I started spending long hours of my days on the internet, gathering and sharing authentic information.

And as time passed, I built a community online who saw me as a w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

source for the right information and I made sure they were not misled.

What does a typical day in your week look like?

I work on a very tight schedule. My day starts from 5am and ends at 11pm.

What would you say is the number one key to success in your line of business?

I would say hard work and consistency has really been key to my success over the years.

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SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

From my experience, structure, staffing and networking are three core areas that greenhorns must learn and utilise effectively if they are to thrive in this sector - Tosin Ajibade

What would you do differently if you were starting in the Social Media Industry now?

What 3 things will anyone starting in your industry need to know?

From my experience, structure, staffing and networking are three core areas that greenhorns must learn and utilise effectively if they are to thrive in this sector.

What do you do when you are disappointed or when you fail?

I just move on to other opportunities.

There's no point crying over spilled milk really. Life can be tough at times, but when it comes at you that way, you just pick up yourself and get going.

How did you feel when you received the first payment as an influencer?

I felt really good. It was a very rewarding experience for me.

What people think or say about you doesn't matter, what you think of yourself is what really matters, don't pay attention to negatives

I wouldn't change a thing.

I grew through the process and I like it. Hence, learning the ropes and growing through the ranks isn't a bad idea afterall.

Which people or books have had the most influence on your growth & why?

What tools do you find indispensable for accomplishing your task?

Gary Vee – 'Crushing it' and 'from Social Misfit to Social Media Hero Olorisupergal.'

One tool I find very indispensable to my work is Inshot Video and photo editor. I use it to edit my contents most times.

What is still your biggest challenge as an influencer?

What keeps you going when things get tough in your business?

How do you balance work and family demands?

The love and passion.

I create time for both. I just try not to allow any of them to suffer.

What's your best advice for handling criticism?

What people think or say about you doesn't matter; what you think of yourself is what really matters. Don't pay attention to negatives. w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Tosin Ajibade

Finding the right collaboration.

Do you have upcoming plans or projects you want to embark on soon? If yes, tell us about them None for now.

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MARKETING STRATEGY By:Victor Oluwole

W

ondering why you should consider WhatsApp Marketing? There are many reasons why we recommend integrating WhatsApp with one of your marketing tools. For starters, this is a free application, which is so widely used that your target audience is probably contained among its users.

Thanks to its amazing functionalities, WhatsApp offers you the possibility of communicating with your customers directly and in real time. Also, WhatsApp Marketing Strategy allows you to: Send interesting contents by creating your complete, compelling and engaging marketing campaign.

To better engage your customer.

Promote new varieties of your products or offers available at discounted rates.

To carry out marketing surveys in order to acquire innovative information about your product/services Build an effective team by creating WhatsApp groups to

discuss new jobs, task updates, work schedules, and meeting schedules.

Reposition your brand for new offerings, openings and oppurtunities.

Finally, qualities such as immediacy and accuracy in terms of scope makes this app the perfect way to send reminders and promote your special offers. However, it is important to note that a fundamental requirement to take advantage of WhatsApp Marketing is to have the phone numbers of the people who make up your target audience.

Now that you know the potential of WhatsApp as a marketing tool, let us examine some ways we can get the most w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

out of it for the beneďŹ t of your business.

1. Use WhatsApp Business instead of normal WhatsApp

WhatsApp has released a new application called WhatsApp Business.

WhatsApp Business is a free downloadable Android application (to be launched on iOS soon) that has been designed speciďŹ cally for small business owners. With the app, business owners

57 Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 103

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Create a group Give the group a unique name.

(Make sure the group title reflects the name of your company name.)

Add the brand logo as a group icon if you have one.

Create group guidance policies.

This will ensure that people will not post things unrelated to the purpose of the group. Once you notice that communities are posting inappropriate content, you can immediately remove them.

Engage users with useful content, giveaways, etc.

5. Use the WhatsApp Status feature can easily interact with customers by using some of its special advanced features to automate, sort and respond to messages quickly and professionally. This app also allows for: Customised Company Profile: This feature allows for businesses to create a company profile that contains useful information such as address, description, email, and website.

