Leadership new2

ceoConfidential #136, November 2, 2014

ESSENTIALS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

EvangElisE your sErvicEs >26

>31 GETTING AHEAD

BusinEss philosophy >41 COMPANY SECRETS

from rom apprEnticEship’s appr ntic ship’s purs pursEr to cEo: a journEy in sEarch of thE customEr >46 TIPOFFS

What succ succEssful pEoplE do With thE first hour of thEir Work day

• Godwin Ehigiamusoe CEO, Lift Above Poverty Organisation

EhigiamusoE’s quEst for Enhancing financial inclusion

26 CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

in brief

Our Error

Last week on our cover page, we erroneously identified Jodie Hopperton as COO of Global Editors Network, instead of MD, Institute of Promotional Marketing Limited.

We sincerely appologise for the error.

ESSENTIALS

10 Questions for...

FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Joe Oseghale CEO, AnoldFligt Konsult

Evangelise your services “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that.

Word of mouth is very powerful” Jeff Bezos, 1964Founder of online retailer Amazon.com and of human spaceflight venture Blue Origin.

If you’re unable to get excited about your services, how can you expect your customers to become excited about them and spread the word on your behalf?

Use your own products and services every day. Eat, live and breathe your business - be the most devoted user of your products.

Be your most critical customer in order to test the product and the customer services you offer. Step away from the business and look back as a customer rather than an owner.

Then you can be a real evangelist for what you offer.

Create a brand “And I’m not an actress. I don’t think I am an actress. I think I’ve created a brand and a business” Pamela Anderson, 1967Canadian-born actress, glamour model and entrepreneur.

If you can answer the following two questions, then you have a true brand: What is the point of your products and services? Why should anyone care about your business? Create your brand identity around your answers to gain a loyal customer base.

Why do we buy products from The Body Shop? Is it because they are better products or because the company embodies fair-trade ethics? In fact it’s a combination of both through marketing materials and press coverage that are carefully moulded to create a cohesive brand.

A brand is developed and nurtured through all customer interactions, so take care to ensure that all your messages are consistent.

IF YOU’LL BE...

Dilip Shanghvi Founder/MD, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Take charge of your life Your destiny is always in your hands and will determine how your life will be. Shanghvi started as a small-time pharmaceutical distributor in Kolkata in the early 1980s, eventually building a global company with 800 products, 23 manufacturing facilities and 14,000 employees.

Learn to spot opportunities Shanghvi is blessed with a unique ability – the innate ability to spot opportunities and talents.

This hugely helped him in building his company to reach the heights it has attained.

Be yourself Though he is described as ‘aggressive in intent and action’, Shanghvi is a very soft and humble personality. He hasn’t allowed his elevated status and wealth to get into him.

– By Olujide Olusola

TIMELESS TRUTHS Just do it

ASST. EDITOR Daniel Udechukwu CORRESPONDENT Salome Anyasodo REPORTER Olusola Olujide GRAPHICS Matthew Akhabue

2. Which TV or movie character would you like to go into business with?

Richard Mofe Damijo. He is cool and easy going.

3. If you were to start your own political party, what would be the platform?

A political party that can lift Nigeria from being a poverty-stricken country to a first-world one.

4. Whom would you trade places with?

Bishop David Oyedepo.

5.It’s 8 p.m. and you are travelling alone on business. What do you do all night?

Evaluate and sharpen all rough edges before the business meeting. And sleep afterwards.

6. If you could time-travel, where would you be.

In my lovely country – Nigeria.

“When Nike chose ‘Just Do It’ as their advertising slogan, they hit upon a true component of the success formula – the importance of execution. No matter how hard and long you plan, when it comes to where ‘the rubber meets the road’ as another advertising slogan said, the plan doesn’t serve you until it’s put into place.

“This is the major difference between the successful person and the also-ran (or never-ran, if there is such a phrase). The successful person puts his or her plans into effect, where the unsuccessful one may plan up a storm but never does anything about it or if they do start, they do it only halfway.

“Nothing gets better until someone actually does something.”

Daryl R. Gibson, salestar.com

ceoConfidential

1. What business do you not want to start but wish someone else would?

Purchasing and Supplying things to industries like five-star hotels and eateries.

7. What have you learnt about yourself as you serve in that organisation?

I have learnt that it takes one being firm to be able to run a business if not, people will soon show one the exit door.

8. What have you sacrificed for success?

I have sacrificed leisure and pleasure.

9. What do you consider your favourite achievement?

Getting to know the author of life, Jesus Christ.

10. What is your motto?

Greatness is a choice.

Interview by Daniel Udechukwu

group ACTING EDITOR Auwal Sa'id Mu'azu

FOUNDER Sam Nda-Isaiah GRP MANAGING DIRECTOR Azubuike Ishiekwene GRP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS Michael Okpere, Dr. Kazeem Durodoye

A number of the articles here are sourced from diverse sources.

Feedback & enquiries ceoconfidential@leadership.ng

CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

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popular with CEOs Compiled by Salome Anyasodo

The RecommendeR What are the business quotes for this week that make sense or are just humourous?

A BRief Guide Don’t know what you want to see, hear, smell taste and feel? Don’t worry we did it for you.

SEE Gone girl

a child receiving polio vaccine

Two disabled youths playing soccer on skates

Eradicating polio in Nigeria Polio is a disease feared worldwide, striking suddenly and paralysing mainly children for life. Nigeria is closer than ever to eradicating polio, riding on a successful effort to reach children in seven northern states at highest risk for the disease. According to statistics, Nigeria is 99% of the way to eradicating polio globally.

While polio is a distant memory in most of the world, the disease still exists in some places and mainly affects children under five.

One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.

In 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative

Chukwu

BiZ LinGo

Over one’s skis

was formed, polio paralysed more than 350,000 people a year. Since that time, polio case numbers have decreased by more than 99% (with only 416 polio cases reported in 2013). There are just three countries which have never stopped transmission of polio which are Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. They face a range of challenges such as insecurity, weak health systems and poor sanitation.

Polio can spread from these ‘endemic’ countries to infect children in other countries with less-than-adequate vaccination.

There are cheap and effective vaccines available to prevent polio. The global effort to eradicate polio is the largest public-private partnership for public health and has been recorded as the largest-ever

Prof onyebuchi Chukwu, Former Minister of Health, “The time has come, indeed, for us to join hands to ensure that polio is eradicated in all our communities and our nation.”

internationally-coordinated public health effort in history.

Every child must be vaccinated to eradicate polio.

This includes those living in the most remote and underserved places on the planet. To get each vaccine safely to children everywhere, all manner of transport is used – from donkeys to motorbikes to helicopters – to reach those living in remote areas, in conflict zones or difficult terrain.

Polio now survives only among the world’s poorest and most marginalised communities, where it stalks the most vulnerable children.

The Initiative’s goal is to reach every last child with polio vaccine and ensure a polio-free world for future generations.

Wilfred J. Wilkinson, Past President, Rotary,

Wilkinson

As used typically, scathingly, by senior executives of subordinates, being too far (out) over one’s skis means getting ahead of oneself, being presumptuous or premature or trying to operate beyond one’s competence. A hapless underling can be dismissed as “a naïve, over-his-skis manager.” This corporate Americanism seems to have escaped its origins since Barack Obama remarked of Joe Biden in 2009 that he “has got a little out over his skis”, but it can still furrow a few brows when it

“Polio eradication initiative has been making steady improvements in the quality of the immunization Plus Days (iPDs) campaigns which has resulted in over 90% reduction. ”

pops up in office conversation.

Skiing metaphors, unlike military or sports-based expressions, are pretty rare in business-speak. Across the piste, meaning roughly end-to-end, is one example that has caught on with bosses, though humbler functionaries who perhaps do not spend their winters in Vail or Meribel tend to misunderstand, rendering it across the piece or, ludicrously, across the beast.

They may or may not derive from skiing.

When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state.

Xun Zi, Confucian Philosopher

If you are not confused, you are not paying attention.

Tom PeTers,

management Writer

Swim upstream.

Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. sam WalTon,

Academic

The 149 minutes action/adventure plot has to do with his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent. The movie features Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris amongst other actors.

HEar America’s finest social media expert, Mandi Susman at africa’s Young Entrepreneurs Empowerment Nigeria (aYEEN 2014)

This programme is dedicated to identify and empower the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs who will shape their country’s economic and political landscape.

Auditions hold at Lagos country club GRA Ikeja Lagos, on the 24- 29th, November 24 through 29, 2014.

taStE Smothered, chicken and Gravy

Smothered and covered chicken and gravy is extra-special. This old-timey recipe is a mash-up of fried chicken and gravy, cooked together in a skillet: Where one ends, the other starts. In other words, pretty much the most nearly perfect comfort food.

FEEL $12,000 african safari trip

Charge less, but charge. Otherwise, you will not be taken seriously and your do not fellow artists no favours if you undercut the market. eliZabeTh asTon,

Author, The True Darcy Spirit

The Big Five (buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant and rhinoceros) sometimes elude safari goers. Most people concentrate night luxury - including guided wildlife drives, sunset cocktails, and tents with more puffy pillows that cost anywhere between $5000 and US$12,000.

SMELL Bond No9 New York Sandalwood

The fragrance composition also has fresh, sweet-earthy shade of carrot which is blended with a powdery veil of orris root and spacy accords of cardamom. This unusual union leads to the heart dominated by creamy, milky sandalwood, sweetened additionally with juicy, ripe fig.

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CEOConfidential

The ceoConfidential interview Ehigiamusoe’s quest for enhancing financial inclusion The finance guru advocates for all cadres of personnel to be engaged, developed and motivated for empowering the people and protecting the environment.

Interview by AnYASODO SALOME

EHIGIAMUSOE IN SHORT Godwin Eseiwi Ehigiamusoe is the founder and CEO of Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) Microfinance Bank, a regulated national microfinance bank.

