Market Digest Nigeria July 2016

DIGEST

OLUADAH EQUIANO SUSHI WITH CHEF BEN ROI OF FASHION TOP 10 LATEST GADGETS

MARKET FINANCE & LIFESTYLE

NIGERIA

ISSN: 2449-0253 Vol 1 No 5

LEADING CHANGE Abdulsamad Rabiu

HEAD TO HEAD

Top Performers 2016

EXPENSIVE APARTMENTS Odeon Tower Penthouse PINNACLEROCK Aghedo-Ero Ikponmwosa BLACK HISTORY Oluadah Equiano

NIGERIA - N1,000 | USA - $6 | EURO ZONE - €5.50 |U.K. - £3.60 | SOUTH AFRICA - R70 | CANADA C$7 |GHANA Ghc25 | KENYA KSh600

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AVANCO OIL & GAS: Energy Solutions for Africa Avanco Oil and Gas is an indigenous oil and gas company established to become an industry leader in the provision of energy solutions for oil and gas companies in Africa. We are a trusted leader and global partner in providing worldclass services and products.

We assemble and deliver a large combination of consumables, capital equipment and expertise directly to major international and national oil companies in all corners of Africa.

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Ellago Contact Us: +234(0) 81 600 4104

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH

ABDULSAMAD RABIU CEO of BUA GROUP

60

64

HEAD TO HEAD TOP PERFORMERS 2016

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CONTENTS REGULARS

Editors Letter 9 Business News 10 Fashion News 14

FEATURES

Market Digest Nigeria Issue 4 Official Launch 18 Top 10 Latest Gadgets 22 Winners of Watchstars 26 The Best Watches 2015/2016 Award Announced

Lifestyle Branding 30 ROI of Fashion

Secrets of a Sushi Chef 36

Meet Oriental Hotel, Lagos Sushi Chef, Chef Ben

Olaudah Equiano 53

Journalist & Activist, c. 1745 - 1797

by Asoloko Muhammad

The World's Most Expensive Apartments 56 The Odeon Tower Penthouse, Monaco

Become a Data Genius 76

Track Everything in your Small Business

by Harris Bacic

Nigerian Grants you Probably Don't Know About 80

by Bimbo Kehinde

What to Do When a Client Says "NO" to Your Proposal 82

by Matthew Kane

Universal Rapport 84

A New Performance Benchmark 38 The Bugatti Chiron

Building Topics to Use with Prospects Who Hate Small Talk

by Dan Tyre & Alen Mayer

5 Emails your Business Should be Sending 42

Top 9 Social Media No-No's to Avoid 86

by Lisa Furgison

How the Super - Rich Spend their Money 45

by Lisa Furgison

Top Free Things to do in Venice, Italy 48

by Amanda Akah

by Chika Ofor

Key to Business Growth: Staying Authentic 90

by Shazie Visram

Are Your Prices Too Low 92

by Nelie Akalp

INTERVIEW WITH AGHEDO - ERO IKPONMWOSA CEO / MD 78 PINNACLEROCK 161013 Market Digest.indd 7

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EDITOR'S NOTE

Welcome

Dear Reader

Change is the only constant in life. Thankfully, for us it has been positive. That’s certainly true for the entire editorial team here, which has spent the better part of the year working tirelessly to change Market Digest Nigeria magazine for the better. You saw evidence of that for yourself in July, when we launched issue 4. For us to be ahead of the competition, we must continue to take into account the peculiar characteristics of the local context in which we operate. The improvement isn’t over. Beginning from next year, we plan on having a yearly business conference exhibition, where we will connect our customers to each other and to valuable resources that extend beyond the sale of advertisements.

This year has witnessed a significant slowdown and uncertainty in the Nigerian economy. Many in the industry have felt the impact of this overall slowdown in some ways. Right now Nigeria is hoarding outsized debit for innovation and disruption of the status quo.

Development, Innovation and disruption have gone on for ages, and they’re driven by something so obvious that we rarely talk about it: the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of life-crushing odds.

It’s called survival, and through it, we innovate our way out of the abyss.

Many businesses actually owe their current success, drive and ambition to failures. Failure itself doesn’t matter, what matters is what we do to overcome it and the aftermath.

In this issue, we share such stories, we summarily outline the top performing companies this year under different categories, then move to Olaudah Equinoh, the story of a Nigerian slave who was taken to Europe, against all odds developed himself, wrote an autobiography, which was a major reference for the abolishment of slavery in Europe. As we usually do…. focusing on solutions rather than problems.

We also acknowledged brilliant ideas, companies and the founders behind them. This represents everything that is great and meaningful in entrepreneurship and living in a country that celebrates and cheers for disruption. It’s sort of our kiss on the cheek and nod to a business revolution, which Nigeria desperately needs.

In conclusion, I would like to thank, with heartfelt sincerity, our stakeholders and particularly our readership. Enjoy the read!

With warmest thanks,

Esele Walter Odion

OUR TEAM EXECUTIVE EDITIOR Esele Walter Odion MANAGING EDITOR Ailsa Callum FINANCE MANAGER Muhammad Asoloko CREATIVE DIRECTOR Maks Franc Design ADVERTISING MANAGER Omoyemi Olorunfemi BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Amanda Akah DISTRIBUTION Ade Kayode ADVERTISING For advertising opportunities please contact +234(0) 705 957 0580 info@marketdigestnigeria.com.ng Market Digest Nigeria magazine is published four times yearly.

Unauthorized reproduction is strictly forbidden. Printed by Market Digest Nigeria Publishing. www.marketdigestnigeria.com.ng

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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| NEWS |

BUSINESS NEWS SEC Rules Out Crowdfunding in NIGERIA for now.

In a report by Goddy Egene, Companies and group of individuals’ ambitious to raise funds through Crowdfunding in the Nigerian financial markets are being inhibited by the restrictive provisions in the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990 and Investment and Securities Act, 2007 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has disclosed. Crowdfunding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture using easy accessibility of vast networks of people through social media and crowdfunding websites to bring investors and entrepreneurs together. There are more than 1000 Crowdfunding portals worldwide supporting a multi-billion dollar industry. And given the tremendous growth in online platforms that has led to the success of online shopping portals in Nigeria, many fund seeking corporates and groups have shown interest to source for funds through Crowdfunding in the country.

However, the Director General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo said crowdfunding cannot be effective in Nigeria for now because of lack of rules and inhibitions in the provisions of CAMA and ISA. Speaking in Lagos the SEC boss said, “We are aware of the growing interests among Nigerians to use Crowdfunding to raise funds. However, that cannot materialize now given the legal challenges as a result of the provisions in CAMA and ISA. But we are looking for ways to go about it so that companies will enjoy the benefits of Crowdfunding in the country as well,” Gwarzo said. According to him, SEC is looking at the Crowdfunding rules in US and Canada in order to ensure an enabling legal and regulatory framework that will support this massive global innovation. It is believed that equity crowdfunding will prove to be an expedient way for many struggling SMEs to raise capital since they find it difficult to raise startup capital because they are considered as high risk to banks.

NIGERIA loses N88bn as INDIA, US reduce oil imports.

According to The Dollar Business Bureau, The US and India have drastically reduced their crude oil imports from Nigeria by 53% and 43%. This has translated to a loss of N88bn for the African state as revealed in the latest report by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Nigeria had replaced Saudi Arabia in the race to supply crude oil to India last year. This was a major setback to the Middle East kingdom, which lost its top spot to Nigeria. India, which became the single largest buyer of Nigerian crude in 2013, reduced its imports in August as it bought 7.66 million barrels, averaging a reduction from 13.54 million barrels the previous months. Reports suggest this could be due to the rising uncertainties existing in the country with regard to meeting deliveries. A spate of bombings and the blowing up of crude oil pipeline of the Chevron Nigeria Ltd by militants was considered to be one of the reasons.

Many major oil companies in Nigeria including ExxonMobil have declared force majeure of crude oil export while few others were forced to suspend or cut production as a result of the attacks on oil facilities in the country. The other reason for the reduction of oil imports by India could be its shift in re-doing deals with major oil supplying countries, taking advantage of the consumer demand situation. Earlier this year in January the Minister of State Dharmendra Pradhan had said as India is now one of the top oil importers in the world, it needs to take advantage of its buying clout.And the government using this clout had successfully negotiated its contracts with major oil countries including Nigeria for a term contract.

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CBN directs banks to allocate 60% of Forex sales to manufacturers.

After the Central Bank of Nigeria recently approved an increase in the maximum amount that would be sold to each licensed Bureau De Change operator from $30,000 to $50,000 per week last month. As part of efforts to stimulate economic activities in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) it has directed commercial banks and other authorized dealers in the foreign exchange market to ensure that 60% of total forex purchases are channeled to end users strictly for the purpose of importation of raw materials, plant and machinery. The CBN which gave the directive in a circular dated August 22, 2016 signed by its acting Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Mr. W.D. Gotring and posted on its website said the directive affects all sources of forex interbank inclusive. The apex bank said it took the decision following its review of returns on the disbursement of FX and observed that a negligible proportion of forex sales were being channeled towards the importation of raw materials for the manufacturing sector.

The CBN said: “Following the review of returns on the disbursement of foreign exchange to end users, it has been observed that a negligible proportion of foreign exchange sales are being channeled towards the importation of raw materials for the manufacturing sector. “Against this background and in order to address the observed imbalance, authorized dealers are hereby directed to henceforth dedicate 60% of total foreign exchange purchases from all sources (interbank inclusive) to end users strictly for the purpose of importation of raw materials, plant and machinery. “The balance of 40% should be used to meet other trade obligations, visible and invisible transactions. For the avoidance of doubt, authorized dealers are to continue to publish weekly sales of FX to end users in the national newspapers and to render statutory returns on same to the CBN promptly. Please ensure compliance accordingly, until otherwise advised.”