Quick replies: This features enables you to back up and reuse messages you send frequently so you can easily answer common questions about your business in no time.

Automated Messages: This feature allows business owners to set an out-of-office message for situations where they are unable to respond so your customers know when to expect an answer.

You can also create a greeting to introduce your customers to your business.

2.

Personalise your brand

The second tip to using WhatsApp to promote your business is to personalise and create an attractive brand persona.

You need to create an engaging brand identification niche that represents your brand with its WhatsApp number. Your customers will often find it easy to interact with you on WhatsApp, to exchange photos of products they are interested in, to ask questions and even to accept payments, delivery terms, etc.

3.

Build a database of contacts

You need as many customer numbers as possible to create a contact list. In order to build a base of user contacts, you must offer them something valuable in exchange for their phone number. It can be a promotion, a freebie, a free service or valuable information.

You can also create an attractive promotion campaign to get users to share their number with you. Once you have added them on WhatsApp, send them the promotion/offer that they can then use and start your relationship with them.

4. Provide valuable content Posting high-quality content on relevant topics is the next step to take to keep your customers engaged with you. After you've built a large customer database, you need to:

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

In addition to sharing photos and events around you, WhatsApp ‘Status Update’ can be used as a "flash ad" for your business. Because this status is available to users 24 hours a day, it is a useful tool for highlighting your work or the topics you are following.

You can also create special promotional codes that your customers can share to redeem them. Using the instant photo and location feature, WhatsApp Status alerts everyone in the group to see the promotions you are running. This could include a two-hour flash sale or a special day promotional offer.

6. Perform customer service in real time Whether by chat, voice or video calls, WhatsApp offers you the opportunity to assist your customers and solve their doubts in real time. Thanks to this strategy, you not only improve the quality of your service, but you also strengthen your loyalty to your audience through direct and personalised treatment.

In this regard, we recommend that you take advantage of the WhatsApp Web to optimize your communications. This is the desktop version of the application, which allows you to use the keyboard, microphone and PC camera, which is much more comfortable and productive.

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SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

Marine Engineer turned Social Media Influencer & Marketer By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

Adegoke Pamilerin Brand Influencer & Marketer, Nigeria

H

e made his first million at 19 and has not stopped since then. Born to a family of six, Adegoke Pamilerin started early as a young Nigerian lad, learning the ropes of PR, brand influencing and marketing. On Twitter, he goes by the name @thepamilerin – a name he adapted after he was trolled by from a nonfan. Currently, he is doing something more - giving back with his give a girl a pad initiative, a platform for educating young girls about their health and life choices. In this interview, he sheds light on his lifestyle and what he stands for; digital marketing and brand influencing.

© BBC News

Tell us about yourself: Name and what you do.

My name is Adegoke Pamilerin. I am a Digital Marketer, Brand Influencer and Food Critic.

How did you become a Social Media Influencer?

It all started in 2014 when I was an

intern at BlackHouse Media. I Developed interest for digital marketing and learnt basically on the Job.

I will say hard work and consistency.

What does a typical day in your week look like?

What 3 things does anyone starting in your industry need to know?

My lifestyle is pretty simple. I wake up, eat, attend to meetings, eat, play games, eat again and Sleep

Be ready to learn, create a niche for yourself and be creative about it.

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

What would you say is the #1 key to success in your line of business?

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SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

“ Be ready to learn, create a niche for yourself and be creative about it.”

– Adegoke Pamilerin Tell us about the biggest failure you've had. What did you learn from it?

I did a research on human intelligence on social and it got lot of negative comments. I learnt that you should never joke with people’s emotion.

How did you feel when you received the first payment as an influencer?

[Laughs]. Like influencing is finally paying off.

What would you do differently if you were starting in your industry now?

Work on how to turn negative Critics around What tools do you find indispensable for accomplishing your task?

My Gadgets I believe.

What keeps you going when things get tough in your business?

My Praying Parents What’s your best advice for handling criticism?

People should understand that there is real life outside social Which people or books have had the most influence on your growth & why?