Ehigiamusoe holds first and second degrees in Sociology and Development Studies respectively. He has attended several management capacity enhancing programmes at Kennedy School of Government, INSEAD Business School, IESE Business School and Lagos Business School.

He began his involvement in microfinance as a rural cooperative officer in the defunct Bendel State Civil Service before he founded LAPO, a successful pro-poor development organisation with microfinance operations in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. He has been involved in the development of microfinance practice in Africa.

He has won various awards and authored various renowned publications.

CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

I always wake up at 5am...

What I do immediately after waking up has changed over time. Now, I immediately do my private prayer and browse newspaper websites. At 6am, I join my family members for morning religious devotion.

That takes us to 6:30am or there about, when I leave with my wife for some brisk walk around the neighbourhood.

Since my office is not far from my residence, I am able to arrive at the office at little pass 8am. At office, the first few minutes are devoted to attending to planning for the day.

After the first ninety minutes of concentrated work from 8am to 9:30am, meetings with partners and other stakeholders and leaders of our sister organisations follow, these are only punctuated by consultations with my senior managers.

I preside over the weekly meeting of the management team, address issues arising from the meeting as well as other outstanding matters.

Usually, at 5pm I head homeward. Working at home after office has gone with the early days of building LAPO. There are now occasional teleconferences with partners whose countries’ time zones make such evening meetings necessary.

LAPO was initiated to address poverty…

LAPO stands for Lift Above Poverty Organisation, the name is obviously a mission statement. Its focus, target of activities, structures, and procedures reflect my conceptualisation of poverty, and was therefore designed to address material deprivation with microcredit or microfinance, health activities to address poor health and social empowerment programmes, addressing social exclusion particularly gender inequality and inequity.

Many considered our operational procedures as too good to be true...

We have encountered various challenges at various phase of development of LAPO. At inception, it was quite difficult to convince potential clients. Of particular interest was LAPO’s disregard for collateral security. We still do not request collaterals for our loans. Extensive motivational and mobilisation activities were carried out. As we gained the confidence of clients, the challenge of inadequate funds to meeting the increasing loan demand arose. While donor funds were enough to implement pilot projects, they were obviously inadequate to implement growth plans.

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EHIGIAMUSOE On SAvInGS

Savings opportunities enable the poor to build up capital and assets which enable them to plan for the future and reduce their vulnerability With rapid growth, we had to contend with human capital challenge. We needed to engage and train people rapidly to meet the growing need for personnel. The difficulty was that there was no ready pool of experienced microfinance practitioners to draw from. We had to invest massively in staff training. An Academy was set up to train staff. High operating cost was another challenge. Ordinarily, doing micro-lending is expensive and doing it in a challenging operating environment makes it even more challenging.

We have sufficiently addressed our challenges...

This explains why we are where we are today. Our success in addressing these challenges was mainly due to our commitment to poverty lending or microfinance as an effective tool for poverty alleviation; huge investment in capacity building; partnership and investment in innovations.

I have always been very passionate about financial inclusion...

I personally believe that the major barrier between the members of low-income households and good life is exclusion from access to life transforming opportunities.

An example of such exclusion is financial exclusion. I strongly believe that access to a full range of financial services constitute the most effective escalator out of poverty. Access to credit assists low-income people to enhance their productivity and eventually the condition of living of members of their households. Savings opportunities enable the poor to build up capital and assets which enable them to plan for the future and reduces their vulnerability.

I am for finance for all, any day.

I strive to ensure that the little time I have

with my family is really memorable...

I enjoy watching documentaries and good books. Yes, writing is my prime hobby; it is obviously the second choice to what I am doing career wise. If I were not involved in microlending, I would have been a great writer; excuse my immodesty here. Sometimes, official dinner obligations intrude into my evenings.

A good evening is one when my wife and I just drive around the estate. I am addicted to news and documentaries on television.

Winding down begins for me at 10pm.

LAPO has consistently made impact in her environment...

We started the implementation of sustainable finance within the context of our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative in 2012. LAPO seeks to integrate into its business processes and product mix, features which support the people and protect the environment. We also provide scholarship awards to children of clients and children in difficult situations. The scholarship scheme mainly supports secondary education as children from poor households usually drop of the educational system at the secondary level.

Consider your staff members as your biggest asset…

Considering staff members as the most important asset of a business should go beyond mere rhetoric to concerted efforts to engage, develop and motivate all cadres of personnel. Against conventional wisdom, I certainly go with my staff over customers, after all it is the staff members who acquire and retain customers.

Customers may be right at all times, but my staff members are kings and queens.

CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

initiatives

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Lere Baale, lerebaale@gmail.com

Leadership Inspiration for Excellence – (LIFE) series

Leadership competency as the greatest driver of Africa’s development (VI) Like Museveni and Kagame, President Isaias and President Meles were also Comrades-in-Arms as rebels fighting for the overthrow of Ethiopia’s Marxist dictatorship under Mengistu Haile Mariam.

With the overthrow of Mengistu, Isaias Afwerki became the president of an independent Eritrea, and Meles Zenawi assumed power in Addis Ababa.

Relations were cordial until Eritrea started to behave like a real independent country by adopting policies such as introducing its own currency. That, and other policies angered Ethiopia.

Eritrea, though a small country, has proven quite belligerent. Since 1993, it has gone to war with Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia, and has also threatened its smaller neighbour, Djibouti.

Both Ethiopia and Eritrea, also find time to support rival rebel groups in the country that used to be called Somalia. As a result,

HOW I DID IT

funds that could be spent on the development of these countries are diverted to arms purchases. The current war between Ethiopia and Eritrea coincides with acute famine brought on by drought in both countries. Millions of people are thought to be in danger.

Nigeria provided human, finance, moral and all kinds of support to free South Africa right from independence in 1960 to date. We remember clearly the regime of Murtala Mohammed / Olusegun Obasanjo nationalizing and changing Standard Bank to First Bank, Barclays Bank to Union Bank, British Petroleum to African Petroleum, Shell to National Oil, etc. Yet the leaders in Government in South Africa do not generally treat Nigerians with utmost respect, neither is any of Nigeria’s past or present leaders accorded the right opportunity to

‘President Isaias on his part has suggested that the current conflict has an advantage in showing the reality of the independence struggle to a younger generation growing up without full realisation of past efforts and sacrifices’ talk like other frontline states during the burial of Mandiba Nelson Mandela.

Nigeria has just been listed among the very few countries in the world where a Caliphate was created by a group of local Radical Organisation possibly funded by the “African leaders” in our society. In 1977, N2.8b of Nigerian crude oil money was said to be missing and the National Union of Nigerian Students - NUNS started a nationwide protest against a tough military government at a great cost to students lives. In 2014, about N40b of crude oil money was said to be missing by a former CBN Governor who was sent on compulsory leave after his courage in

raising the red flag on the missing money, thereby embarrassing a federal government. In order to address the pressure from various publics, specialists were appointed to run forensic audit; and while still waiting for the result of the investigation, Nigerian students body - NANS gave a Civilian President its highest award of the Grand Commander. International community should be laughing at the irony and surprised at how much has changed in the psyche of our future leaders in NANS as well as our larger society within such a short time.

Drought And Conflict President Meles has

defiantly deflected any questions about the propriety of fighting in the midst of a natural disaster that affects millions. He has said this in response, according to a newspaper report: “In Ethiopia, we do not wait to have a full tummy to protect our sovereignty...,we resist the link between the drought and the conflict.”

President Isaias on his part, has suggested that the current conflict, has an advantage in showing the reality of the independence struggle to a younger generation growing up without full realisation of past efforts and sacrifices.

CONtiNues Next week

Marroitt’s executive chairman on choosing the first nonfamily CEO CONtiNues FrOm last week

Marriot

I worry that too many businesses today have become personalised.

We all shop at Target, but who is Mr. Target, but who is Mr. Target?

Especially in the personal services business, in which the brand is guaranteeing a certain kind of experience, I believe that having someone whose name is synonymous with the brand, who stands behind it and cares about you, is a real advantage.

Not all my children were in the running to succeed me. My daughter, Debbie, is the mother of five, and although she worked at Marriot as a teenage, she stayed home with

her kids for three decades. Today she works as Marriott’s head of government relations, but she’s been in that role only a few years.

My oldest son, Stephen, has a debilitating disease-he’s blind and mostly deaf. My youngest child, David, is just 39, and a phenomenal executive. He currently oversees all our hotels in eastern Unite States, from Maine to New Orleans. He has tremendous potential, but at the moment, he is still learning.

That leaves my son John, who is 52.

Like all family members who have joined the company (including me), John Started at the bottom, as a cook

in the kitchen. He went on to work in nearly every part of the business over the next 30 years. He spent most of his adult life preparing to succeed me as CEO. He devoted his heart and soul to learning the business. If I’d followed my own heart, I probably would have chosen John as my successor.

But as time went on, I realised that it wasn’t the right fit-not for John, and not for Marriott. As personally disappointing as that was to both of us, I had to make the right decision for the company.

CONCluded

30 CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

situation reports Compiled by Olujide Olusola

Brand Beginnings Frito-Lay: Worlds snack at your finger’s tip

F

rito-Lay Company is the world leader in the salty snack category, controlling more than 35 percent of the world market in snack chips and 60 percent in the United States. Among the company’s well-known brands are five that generate annual sales of $1bn each: Lay’s, Ruffles, Doritos, Tostitos, and Chee-tos. In addition to its dominance of the potato chip, tortilla chip, and corn chip sectors (the last of these led by the Fritos brand), Frito-Lay has major brands in other categories, such as Rold Gold pretzels, Cracker Jack candy-coated popcorn, and Grandma’s cookies.

Merger forms Frito-Lay, Inc In 1945, the Frito Company granted the H.W. Lay & Company an exclusive franchise to manufacture and distribute Fritos in the Southeast. The two companies worked toward national distribution and developed a close business affiliation. In September 1961, The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company merged to become Frito-Lay, Inc., combining their headquarters in Dallas, Texas. At this point, the company’s annual revenues totalled $127m, largely generated from sales of its four main brands at the time: Fritos, Lays, Cheetos and Ruffles.