8 MILES - Led Consortium invests USD80m in Nigerian Biscuit Company.

Rock star Sir Bob Geldof Pan-African private equity firm 8 Miles has led a USD80 million investment in Nigerian biscuit manufacturer Beloxxi Industries by a consortium consisting of African Capital Alliance (ACA), a Sub-Saharan Africa focused Private Equity firm, and DEG – Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, the German Development Finance Institution. Nigeria’s biscuit sector has seen strong growth of 10 to 15% per annum, and this is expected to continue, driven by population growth, rising disposable incomes and increasing urbanization coupled with the growing popularity of biscuits as a convenience snack. The growth in the sector is also a result of a relatively young population with 63% of the population, about 115 million people, below the age of 25 years.

Beloxxi has one of the most popular and highest selling cream cracker brands in the market. It operates several production lines from its plant in Agbara, Ogun State and multiple warehouses across the country. The company employs about 2,300 people and operates through a network of about 400 distributors. It has experienced growth rates in excess of 30% per annum in the last few years. Nathan Mintah, co-founder and co-managing partner at 8 Miles, says: “The snacks segment is a fast growing part of the consumer sector in Nigeria. Our investment will build on the Beloxxi’s strong brand and help accelerate the Company’s expansion in Nigeria, in the wider West Africa region and beyond. Obi Ezeude, CEO and founder of Beloxxi, adds: “I am very excited about the quality of investors we have attracted into Beloxxi as it aligns with our commitment to be the best in class in all our endeavors by adhering to global best practice standards.

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Among Battered Oil Currencies, NIGERIA is the Biggest Loser.

In a report by Paul Wallace, Oil currencies have been hammered since crude prices crashed in mid-2014, and none more so than Nigeria’s Naira.

It’s lost almost half its value against the dollar, the most among the currencies of OPEC members and more than Russia’s ruble, which is down 47%. For foreign investors, that may be a cue to re-enter the West African country as a weaker currency makes Nigeria’s bonds and stocks cheaper.

World’s Largest Dairy Cooperatives Set-Up Camp in NIGERIA. Crude oil, Nigeria’s national cash cow, which has contributed over 80% of government’s revenue, recently has been experiencing a commodity-recession. The 2016 national budget showed Nigeria’s seriousness in diversifying the economy a reality, with several road maps clearly laid out to attain significantly less dependence on oil. This road map seems to be paying off as Arla Foods, has entered into a strategic agreement with the federal government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide enabling organizational structure and training’s that will facilitate the development of the dairy industry in Nigeria. The two parties signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last month in Abuja in a move that reaffirms Arla’s commitment to support the Nigerian government with the development of the local dairy sector in Nigeria.

The MOU empowers Arla Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of organic dairy products owned by 12.700 farmers from Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands, to create incentives for nomadic herders to develop cooperative dairy businesses through the provision of workable organizational structure and training, as well as promoting and strengthening dairy cooperatives in Nigeria by improving their capabilities to be competitive on price and quality as well as gaining a larger share of the local dairy market.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, re-echoed the need for Nigeria to develop its dairy industry, not just as a business but as a development program. “The Nigerian dairy market is huge, with about 450 million consumers by 2050. Nigeria also has its eyes on feeding West, North and Central Africa. For Arla Foods, the huge potential for growth and the massive consumer market inherent in Nigeria was a huge attraction. “Nigeria is one of the biggest markets for dairy products in Africa. For Arla to succeed in Africa, we must succeed in Nigeria,” said Mr. Steen Hadsbjerg, Arla Foods Sub-Saharan Africa Director.

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FBN MFB Rebrands to LETSHEGO MFB Following Letshego’s 2015 acquisition of 100% shareholding of FBN Microfinance Bank (FBN MFB) from its parent, FBN Holdings plc., the inclusive finance group last month revealed the rebranded business. Now known as Letshego MFB, the brand was revealed to key stakeholders in Lagos. The rebrand aligns the Nigeria operations’ brand with that of the other nine Letshego operations across sub-Saharan Africa. This Africa-wide brand is being reinforced with equally aligned strategic imperatives, as Letshego Group continues to further its ambition to become Africa’s leading inclusive finance group.

The bank, established in 2009, is one of seven microfinance banks in Nigeria to have been awarded a national microfinancebanking license. It has over 20 branches across Lagos, Abuja and Oyo, and over 300 team members, with a focus on core lending, savings and transactional financial services to micro and small entrepreneurs (MSEs).

With over 80,000 savers and over 10,000 MSE borrowing customers, the contribution towards realizing Letshego group’s financial inclusion vision remains strong. The agenda to benefit the people of Nigeria remains a key imperative for the business, as Letshego reaffirms its focus on improving lives through simple, appropriate and affordable solutions. According to Letshego Holdings Limited Group Managing Director, Mr. Chris Low, “The news of the acquisition is coming to life L - R. Head, Banking and Microfinance, Letshego Holdings, Tom Kocsis; Acting Managing Director, Letshego Micro now as we see Letshego MFB Finance Bank, Nigeria, John Ologe and Group Managing Director, Letshego Holdings. take shape in a bold, purposeful new look and feel, joining a family of brands that has a clear vision and strategy for inclusive finance. This is another affirmation of our commitment to the people of Nigeria, we will continue to make every effort to ensure we deliver relevant, value adding and responsible financial solutions.” He said.

NIGERIA to become AFRICA’S mobile phones manufacturing hub.

Nigeria is on the path to become Africa’s mobile phones manufacturing hub after mobile maker Innjoo announced that it plans to construct a phone manufacturing and assembling plant in the country. The President of the firm, Mr. Jack Injoo who spoke during the launch of the Injoo Max 3 phablet in Lagos, Nigeria said that the importance of location to the firm’s business underscored the first international launch of the new device in the country. “Setting up a manufacturing plant in Nigeria is part of our agenda because I not only believe in building after-service centers but also manufacturing and assembling plants which is somehow important as a mark of our commitment to the market and the people. By doing so, we will be complementing the Federal Government’s efforts in supporting the youth by creating jobs. We want to continue to be alive in Nigeria, extend our reach to all parts of the country,” Mr. Injoo said.

He further pointed out that the firm has performed well in most of the countries like in Saudi Arabia, which is its main market, Egypt and the Gulf region where it has been able to grab 4% of the market share in a very short time.

With a population estimated to be over 173 million, Nigeria plans of becoming Africa’s mobile phones manufacturing hub is likely to succeed.

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Lifestyle News

JIMMY CHOO Shines Bright Thanks to SWAROVSKI

For Jimmy Choo's Resort 2017 collection, the luxury shoe brand teamed up with Swarovski to cook up a glittering display of goodies. Step into Jimmy Choo’s glass slipper to claim your identity as today’s Cinderella! The crystal covered pointy toe pump, christened Cinderella Slipper, from the British high fashion house is available for $4,595. Decorated with thousands of Swarovski crystals of varying sizes, it gets a magical touch with a ‘crystal cluster’ at the toe box. Made in Italy with a shimmer leather upper, leather sole and insole, Jimmy Choo’s Cinderella Slipper has precisely 7000 crystals and 46 embroidered stones fixed to the upper. Standing tall on a 4.3-inch heel, it is available to order online for a limited time. Each pair of bespoke Cinderella slippers are Made To Order and will be delivered in February 2017. As all orders are custom made, they are also non-refundable.

Photo credit Top: Jimmy Choo Bottom: Belledezamuto

How smart is APPLE’S watch attempt to woo the rich?

Using VERTU as a case study!

by David O'Dwyer Smart wearable devices are becoming increasingly popular but has Apple’s watch missed the mark?

VERTU

It is a rule of consumer technology that prices fall: what starts as an unfeasibly expensive gizmo eventually becomes affordable and accessible. The textbook example of recent decades is the mobile phone. Not long ago mobiles were the preserve of the obnoxiously rich, eager to signal their affluence, but gradually became so ubiquitous they now outnumber humans. Bely-

ing that downward price pattern is no easy feat, which is what makes Vertu one of the oddest and most fascinating mobile phone companies.

The English-based company was started in the late 1990s by Nokia after its chief designer, an American named Frank Nuovo, determined that there was a lucrative market in mobiles for the extremely rich. They launched their first phone, or “communications instrument” as they liked to call it, at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris in 2002, with an attention-grabbing price of $7,549 (€7,111). “I wanted to take something as unlikely as a communications technology and present it as art,” said Nuovo at the time.

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But far from being art, the Signature was a gaudily blingedup version of a Nokia, and the entire Vertu concept seemed like an exercise in satire, an elaborate joke at the expense of rich fools. The most expensive “Platinum Diamond” model cost $35,275 for goodness sake. When dumb phones were rendered obsolete by smartphones five years later, it seemed like the Vertu strategy was up – surely no one would fork out $15,000 for a technically limited handset when $500 could get you an iPhone? Right?

Well, it seems there really are enough people who value status signaling more than having the best device available, because Vertu has managed to survive, sold by Nokia a few years ago and now offering insanely expensive handcrafted Android smartphones starting at $10,300, including models featuring lizard- and alligator-skin backings. Truly, Vertu’s success in extracting cash from the rich can only be explained by seeing the phones as a “Veblen good”, a commodity “whose demand is proportional to their price”, according to Wikipedia. Crudely put, the appeal is directly linked to how expensive it is.

APPLE WATCH

As part of Apple’s pre-release press blitz, the company’s normally reclusive chief designer Jony Ive gave not one but two extensive interviews. In the first, a fascinating, extremely long profile by Ian Parker in the New Yorker, it was made clear that Ive was the primary architect not just of the watch itself, but of the device’s positioning as a luxury gadget for the super-rich, convincing chief executive Tim Cook to overcome “concerns about creating a divide between wealthy and less wealthy customers”. Incidentally, Parker tellingly revealed that Ive was “very interested” in Vertu, according to a former colleague.