Adekunle Ayeni Samuel (ATG) BlackHouse Media, Timilehin Bello (BigTimi) Media Panache Nigeria, Bolaji Kareem (Inglemind Digital) What is still your biggest challenge as an influencer?

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

My greatest challenge is client satisfaction because of the dynamic sector I am in. So it can be very tasking especially when a client wants you to do A, but you know for sure that A cannot work unless you try B. And you also want to follow the saying that customers are always right. Then you are left in a dilemma as to what they truly want you to do for them.

How do you balance work and family demands?

I try to create enough time for family and going on vacation Do you have upcoming plans or projects you want to embark on soon? If yes, tell us about them GiveAGirlChildAPad PadBank, Launching my Agency with a friend (BluFix Communications)

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SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

Eguavoen Matthew, from Portraiture to ‘Micro-Celebrity’

By: Victor Oluwole

Eguavoen Matthew Portrait Artist & Clapback King- Nigeria

I

f you are very active on Social Media and have seen hyper-realistic pencil portraits of Nigerian celebrities, you've likely seen a “@Badt_Boi_” drawing.

Eguavoen Matthew, aka Mayor of Ikotun is a social media phenomenon who became famous for his realistic pencil portraits of Nigerian celebrities and savage Twitter clapbacks. With nearly 100k followers on Twitter, “@badt_BOI_” has been lauded by Nigerian celebrities including Falz, Sound Sultan, Ycee, Vector tha Viper, and Skales, as one of the most sought after portrait artists in Nigeria.

In this exclusive interview with Business Elites Africa, “@badt_BOI_” discusses his creative process, his advice for growing a following online, and handling criticism.

Tell us about yourself: Name and what you do.

My name is Eguavoen Matthew, from Edo state. I am a graduate of Civil Engineering, from the University of Port Harcourt, and I am a social media influencer.

How did you become a Social Media Influencer?

It was not an overnight thing. I started by giving out free pencil sketch portraits to celebrities, took pictures with them holding the portrait and posted it online. I started gaining recognition gradually until I became the famous clap-back badt boi. I support entrepreneurship so I post Educative contents on entrepreneurship from time to time.

What does a typical day in your week look like?

I run a delivery business, so between

7:30 am and 11 am, I am usually in the office occupied with office duties.

After 11 am, I go back home to my drawing studio if I have a portrait commission to work on, or I attend meetings if there are any.

What would you say is the #1 key to success in your line of business?

Commitment and Consistency have been what has kept me relevant.

What three (3) things does anyone starting in your industry need to know?

First, Social Media can make you or break you, depends on how you use it.

Second, everyone will always have an opinion, but don't let their opinion crowd your own judgment on who you really are.

Third, Social Media is not a courtroom; people are only on it to have fun. So w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

keep your personal business out of it, I kind of learnt that the hard way.

Tell us about the biggest failure you've had. What did you learn from it?

With regards to social media, I don't think I have had any major failures yet.

How did you feel when you received the first payment as an influencer?

I felt some sense of accomplishment. I never thought I would ever get paid for just tweeting.

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SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT

“

Being a top Social Media Influencer was not an overnight thing. I started by giving out free pencil sketch portraits to celebrities, I took pictures with them holding the portrait and posted it online. I started gaining recognition gradually until I became the famous clapback badt boi - Eguavoen Matthew

What would you do differently if you were starting in your industry now?

Definitely work on growing my fan base early.

What tools do you find indispensable for accomplishing your task?

Two things; Time, and a mobile phone with good internet connection. I had to stress good internet because slow internet is irritating and can make engagement difficult.

What keeps you going when things get tough in your business?

The fact that I could as well do what I do for free keeps me in the game.

What's your best advice for handling criticism?

Ignore the mentions from people, don't reply to all the negative criticism.

I have learnt that people who don't understand a thing, have the most damaging things to say.

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Which people or books have had the most influence on your growth & why?

Strive Masiyiwa and Also Humans of Newyork pages on Facebook are my go-to source for inspiration.

What is still your biggest challenge as an influencer?

I run a Logistic Business called The Gap Delivery and I am also a Social Media Influencer. So being able to physically run my business on a day to day and show up for Events/meetings that have to do with Social Media influencing is quite challenging.