Division of PepsiCo, Inc In February 1965, the boards of directors for Frito-lay, Inc. and Pepsi-Cola announced a plan for the merger of the two companies.

On June 8, 1965, the merger of Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola Company was approved by shareholders of both companies, and a new

Management IDEAS

company called PepsiCo, Inc. was formed. At the time of the merger, Frito-Lay owned 46 manufacturing plants nationwide and had more than 150 distribution centers across the United States.

The merger was pursued for multiple factors, one of which was the potential for FritoLay snacks to be distributed outside of its initial markets of the United States and Canada—via Pepsi-Cola’s existing presence and distribution network in 108 countries at the time of the merger. International distribution of Frito-Lay products expanded shortly following the 1965 merger, and its U.S. presence grew at the same time, resulting in Lay’s becoming the first potato chip brand to be sold nationwide (in all 50 U.S. states) in 1965.

Also at this time, PepsiCo had envisioned marketing Frito-Lay snacks alongside PepsiCola soft drinks. In an interview with Forbes in 1968, PepsiCo CEO Donald Kendall summarized this by noting that “Potato chips make you thirsty; Pepsi satisfies thirst.” Plans to jointly promote the soft drink and snack products were thwarted later that year, when the Federal Trade Commission ruled against it.

Stereotyping in 1960s commercials In 1967, the company introduced a cartoon spokesman, the Frito Bandito, which became the subject of criticism from MexicanAmerican groups, who expressed concerns that it portrayed a Mexican stereotype. The Frito Bandito (voiced by Mel Blanc) wore a sombrero and bandoliers, had a handlebar moustache and brandished pistols. Protests from advocacy groups such as The National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee (NMAADC) prompted some initial concessions, such as the removal of the pistols and a thinning of the accent. The Frito Bandito was replaced in 1970 by The Muncha Bunch, and then again by a new cartoon called W.C. Fritos (based on W. C. Fields).

Principal Competitors Borden, Inc.; Campbell Soup Company; ConAgra, Inc.; General Mills, Inc.; Golden Enterprises, Inc.; International Home Foods, Inc.; Keebler Foods Company; Lance, Inc.; Nabisco Holdings Corp.; Poore Brothers, Inc.; The Procter & Gamble Company.

Japanese management

When Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos wrote The Art of Japanese Management, they observed that America’s managerial skills were being challenged on three fronts. The first was managerial practice, where doing more of what they already did well was yielding less. The second was a shift in social values that meant people were expecting different things from organisations and from work.

And the third? ‘The competition is killing us.’

That was the point. The year was 1981. Japan’s gross national product was the third highest in the world and on track to be the highest inside the next 20 years. Japan is a tiny country, very

mountainous, 70 per cent uninhabitable, with the remainder the size of Cuba. Yet with almost no natural resources, it was growing and investing at twice the rate of the US. It had overtaken previous international leaders in one industry after another.

Though far from the only one, the book was an attempt to nail down just what that was. The easiest differences to spot were in manufacturing itself, where Japanese companies had studied the American model, learnt at the knees of American quality gurus (prophets without honour in their own land), and adapted and improved it until they had developed their own distinct production model.

success nuggets

5 contrarian lessons from successful entrepreneurs

1. Think “small” rather than search for a “big idea.”

Contrary to everything we’ve heard about finding a “big idea,” there’s a fundamental paradox in business. Big ideas are small--simple, focused and different so they can occupy a specific niche and dominate their category. If you can’t write your business idea on the back of your business card or explain it to a ten-year old, you probably have a big, bad idea.

2. Use the start-up phase-the so-called Valley of Death--to take risks and experiment.

Rather than follow conventional wisdom and be cautious at the beginning, brand-building entrepreneurs use the “the Valley of Death” to experiment and tweak their fledgling idea. You can die in the valley, yet growth entrepreneurs realise this starting period is the most valuable time because you can create tremendous value out of practically nothing.

3. Realise that when people say, “You’re starting what?” that

you’re on to something.

Most people will tell you that you’re crazy when you present a fresh idea, so you have to be a contrarian to forge ahead anyone. You need to realise that you have a viable business idea when you find the “white space,” which is just a new need in the marketplace that no one is filling.

4. Listen to their heart and emotions as much as their intellect.

Successful entrepreneur want to make money, sure, but your goal has to be more than just making money.

Finding your business idea is about finding your purpose. Your goal must be tied to your deeper story, your sense of destiny for yourself and your business.

5. Create a new trend or category rather than fit into the market.

Growth entrepreneurs keep a pulse on what’s happening but don’t try to fit into the market--they try to appeal to where their customers are heading. They have what its called an “outside-in” orientation. They begin with the larger context--the outside--and work inward.

CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

getting ahead

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Secrets They Won’t Teach You At Business School Richard Branson, one of world’s most-respected entrepreneurs

Business philosophy DiFFeRenTiATe oR Die

...five quick questions

I thought it would be helpful to answer a few more of the interesting questions I am asked on my travels.

1. What is the best advice your ever got?

Three gems come to mind. First, an enduring one from my mother, Eve, who always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The

Business icons

amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project always amazes me. My mother also told me not to openly criticise other people. If she heard me speaking ill of someone, she would make me stand in front of the mirror for five minutes and stare at myself. Her reasoning?

All my critical talk was a poor reflection on my own character.

In the 1980s Sir Freddie Laker, the British airline tycoon, gave me a great piece of advice on setting up my own airline. He told me two key things: ‘You’ll never have the advertising power to out-market British Airways.

You are going to have to get out there and sell yourself. Make a fool of yourself, whatever it takes.

Otherwise you won’t survive.’ He also wisely said: ‘Make sure you appear on the front page and not the back pages.’ I’ve followed that advice ever since. I’ve been very visible and made a fool of myself on more than a couple of occasions!

2. And the worst advice?

I’d never embarrass the person who gave it by revealing that but they know who they are! Look,

advice comes in many forms. I believe in never asking just one person but in getting as much feedback as possible. Opinions always vary. By asking several people what they think, you get many angles and can weigh them all. This way, you are never considering just one person’s opinion, so no one piece of advice is ever truly bad.

3. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs on how best to start?

To remember that it is impossible to run a business without taking risks. Virgin would not be the company it is today if we had not taken risks along the way. You really do have to believe in what you are doing. Devote yourself to it 100 per cent and be prepared to take a few hits along the way. If you go into something expecting it to fail, nine times out of ten it will.

Above all, remember to have fun with it. That keeps you and your colleagues enthusiastic and motivated. One of my favourite sayings (which happens, I believe, to be one of my own!) sums this up: ‘The brave may not live forever - but the cautious do not live at all!’

Too many specialists Sometimes just being a specialist isn’t enough.

Especially if you’re surrounded by other specialists.

On the Internet, in a matter of months, you can have an army of specialists in one form of information or another jockeying for their share of “hits” on their web site.

The reason you can have so many is the low cost entry on the Internet But the rules of the road still persist. One will emerge as the perceived leader thus attracting the most traffic. Then you’ll have an alternative or strong number two with about half the hits.

Then, maybe a number three that has half again the traffic that puts them in a precarious position. After that, the pickings are very slim.

The bottom line: Whether it’s products, services, or web sites, most categories come down to a two-horse race. So the trick is to be one of those horses.

continues next week

Leadership lessons continues From last week

Sam Walton Founder, Wal-Mart

“I did something I would do for the rest of my run in the retail business without any shame or embarrassment whatsoever: nose around other people’s stores searching for good talent” (Walton 1997).

When Walton took an idea to implement in his stores, he also tried to make it better. He was interested in taking things beyond where they had been and liked to shake up the system.

Motivate Despite the recent attention paid

by the media to Wal-Mart’s worker salaries and benefits, Wal-Mart has been the most successful retailer in motivating employees over the years. Many of the competitor discounters that were around when Wal-Mart was beginning went out of business eventually, even though they were better capitalised and larger. Much of the credit for Wal-Mart’s success has been attributed to Walton’s ability to motivate people. He believed that if the employees were motivated and treated well, they would pass

that on to the customers and keep them coming back. He said in his memoir, “In the whole WalMart scheme of things, the most important contact ever made is between the associate in the store and the customer” (Walton 1992).

Because of Walton’s views on this, Wal-Mart uses a total-quality concept in managing executives and employees. The approach is unconventional in the retailing industry and has extraordinarily improved performance.

continues next week

32 CEOConfidential

housekeeping

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Compiled by Olujide Olusola

Most creative people in business

Ma Yansong Founder, Mad Architects

Molly Guy

Co-founder, creative director, Stone Fox Bride For taking the stuffing out of the bridal industry More Janis Joplin than Jackie O, Stone Fox Bride breaks from the rest of the $50 billion wedding industry, which is rife with price-gouging and homogeneous designs. Molly Guy’s New York showroom is a haven for artistic, professional women in pursuit of beautiful but breathable gowns, all curated by the founder. “They want structure but also want to feel really cool,” she says. “That’s what we do--provide that feeling. You still feel like you. You’re not an alien.” Today, Stone Fox Bride books 250 appointments a month in the spring, and has a cult following on Instagram. Her fan base isn’t just the betrothed: Guy’s brand is so popular, later this year she will launch an in-house line of everyday apparel.

Meredith Perry Founder, Ubeam

For inventing a new way to unplug What if you never had to plug in your cell phone or laptop again? That’s the promise of uBeam, which charges electronics using sound waves rather than wall sockets. Though Meredith Perry isn’t saying when it might be available or how much it would cost, she has raised $1.7 million from the likes of Marissa Mayer, Founders Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz to develop the product.

When did you decide to work on this?

I was standing in my room at the University of Pennsylvania, holding my laptop charger, and it occurred to me that, Hang on, why am I using this cord to charge my wireless laptop? It was 2011, and I didn’t understand how we could be using something so archaic.

How did you hit on the idea to use ultrasound?