Then came the Apple Watch launch event itself, which spent

about as much time purring over the luxuriousness of the materials as it did explaining the watch’s practical utility.

Such an emphasis, of course, is critical if the company wants to convince potential high-end consumers that they are getting a status symbol worthy of their bank balances. With the Apple Watch, Cook and Ive have set themselves an extremely challenging pair of tasks: convince people that a smart watch is something they might want and find useful; and price it along a spectrum ranging from relatively affordable to spectacularly unaffordable. At this point, it is extremely difficult to determine whether Apple will be successful with these two challenges in the short to medium term.

Apple Watches on those wrists remains to be widely accepted by the super rich. Initial reports suggesting that the user interface is uncharacteristically confusing don’t augur well, and there’s every chance another company will refine the template set by Apple and other current rivals. On the second challenge, it will be fascinating to see how simultaneously targeting the mainstream and luxury markets will affect perceptions about both the device and the Apple brand.

It’s instructive to note that with Vertu, Nokia took the precaution of releasing jaw-droppingly expensive equivalents of their basic phones under an entirely different brand, whereas Apple just released jaw-droppingly expensive equivalents of their basic watch at the very same event. It would take more than the usual dose of Steve Jobs’s famous “reality distortion field” to overcome the cognitive dissonance that comes from seeing the same device being presented as both a mainstream gadget and a Veblen good. That incongruity offers an unavoidable implication about how Apple is positioning itself to exploit the world’s widening wealth inequality.

Davin O’Dwyer is a freelance writer and production editor. His personal site is davinodwyer.com, and he maintains a photo blog at fontonfront.tumblr.com.

Photo credit: www.valuwalk.com

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Parmigiani Fleurier partners with Chef Izu Ani Luxury watch brand announces Nigerian born Michelin-star chef as new brand ambassador Swiss watchmaker Parmigiani Fleurier has named its first Middle Eastern brand ambassador, chef Izu Ani of Dubai’s La Serre. The Michelin-star chef, who hails from Nigeria, is a cooking connoisseur who gained experience in the UK and France before heading East in 2009. He joins an existing network of Michelinstarred chefs who collaborate with the brand.

In 2006, Parmigiani produced the Bugatti 370, Photo credit: Buro247 a driving watch supposedly based on the Bugatti Veyron supercar, which won the 2006 "Watch of the Year Award" from the Japanese press.

The latest chef will help the brand elevate its gastronomy-themed events and its cooking master classes in the Middle Eastern city. Mr. Ani opened La Serre in 2013, after spending 20 years working in kitchens in Europe. The Dubai eatery is meant to be a place for uncomplicated yet experimental food.

The chef is also looking into opening a research and development kitchen in downtown Dubai so that cooks can explore new ingredients and techniques. The watchmaker became a regular client of La Serre, putting the chef through a series of challenges, including inventing the right dish to complement the wine served during tasting dinners.

“Chef Izu’s passion and hard work, his commitment to continuous training and his dedication to sourcing the best ingredients and to creating traditional, ‘real’ dishes that are packed with flavor, draws strong parallels to our own skills at Parmigiani Fleurier,” said Marc Gaudreault, chief operations officer of Parmigiani Fleurier, in a statement.

Polo Ralph Lauren Debuts Interactive Fitting Rooms at Fifth Avenue Flagship.

You've been there before: After standing in line for what felt like ages, you're finally in a fitting room with a handful of clothes to try on. You need an item in another size, or you wonder if there's a top available to go with the pants that you've just put on. So you peek your head out of the fitting room curtain, only to find sales associates tending to other customers or, worse, nowhere to be found. To solve this problem Polo has launched an interactive fitting Room.

According to Maria Bobila, Here's how it works: Upon entering the fitting room with your merchandise, the mirror, already displaying a hologram of Polo Ralph Lauren's logo, greets you with a glowing light from behind its frame. The mirror's touchscreen gives shoppers a choice of "Fifth Avenue Daylight," "East Hampton Sunset" and "Village Candlelit Dinner" for lighting. After choosing the best light, the mirror shows photos of the items you've brought into the room, which are detected from their RFID tags, a reading technology that tracks inventory. Not only do you see what you plan to try on, but the screen also shows how much the store has in stock according to color and size, as well as additional stylist recommendations that go with your chosen items. There’s an option to request for a sales associate's help, which the staff receives on their iPad. >>

Photo credit: Oaklabs

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The sales associates can immediately respond via text messages that show on your screen, such as, "On my way!" along with a name and photo of the specific associate.

The Oak Fitting Room's software can be translated into other languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Italian. Once you're finished, you can enter your phone number onto the touch screen to receive a text with a link to the items that you tried on, so you can buy them in store or later online.

Interactive Panel >>>

The Best Restaurant in the World for 2016 is Italy’s Osteria Francescana.

The “World’s 50 Best”list has named Modena, Italy’s Osteria Francescana the best restaurant in the world for 2016, dethroning Girona, Spain’s El Celler de Can Roca, now sitting at number two. This is Chef Massimo Bottura and his restaurant's first appearance at the top of the list. There were other surprising moves: Copenhagen, Denmark’s Noma, which had jockeyed with El Celler de Can Roca for the top spot over the last few years, moved in to the number five spot, its first time out of the top five since 2009. New York’s Eleven Madison Park made its highest appearance at number three, which is also the highest rank for an American restaurant in many years. The jewel of the Basque Country, Asador Etxebarri, cracked the top 10 for the first time and Cape Town, South Africa’s Test Kitchen showed the highest any African restaurant ever has, coming in at 22 while The Tasting Room fell off the list entirely.

The list is considered to be more accurate because it includes the opinions of industry professionals; judges are also not required to pay for their own meals, which calls into question the requirement that they remain anonymous.

The pool of judges is made up of restaurateurs, chefs, food writers and well-traveled enthusiasts. Each judge must have dined at a restaurant within the past 18 months and is allotted seven votes, three of which are required to go a restaurant outside of the judge’s home region.

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| EVENTS |

MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA MAGAZINE ISSUE 4 OFFICIAL MAGAZINE LAUNCH

M

arket Digest Nigeria magazine, launched its 4th issue on Saturday, 9th of July 2016. The launch event which held at Emperors place in Victoria Island, Lagos, was a Saturday to remember, a night of fun!

Jenique Horsfall hosted the event, with musical performances by Soulful artist Bemyoda and Ranti.

Speakers at the launch include; prince Sunny Aku, who graced the cover of the magazine and Nigerian Veteran Nollywood actor, Patrick Doyle. Companies in attendance include: Raumplus, Tolbim Marketing Media, Luxury Villas group, MH Media, kia motors, Estate 41 Properties, Remax Nigeria, Oilflow Global Ltd, IL Bagno, Noahs Ark, Toyota Nigeria Ltd, HC International Group, Zatem Home Interiors, Sterling Bank and many more.

Media Coverage by: Market Digest Nigeria Magazine, Silverbird Television, Businessday, The Guardian Newspaper and ThisDay Newspapers.

STAFF & FRIENDS OF MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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SOULFUL ARTISTS RANTI & BEMYODA PERFORMING L-R: Patrick Doyle, Esele Odion, Prince Sunny Aku & Amanda Akah

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Jennifer Nwaigwe, Il Bagno

Olukayode Ogunjimi, Lagos State Internal Revenue Manager

L-R: Olufunmilola Ajayi, Jenique Horsfall (Anchor) & Ayobami Makinde, Luxury Villas Group

Ola Omisore, 1st fitness

Mr Noah Yakubu, CEO Oil Flow Global Ltd

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Mr John Ogbemudia, Agatha's Interiors

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Akintoye Ojomu, Raumplus

Harold & Chuka Aninye, Aquitane Oil & Gas

Funmi Holder

Chinelo Ibenegbu & Vera Onoja, Seplat Petroleum

Mr Jimoh Olawale,Kia Motors

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Kiki Omeli & Daniel Efiiong, Nollywood MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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TOP 10 | WHAT'S NEW |

LATEST TECH GADGETS YOU SHOULD BUY! T

his world is taking us to next level, it seems as if it is not earth anymore but a geek world where people talk, walk and breathe gadgets and devices. Every month of the year there is some brand launching their new smartphone/gadgets or devices, big brands are running a race where they want to surpass and subdue other leading brands offering their high-class tech devices. Well today we are giving you a clue that what top 10 latest must have tech gadgets are in fashion for the year 2016.

There are some products that make us feel like we’ve arrived in the future. Simply connect your smartphone, tablet or computer via Bluetooth or USB connection, switch on and place on a dark, flat surface. This innovative and compact design features a full integrated English QWERTY keyboard layout with over 400 characters. The keyboard omits a glowing red laser and makes small sounds as you type, making the transition to awesome laser keyboard from the old-fashioned button type affairs incredibly easy.

But the innovation doesn’t end there, as the Laser Keyboard has an impressive 5200mAh power bank built-in, giving you the ability to charge your devices on the go too. That’s one clever box. Compatible with: Windows XP/7/8, Windows Phone 7, LINUX, IOS 4/5/6 (iPhone and iPad), Android 3.0 or higher versions, Mac OS X.

LASER KEYBOARD

1

AAXA P4 P4X PICO 125 LUMENS POCKET SIZE PROJECTOR Designers are always roaming around, to meet the owners of the companies and to see the clients so they need portable projector that is handy, easy to use and effective to display his tasks in a professional way. This pocket size projector will be amazing possession of a designer for sure.

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Photo Credit Top: www.tuvie.com Bottom: designbolts

16/10/2016 14:33:14

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SKYBELL WI-FI VIDEO DOORBELL WITH IOS ANDROID APP Skybell is the best example of ultratechnological life where through skybell you are informed who has come to your door, this video doorbell lets you see, hear and speak to the visitors standing on the threshold, and it is specially designed for the ease and comfort of people. It will provide live video feed on your Android or iOS.