How do you balance work and family demands?

This isn't too much of a task I think, because I am not married yet.

Do you have upcoming plans or projects you want to embark on soon? If yes, tell us about them Currently, I am setting up my Brand for Digital marketing; the brand is called Red T-shirt Boi Media. Under this brand will also come a clothing line, which I have been putting my all to ensure everything goes right.

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HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN GROW YOUR BUSINESS By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

A

s of January 2019, the world's entire population stood at 7.7 billion, the total number of internet users was 4.3 billion and there were 3.397 billion active social media users worldwide - that's almost half of the world's populace! These interesting stats brings to the fore, what you might be missing if your business is not on the Social Media train.

As a small, medium or largescale business owner, the immense advantages that come with the use of Social Media can give your business that extra edge and optimise it for the new day challenges. Whether you are in the business of marketing, communication, customer care, manufacturing, technology, etc, Social Media can seamlessly help you deliver the goods and take your business to the next level of success.

Below are 5 top Social Media platforms and how they can help grow your business:

Facebook has the largest share of most active users and his often considered the biggest social network on the web. With a user database of over 2.23 billion, Facebook remains a great medium for connecting people from all over the world for various reasons.

Since it started off, Facebook has evolved from being a simple website to a multifaceted web and mobile social platform where anybody can connect with friends, family, celebrities, organisations, businesses and lots w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

more. With its Pages feature, the platform has a wealth of options for any type of organisation and it's a great starting point for all business ventures irrespective of the industry. Facebook comes handy to help share your company photos, videos, important updates and so much more.

With about 300 hours of video content being uploaded to YouTube every minute, it has grown to become the second biggest social media platform

63 Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 103

with more than 1 billion users. Owned

by Google – world's most populous search engine, the site is a massive hub for news, entertainment, trends and anything interesting.

Many businesses on YouTube have visual, educational or creative component. For example, YouTubers a subculture of Vloggers who release frequent videos and often maintain large audiences, partner with business owners for product placements to channel their products and contents to their already engaged audiences.

Coupled with YouTube's many capabilities, business can profit on many fronts; users can make money from Google AdSense – a feature that is dependent on the number of views from a video

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tell your story.

With the new Instagram Business feature; Instagram Stories, 400 million Instagram users are taking advantage of this tool and businesses are using Stories ads for a range of objectives Also, Instagram users must note that having a passion for photography or basic photography knowledge enhances the artistic appeal that comes with the Instagram platform.

Whatsapp Business

Whatsapp Business, an app that allows you to create a seamless customer service experience that can help small businesses to boast high engagement rates.

Instagram is a more visual social media platform centred completely on photo and video posts compared to the others here mentioned. Owned by Facebook, Instagram users reaches more than 800 million in terms of active usage, many of whom post about fashion, art, food, places, travel, etc.

If you are in the business where you need lots of displays, unique among its features is its clear-cut filters for photos and video. Created for mainly mobile use, Instagram allows for more artistic touches and strokes hence it may not suit your business if your services or product cannot be portrayed visually. Nonetheless, if your business cannot have so much presence on instagram, make sure you find the right hashtags and use them to

Same as the original version of WhatsApp, the business app allows you to interact with customers in the form of a chat. But unlike the usual chat, small business owners have some tools at their disposal to help them organise, automate and speed up the communication process.

WhatsApp Business allows you to build a public profile for your business with basic information such as an address, a website and other helpful information.

Different chats can be labelled for an organisation, such as new customers, returning customers or orders completed. Small business owners are also able to save messages so as to create quick responses to inquiries, questions and for information purposes. The business features on whatsapp can help today's entrepreneur to grow their business with realtime customer service and support, feedbacks, group targeting, status optimisation, etc.

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

Twitter on the other hand is a short messaging medium for text (240 characters or fewer), images, videos, polls, links and so on. Twitter posts averages about 328 million active users in the globe and ranks as one of the top 10 websites in the United States.