I started looking into types of technology that harnessed ambient energy, and I stumbled across piezoelectric [material], and I thought, If this can harness vibration, how do I induce ­vibration over the air? Then I realized that sound is vibration over the air. It was a natural “aha.”

How did experts react to your idea?

They gave me excuses about why it would be impossible. That was frustrating, but it taught me to be sceptical of everything, and that allows you to push forward with ideas that others might deem impossible.

Gerry Graf

Founder, CCO, Barton f. Graf 9000 For summoning a constructive hurricane As soon as they said the first sentence, you knew it was something we would want to do. Gerry Graf has long been known for TV ads that make you laugh--just Google “Skittles beard.” But recently he proved he can make people think too. In 2013, Graf and his agency came up with an idea to raise awareness for climatechange policy. They teamed with the organization 350 Action to launch Climate Name Change, which used social media to petition the World Meteorological Organization to name hurricanes after climate-change deniers. Fake news clips showed Hurricane Marco Rubio pounding the eastern seaboard, for example-and the campaign went viral. “It was just one of those times when the guys came into my office, and as soon as they said the first sentence, you knew it was something we would want to do,” says Graf. “The momentum was just fantastic.”

Michael Phillips Moskowitz Chief curator, EBay

For spotlighting the coolest stuff at the world’s biggest yard sale Anyone with an eBay log-in has access to Michael Phillips ­Moskowitz and his band of curators, who sift through millions of items and group their favorites into collections such as “Retro Redux” or “The Natural World.” To him, they’re searching for “soul.”“We want to use the power of story to expand people’s thinking and inform behavior,” says Moskowitz, who joined the company after his Bureau of Trade site was acquired by eBay last fall. “Story is the thing that triggers our lizard brain. It’s about memorable, meaningful, measurable experiences, not just merchandise.”

For building a bridge to nature “Modern buildings,” says Ma Yansong, one of China’s first young breakout architects, “have become memorials to power and capital. More and more, they’re isolated from people.” His, on the other hand, invite and intrigue. They curve, stretch, and shimmer, somehow looking both natural and otherworldly. Ma attributes this to a central tenet of Chinese architecture, one that remains a defining characteristic of his work: connecting with nature. His latest, the Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort, which opened last year, is an instant Chinese landmark that literally rises out of Taiku Lake and produces-with 19,300 programmable LEDs--a nightly light show that reflects off the water. Following wins at international competitions, he’s now expanding globally: This year, he’s designing an office building in Beverly Hills, California--his first in the U.S. About That Unique Hotel “I see this kind of tunnel in the movies, when people time-travel. You look in this tunnel and see the sky and water on the horizon,” Ma says.

Glass: It’s the same superclear glass used in Apple Stores. “I wanted it to look transparent.”

Curves: The floor-to-ceiling exterior glass in each room is flat, for optimal views (1). Ma creates the hotel’s arching shape by curving the balcony railings and balcony glass.

Height: Instead of one row of exterior LED lights on each floor, Ma created two rows (2), making it difficult, from a distance, to determine the building’s height (332 feet) and number of floors (27).

Shape: The client initially wanted one tower, but Ma pushed for two that connect at the top. “You can’t put a box building in this beautiful landscape,” he says. The curves at the bottom hint that the building continues in an unbroken oval beneath the lake. “That’s what’s interesting about the water. It’s mysterious.”

Rooms: All 282 guest rooms face out, toward the lake or the land.

Bridge: A bridge, which leads over a canal to the hotel entrance, is curved--mimicking the building itself. “You experience this curve before you’re inside,” he says.

Top floor: The highest level is an enormous banquet room spanning both towers (3). The width of the building narrows, as if it’s pointing to the sky.

Lower level: The lower-level spa, beneath the lobby, is underwater.

A Girl’s Guide How to eAt tricky FooDs

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et cetera ...AND OTHER THINGS NOVEMBER 2, 2014

Domestic Violence Among coUPles The Twitterati, P39

Wish List, P34

Jesse Jagz speaks on Abigail Pollit loves empowerment Chris Aire watches

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et cetera

How I feel about... beIng an event planner kuyet gaiya, 28 Growing up, we all had our dreams and aspirations. Mine most definitely was to become a gynecologist and I had my whole spirit, soul and body set on that. As fate would have it though, I struggled for years to get into the university to read medicine but it never happened. Two years ago, I just decided to give Event Planning a shot.

Being a pretty new course, not every institution offered it as a degree course but I kept searching, found one university and I was accepted to study Event Management at Limkokwing University, Malaysia. And as expected, I’ve had so many people raise their eyebrows or give me that “is she for real” look or even give a stifled snigger when I tell them what I studied. But honestly, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. They think it’s a waste of money and time doing a degree course in event management but they have no idea. This is beyond just doing décor or matching colours or textures of fabrics.

It’s not just about style and food. You have to learn how to handle different personalities, etiquette, protocol, sound, video editing, lighting and the list goes on. You must know at least a little about most disciplines which to me is quite exciting. I love people and that’s what events are all about…people. My personality is that of a hyper chick. I get my rush from working on different challenges. Routine bores the marrows out of my bones.

Events are challenging to say the least. Every event comes with its unique challenge.

Doing this has taught me quite a lot. Being able to bring to reality your idea and lines on a paper is just so mind boggling.

So far, it’s been an exciting, stressful, exhilarating and bumpy ride, but I’m loving every single experience. world is one word...

Intriguing!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

aBIgaIl pollIT

WISH lISt

The laboratarian reveals some of her wishes to Zanswat Bowsan

Closet filled with assorted shoes, clothes and perfumes.

2014 Range Rover E Vogue. Its such a lovely car.

all shades of Christian louboutin shoes. That is my fetish. a Hermes bag; limited edition.

6 digit loaded credit card. I want to shop til I drop.

a customised Chris aire watch. Time is precious.

DILEMMA

My Maid is Now My MadaM

In a light-hearted weekly column, we take a wry look at the problems of modern life Dear Editor My name is Juliet from Suleja in Niger state. My husband and I have been trying to have children for the past 10 years. I recently found out that I am pregnant and that my maid is pregnant for my husband too! Since then, she has become something else in the house and my husband seems to be on her side most

et cetera group

of the time. It is seriously affecting my marriage. I asked my husband if he wants to marry her; he said no, but that he would not leave the child. I am really confused as to what to do. I do not want to lose my matrimonial home. What do I do?

Dear Juliet Well congratulations babe. You not only get to have a baby, you also get a new rival. I will advise that since you are also

pregnant, do what Sarah did in the Bible.

Send the brat away with her belly. It just may belong to the gateman. Plus that husband of yours deserves a kick for not controlling his third leg. Call your people and let them know what’s up, maybe they can help in resolving the matter as water don pass garri. When you are done doing this, let us know what happens. you have a dilemma that you want help with? Write to blessing. ukemena@leadership.ng

CONTENT Zanswat Bowsan, Blessing Ukemena DESIGN Matthew Akhabue ACTING EDITOR Auwal Sa'id Mu'azu FOUNDER Sam Nda-Isaiah GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR Azubuike Ishiekwene GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS Michael Okpere, Dr kazeem Durodoye FEEDBACk AND MAIlS Etcetera is published as an insert in LEADERSHIP Sunday.

Please do send your pictures, stories, mails and enquiries to osezua.gloria@leadership.ng

et cetera

Sunday, November 2, 2014

PEOPLE TRACKER

You can send your pictures to xanbowsan@yahoo.com

LE CHIC Lisa Berit is a strong, black woman

COLOUR BLOCK Helen Njoku matches red and blue sweetly CHEEKY Olaronke Ogunjobi looks hot in a short skirt

BOISTEROUS Emmanuel Christopher is a fun-loving person

EDGY Ibadhe Iheaye is taking fashion a notch higher

BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL Samaru looking hot in her black outfit

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et cetera

et cetera

Sunday, November 2, 2014

PEOPLE TRACKER

PEOPLE TRACKER

You can send your pictures to xanbowsan@yahoo.com

LOVELY Harriet Onikeku thinks normal is boring

SIMPLE Deborah Lukom likes to take things easy

SASSY Joy Onazi loves her life

CHOCOLATE Awa Chinda looks dark and lovely

SUAVE Princess Osahon is crazy about fashion

DARING Elizabeth Wash Pam is adventurous with colours

GLAMOROUS Nife Obasa rocks in satin monostrap dress

DAZZLING Adedeji Adenike and Bolanle Adebiyi are still enjoying the event of the day COOL Kossy Chukwu is always in charge

FOREVER FRIENDS Rachel Hamman and Chat Musa are buddies for life

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SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE Vivian Godwins pulls a great look in her yellow dress

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et cetera

Sunday, November 2, 2014

iNSiDE Story

Domestic Violence Among Couples

By Blessing Ukemena, abuja

I

n 2007, the Lagos State Government signed into law the Protection against Domestic Violence Bill to prohibit domestic violence.

This law basically provides redress for victims also called complainants; it empowers third parties like the police, health service providers, a social workers or NGOs; among others, to apply for a protection order on behalf of such a victim. It is expected that the victim would be made to understand the provisions of the law and how it applied to them before consent could be given. The law also empowers the police to arrest, without warrant, any person suspected of committing an offence containing an element of domestic violence against a complainant at the scene of an incident of domestic violence.

Speaking to Mrs Felicia Uwani, the coordinator for Women Right Foundation in Abuja, she stated that she has come across a lot of cases of domestic violence, “Nigeria is one country where a lot of people do not know their rights, especially the women.

Both rich and poor women are victims. You won’t hear it from the rich ladies because they are conscious of their social status. There are a lot of women who are trapped in abusive marriages, but they have no one to cry to. What I do not understand is why it seems that the police do not really help the parents in this regard. When you report to them, they do not give it enough attention, or they just ignore this law or maybe they are unaware of its existence.”

Mariam Adigwe is a medical doctor in the FCT. In her opinion domestic violence does not just affects the victim but also affect the children in a marriage. “It is not really about the wealth of the man but rather his psyche about women. A man can be rich but still be a wife

What they said...