4

WI-FI SMART SWITCH FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRONICS

The best way to monitor your home appliances is to have smart switch which lets you know about the energy consumption by the electronic devices, through its simple interface, you can turn on/off the electronic appliances like TV, heaters, air conditioners and iron etc.

WIRELESS SMART LED SOFT WHITE BULB 80% LESS CONSUMPTION

5

Photo Credit Top: designbolts Middle: designbolts Bottom left: www.gelinkbulbs.com Bottom right: smarttech

Today’s powerful man wants the control of everything. Let’s get it started from your home. Keep the control of your bulbs and lights in the house with this LED soft white bulb, you can dim or highlight the bulbs through the setting in the mobile application &manage it like you want.

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6

BLUETOOTH AUDIO SLEEP MUSIC & PHONE HEAD MASK

If you are a music lover, you will definitely be breathing, seeing and listening to music. Now here is Bluetooth sleep music head mask with easy interface, it lets you hear cool music when you are travelling around or on your bed (through your mobile or any Bluetooth device).

Photo Credit Top left: youthennews Top right: tone audio Bottom right: amazon

ULTRA SLIM QI-ENABLED WIRELESS CHARGING FOR ALL SMARTPHONES

7 Too tired to get up and find the nearby switchboard? Now get rid of all such problems and let you lifestyle become easy. Through this wireless charger now you can charge up your devices wherever you are. Never run short of battery. Be more techno. Try out these gadgets this year.

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ANKER USB 3.0 SUPERSPEED 10 PORT HUB

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Designers please pay attention, here is something more than a surprise for you, this Anker USB is all in one, it may easily add 10 USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports to your PC and you can enjoy data transfer rates of up to 5Gbps for faster sync times. 10th data port also delivers BC 1.2 charging speeds of up to 2 amps, while the other 9 ports charge at speeds of up to 0.9 amps each, with 10 amps overall among 10 ports. It is fantastically designed with a built-in surge protector to keep all the devices safe. What a beautiful package with 18-month hassle-free warranty.

9 HANDHELD MOBILE PORTABLE DOCUMENT SCANNER 1050 DPI

Gone are the times when people used to have huge scanners at their workplaces or at their homes. Now the market has introduced portable scanners that are easy to carry and work so smartly. This portable, handheld scanner is so apt for the businessmen, students and travelers etc. It magically and digitally converts your color or black & white photos, receipts and books into digital files. Now you can yourself scan images with up to 1050 DPI resolution and save them directly to a SD memory card. It for sure is a must have for 2016.

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CANON POWERSHOT D30 WATERPROOF DIGITAL CAMERA WITH HD VIDEOS Photo Credit Top: anker Middle left: amazon Middle right: pricena Bottom left 1: DC cameras Bottom left 2: hunts photo & video

Capture the best memories with this 12MP 1/2.3″ BSI-CMOS sensor. It has 28-140mm F3.9-4.8 equivalent lens with optical image stabilization (5x optical zoom). You can make 1080/24p HD videos plus super slow motion videos at 640×480 (H.264) This digital camera is totally waterproof and provides you a safer experience with its capacity of being shockproof to 2m / 6.5′.

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| LUXURY LIVING |

WINNERS OF WATCHSTARS

THE BEST WATCHES 2015/2016 AWARD ANNOUNCED The winners of the 2015-2016 Watchstars Awards have been selected. An international panel of experts chose the best watches of the world to honor with these independent annual awards. The expert panel, which consists of more than 70 international watch experts, nominated timepieces in five primary categories. Following this, the experts voted their favorites out of the 10 most nominated watches in each category to determine this year’s winners. The Watchstars Awards are independent and are represented worldwide. Check out the list of winners >> All Photos Courtesy of www.watchstars.com

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CLASSIC STARS

THE OMEGA GLOBEMASTER (Last year’s winner: A. Lange & Söhne, Lange 1)

WRISTWATCH SPECIFICATIONS REFERENCE NO: 130.33.39.21.03.001 FUNCTIONS: Date, Second, Time Zone CASE MATERIAL: Steel DIAMETER (Ø MM): 39 mm CRYSTAL: Sapphire SAPPHIRE CASEBACK: Yes ROTATION OF BEZEL: No Rotation SCREWED CROWN: No STRAP MATERIAL: Alligator BUCKLE: Folding Clasp MOVEMENT: Automatic OTHER CALIBER: Omega 8900 CHRONO CERTFICATE: Yes QUALITY SEAL: COSC-certificate POWER RESERVE (HRS): 60 h

The Omega Globemaster, as part of the Constellation collection, is finally a "Constellation" suitable for men. Beautiful design, good in-house movement and comes in many variations. The Omega Globemaster is the

latest result of that development that startet over 10 Years ago. The Globemaster has the COSC certificate. The design refers to the very classic Constellation Models from the Fifties.

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TECHNICAL STARS

DESIGN STARS

A. Lange & Söhne, Zeitwerk Minutenrepetition

MB&F, Legacy Machine 101

(Last year’s winner Patek Philippe, Grandmaster Chime)

(Last year’s winner: Ressence, Type 3)

WRISTWATCH SPECIFICATIONS

WRISTWATCH SPECIFICATIONS

REFERENCE NO: 147.025F FUNCTIONS: Power Reserve Indicator, Minute Repetition CASE MATERIAL: Platinum DIAMETER (Ø MM): 44.2 mm DIMENSIONS (W,H,L MM): 14.1 mm CRYSTAL: Sapphire SAPPHIRE CASEBACK: Yes ROTATION OF BEZEL: No Rotation SCREWED CROWN: No SCREWED PUSHPIECES: No BUCKLE: Folding Clasp MOVEMENT: Manual-Wind OTHER CALIBER: Lange-Manufacturecaliber L043.5 CHRONO CERTFICATE: No QUALITY SEAL: Quality Seal e.g. A. Lange & Söhne POWER RESERVE (HRS): 36 h

REFERENCE NO: 51.WL.W FUNCTIONS: Power Reserve Indicator CASE MATERIAL: White Gold DIAMETER (Ø MM): 40 mm DIMENSIONS (W,H,L MM): 16 mm CRYSTAL: Sapphire SAPPHIRE CASEBACK: Yes ROTATION OF BEZEL: No Rotation SCREWED CROWN: No SCREWED PUSHPIECES: No BUCKLE: Pin Buckle MOVEMENT: Manual-Wind OTHER CALIBER: LM101 POWER RESERVE (HRS): 45 h

A. Lange & Söhne, Zeitwerk Minutenrepetition

is a complete new way in celebrating this most fascinating complication of a minute repeater we never have seen before. A complication nobody thought of in several hundred years of fine watchmaking might sound like a joke but it is true. The new calibre L043.5 consists of 771 parts and includes a patented constant-force escapement to ensure consistent power is delivered to change the jumping numerals on the dial. And the drama of watching the gongs and hammers in action dial side adds to the whole visual appeal of the watch. Outstanding work from the German brand.

MB&F Models

proffer thought proWhile some voking designs, which can sometimes be difficult to love, this inventive creation needs to be celebrated. However, the Legacy Machines have always been different. The swooping lines of the bridges visible dial side are truly stunning and the open disclosure of the balance wheel(s) centre stage of the dial delivers a charming honesty. The Legacy Machine 101 in white gold with an ardoise dial is on my horological bucket list and remains a watch I would dearly like to own. / Domed crystal displaying on the dial dual flying balances! No need for a rear sapphire window when you are in the front row all the time.

Beautifully executed by Jean-François Mojon abd Kari Voutilainen, designed by Eric Giroud.

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STARS FOR A LIFETIME

NEW STARS

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Chronograph

Tudor North Flag

(Last year’s winner: Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak Ultra Thin)

(Last year’s winner: Swatch SISTEM51)

WRISTWATCH SPECIFICATIONS

WRISTWATCH SPECIFICATIONS

REFERENCE NO: 311.30.42.30.01.005 FUNCTIONS: Date, Chronograph CASE MATERIAL: Steel DIAMETER (Ø MM): 42 mm CRYSTAL: Synthetic/ Hesalit/ Plexiglas/ Acryl Crystal SAPPHIRE CASEBACK: No ROTATION OF BEZEL: No Rotation SCREWED CROWN: No SCREWED PUSHPIECES: No BUCKLE: Folding Clasp MOVEMENT: Manual-Wind OTHER CALIBER: Omega 1861 CHRONO CERTFICATE: No POWER RESERVE (HRS): 48 h

REFERENCE NO: 91210N FUNCTIONS: Date, Power Reserve Indicator CASE MATERIAL: Other Case Material DIAMETER (Ø MM): 40 mm CRYSTAL: Sapphire SAPPHIRE CASEBACK: Yes ROTATION OF BEZEL: No Rotation SCREWED CROWN: Yes SCREWED PUSHPIECES: No WATER RESISTANT (BAR): 10 bar STRAP MATERIAL: Steel 316L BUCKLE: Folding Clasp with Safety Lock MOVEMENT: Automatic OTHER CALIBER: Tudor MT5621 CHRONO CERTFICATE: Yes POWER RESERVE (HRS): 70 h

Classic Chronograph Design, great back-story, this watch will never grow old. It is one of the nicest handme-down watches a father can give his son.

Tudor

A great new tool watch with a manufacture movement, this is impressive stuff from . It is competitively priced, looks good and has an in-house movement.

The integrated lugs can be polarising, but overall, this is a strong new novelty. Tudor is back!

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| LIFESTYLE |

Photo Credit: Bookmorebrides

LIFESTYLE BRANDING: THE ROI OF FASHION

Think it really matters how you dress? If you’re a good person overall, shouldn’t people realize it and not judge you based on your threads? The old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” may be true, but book jacket and product packaging designers around the world have created an industry betting that people do judge and purchase products based on how they look. Likewise, people judge you based on the clothes you wear. There is a huge ROI in wearing nice clothes, especially in the business world. The Clothes You Wear Change What People Hear You Say! Dress for the clients you want.