Judging from its wide reach, Twitter is not only a great way to market your business, but it has grown to become an effective channel for handling customer service, enquiries and gathering feedbacks. With this platform, customers can easily share experiences, express concerns and your business can easily interact with other users by stating their usernames in your posts, that's why Twitter is an ideal way to connect and keep tabs with your customers, clients and with people all around the world.

Another feature that makes Twitter stand out is that it is a great tool for spreading the word by Sharing and retweeting your contents as well as other users' content. Also the use of hashtags can help boost your posts so that if a user with a lot of followers retweets you, your content has the possibility to go viral. One thing to note while using Twitter however is to make sure that what you are sharing contents of high relevance and of great interest.

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INTERMEZZO

15

g n i r i p s n I s e t o Qu

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

from A frica

By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen

65 Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 103

P U Z ZU L E

Find each of e following words OBJECTIVE PRIVATE SECTOR SOLE TRADER MARKET SHAREHOLDER LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP

C H R R I L D N R R E U R O S M O R E E

I E O U M I E I N V E S T O R T P E V E

N M T E E L V U I R O D O E E N A T I E

C T C N M I O L T O A L L M R A R S T N

O S E E O B R L O Y I D C O R R T S C S

R O S R R A P T E M S O R T H I N I E O

INCORPORATION APPROVED LIMITED INVESTOR COMMODITY MEMORANDUM UNLIMITED

P L C P A I P A I H M R L I E E E E J A

O E I E N L A T A M O E I D S M R R B S

R T L R D S E R O T S E V N I K S A O N

A R B T U D E A I M A R K E T P H H H I

T A U N M I I D E T I M I L N U I S I S

I D P E S T P O I M I L E E A L P D A O

w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

RISK SHARE ISSUE PUBLIC SECTOR DEED ENTREPRENEUR

O E P S Y S R E E E D E T I M I L N U M

N R U R O T C S S E T A V I R P L N D A

E E H O M C Y E I L I B A I L U I E I A

A S E V N I E T I D O M M O C I E E T Y

A B R N E N T T E P R E N E U D E O L R

R E E E C E S R T A V I R P D R A A O E

R U S I B D M L E I M R P R O S H A O H J

66 Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 103

SOCIAL MEDIA

Isineyi Oluchukwu Genevieve

Ogungbire Adedolapo

Entrepreneur - Anambra State

Pre-NYSC Intern - Osun State

gennie - official

Leedigital

Genniecollection

Leedigital

Magazine Review: With exciting stories about young Africans making waves in the business industry, it is almost impossible not to learn a new thing that will shape your entrepreneurial journey from this magazine. I was also able to learn a few things from the mistakes made by these established entrepreneurs while developing their businesses. In addition, relevant digital business trends are being explored which will be an eye-opener for a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs. I strongly recommend Business Elites Africa for every African youth.

Magazine Review: Business Elites Africa educates, empowers and inspires entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders throughout the continent of Africa.

Delivers impactful, business-related articles that are: Actionable | Timely | Instructive | Relevant.

Business Summary: Genniecey Collections deals with Beading, Baking, Beddings, Sewing, Interior decoration and other house hold equipment.

Garko Aminu Sani

Business Summary: LeeDigital was created out of the need to provide startups and established businesses with affordable and high-quality creative design services. Stacked with creative and young minds, we provide creative and innovative solutions to problems. Focusing on 6 core services: Web design, Branding services, Logo Design, Presentation, Digital Marketing, and E-Commerce, we are determined to provide you with only the best of services.

Oil Spill Responder Entrepreneur - Lagos State hotelgaram Gramhotels

Magazine Review: Why i like Business Elites Africa magazine is the way they present African entrepreneurs to Africa and the world at large. This will give rise to business opportunities for young and vibrant African entrepreneurs who are willing to compete and showcase their ideas in the business world.