Domestic Violence Among The Rich

beater. When you have kids in a home that records a lot of violence, the psychology of the child or children is damages over time. The child becomes unnecessarily aggressive and tends to believe that it is okay to hit another person. I have seen a lot of instances when the child is trying to defend the mother from the beatings of the father and that child gets injured in the process.

Such things record in the mind of the child. These rich children you see who go abroad and sometimes commit suicide or kill somebody are from wealthy homes” she stated.

Mr George Ani is a lawyer in the FCT and has this to say on the matter, “There is a deep cultural belief in Nigeria that it is socially acceptable to hit a woman, although that is slowly changing with education.

“The thing is that most men still believe it is okay to slap a woman once in a while and you know that women especially when they are educated can be really stubborn. It is not like in the days of our fathers when women will agree to everything that the man says in the house. However I am not one of those who subscribe to abusing women in any way. It is an act that should not be tolerated and women themselves need to stand up and say no to such abuse from men,” he stated.

There are very few cases where the man is the victim of domestic violence. Pascal Nwoke is a businessman who says that he was a victim of domestic violence. “I am presently married for the second time because my first wife used to slap me. Not

"When you have kids in a home that records a lot of violence, the psychology of the child or children is damages over time. The child becomes unnecessarily aggressive and tends to believe that it is ok to hit another person."

"Nigeria is one country where a lot of people do not know their rights especially the women. Both rich women and poor women are victims. You won’t hear it from the rich ladies because they are conscious of their social status."

Marian Adigwe, Medical Doctor

Felicia Uwani, Coordinator Women's Rights

many men will admit this, but that’s the truth. She was bigger than me and she was into sports, so whenever we have an argument, her hand will just come out on my face. I do not believe in beating women so I never fought back and she always apologized after it. But it got worse with time that I had to start retaliating.

Then, one day she took up a knife to fight me and I decided then that it was the end of our marriage,” he stated. Another example was the case of Mr John Ogodi and his wife Mrs Chidinma Ogodi which was mentioned at the Upper Area Court Mararaba Gurku, Nasarawa State. According to the First Information Report from the police, on September 5, 2013, Chidinma had a misunderstanding with her husband at their home and

“She was bigger than me and she was into sports so whenever we have an argument, her hand will just come out on my face."

Pascal Nwoke, Businessman

We want to know what you think about our inside story above. You can have your say by emailing xanbowsan@yahoo.com

during the argument that ensued she ran after him with a digger with intention to kill him. The husband stated that they have been having some marital problems in the past and that this was not the first time that his wife had threatened to kill him. He claimed that he was not the type to physically assault his wife. On her part, Chidinma tried to justify her actions, she accused him of being unfaithful to her and not adequately providing for her and their two children. After hearing both sides of the case, the presiding judges dissolved the marriage on grounds on irreconcilable differences and gave custody of the children to the husband. He however stated that Chidinma be allowed to visit her children one day each week since she is their mother.

“The thing is that most men still believe it is ok to slap a woman once in a while and you know that women especially when they are educated can be really stubborn.”

George Ani, Lawyer

et cetera

Sunday, November 2, 2014

39

THE TWITTERATI CATCH UP WITH WHAT CELEBS HAVE BEEN TWEETING ABOUT

@Bovi_comedy

@iam_wizkid1

No matter where you live, Jehovah witness will find your house and knock at your door.

October 23 Especially after church on Sunday when you are dying from hunger.

@Jessejagz

Love every minute, second and every hour. Knowledge is power.

The government is ours.

October 11 Jargo, are you now an activist?

@gogo_majin

Music industry is changing so fast. I wonder what the long term implications of some of these changes will be.

October 23 I dont want to think about it, please!

@FatimaJones Am I dreaming or did this dude just say “it is better to have a molested child than a dead child”? No words #bringbackourgirls October 15 He obviously isn’t a father

Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.

October 23 Slow and steady wins the race, so they say.

expression of interest form from PDP. #NigeriaDecides October 23 Up til now?

@doshiX I haven’t been this excited about starting a book in a while. It’s mostly curiosity, @kuluwaz rarely excitement.

American brand of igbo is October 23 strong. How do they keep Looking forward to it. scaling the White House fence like that? @elnathan October 23 Tyler Perry movies: Because The voices in his head told him he sometimes you need to show would succeed black people as bumbling crossed-dressed idiots to tell @manmustwack a story.

If I even discover say the October 23 woman wen I marry get Come on! There are funny moments winch, I go beg am if their coven dey give money.

October 23 Something’s got to give. @blossomnnodim President Goodluck IJwhiterabbit Jonathan has til 30th Wow! There is also a October to formally young woman running declare and purchase for Governor of my state. his expression of This is exciting. interest form from PDP. October 23 #NigeriaDecides Girls aren’t smiling. 2015, here we October 23 come.

Up til now? @ContactSalkida Where in the world do you see over 250,000 citizens held hostages in seized territories by insurgents and life goes on, with nobody even resigning?

October 23 In Nigeria alone, im quite convinced. @blossomnnodim President Goodluck Jonathan has til 30th October to formally declare and purchase his

@FatimahTasbeeh Your heart is empty when Allah is not your priority and tears are shed only for people and not for Allah.

October 12 Please I’d like to know more. @Vusani_ One day women are debating feminism and gender equality, next day they’re justifying girlfriend allowance. What an amazing

time to be alive.

October 23 Girlfriend what?? @sharon_ikeazor Women are starting to bond and support each other in politics #AreWomenReady October 23 We were born ready @MusadiqZ Buhari is definitely not a perfect man but the funny thing is that all the allegations by Jonathanians against him do not have credible proof.

October 22 It’s a dog eat dog world. @Gwariboy You don’t attract what you want, you attract what you are.

October 23 That doesnt always apply, Gwariboy @SheCrownLita Sent recharge card to my bro, ended the text with love you. Brother’s girlfriend just called now warning me never to contact her boyfriend again.

October 23 Time for her to find a new guy,lol! @snatcha There is nothing as annoying as trying to top up your oyster card with £50 notes. Tha amount of coins that will jingle in your pocket.

October 23 Jingle all the way!

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et cetera

Sunday, November 2, 2014

LIFE101

A GIRL’S GUIDE

How to Eat tricky FoodS

After all the trouble you go to, you get as much actual ‘food’ out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking thirty or forty postage stamps, says Miss Piggy. Artichokes are one problem dish, and unless you have a violent allergy to seafood/shellfish, there are two other slippery suckers you should get to grips with.

Oysters Of the two, oysters are the more “acquired” taste, taste though as Eddie Murphy says, “Anything you have to acquire a taste for was not meant to be eaten.” Then said, they are reputed to be a most potent aphrodisiac.

Super Flirt

So swallow. First hurdle with an oyster is to open it. If it is a restaurant that values their white-washed walls, and other diners, hopefully the chef has done this job for you. Pick up the oyster in its shell. Give it a gentle wobble; it should be like jelly on a plate. Hold to your mouth, tilt your head back, open your lips and tip. A real pro will look at their dining partner as it slips out of the shell, confident the darn thing wont slide down their chin. When dining on oysters, insist on eating only at the best places. A bad oyster experience will stick with you forever.

Lobsters Lobsters are an impressive dish to be served and most decadent to order. Plus you really have to fight and wrestle to get to the meat, so you will build up an appetite.

First allow it to cool enough so you can touch it. Perhaps slip off your rings while you wait, as you don’t want these getting fleshy meat and shell stuck in them.

Treat lobsters like giant shrimp: the two great big claws off first- take away the weapons. Crack the claws.

Bend the body back from the tail; this will crack and reveal more meat. If this is all sounding too brutal, and not

for you, ask the kitchen to prepare it. Manyr estaurants serve it in an easy-access way so you don’t feel like you are doing a postmortem on the poor creature. Ease meat out of the cracked shell, remove and discard black vein in tail, dip meat in melted butter and enjoy.

It has been known that true addicts can delve deeper and find liver, but if you are trying simultaneously to sustain a conversation, I would pass on the stage of lobotomy...you may want to look that up.

Culled from A Girl’s Guide To Almost Everything

selfless

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it. In his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this windowThe nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

SOURCE- academictips.org

Her non-verbal signs sHow sHe’s interested

Staring at your lipS

The more infatuated she is, the more time she’ll spend looking at your mouth while you’re talking. If you’ve been doing a bit of autoerotic touching, she’s got the hint and is fixated on it.

thigh Stroke

We stroke ourselves for two reasons: to draw attention to a body part (eyes tend to follow fingers) and to tease the person watching.

the great behind

A woman checks out everything on a man she fancies. It is slightly different from a man’s scan. Believe it or not, women check out a man’s behind.

Shoulder flaSh

It’s a small quick movement but stay alert to it if you want to be one step ahead of the game.

CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

bottom lines $1,600,000,000 4% Percentage of royalties on oil and gas concessions and other revenues approved by president Goodluck Jonathan as the cost of collection by the Department of Petroleum Resources.

IN SHORT Cadbury Nigeria quarterly profit drop 57 per cent

Beverage maker, Cadbury Nigeria Plc said recently its profit before tax for the period ended September 30, 2014 dropped 57 per cent to N2.396bn from N5.525bn in the same period of 2013.

Similarly, profit after tax declined with the same margin of 57 per cent to N1.652bn from N3.875bn in the corresponding period of 2013.

However, the performance of Cadbury continued to remain weak as revenue declined 12.2 per cent year-on-year (y/y) to N23.313bn from N26.547bn in the third quarter of 2013.

Basic earnings per share of the fast-moving consumer goods product giant went down 28.5 per cent to N88 in the Q3 of 2014 from N123 recorded in the same period of 2013, the company said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

COMPANY

SECRETS

Sir Colin Marshall, British Airways

Total worth of investments of the rice sector in the last three years according to the federal government.