A

ccording to Tyler Tervooren, in an article “The Psychology of dressing well”, He says: I used to be a sloppy dresser. I never liked that I had to dress a certain way to get the respect I thought I deserved or get people to listen to me. “What a sham!” I would tell myself. “People should respect me

because I know what I’m talking about, not because I’m wearing expensive socks.” But then I experienced something that changed my mind completely.

Years ago, I was on the bus headed to a friend’s house. I knew the neighborhood but wasn’t sure which stop to

get off at. The gentleman sitting next to me noticed me looking out the window every few seconds trying to get my bearings and asked if I needed help. I told him my predicament, and he confidently told me I should exit in two stops.

I thanked him for the advice. A moment later, another man standing in the aisle who’d heard my conversation leaned >>

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in and said, “Actually, you should get off at the next stop.” I thanked him, hopped up, and exited just like he told me to, ignoring the advice of the first guy. What was the difference between the two men? And why did I choose to listen to one and not the other? I asked myself the same question as I walked the last few blocks to my friend’s place.

As I walked away from the bus, I realized in an instant why I listened to one guy and not the other. The man in the aisle was dressed sharply. He looked like he was on his way home from work in a fancy office downtown. My seatmate was wearing sweatpants, had a dark stain on his t-shirt, and looked like he might have skipped showering that day. In this moment, I realized just how many preconceived notions and stereotypes were built into my own assumptions of other people. Here I was complaining how people judged me by my clothes while I did the same to them subconsciously.

Tyler didn’t mean to make this judgment. It was simply years of social conditioning taking over. His decision process went into autopilot. If you want people to listen to you, there’s an important lesson here.

Dress the Message The clothes you wear and the way you

groom yourself will change the way other people hear what you say. It will subconsciously tell them if you’re like them or if you’re different. It will determine whether they listen or ignore.

Trust or distrust.

According to Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., research shows that your appearance strongly influences other people's perception of your financial success, authority, trustworthiness, intelligence, and suitability for hire or promotion. And, because perception is often reality, what you wear not only communicates who you are in the minds of others, but also influences your level of business advancement. Research has also found that when you combine your appearance with communication skills, not only is others' perception of you affected, but their behavior toward you is also influenced. "Clothing plus communication skills determine whether or not others will comply with your

request, trust you with information, give you access to decision makers, pay you a certain salary or fee for contracted business, hire you, or purchase your products and services," she says.

Counselors know that people are evaluated by their appearance (this is a key body language element in first impressions), and they want their clients to gain a nonverbal advantage by already “looking the part.” Clothes make a strong visual statement about how you see yourself. Comfort may aid productivity but, in this era of “Me, Inc.” and “the Brand Called You,” are flip-flops, sweats, shredded jeans, and revealing clothing part of how you want to be judged? You might think you are expressing your individuality, but you could also be sending the message that you’re not a serious professional. Appropriate dress is also a way of expressing respect for the situation and the

“

According to Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., research shows that your appearance strongly influences other people's perception of your financial success, authority, trustworthiness, intelligence, and suitability for hire or promotion.

”

people in it. So, your look may change depending on the business circumstances. Price says. ' Make sure your 'exterior' earns you a 'silent recommendation,'" she concludes.

Bimbo is a public relations professional and a master at dressing for the role.

She loves to wear hot pink, turquoise and fire-engine red silk dresses with stiletto heels and lots of bling to work in Victoria Island, Lagos City office. But the moment she has to meet with a conservative client, Bimbo transforms herself into a prim professional whose outfit matches the way she wants to be

perceived. In her words, “The success I dress for is that of my client.”

In Nigeria’s today’s casual Business dress code, dressing up can have an even bigger effect. But make sure to follow the “plus or minus one rule” for company dress. For example, if your competitors in the market wear buttonup shirts, you might want to put on a blazer. If most of them wear blazers, you might want to wear a suit. And so on. Just don’t dress up more than your boss, if you have one. That might create issues. Here are some tips to ensure your clothing has a positive impact on your success:

Female Suits pants or skirt should be with a

matching jacket, no extremely short skirts or strapless tops. Color: navy, charcoal gray and black are all acceptable. Keep colors neutral; don’t wear very loud colors or patterns except on weekends. Whatever you wear make sure it keeps you covered. For weekdays preferably post earrings, a modest necklace, and few rings are acceptable, could add an African twist like Ankara jacket or skirt. Wear comfortable shoes.

Preferably closed toe pumps. Nails should be painted but don’t match your nails to your outfit. Handbags should match your outfit, as well as scarves and/or belts. Don't overdo it on the makeup it'll give you a polished look.

Don't wear shorts.

Male Button up shirts, dark dress shoes and a

simple belt. As for color, navy, charcoal gray and black are all acceptable. Patterns, if any, should be muted. Choose a conservative style that is versatile, except Fridays and weekends. Keep Jewelry to a minimum, Wedding bands, male bracelet and a watch are a maximum. Ties should reach the top of your belt buckle. Buy quality ties those made from 100% silk, stain they are resistant, they do no wrinkle. For Socks the only requirement of socks is that they match the color of your shoes and slacks, and that they cover or reach mid calf. Exposing skin due to short socks is not professional. The best way to incorporate African Ankara is with a necktie. Turn over for samples of professional and business casual attires.

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For the Ladies

Attire Featuring Dsquared2, Michael Kors, Van Cleef & Arpels and Marc Jacobs.

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $295 (Farfetch.com) Jacket: $180 (Reiss.com) Trousers: $123 (Reiss.com) Shoes: $390 (Ekseption.es) Handbag: $149 (Katespade.com) Bracelet: $38 (Zalando.co.uk) Earrings: $2,535 (Maxandchloe.com) Glasses: $158 (Katespade.com)

Attire featuring jersey tank, white tuxedo jacket and silk skirt.

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $46 (Allsaints.com) Jacket: $46 (Houseoffraser.com) Skirt: $46 (Johnlewis.com) Shoe: $620 (Shoescribe.com) Bag: $1,375 (Luisaviaroma.com) Earrings: $2,350 (Modaoperandi.com) Bracelet: $4 (Forever21.com) Neck Chain: $285 (Oscardelarenta) Ring: $1,000 (Dsw.com)

Classic look... the wow factor comes when you turn around ... backless top (don’t forget to wear a jacket).

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $328 (Matchesfashion.com) Trousers: $135 (Farfetch.com) Handbag: $395 (Giuseppezanottidesign.com) Earrings: $6 (Handpicked.net) Wristwatch: $695 (Bloomingdales.com) Ring: $1,000 (DSW.com)

A fashion look featuring cream blouse, collarless blazer and satin pants.

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $112 (Stylebop.com) Jacket: $130 (Topshop.com) Trouser: $89 (Barneys.com) Shoes: $615 (Thecorner.com) Bag: $540 (Bagborroworstill.com)

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A fashion look featuring unique Jacket, cropped and high skirt.

Shop item & similar items at: Jacket: $1,126 (Tizianafausti.com) Skirt: $16 (Riverisland.com) Shoes: $1,295 (Christianlouboutin.com) Bag: $2,295 (Saksfifthavenue.com) Wristwatch: $1,110 (Jomashop.com) Necklace: $20 (Nordstromrack.com)

African inspired, Ankara, Dress and Jacket.

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $1,895 (Modaoperand) Jacket: $165 (Sapelle.com) Shoes: $55 (Heels.com) Bag: (Sapelle.com) Ear Rings: (Sapelle.com)

Photo Credit All outfits: Polyvore

African inspired fashion, Ankara, and white pencil skirt.

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $295 (Stylebop.com) Jacket: $78 (Houseoffraser.com) Skirt: $49 (Udobuy.com) Shoe: $28 (Styletread.com.au) Bag: $358 (Coach.com)

A fashion look featuring green shirt, blazer jacket and wide-leg pants.

Shop item & similar items at: Top: $890 (Veryeickhoff.com) Jacket: $56 (Wallisfashion.com) Trouser: $56 (Wallisfashion.com) Shoe: $100 (Witchery.com.au) Bag: $1,815 (Flannelsfashion.com)

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For the Gentlemen

Ankara Ties

A fashion look featuring black shoes, leather belts and men’s slim fit dress shirts and sweater.

Shop item & similar items at: Shoes: $355 (Matchesfashion.com) Belt: $17 (Hm.com) Shirt: $28 (Amazon.com) Trouser: $33 (Doublju.com) Sweater: $70 (Amazon.com)

A fashion look featuring J.Crew, Allen Edmonds, GUESS and Doublju.

Shop item & similar items at: Shirt: $18 (Amazon.com) Jacket: $450 (Mrporter.com) Trouser: $250 (Mrporter.com) Bag: $99 (Etsy.com) Tie: $15 (Menswearhouse.com) Shoe: $365 (Allenedmonds.com) Watch: $125 (Guess.com) Wallet: $26 (Vancl.com)

A menswear look featuring Hugo Boss, Topman, Zara, Fossil, Ray-Ban, Diesel, Brooks Brothers.

Shop item & similar items at: Trouser: $71 (Topman.com) Shirt: $82 (Neimanmarcus.com) Shoes: $80 (Zara.com) Watch: $155 (Buckle.com) Glasses: $175 (Thehut.com) Tie: $80 (Brooksbrothers.com) Belt: $54 (Diesel.com)

Photo Credits Top and bottom left outfits: Keri Cruz Top right: Tiemart.com Bottom right: @hauteonamissionstyle

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A fashion look featuring Burberry, UV protection sunglasses and men’s dress shirts. Brothers.

Shop item & similar items at: Watch: $695 (Saksfifthavenue.com) Shades:$7.77 (Hm.com) Shirt: $14 (Doublju.com) Jeans: $274 (Matchesfashion.com) Tie: $190 (Nordstrom.com) (Belt: $45 (Zappos.com) Jacket: $300 (Sourcingmap.com)

Intellectual fashion look featuring men’s long sleeve shirts, men’s brown jacket and men’s jeans.