Gbade Jude Damilola Entrepreneur - Ilorin, Kwara State judedarmee

Business Summary: Garamhotels is a hotels aggregation platform dedicated to offering our customers the ability to quickly find hotels within their budget and location of choice in Nigeria. Today we boast of over 1300 hotels and booking is made possible by our collaboration with hotels.ng.

judedarmee

Atekoja Olawale Ayodeji Magazine Review: First off, a big applause to the editorial team for the work done to publish such a great piece. From the design to the content there in is superb. Reading this magazine has indeed broadened my scope of view about finance and people management and development, then I suddenly realized there's a long way to go. As awesome as this is there's still room for improvement and I think if the magazine can get successful entrepreneurs to lay more emphasis on capital funding, loan assessment (if there was one) and also the startup journeys itself. Personally I would be looking forward to coming issues of the Business elite's magazine.

Business Summary: Udit Digital Agency is a digital startup that is devoted to developing cutting edge digital solutions and designs to solve the needs of our prospective clients.

Security Technologist - Ogun State seclotdotcom seclotdotcom

Magazine Review: It's a laudable idea to have a magazine that feature under 40 businesses in Africa. The quality and print of the magazine matches the class been featured. I don't know how long the magazine has been in existence but I believe it could serve as a quora for businesses in Africa.

Business Summary: Seclot is a distress notification platform that sends alert to ICE(In Case of Emergency) contacts when one is in a diistress.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Daniel Olúbùnmi

Ogunremi Olushola Moronke

Student - Osun State

Textile Design - Lagos State

oauevents

solaisignatureoutift

oauevents_ OAUEVENTS Magazine Review: In the fast-paced World of today, with news coming from social media and instant messengers, Business Elite Africa Magazine successfully had me glued to pages of a magazine The content is seamless, and relevant to me today.

Business Summary: OAUEVENTS is a fast rising brand whose tentacles is continuously spreading within OAU community and beyond. Founded in the closing hours of 2015 and re-branded in the opening weeks of 2017, our mission has been to enunciate brands, promote businesses, encourage entrepreneurs and give events a pristine publicity. Our results speaks for us as we have partnered with the biggest events on campus. Our influence has traveled beyond the four walls of OAU as we have partnered with Osun state Youth awards in February 2018, Miss Charming Nigeria in Lagos and many more. Currently, we're in partnership with PALEC Awards & Leadership Conference 2019, where OAU will be hosting other South-West Universities, and also Urban Food Fest Campus Tour 2019.

Magazine Review: Business Elites Africa magazine is one in a million among Africa magazine, it motive individual as a youth and encourages everyone to believe in his/her dreams and I believe business Elites Africa magazine will spread internationally.

Business Summary: Promoting Africa culture through innovative and it's uniqueness. Taking Africa culture to the next level.

Jessica Juluis Mshama Director Manager - Jsisters_Shop, Wealthy.Style Tanzania, East Africa smileof_faith smileof_faith Magazine Review: Business Elites Africa is business oriented magazine that aims at inspiring business owners and entrepreneurs. With useful content to the African business minds, Business Elites Africa inspires both starting and ongoing business personnel.

Adenike Adewunmi Taiwo Makeup Artist - Lagos State denikeoge Denikeoge

Magazine Review: It's definitely one of the best innovative magazines I have ever read. Loved every bit of the featured article on Employee Centric Vs Customer Centric Organisation, it was so enlightening. Every entrepreneur out there should read this magazine.

It's an eye-opener!

Business Summary: Denikeoge Makeup Pro is a Makeup Artist Located in Lagos, Nigeria. We offer Makeup services for Brides, Party guests, Photoshoot, Video shoot and Training to clients. Our Vision is not only to meet the expectations of our clients and exceed it but also to become a national and international brand.

It comes with featured articles that in one way teach the business oriented people new tactics and ways of running their business. My current favorite is the article entitled “Push your dreams” this article inspired me while I read it. It taught me that nothing should actually come between me and my dreams. The magazine is a platform that all leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs need. The content has inspired me and I believe it has inspired and uplifted many more people elsewhere through the writings and the stories that it comes with.