Learn Africa records N10.1m net profit in Q3 2014

Managing director, Learn Africa Plc., Mr Olusegun Oladipo

Learn Africa Plc has announced a net profit of N10.1 million for the third quarter (Q3) period ended September 30, 2014, indicating an increase of 107 per cent over the N132.3m loss recorded in the corresponding period of 2013.

The gross profit margin of the firm rose from 50.85 per cent in Q3 2013 to 62 per cent in Q3 2014, representing over 10 per cent growth.

The marginal increase in operational expenses is attributable to the extensive and intensive promotional activities that were carried out by the firm’s sales team across Nigeria with a view to expanding its market coverage.

“We are excited that our market development strategy is beginning to yield desired results and this is evident in the growth of our turnover from N1,044,160

41

BoostiNG Sales

in the third quarter of 2013, to N1,418,778 in 2014,” Olusegun Oladipo, managing director, Learn Africa, said.

According to him, it is important to note that the increase in turnover was achieved mainly through open market sales to schools, booksellers and other outlets.

“Our broad range of excellent titles are attracting significant patronage from discerning customers in all segments of our market due to the adequate contents, impressive compliance with current requirements of the curricula, high quality production, reader friendly layout and widespread availability. These have lead to an increase in the level of prescriptions of our titles by several state governments and the administrators of key private primary and secondary schools across Nigeria.

“We hasten to add that our improved performance is indicative of our strong commitment to the interests of our customers and shareholders despite the challenging business environment that is characterized by declining disposable income of an average family, high level of book piracy, poor reading culture, epileptic power supply, bad road network, high cost of funds and declining sales in the NorthEast as a result of insurgency.

“Nevertheless, we would intensify our efforts at increasing sales and minimising overheads so as to generate better returns on investment. We feel confident that the end year result for 2014 will represent a very remarkable improvement on last year’s report. Our optimism is premised on the excellent quality of our products, our customer-oriented activities, the wide sales and distribution network, competitive prices and greater operational efficiencies. All these have helped to consolidate our position as the leading learning resource company in Nigeria,” he said.

Be kind: Show genuine interest and concern

The gift of kindness is one of life’s great blessings. Thinking more about others than yourself can have an amazing effect on your wellbeing as well as your sales. Start this interest and concern before you even know your clients personally.

Make some choices about the niches to serve, gather information, and develop an understanding of their needs.

A sales rep for a large print shop has carved out a niche, calling on businesses that produce a variety of business publications. His customers appreciate the combination of speed and quality. One of his customers was struggling with the demands of her employer.

There was a lot of forced overtime that was making it impossible for her to manage her family life.

The sales rep contacted his other customers in search of a position for this woman. His solid standing with them influenced the recommendation and he did this with full knowledge of the risk that her replacement may not choose to use his print services. The woman was able to change jobs to a more family-friendly work environment and as it turned out, he didn’t lose the business at the original account.

From apprenticeship’s purser to CEO: A journey in search of the customer I would like to begin on an unusual note, by talking about some early influences and events that shaped my career as a manager. Experience has been my greatest teacher, perhaps richer than any formal management education.

My first job was as cadet purser on the Orient Line, which in the fifties carried hundreds of thousands of British emigrants to the Antipodes. This was the first such voyage for many of the passengers, and during the six weeks at sea there were plenty of possibilities

for friction, dissatisfaction and stress.

This was also my first raw experience with the demands and behaviour of customers in what were often tense situations. Seasickness has a deep mood-altering effect, and not for the better.

But I was also perceived that my own behaviour and my peers could make a deep impression on people’s awareness and understanding. So I set out to build buoyant relationships with passengers – through helpfulness, friendliness and

courtesy.

The approach worked. The passengers became aware of what was reasonable to demand of the crew, and we were scrupulous about meetings those demands. On those occasions when we went beyond the call of duty, we typically got an appreciative response.

I didn’t realise at that time but I was practicing what was to become known several decades later as ‘customer service’ – the cornerstone of a future business strategy.

42 CEOConfidential

hub Compiled by Olujide Olusola

Sunday, November 2, 2014

57,550,193

Total number of passengers who used 22 Nigerian airports between 2010 and 2013 as released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

L-R: Chief compliance officer/company secretary, Oando Plc, Ms Ayotola Jagun; chairman, Oba Michael Adedotun Gbadebo, and group chief executive, Mr Wale Tinubu, during the 37th annual general meeting of Oando Plc, held in Lagos recently. PHOTO BY GBENGA OLAJOBI

L-R: Managing director/CEO, Oando Gas and Power, Mr Bolaji Osunsanya; senior special assistant on gas, Federal Ministry of Power, Mr Frank Edozie; group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), Mr Joseph Thlama Dahwa, and president, Nigerian Gas Association, Mr Saidu Mohammed, during the West Africa Gas Conference in Abuja. PHOTO: WALE ELEKOLUSI

Robert T. Kiyosaki @theRealKiyosaki People hear the word “debt” and automatically categorize it as bad. Get educated to know the difference between good & bad #debt.

leadership. #ELC2014 Richard Branson @richardbranson You don’t learn to walk by following rules, you learn by doing & by falling over.

Lolly Daskal @LollyDaskal tweets There are very few Sam Adeyemi that can claim to @sam_adeyemi have accomplished Mediocre followers without the help of others. choose/tolerate mediocre Leadership is achieved in leaders. The quality of followers affects the quality of collaboration.

fav

N150,000,000,000 Worth of Nigeria’s electricity metering market.

L-R: Director, Finance and Account, OSSAP, MDGs, Ibikunle David; senior special assistant to the president on MDGs, Dr Precious K Gbeneol, and deputy governor, Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke, at the OSSAP-MDGs Pre-implementation workshop for 2014 Conditional Grants Scheme to Local Government Areas in Abuja recently .

PHOTO BY PATRICK EBI AMANAMA

L-R: Representative of Zenith Bank Plc, Power Sector Group, Amarauche Ezukanma; executive director, Business Development, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Enyinnaya Onokala and chairman, Humanitex Nigeria Limited, Mr G.O. Akinluyi, at the ExxonMobil Energy Outlook Series event in Lagos.

PHOTO BY GBENGA OLAJOBI

The Adelaide Club, Australia South Australian Museum, which contain History and tradition sit comfortably many cultural and artistic treasures. The with the best in contemporary living at The Adelaide Club. Founded in 1863, the Adelaide Club was founded in 1863. A bar has been provided on the ground floor Club is one of the oldest in Australia. and bedroom accommodation brought up Located in the heart of Adelaide’s arts to standards appropriate for mixed and cultural precinct, the Club use. Members regard the Club as a offers Members and Guests home away from home and every fine dining, accommodation effort is made to justify that and convivial ambience. The Adelaide Club is affiliated works perception of the Club. The Club takes particular pride in its staff with Reciprocal Clubs worldand in its custom that staff serve wide. From the Club entrance food and beverage without the signing you can see Government House, of chits, a custom which requires staff to Parliament House, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the State Library and the know the members.

net

CEOConfidential

Sunday, Novemeber 2, 2014

$1,700,000,000

otal worth of trade volume between Nigeria and China within the last seven months according to the Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos State, Mr Liu Kan.

61

Number of countries that will be participating in the fifth edition of the Nigeria Poultry Show holding in Abeokuta, from Tuesday, November 4 to 5, 2014.

43

1,476

Megawatts lost by the country due to the shrinking water level, shortage in gas supply and high frequency.

YOUR FYI FOR INFORMATION

L-R: Brand manager, Marketing, PepsiSeven-Up Bottling Company, Segun Ogunleye; CEO, Kinetic Sports, Samson Adamu, and head, Marketing, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Norden Thurston, during the ‘Clean the Beach’ initiative as part of the 2014 Copa Lagos event at the Bar Beach, Lagos.

PHOTO BY GBENGA OLAJOBI

IBM

Despite the differences between the separate areas of the Arab world, from the Fertile Crescent of the north, through the oilrich states of the Gulf to the North African Maghreb, it’s still generally true that it doesn’t do to rush things. There is a widespread, fatalistic attitude that whatever will happen will happen, for the best, as God wills. This is summed up by the acronym IBM: inshallah (God willing – something will only happen if Allah wills it) bukra (tomorrow – things take as long as they take); ma’alesh (don’t worry – however things look now, they will turn out for the best).

In a street-corner conversation in most Arab cities you could get by almost indefinitely with a good shoulder shrug and these three words.

Hello, good bye

In the Hebrew of Israel, Shalom means three things: ‘hello,’ ‘Good-bye,’ and ‘Peace.’ The Hawaiians have a different emphasis: Aloha means ‘Hello,’ ‘Good-bye,’ and ‘love.’ In Italy, ciao can mean ‘Hi’ or ‘Bye’ and in Finland Hei, too, is fine for both greeting and departing.

DoING Business Leadership and status with Israeli L-R: Chief executive officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Ltd, Dr Demola Sogunle; guest speaker at the occasion, Dr Christopher Kolade, and head of research and corporate strategy, National Pension Commission, Dr Farouk Aminu, during Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers’ Seminar, held at Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos recently.

PHOTO: BENEDICT UWALAKA

HOW THEY

BLEW IT

Zhou Zhengyi

Power Politics continueS FROM LAST WEEK Yet for Zhou, old habits die hard. In addition to the embezzlement charges, Zhou was charged with bribing prison authorities to gain special privileges, including conducting business meetings and making phone calls from prison.

Incredibly, Yu Jinbao, a supervisor in the Shanghai Tilanqiao prison, was sentenced to two years in prison for writing more than 200 letters to try to get Zhou’s sentence commuted!

Others were done for accepting gifs from ‘Zhou’s people’. In a neat conclusion to that part of Zhou’s story, four of his jailers were eventually jailed for corruption.

Zhou’s story shows how success can be

dangerous game in China. Interwined with politics, power games, a disregard for the law, nepotism, bribery and corruption, it is an issue that the authorities realise could continue to be a serious problem in the future.