Shop item & similar items at: Shirt: $20 (Uniqlo.com) Jacket: $78 (Riverisland.com) Jeans: $145 (Zalando.co.uk) Bag: $2,835 (Bergdorfgoodman.com) Tie: $38 Black.co.uk) Shoe: $80 (Stevemadden.com) Belt: $98 (Zappos.com) Shades: $105 (Zappos.com) Watch: $110 (Diesel.com)

Business Men’s Fashion featuring Sean john shirts, ray ban sunglasses and men’s destroyed jeans.

Shop item & similar items at: Shirt: $39 (Macys.com) Glasses: $170 (Revolve.com) Jeans: $585 (Coggles.com) Shoes: $1,415 (Mrporter.com) Perfume: $50 (Hollisterco.com) Watch: $6,295 (Mrporter.com) Bag: $89 (Dappertime.com) Blazer: $300. (Sportsmanguide.com) Photo Credit: All outfits: Keri Cruz

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| FOOD |

SECRETS FROM A SUSHI MASTER

Meet Oriental Hotel Lagos Sushi chef, Chef Ben. Market Digest magazine brings you a greater insight into the cuisine of Japan. Chef Ben, an executive sushi chef at Mayumi Japanese restaurant at oriental Hotel Lagos, specializes in a unique style of cooking that blends a variety of ethnic influences.

His deep passion for food, technical skills and personal high standards, fused with an incredibly diverse palette, enable him to present deliciously creative and unique cuisine. In this section, He shows us how to prepare several sushi rolls. >> 36 MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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CALIFORNIA ROLL

CRAB STICKS

INGREDIENTS - 6 cups prepared sushi rice (rice boiled in water, vinegar, salt and sugar) - 9 Oz cooked crabmeat - ½ cucumber - ¼ papaya - 8 sheets nori

Place a small mold of sushi rice, place crab on top, tie together with thinly cut Nori sheet.

ASSORTED SUSHI - INGREDIENTS - 4 sheets of nori (seaweed) - 1 bamboo sushi mat - Sushi Rice (rice cooked in water, vinegar, salt and sugar) - 1 cucumber - ¼ papaya - 10 Oz cooked prawns - 10 Oz cooked crabmeat - Tezu (vinegared hand dipping water)

TOPPINGS Tobiko (Salmon fish roe) TOOLS - Bamboo rolling mat covered with plastic wrap - Knife Boil the crabmeat Cucumber and Papaya: Peel and remove seeds. Cut into thin long strips, same length as the nori sheet. Nori: Cut off ⅓ and use ⅔ sheet of nori. Prepare the bamboo mat, covered with plastic wrap and Tezu.

METHOD Lay a nori sheet, shiny side down, on the bamboo mat. Wet your fingers in tezu and spread 1 cup of the rice evenly onto nori sheet. Turn the nori sheet over so that the rice is facing downwards. Line the edge of nori sheet at the bottom of the bamboo mat.

Place the cucumber, crabmeat, prawn and papaya at the bottom of the nori sheet. Grab the bottom edge of the mat while keeping the fillings in place with your fingers; roll it into a tight cylinder, tucking the fillings in firmly.

SUSHI BOAT

Make sure to wet your fingers with Tezu when you do this. Spread the rice evenly; otherwise your sushi roll won’t look even when rolled. Leaving about a ½ inch (1.5 cm) strip along the top of nori farthest away from you. You don’t put the rice till the end because after you roll, the white rice could come out from the seam and it won’t look pretty.

SUSHI BOAT

Lift the edge of the bamboo mat slightly and roll it forward while keeping gentle pressure on the mat. With a very sharp knife, cut each roll in half and then cut each half into 3 pieces.

Remember to clean the knife with a damp cloth after every few cuts.

You can use the left over ⅓ of nori sheet to make Tobiko Sushi, Prawn salad, tuna wrap. Cut the nori sheet into half lengthwise. Make small balls with sushi rice and wrap it with nori sheet. Place Tobiko (assorted colors)/ prawn salad (shredded prawn mixed with mayonnaise)/tuna salad (tuna mixed with mayonnaise) on top, garnished with wasabi and thinly sliced cooked ginger.

METHOD Prepare the ingredients in the same way as the California rolls then Place the bamboo mat on the working surface and place a sheet of nori on the bamboo mat, shiny side down. Dip your fingers in Tezu, and put ¼ of sushi rice on nori and spread evenly with your fingers.

SUSHI BOAT

Place the cucumber, papaya, crabstick and prawn on top of the rice. From the bottom end (of sushi rice), start rolling nori sheet over the filling tightly and firmly with bamboo mat until the bottom end reaches the end of sushi rice on top. Use your fingers to hold the ingredients when you roll. Hold the top of bamboo mat with one hand and hold the rolled bamboo mat with the other hand and pull against each other to tighten the roll. Lift the bamboo mat and continue to roll. Place the bamboo mat over the roll and tightly squeeze. Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll in half first, then cut each half into 3 pieces. Wipe the knife with wet kitchen cloth after every slice so that you can cut nicely.

The different rolls are normally presented on a boat and usually tagged 'Sushi Boat' MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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| AUTOMOBILE |

A NEW PERFORMANCE BENCHMARK, THE BUGATTI CHIRON 38 MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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Think it really matters how you dress? If you’re a good person overall, shouldn’t people realize it and not judge you based on your threads? The old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” may be true, but book jacket and product packaging designers around the world have created an industry betting that people do judge and purchase products based on how they look. Likewise, people judge you based on the clothes you wear. There is a huge ROI in wearing nice clothes, especially in the business world. The Clothes You Wear Change What People Hear You Say! Dress for the clients you want.

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very single day, there are many noteworthy events that transpire in the automotive World. Bugatti has replaced the Veyron, with the Chiron. Indeed for more than a decade the Bugatti Veyron has been the hypercar benchmark in terms of sheer power and raw speed, with the 2010 Super Sport version boasting 1,200 hp and a V-max of 268 mph. And while a couple of rivals are now nibbling at the margins, the Veyron has remained the world’s fastest, most powerful fully street-legal production car until now.

The Chiron does everything that the Veyron did, but takes it to a whole different level. Unlike its closest competitors, the Porsche 918, the Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1, the new Chiron is not a hybrid. It is an updated version of the Veyron’s 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine that puts out 20% more power than its predecessor.

Just how much better is the Chiron?

Acceleration for the new Chiron can

best be described as ‘otherworldly’.

It will accelerate from 0-62 miles per hour in less than 2.5 seconds, 0 to 124 miles per hour in less than 6.5 seconds and 0-186 in under 13.6 seconds. This is 2.9 seconds faster than a P1 and a full second quicker than the Veyron Super Sport. Yes, a Veyron Super Sport!

What accounts for this increase in performance? The outgoing Veyron produced an outrageous 1,183 horsepower and 1,106 lb-ft of torque. The New Chiron puts out 1,479 horsepower and 1,180 lb-ft of torque. This is an increase of 20%. The new Chiron tips the scales at 1,995 kilograms or just a tad under 4,400 pounds. What about top speed you ask. It has been limited in the Chiron to 261 miles per hour, just 3 miles per hour faster than the Veyron Super Sport. Whereas it took the outgoing Veyron 12 minutes to drain its 100 liter fuel tank, it takes the new Chiron just nine minutes.

To release the exhaust gases produced by the powerful W16 engine, Bugatti has designed a new titanium exhaust system that houses two massive cata-

lytic converters. There are six exit pipes including four mounted at the rear of the vehicle and two pointing downwards, which work as a blown diffuser, a down force technology that was developed and then banned by Formula 1. To bring the massive power generated by the new Chiron to a stop, the size of the brakes were increased. Both the front and rear brakes are 20mm larger, 2mm thicker and made of carbon silicon carbide, a material that is lighter and more resistant to fade. Grabbing the massive carbon silicon carbide discs are eightpiston calipers up front and six-piston calipers on the rear. To better manage brake wear, every piston is slightly different in diameter.

To keep the massive increase in performance of the Chiron on the ground, the tires are now 14 percent wider up front and wrapped around a 20-inch front wheel and 12 percent wider, wrapped around a 21-inch rear wheel. Each gram of rubber is exposed to 3,800G of centrifugal force so the tires had to be reengineered to withstand the tremendous forces produced.

Photo Credit: Gear Patrol

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The base of the new Bugatti Chiron is a new carbon-fiber monocoque that takes four weeks to build. The entire body is wrapped in a new carbon-fiber skin that Bugatti claims increase torsional stiffness to the same levels seen in an LMP1 prototype. To improve reaction times to steering inputs, a new all electric steering system and suspension system is bolted directly to the monocoque.

The base of the new Bugatti Chiron is a new carbon-fiber monocoque that takes four weeks to build. The entire body is wrapped in a new carbon-fiber skin that Bugatti claims increase torsional stiffness to the same levels seen in an LMP1 prototype. To improve reaction times to steering inputs, a new all electric steering system and suspension system is bolted directly to the monocoque.

Like most modern cars, the driver can dial in the driving style of the vehicle, Rather than the traditional Sport and Comfort settings, the Chiron has five different driving modes including ‘Lift’, ‘Auto’, ‘Autobahn’, ‘Handling’, and

‘Top Speed’. Each mode personalizes settings for the chassis height, dampers, active aero, torque distribution between the four-wheel drive system, steering weight, and the electronic stability system.

The Market for the Bugatti Chiron Just like with the Bugatti Veyron, the person who buys the Chiron is special.

Described by Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Durheimer as “extraordinary people”, who on average own “64 cars, 3 jets, 3 helicopters and a yacht”. These are the type of people who can drop over $3 million dollars at the blink of an eye.