Business Summary: My name is Jessica Julius Mshama one of the director of Jsisters business which business owned by sisters together working to improve better life for the community and also to provide essential needs to the community. The business started to exist from 2016 where we only started by owning farm with live stock keeping. We enabled to grow our own groundnuts, and sunflower and where by we processe sunflower oil we expanded to own a Supermarket where we could sell our goods but also buy and sell farmers products but also we do food processing of spices and food appetizers jam and mangoe pickles through this which gives us more than Tsh 100000000 in a year, but also through this by the year 2017 we were able to open bakery where we provided bread and flour based foods to schools and shops in our country, by the end of the year we opened a beauty polar which I my self stand as the face of wealthy style , providing hair extensions, manicures and pedicure services, make human hair wigs but we went further to import customers beauty goods from America and UK.

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A RT I C L E

The Future of Drones in Business and Commerce By:Victor Oluwole

T

he future of drones being used commercially by businesses is no longer as far off as many thought. Current technologies in the world has reached a point where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, are reinventing businesses and creating brand new opportunities.

From innovations in media and ďŹ lm making to assisting large and small farms control water and disease; drones are capable of incredible things.

Many B2B business executives are quick to write-off drones as not necessarily crucial or beneďŹ cial to their bottom line, however, business leaders sensitive to technological trends and offerings realise the innumerable beneďŹ ts that drones could offer by integrating technology into their operations.

If you think this is the type of industry you may want to be in, then you're in luck to learn how pilots are already using drones, and how they might be used in the future for businesses both large and small. Below are some sectors where w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

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Agriculture Farmers can take advantage of drones in many ways. In fact, many players in the drone industry see the agriculture sector as a great potential for the technology to thrive. Not only can drones save farmers a significantly large amount of money by helping them to quickly identify and take inventory of failed plants, they can also be used to map and study farmland and their irrigation systems. In each of these cases, utilising drones will help to expedite projects that would normally take a lot of time.

Furthermore, drones can be equipped to spray pesticides, fertilizers or water on crops. In the case of livestock farming, drones can also be used to monitor the animals, quickly gather and

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track useful data about animal health and population.

Media The media industry is the largest adopter of commercial drones among the other industries. Filmmakers and cinematographers make use of drones to capture shots that would otherwise warrant the use of a helicopter which many simply can't afford. Apart from this, several Hollywood and Bollywood filmmakers have also adopted commercial drones for capturing some of the best frames we see on TV. The possibilities are limitless and you'll be surprised by the big number of potential customers demanding for your service.

Journalism There have been several highprofile examples in which drones have been used to document and provide video footages from areas of conflicts, wars, civil unrests, accidents, and disasters.

Drones also offer journalists a safe distance from otherwise dangerous situations and can often be carried to the scene of a report and deployed by a cameraman much more quickly and cheaply compared to a helicopter hired for commercial purposes.

Wedding and Video Coverage Business Weddings today, have become a viable business opportunity.

A typical Nigerian wedding can cost up to $9,460-$13,515 with guest lists matching the supersized budgets. Why not add drone footage to this list?

Some couples will be willing to shell out just to capture the ‘eye in the sky’ perspective of w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

their most important romantic day.

Drones can also capture the bouquet toss from a whole new angle, take a panoramic view of the big group of guests from above and capture truly spectacular aerial wedding photographs that couples will want to treasure forever.

Delivery The drone delivery business is already taking flight in different corners of the world where flight is faster, safer and more economical than shipping via overland routes. This is especially true for locations that are inaccessible by road or otherwise.

Drones are delivering first aid boxes, small mechanical parts, and timesensitive documents among other things. An example is when Indomie (a popular noodles product) used the drone delivery system to launch their “Indomie Relish Noodles”, which was delivered directly to the door step of Nigerian celebrities.

Advertisement It will not be long before we recognize the potential use of drones in the advertising industry. International companies are already using drones to carry promotional banners and drop free products at concerts and other major events. But this is certainly not the end of all possibilities.

The drone business is a very technical one, but be rest assured that you can become a multi-millionaire when you launch out the right way. Take the time to evaluate the possibilities and determine your greatest strengths.

Then you will need to develop a business plan and a financial plan. With all this information, it will be easier for you to decide if a drone-based startup is the best option to make money OR NOT.