Zhou’s case smacks of certain arrogance, brought about by such amazing success from an early age.it was not that Zhou thought he was untouchable because of who he was (after all, he was a nobody, really). It was more than he felt untouchable because of his achievements and wealth. It is a self-belief bordering on delusion.

Zhou’s greatest mistake was not realising that the wind in China can quickly change direction.

CONCLUDED

Lacking an aristocracy, Israeli society attaches importance to achievement and dynamism when looking for leadership. The trouble time with Israel’s Palestinian neighbours since 1945 has led to an enhanced role for the military and hawkish politicians, though the Israeli center and left have not been without their charismatic figures. It is hard to judge how a period of prolonged peace would affect Israel’s choice of leaders.

The present hostile situation means that the choice cannot be divorced from political and security-bound realities. It is likely that in less troubled times cultural luminaries would be in the ascendancy, given the level of Israeli education. Religious leaders also exert considerable influence on Israeli life. Status is granted through achievement.

44 CEOConfidential

entrepreneur $400m Estimated worth of MercadoLibre founder, Marcos Galperin

SMALL BUSINESS The 7 steps to starting a business continues from last WEEK

In time, you’ll learn what aspects of the product or service are important and secondary to the client. Until then, think price and quality.

5. Determine marketing – (figure out how to get leads) Make it simple and put up a website. Read about PPC and SEO. If you’re selling business to business services, social media will help your search engine efforts, however you’re not going to be directly making money off of it.

6. Learn how to sell – The best salesmen / saleswomen don’t sell.

Instead, selling can be broken down into two different parts: a. Listening – Too often, sales professionals think about what they are going to say next rather than focus on what the other individual is saying. I’ve come to learn that keeping your mouth shut and ears open is about 70% of sales. b. Knowing what you’re talking about – Running a recruiting firm, I’ve learned the difference between the average and wealthy sales professional or entrepreneur is that they can create realistic expectations for the client through gaining the client’s trust via your expertise.

The entrepreneurs who “Yes” to death end up letting their clients’ expectations get out of whack and, in turn create a relationship where only arguments, not money exchanges hands.

7. Learn how to execute the steps needed to take project to completion – Finally, put a set, organised process in place to take the service or product from start to finish in a predictable manner that yields the desired results.

Concluded

His STORY

Sunday, November 2, 2014

26

Age of the 76-year-old American prisoners of war (PoWs), Everett Alvarez, who built a multi-million dollar business, when he was captured by the North Vietnamese.

Chidinma Uche Marketing quality clothing Necessity they say is the mother of invention, and that axiom is behind the birth of Madyma Nigeria Enterprise, a business outfit which deals on clothing, especially for women.

Chidinma Uche, CEO of the company recalls that as a fresh graduate who had completed her national youth service, had to resort into continuing the business she does on part-time basis as a student after a long wait for a whitecollar job to no avail.

“After my national youth service I came to Abuja to see if I can find a job,” she said explaining what informed her going into that line of business. “But when the job was not forthcoming, I decided to continue the business I was running in school as an undergraduate.”

She revealed that starting the business in a new environment posed a lot of challenges. “When I started, I had no shop, she recounts. “I had to carry my wares in a bag and hawk them from one business location, home, mall, to the other. It was quite challenging because I had to engage the services of taxies to transport my wares. And in some cases I forget some of the wares in a taxi.”

Months down the line, Uche’s business started seeing significant improvement. Her business started to grow and today, the company prides itself as one of the one-stop clothing shops for both men and women in Abuja.

Uche further revealed that the challenge of selling on credit has not been taken care of because “customers like to buy and pay at their convenience.”

She explains that her passion for fashion is the push that has kept her going, revealing that many who started her kind of business or decided to start theirs having seen the successes she had recorded have fallen on the way, because they lack the basic ingredient to remain in that line of business.

Uche, who said that the quality of products her company sells stands it out among its contemporaries project that in the near future, “I want to have branches all over Nigeria.”

Having carved a niche for herself in the industry, she has the following advice for young and aspiring entrepreneurs: “The road may seem not easy, but with determination and perseverance, you will surely overcome. Remain focused even in times of challenges; that’s what makes you an overcomer.”

Contact Uche on 08037067341

Fayoyiwa Babajide, CEO, Emperor Media Consult How did you get to where you are today?

I started this business in 2008 through the help of God. Diligence has helped me a lot too – getting priorities right, proper time management and risk analysis.

What have you learnt over the years?

The best product you have got is you, package it well and you would be amazed by the extent of your reach.

What were the challenges you faced?

Building trust. Trust is about you; the promises you make per time, how soon

such are fulfilled and capacity expansion.

How did you overcome the challenges?

I had to remain consistent to win people’s confidence.

What are your future projections for your business?

To compere at a national programme; speak to at least a thousand youth audience; be a life coach to at least a hundred youths from the six geopolitical zone., How do you intend to achieving these projections?

By networking properly with like-minded individuals; dream bigger per; be in synch with my mentors for guidance per time and remain sensitive to the need of the environment as I have always been. .

Any advice for younger entreptrneurs?

Integrity is key, do not betray people’s trust. Integrity cumulatively will give you more money than short corners will on the long run.

Contact Babajide on 07030271341

46 CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

tipoffs $1,500,000,000,000 Compiled by Salome Anyasodo

SECRETS OF LONGETIVITY

Weights and walking for stronger bones

As people age, their bones brittle and lose calcium. This condition called osteoporosis, affects the majority of the world’s population over seventy years of age. And no matter how much calcium and vitamin D supplements people take, without activities that exert weight on the bones, it will prove useless. We learned this when astronauts experienced weightlessness in space. Without gravity to put weight on their bones, they underwent much more rapid bone loss than they would have on Earth. Moderate weight-bearing exercises such as walking are sufficient to help restore calcium to the bones.

BOOKMARK

Life at the Speed of Passion

Eve Wright, Publisher:The Career Press, Inc., 2014

All people experience setbacks in life.

Unmet expectations, unexpected failures, and unfulfilled goals can all cause an individual to lose sight of his or her true passion—or prevent it from ever being found. In Life at the Speed of Passion, businesswoman and entrepreneur Eve Wright shares advice on how to find and pursue a passion and a purpose in life. Using her own life experience and the stories of others, Wright teaches individuals to put aside others’ expectations—and their own selfimposed limits—and to take a “leap of faith” outside of their comfort zones.

Estimated amount the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projects global petroleum refining investments to hit by 2035.

43%

Estimated percentage of children under five years who were registered during the 2013 Demographic and Health Survey done by the National Population Commission (NPC).

What successful people do with the first hour of their work day The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they all tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list.

Do not check your email for the first hour. Seriously. Stop that Tumblr founder David Karp will “try hard” not to check his email until 9:30 or 10am, according to an Inc profile of him. “Reading e-mails at home never feels good or productive,” Karp said. “If something urgently needs my attention, someone will call or text me.”

It is an idea that serves as the title of Julie Morgenstern’s work management book Never Check Email In The Morning, and it is a fine strategy for leaving the office with the feeling that, even on the most over-booked days, one got at least one real thing done.

If you need to make sure the most important messages from select people come through instantly, AwayFind can monitor your inbox and get your attention when something notable arrives.

Gain awareness, be grateful “How do the most successful people start their day?”. The most popular response came from a devotee of Tony Robbins, the self-help guru who pitched the power of mindful first-hour rituals long before we all had little computers next to our beds.

Robbins suggests setting up an “Hour of Power,” “30 Minutes to Thrive,” or at least “Fifteen Minutes to Fulfillment.”

Part of it involves light exercise, part of it involves motivational incantations, but the most accessible piece involves

10 minutes of thinking of everything you are grateful for: in yourself, among your family and friends, in your career, and the like. After that, visualise “everything you want in your life as if you had it today.”

Do the big, shoulder-sagging stuff first Brian Tracy’s classic time-management book Eat That Frog gets its title from a Mark Twain saying that, if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you have got it behind you for the rest of the day, and nothing else looks so bad.

Gina Trapani explained it well in a video for her Work Smart series). Combine that with the concept of getting one thing done before you wade into email, and you have got a day-to-day system in place. Here is how to force yourself to stick to it: Choose your frog “Choose your frog, and write it down on a piece of paper that you will see when you arrive back at your desk in the morning, One benefit to tackling that terrible, weighty thing you do not want to do first thing in the morning

is that you get some space from the other people involved in that thing--the people who often make the thing more complicated and frustrating. Without their literal or figurative eyes over your shoulder, the terrible thing often feels less complex, and you can get more done.

Ask yourself if you are doing what you want to do Feeling unfulfilled at work should not be something you realise months too late, or even years. Consider making an earnest attempt every morning at what the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs told a graduating class at Stanford to do:When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you will most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

CAPITALISM Africa is not destined for underdevelopment What they tell you Africa is destined for underdevelopment. It has a poor climate which leads to serious tropical disease problems. It has lousy geography, with many of its countries landlocked and surrounded by countries whose small marketers offer limited export opportunities and whose violent conflicts spill into neighbouring countries. It has too many neutral resources, which makes people lazy, corrupt and conflict-prone. African nations are ethically divided, which renders them difficult to manage and more likely

to experience violent conflicts. They have poor quality institutions that do not protect investors well. There is no other way forward for Africa than being propped up by foreign aid.

What they do not tell you.

Africa has not always been stagnant.

In the 1960s and 70s, when all the supposed structural impediments to growth were present and often more binding, it actually posted a decent growth performance. Moreover, all the structural handicaps that are supposed to hold back Africa have been present in most of today’s rich

countries-poor climate (artic and tropical), landlockedness, abundant natural resources, ethnic divisions, poor institutions and bad culture.

These structural conditions seem to act as impediments to development in Africa only because its countries do not yet have the necessary technologies, institutions and organisational skills to deal with their adverse consequences. The real cause of African stagnation in the last three decades is free-market policies that the continent has been compelled to implement during the period. Africa is not destined for underdevelopment.

CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

updates 9,000 Compiled by Dan Udechukwu

Number of job losses Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed, and would translate to the net closure of 150 branches over the next three years.