Apparently, there are a quite a few of them out there as well as a full two years of production or 120 units of the 500 to be produced are accounted for. It is already clear from the Geneva Motor Show that productions of Chiron have already started and this limited edition sports car is expected to be available in the market by the end of 2016 or more probably, by the dawn of 2017. So, aren’t you excited?

Reviews “With the Chiron, Bugatti has made the best even better.”

“The design of the Chiron combines significantly more ‘beast’ with a very high level of ‘beauty.’ ” “More than 60,000 liters [2118 cubic feet] of air per minute are pumped through the engine.” – Like the Veyron, the Chiron gulps in a ton of air to feed its quad-turbocharged W-16 engine at full whack. Put another way, the Chiron’s engine can ingest roughly half the interior volume of a 53-foot semi-trailer in air per minute.

“It goes almost without saying that the Chiron has permanent four-wheel drive.” – If you didn’t know the Chiron has permanent four-wheel drive, you’re a dummy and a loser.

“Audio-system connoisseurs will appreciate the use of a one-carat diamond membrane in each of the four tweeters, delivering a crystal-clear sound.”

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5 | SOCIAL MEDIA |

EMAILS YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD BE SENDING

by Lisa Furgison

I

f you want to take your email marketing to a new level, we’ve put together seven emails your business should send on a regular basis. We’ll tell you the purpose of each email and the type of businesses that can benefit from it. We’ll also tell you, on a scale of 1 to 5, the difficulty level for each email. The closer the number is to 5, the more effort it takes. Plus, we will give you some tips to create each email.

1

PROMOTIONAL EMAIL Purpose: To promote a product or service, usually to entice customers to make a purchase.

Business that would benefit: Every business.

Difficulty level: 1. Promotional emails are short and sweet. You might want to create a special graphic, otherwise, it’s not a time consuming process.

3 tips to create a Promotional Email: 1. Make the offer clear – Your customers may not take the time to read your email, but if you have a clear offer that’s front-and-center. In the promotional email below, there is no question what the deal is.

2. Create a sense of urgency – Give customers a reason to act quickly, rather than let the email sit in their inbox.

Create a sense of urgency with your promotion. In the example, the dates of the promotion are apparent. Use active language, too. For instance, “Shop now.”

3. Keep it short – Promotional emails don’t require a lot of explanation. State the deal, tell customers how to redeem it and when the deal expires. No need for a lot of flowery words. Take a look at the example below. In less than 45 words, the retailer sums up the deal.

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2

NEW INVENTORY EMAIL Purpose: To let your customers know about new items. It falls under the promotional email umbrella.

You’re updating customers, but also hoping for a sale.

Business that would benefit: Any business can tell customers about a new item in stock. Fashion and retail businesses may get the most bang for their buck.

Difficulty level: 2. Time is spent taking a good picture of the new product, but it doesn’t require a lot of text.

3 tips to create a New Inventory Email: 1. Send the email out as soon as the item arrives – As soon as you have the inventory in stock, create the email and hit send. This shows you’re on top of new trends and want your customers to have the latest, greatest items available.

2. Take a killer picture – You don’t have to get artsy, but you do need to showcase your new item. In fact, these types of emails are more about the photo than text. Take the email below, for example. It’s all about the picture. In just 17 words, Coach gets its point across.

3. Convey the point in your subject line – You know subject lines can determine whether or not your customer opens your email, and this email is no different. Be sure to tell your customers that you’ve got something new and fun for them to check out. Coach does this with a simple subject line, “Shop New Arrivals,” in the example below.

SURVEY EMAIL

3

Purpose: To collect helpful information you can use to improve the customer experience.

Businesses that would benefit: Any business looking to better itself.

Difficulty level: 4. You’ll have to spend time creating the survey and writing an email with a link to the survey.

2 tips to create a Survey Email: 1. Address the purpose of the survey – Besides an incentive to fill out the survey, you should tell your customers why you want the information.

Whether you’re trying to improve your business or conducting product research, which is the case in the example above, let your customers know the purpose of the survey.

2. Make the survey easy to access – There should be an obvious, clickable link to the survey. Take a look at the example below. Notice the links to the survey are clear buttons on the left and also in red text at the bottom of the email.

Photo Credit for all photos: Vertical Response

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NEWSLETTER EMAIL Purpose: To inform customers about company news, improve brand awareness and build a relationship with your core audience.

Business that would benefit: Every business.

Difficulty level: 3. It takes a bit of time to create a solid newsletter, but it’s a valuable marketing tool.

3 tips to create a Newsletter Email: 1. A newsletter doesn’t mean long format. Break the copy in your newsletter into short, digestible and actionable sections of content, copy, images and calls to action.

2. Create an easy-on-the-eyes design. Think of your newsletter like a mini-newspaper. You want clear lines and divisions between your content. Take a look at the example below. See how clean it looks? You want a simple layout with basic fonts. Don’t go crazy with the color scheme, either.

3. Include your contact information or website link in the newsletter. You always want your contact information in an easy-to-find area on the newsletter. The purpose of your newsletter isn’t necessarily to sell, but if your customers are inspired to reach out to you because of the newsletter, you want them to be able to find you.

Note the website link on the top right corner of newsletter below.

WELCOME EMAIL Purpose: To welcome new email subscribers to the family and establish a good relationship.

Business that would benefit: Every business.

Difficulty level: 2. Creating the email doesn’t take long, but you need to know when a new customer signs up.

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4

Photo Credit Top left: www.morethanmedication.ca Bottom right: www.smileycat.com

3 tips to create a Welcome Email: 1.Write in a conversational tone. A Welcome Email is like a virtual handshake that accepts a new member to your group. It should be inviting and warm. Show the personal side of your business, says Noah Parsons, a marketer with Palo Alto Software. Take a look at the email below.

The letter format feels welcoming and it has a nice tone.

2. Consider offering a reward. In celebration of a new customer, you could offer a discount or some sort of perk. You could offer 15 percent off the next purchase or offer another perk like free shipping.

3. Remind new users about the benefits. Thank your new customers for signing up and reinforce their decision to join. Tell readers what they’ll get out of this new partnership. The email below does exactly that.

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| INVESTMENT |

HOW THE

SUPER RICH

SPEND THEIR MONEY This article looks into the spending patterns of the super rich, with a view to aiding investment strategies. We took a holistic view of different countries, commencing with Africa with special emphasis on Nigeria, in our opportunity indicator in order to highlight those areas in which future opportunities may lie for businesses.

Because some times we mock ourselves with the belief that we are “rational” and “logical.” Especially those of us who are clueless about human behavior.

AFRICA Standard Chartered bank, in partnership with research consultancy GlobeScan, released a study offering insight into the aspirations of consumers in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

Researchers conducted that Affluent Nigerians comprise approximately 5% of the population, while the emerging affluent make up about 25%. According to Neema Patel. The profile of a rich African is shifting from older whitehaired males to younger, hip millennials who have found new ways to make and keep money in a changing global scene.

There will be 3,933 ultra-wealthy individuals on the continent by 2025, from 2,650 last year, according to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2016.

A

ccording to Alice-Azania Jarvice in an article on evening standard. Last month Harrods Estates recorded a 400 per cent rise in West African buyers snapping up prime Central London property compared with the previous year. It’s thought around half the wealth of Africa’s super rich remains on the continent. Buying land is a popular investment of long standing, as this is still

seen as an important family asset. Buying property overseas, especially in London and Dubai, is also a popular choice.

According to London’s Evening Standard newspaper, this year saw a 400% rise in West African buyers snapping up property in Central London compared to similar periods in 2014. According to Beauchamp Estates, buyers from Africa have spent more than £600m in the past three years, mostly in the ‘platinum triangle’ of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge. The number of African billionaires has more than tripled in the past five years. There are currently 55, according to African financial magazine Ventures. They also spend money on education overseas. According to Tatler magazine, Nigerians spend $500 million annually at British universities and schools.

Nigerians tend to be especially keen to spend money on their appearances forking out an average of £628 per purchase, according to industry specialists Global Blue and purchases such as clothing and shoes are popular choices for wealthy travellers. South Africans are among the world’s biggest spenders on cosmetics. To this end, French labels such as Louis Vuitton and Hermès are the must-haves and Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges the gotos. Harrods was said to be looking for

employees who could speak Yoruba, the language of 30m West Africans.

When, two years ago, Theresa May attempted to make visitors from parts of Africa, including Ghana and Nigeria, pay a £3,000 security bond to enter the UK, executives from Harrods and Savile Row tailors Gieves & Hawkes protested.

The plans were dropped. Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest growing markets for champagne and private jets. In South Africa there’s a growing market for luxury cars and Porsches are selling well in Angola.

The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that African consumer spending will rise to £900bn in 2020 (from £550bn in 2008) and a growing number of international brands, including Hugo Boss, Zegna and MAC, have opened shops here. In 2012, Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani visited Ghana to meet up-andcoming designers, while Roberto Cavalli has visited design studios in Nigeria.

Selfridges has sold fashion ranges by African designers including Lisa Folawiyo and Lanre Da Silva Ajayi. However, Nigeria’s growth story is taking a hit due to fall in oil price, questionable government policies and the resulting fall of the Naira. It’s been predicted that the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals will rise by 53 per cent in the next decade.

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PWC African Opportunity Report Highlighting the Potential of the Continent.

Photo Credit: pwc.blogs.pnj

A

ccording to Will GrahameClarke in an article published on Raconteur in 2015, Super-rich shoppers have not let prolonged global economic uncertainty cool their appetite for luxury. Simultaneously there is also a trend away from bling.

Ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) shoppers are no longer just satisfied with gaudy opulence. As the world has become more complex, faster and interrelated, the luxury shopping experience has become more so by several factors. The rich consume differently not just because they can but also because they can dedicate more time to shop-

“

ping. Refining ideas some others might confine to a lunch-hour spree to become a way of life. According to Credit Suisse, the number of millionaires has increased significantly since 2000 and worldwide there are 128,000 ultra-highnet-worth individuals (UHNWIs), those with net assets exceeding $50 million, against 41,000 in 2000. Of these, 45,000 are worth at least $100 million, against 14,000 in 2000, and 4,300 have assets above $500 million, up from 1,200 in 2000.