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Why SMEs

Need Strategic Partnerships By: Emma Ossy Isidahomen Owning and running a business to successful levels on a lone effort can be very daunting, especially with minimal resources, capacities and even drive. No matter how empowering and thrilling it is to start a business of your own, such a huge undertaking is often very delicately personal as many businesspersons tend to shoulder the bulk of the responsibilities, decisions and challenges themselves. Apart from hiring and training the right employees, one of the biggest mistakes business owners make is trying to do everything unaided when they can leverage on another's experience, skill, finances, support systems, etc, which will compliment theirs for the sole purpose of achieving faster and healthier business growths - that is what strategic partnerships bring to the table.

I

n 2002, a business partnership was brokered between two unlikely businesses in Nigeria that paid off because of its symbiotic nature – UACs Mr Biggs, a food enterprise and Mobil, the oil marketing giant. The relationship saw Mobil filling stations housing Mr Bigg's outlets in the same location just like the snail and its shell.

The two businesses complemented each other in ways never imagined, as petrol attendants went about their duties attending to motorists driving in and out, the aroma of snacks, foods, etc, from Mr Bigg's outlet nearby became appealing and it was same the other way round as those who drove to Mr Biggs to grab a bite, saw the need to fill up their tanks at the gas station.

Uber users were able to sync their Spotify premium accounts back in 2014, selecting a playlist and having the

music already playing when they open advantage of existing marketing the car door. This partnership channels, valuable resources and which launched in 10 major customer base. But cities of the world whether you want to (London, Los Angeles, increase brand Nashville, New York awareness, go after Partnerships allow City, Mexico City, a new market or companies to take San Francisco, boost sales, here advantage of existing Singapore, are some ways Stockholm, that strategic marketing Sydney and partners can give channels, valuable Toronto), was one SMEs the needed resources and of Uber's first edge to compete customer base. attempts to provide favourably with a personalised riding other small experience for businesses. customers. While it benefited Uber from one end, Better expertise, business Spotify users were encouraged to pay depth for premium accounts and taking advantage of the service.

As an entrepreneur, you are already used to getting things done in an Partnerships allow companies to take efficient manner, but there are some w w w. b u s i n e s s e l i t e s a f r i c a . c o m

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areas where you wouldn't thread because of personal limits, but having a business partner who can complement you with better expertise beyond what you bring to the table can be of great benefits.

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and even businessmen in other areas different from your product line, but their contributions are to basically to provide solutions that will solve your financial challenges.

Strategic Marketing Partners

New perspectives on business decisions Having a business partner who is like minded in terms of skill that can make valuable contributions and has the knack for success will definitely help increase your product offerings or open a new location to meet the demand for your current products.

There may be a business angle, location or innovation that you have not seen, heard of or considered before, but the new guy is bringing all that extra touch to the business which you cannot deny are great contributions to your cause.

Strategic Financial Partnerships Financial partners are the most common. Most of them want to be the silent partners who are all out to make investments while they leave all the running of the business enterprise to you. Some may be advisors, bankers

Effective marketing is key to every business growth and success. Without a great marketing strategy, your customers may never be aware of what your business offers. Having a strategic marketing partner on board, and this complementary pairing would increase your revenues with no extra charges to each partner.

Strategic Suppliers Strategic suppliers can come in form of distributors, manufacturers, salespeople, etc, which almost all businesses will end up dealing with at some point. There could be some problematic raw materials that these suppliers end up providing, thereby easing your troubles which may be possible with lower prices and better discounts.

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Co-branding Partnerships When two or more sponsors or manufacturers come together to get a product done or service rendered with one or all of the names of the partners, such joint effort often expands their brand recognition to new openings. It offers existing and new customers new ways, experiences and helps to build their dedication to the brand. These can come in form of cohosting/co-sponsoring big events, dual promotion campaigns, etc. An example is where businesses in a locality partner to provide healthcare services to communities under one collective goal.

In the end, they are able to interact with members of the community, know their concerns and get honest feedback from the services they render.

Technology Partners In this ever-changing modern world where technology is everything, your business will need tech partners. From trouble-shooting office computers, social media handling, website development, to digital marketing, etc.

These people come in handy when you don't have the wherewithal to see such technical task through.

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