TEChNology

IBM’s innovative solution to combat Ebola

$7m

Amount Zimbabwe’s tourism sector has lost to the infectiousness of the Ebola epidemic, according to Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT) president Francis Ngwenya.

$1m

IBM has joined the global fight against the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa, using mobile technology, data analytics and cloud computing to stop the virus.

The Big Blue has therefore launched initiatives in Sierra Leone, where the virus has killed 1281 people, and Nigeria, a country that was recently declared Ebola-free by the World Heath Organisation. Nigeria had eight fatalities who succumbed to the deadly virus.

In Sierra Leone, the tech giant launched a citizen engagement and analytics system that enables communities affected by Ebola to communicate their issues and concerns directly to the government.

IBM’s new Africa research lab, in collaboration with Sierra Leone’s Open Government Initiative developed the system that enables citizens to report Ebola-related issues and concerns via SMS or voice calls.

“For us to tackle Ebola, it is crucial to maintain an open dialogue between the government and the people of Sierra Leone,” said director of Sierra Leone’s Open Government Initiative, Khadija Sesay.

Mind Over Matter

Break the code to discover the missing letter. Hint: A-Z = 1-26

47

94%

Percentage slip in profit of Egypt’s biggest steel maker, Ezz Dekheila, in the year’s third quarter, as energy shortages and price surge took their toll during the period under review.

Woolworths positive about Namibian prospects

Woolworths has opened its ninth store in Namibia at The Grove in Windhoek. The store, which is 2,400 square metres, offers a range of clothing and general merchandise including beauty. In addition, the store is currently the largest food market to date in Namibia at 480 square meters.

“Woolworths has had great success in Namibia and we are very excited about our new store at The Grove”, said Woolworths Group Director, Retail Operations, Paula Disberry. “Having traded in Namibia for a number of years, the customers are now familiar and loyal to the Woolworths brand.”

HealtH

Zimbabwe loses $7m to Ebola scare

Savannah Cement, the cement maker based in Nairobi, Kenya, would be tracking down sales prospects throughout East African countries in the next year and is currently pushing for development projects worth $300m in that market, it said last Wednesday.

Worth of donation made This is an opportune time for Savannah Cement to embark

by South Africa’s famous on this project because its counterpart, South Africa’s biggest billionaire, Patrice cement maker, PPC, which has grandiose plans for East Africa Motsepe to assist in the market, is currently bogged down by its boardroom problems fight against the Ebola after its CEO, Ketso Gordhan, resigned mysteriously a couple of disease in some parts weeks back.

of West Africa

Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile telecommunications company plans to invest $335m in upgrading its infrastructure to improve its voice and data offering.

The stock price of Africa’s biggest grocery firm, Shoprite, surged impressively on last Monday after the company said it had increased turnover by 12.3 per cent in the quarter to September this year.

energy

Tullow discovers traces of oil at Kenyan valley

British oil exploration firm Tullow Plc has discovered new prospects in Kenya’s Kerio Valley where hydrocarbons mixed with sand was found, the first of such outside Turkana, “The Kodos-1 well is the first test of the Kerio Basin and hydrocarbon shows provide encouragement, indicating the presence of an active petroleum system,” the company said in astatement.

The potential of the Kerio Basin remains highly prospective and the rig is now moving to drill the next well, Epir-1, in a sub-basin to the north of Kodos-1.

motoring

Fiat Chrysler to spin off Ferrari into separate unit

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plans to spin off Ferrari and sell a 10% stake in the luxury carmaker on the stock market.

The remaining Ferrari shares would be distributed among FCA shareholders.

The carmaker wants to complete the spin-off next year, with Ferrari shares listed in the US and possibly having a European listing too The sale is part of a bigger plan by FCA to raise $61bn to fund an investment plan.

HUB-WORDS How many words can you make from the letters in the wheel? Each word must contain the hub letter C. Can you find a 9-letter word and at least 20 other words of five letters or more avoiding proper nouns?

LaSt Week’S SOLUtiOnS

Mind Over Matter The letters A-Z are valued 1-26. In each set, the sum of the values of the four outside letters, divided by the value of the middle letter, is equal to the value of the bottom left letter, so the mystery letter is F (6).

HUB-WORDS 9-letter word - ACROBATIC Some other words of four letters or more containing the hub letter R: airt, aria, boar, brat, brit, cart, coir, crab, crib, riot, rota, taro, tori, trio, abort, actor, aorta, atria, bract, carat, carob, circa, cobra, orbit, raita, ratio, riata, tabor, taira, tiara, aortic, rabato, acrobat, carioca.

48 CEOConfidential

Sunday, November 2, 2014

updates 4,000 Compiled by Dan Udechukwu

49%

Percentage fall of Unilever Nigeria’s pre-tax profit for the nine months ended September 30.

Number of Nigerian to attend the ongoing International Trade Expo in China, according to the Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China, Liu Kan.

retail

Visa partners shoptomydoor.com on global shopping

Visa Inc., the global leader in payments, has announced a partnership with shoptomydoor. com, an online retail shopping solution platform.

The partnership is expected to offer exciting discounts on shipping to Visa cardholders who shop via the shoptomydoor.com platform, and would run till the December 31, 2014.

In a press release made available to LEADERSHIP, the general manager for Visa in West Africa, Ade Ashaye, said the partnership is to effect the acceptance of e-commerce in Nigeria.

“Through this collaboration, our customers have the added convenience of being able to make purchases from hundreds of stores in the USA, UK and China and have them delivered anywhere in Nigeria,” Ashaye said.

Shoptomydoor.com on its part through this partnership has opened international access for Nigerians who have previously complained of payment and logistical challenges when trying to shop on international online stores. The collaboration with Visa will guarantee cost effective delivery anywhere in Nigeria and also make it faster and easier for Visa cardholders to make purchases on the platform, according to its managing director, Nduka Udeh. telecommunication

MTN Nigeria partners Alcatel-Lucent to boost connectivity

MTN Nigeria and Alcatel-Lucent have launched a superfast, 100 gigabit-per-second fiber-optic network that will see the mobile telecommunications company offer ultra-broadband connectivity to

N6.4trn Worth of investment in Nigeria’s telecom industry in danger as National Assembly fails to pass Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) bill.

its over 58 million subscribers in the West African country.

“MTN realised we needed to upgrade our network to meet customer expectations for ultra-broadband connectivity and high reliability within Nigeria’s very competitive marketplace,” said CTO of MTN Nigeria, Lynda Saint-Nwafor.

Agriculture

Agribusiness Marketplace explores speedy lending to MSMEs

Aspiring and existing business operators have been assured of speedy release of funds for their bankable business plans after approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Agribusiness Marketplace programme held recently in Lagos.

Present at the event, organised by the Net-Works Business Club in collaboration with the Wisdom Group of RCCG City of David with theme ‘Agribusiness and the Market Place (Part 2),’ were Peter Amangbo, managing director of Zenith Bank, Jonathan Tobin, deputy director, Development Finance Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and other seasoned Amount Nigerians spend professionals and entrepreneurs. every year in a bid to power their generating units and service their Energy power needs, according Shell signs sales agreements for to CREDC

$4.9bn

Nigerian assets

In its determination to close the huge manpower gap in Nigerian shipping industry, the Bonny Gas Transport (BGT), a subsidiary of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), has commenced the training of 580 Nigerians in different aspects of ship building and construction.

IPMAN last Tuesday said local refining of the nation’s crude remained the only way to stem the effects of declining crude oil prices on the Nigerian economy.

Royal Dutch Shell has signed sales agreements for all the Nigerian oil assets it put up for sale following a 2013 review as part of its cost-cutting drive. The assets include Shell’s 30 percent stake in oil mining leases (OML) 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL).

Shell has opted to move away from Nigerian onshore oil production, which is plagued by massive oil theft, security problems and oil spills and is also becoming a major source of legal liabilities.

The company also said that, together with its partners Total and Eni, it had signed an agreement to sell their 45 per cent stake in OML 18 to a consortium led by Canadian oil and gas company Mart Resources. The remaining share of the oil field is owned by Nigeria’s national oil company.

Agriculture

BoI, others’ investments in agribusiness rekindle private interest

The investments of Bank of Industry (BoI), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Partnership Initiatives with the Niger Delta (PIND) and that of the Edo State government in the agric sector, have rekindled investors’ interest.

Managing director, Idaewor Foods Limited, one of the leading cassava flour processors in Edo State, Peter Idaewo, said this.

According to Idaewo, who is one of the happy beneficiaries of the loan provided by these stakeholders, the loan was in series. “The interest rate of the loan is between 0 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. I don’t want this opportunity to me pass-by without appreciating the bank and the state government.

EXECUTIVE CALENDAR Exhibition Lagos International Trade Fair Eti Osa,Lagos; November 7-16, 2014

The event organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry is staged with the support and co-operation of the federal and the state governments covers all aspects of business and economic activities in Nigeria.

The fair offers a unique exposition for manufacturers, suppliers, buyers and users of a wide range of goods and services as well as opportunities for investment and trade promotion.

Show

conference

Abeokuta 2014 Abeokuta, Ogun State; November 4-5, 2014

Nigerian International Chemical Exhibition Lagos, Nigeria ; November 4-6, 2014

The fifth edition of the Nigeria Poultry Show is to attract representatives from about 61 countries. It is a major international event that will identify investment possibilities within the Nigerian poultry sub-sector.

The 2014 show will look to identify investment possibilities within the Nigeria poultry subsector, bringing together foreign investors, government and agricultural policy agencies, financial and insurance agencies, public and private investors, and poultry products marketers.

The 2-day event showcases products like Chemical materials, fine chemicals, pesticide, fertilizer, crop-protection& agricultural biological engineering tech, tire, rubber & plastic, food ingredients, cosmetics, medical raw materials & Pharmaceutical, dye, coating, chemical equipment, rubber & plastic equipment and agriculture machine etc. in the Chemicals & Dyes industry.