UHNWIS GLOBALLY The United States dominates the re-

gional ranking, with 63,000 UHNW residents (49 per cent), while Europe has 31,000 (24 per cent) and 26,000 (20 per cent) reside in Asia-Pacific, including China and India. China has as many UHNWIs as all of Europe in 2001. The rate of increase is projected to be 9.3 per cent for emerging markets against 6.4 per cent for the developed world. It is a trend to greater wealth, which shows no sign in abating. In their latest wealth report, Royal Bank of Canada believes UHNWIs are focusing increasingly on prioritizing growing their wealth. Specifically, their preference for growth increased dramatically to 30.7 per cent from 18 per cent in 2013.

Simultaneously there is also a trend away from bling. Ultra-highnet-worth (UHNW) shoppers are no longer just satisfied with gaudy opulence.

M

argaret Wolhuter, strategy director for brand consultancy of The Partners, argues that the bespoke or the individual and digital interaction increasingly define the world of luxury. “Luxury can begin for the individual with a special interest which can become a passion, investing which can focus more on craftsmanship, limited editions and one-off items,” she says. “Luxury items can also signal status and belonging to

”

a world. Within that you have one-upmanship. Acquiring something, which someone you might be competing with does not have. Then there is the whole investment arena of buying for investment purposes as a hedge against equities.

“Another motivation is that they are looking for readily convertible assets.

They are coming out of Russia and sometimes the Middle East, and are looking for uncut diamonds and jewel-

lery. These items are highly portable and easily convertible in any part of the world.”

SINGULAR But for Ms Wolhuter it is the millennial generation, people in their mid to late20s, in the midst of generating their own wealth or on the cusp of inheritance, which show most clearly where luxury is heading.

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The Big Spenders Index 2015

“Wealthy people don’t want to look like other people; they don’t want known brands, and there is a big move towards bespoke and designers”

“There is another driver increasingly among millennials, who are using wealth to express who they are. It is a push back against the traditional luxury brands and it has started to hurt established brands,” she claims. “Wealthy people don’t want to look like other people; they don’t want known brands, and there is a big move towards bespoke and designers, which signal their interests and knowledge. It is a desire to express oneself through insider knowledge of designers. It was Alexander McQueen ten years ago and now it is Proenza Schouler and Nicholas Kane – there is a cycle. “They wouldn’t think of going into Gucci to buy a handbag.

It is a trend, which doesn’t just affect shopping, but also tourism. Their holidays are very different to their parents.

Theirs is more eco-tourism or unusual one-off experiences or holidays with a thrill element.” For these individuals the digital world is also very important.

“It is how they live and how they make their choices,” says Ms Wolhuter. “Insta-

gram is a big part of this. For millennials authenticity is very important. They are influenced by what others say.” Only two years ago, Facebook was the social media platform used by all the world’s 25 leading luxury brands. However, Ledbury Research estimates usage of Instagram by UHNWIs has outpaced that of Facebook by 19 times and Twitter fivefold. “Emerging markets are catching up very quickly,” she says. “Sometimes it is generational, but in most cases they are only ten to fifteen years behind more mature markets. People are realizing they want something singular.”

This process of catching up can be seen between places such as Switzerland and China. According to Wealth-X World Ultra Wealth Report 2014, for example, 91 per cent of China’s UHNW population is self-made new wealth compared with only 43 per cent in Switzerland. “There has been a notable shift in attitudes of luxury consumers, particularly those from maturing markets, such as China and the UAE, who have increasingly sophisticated tastes,” says Michelle Emmerson, chief executive of British luxury alliance Walpole. “There has been a real, sustained interest in the heritage, provenance and craftsmanship of a product, with a focus on the quality of materials and story behind its making.”

BRAND RESPONSE In both developed and emerging markets this has heightened the challenge of maintaining the paradox of being singular, bespoke and exclusive, while also selling widely and being commercially successful. Italian luxury analysts Altagamma estimate 25 per cent of luxury brands are already, or are at risk of, losing exclusivity.

Ledbury have a term for this problem, “exclusive ubiquity”, and have identified a repertoire of at least three industry responses. Luxury houses have been taking back control of distribution. For example, Louis Vuitton has been ahead of the curve by only selling through its own stores. In so doing Vuitton presents the choice between brands rather than products, according to researchers at Ledbury. Another response has been to introduce multiple lines under one brand such as jeans, sport or privé. Armani and Ralph Lauren have been the key exponents. A third has been to sell licences for remote product categories, such as perfumes and sunglasses, which shoemaker Jimmy Choo has done to the great acclaim of his accountant. “If I had to pick one recent innovation in luxury it would be digital,” says Ledbury’s luxury analyst Madelaine Ollivier.

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Venice, Italy

| TRAVELS |

TOP FREE THINGS TO DO IN

by Amanda Akah

Venice is in the Veneto region, on northeast coast of Italy and is protected from the Adriatic Sea by a strip of land called the Lido. Venice is one of the most unique cities in Italy and holds many free sights and attractions for the tourist. One of the best things to do in Venice is just walk around, strolling along the canals and admiring beautiful squares and buildings. Venice consists of 117 bodies of land connected by more than 400 bridges over its 150 canals. It is divided into six sestere or districts. You can pick your favorite neighborhood and just take a stroll.

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Piazza San Marco

Photo Credit: italyvisits

Piazza San Marco or Saint Mark's Square the main tourist destination in Venice. Around it are important monuments, elegant historic buildings and expensive cafes, some with live music in the evening. You can hear the music for free as you walk around but sitting at a table is very expensive. Take a peek at the famous CafĂŠ Florian, popular since 1720, and visit Basilica San Marco Saint Mark's Cathedral, an impressive Byzantine style monument.

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Rialto Bridge & Rialto Market The picturesque and crowded Rialto Bridge has been the main bridge crossing Venice's Grand Canal since 1591. On the bridge are covered arches and shops and on one side is the Rialto Market, a good place to visit in the morning. This lively food market with lots of little stalls has been in operation for about 1000 years. Go early to see fresh fish being unloaded from the boats. In the Rialto Market area you can see what was probably Venice's first church, San Giacometto, founded in 471 and rebuilt in 1071, about the same time the Rialto Market was built.

Photo Credit: Eurial

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Basilica di San Marco

Although it is easy to get the impression that almost everything in Venice seems to have an admission fee, it comes as a surprise that the Serenissima's most famous attraction, the Basilica di San Marco, does not charge visitors. Dominating the Piazza San Marco with its fairytale facade – though be prepared for at least part to be covered for renovation – the basilica is the ultimate symbol of Venice's former glory, and the domed interiors are marked by breathtaking intricate mosaics. Be aware, though, that once inside, there are fees if you want a tour of St Mark's Museum, the Treasury or the lustrous Pala d'Oro.

Photo Credit: Eurial

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Renaissance Art at Galleria dell A ’ ccademia

Replete with Venetian art from the 14th to the 18th century, Galleria dell’Accademia makes for a fascinating visit, especially if you’re a fan of Renaissance painting. Highlights include masterpieces by artists such as Bellini, Titian, and Veronese. Admission is free in the first Sunday of every month.

Photo Credit: www.travelway.me

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5 Photo Credit: Hanciong

Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore

The island of San Giorgio has the ultimate views in Venice, looking out over the Doges Palace and the Grand Canal and the landmark church, designed in 1555 by Andrea Palladio, is a must-see. There is no charge to go inside the chiesa, whose rather stark interior has two important works by Tintoretto L'Ultima Cena and Il Cader della Manna as well as paintings by

Carpaccio and Palma. There is a lift that takes you up to the top of the bell tower for â‚Ź5 that has none of the long queues choking St Mark's campanile and, frankly, the panorama is far more impressive from San Giorgio. The church's monastery and gardens belong to the Cini Foundation, which organizes free exhibitions in Le Stanze del Vetro, and, for the duration of the Biennale, there is a stunning installation of gold pillars by the vaporetto stop by German architect Heinz Mack.

Basilica Santa Maria della Salute

6 Photo Credit: Destination360

The octagonal Basilica Santa Maria Della Salute is one of the most photographed churches in Venice. The Baroque church, built in the 17th century as thanks for the end of the plague, sits on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro neighborhood and is visible from the entrance to Piazza San Marco. Dramatic steps leading to the entrance are made of white Istrian stone and more than 100 figures adorn the church's buttresses. The massive interior is awe-inspiring and contains several Titians. For the festival held on November 21, a temporary bridge is laid across the Grand Canal and Venetians walk across it to the church.

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Window Shopping

Venice is a window shoppers delight. Many small shops have inviting window displays. Top items are blown glass (from Murano Island), jewelry, and beautifully decorated carnival masks. In the San Marco neighborhood there are many upscale designer shops. The Strada Nova, the wide main street of the Cannaregio district, is a mix of souvenir shops and shops used by locals. Art galleries and antique shops are found in the Dorsoduro district. Avoid buying items from vendors on the streets who may be selling counterfeit goods. You can be fined for purchasing these.

7 Casa di Tintoretto

This offbeat corner of Cannaregio is worth seeking out for a number of uniquely Venetian oddities. The corner of Fondamenta dei Mori is marked by distinctive white statue with a metal nose, the Greek trader Rioba, while by the entrance to Tintoretto's house is another flamboyant statue of a turbaned Moorish trader. On the ground floor of the house is the Bottega del Tintoretto, a print studio run by friendly local artist Roberto Mazzetto, which is open to visitors. More Moorish statues decorate the Campo dei Mori and, walking over a bridge to the Madonna dell'Orto church, on the back of Tintoretto's house there is another strange frieze, an Arab trader leading a huge camel.

Tintoretto is buried in Madonno dell'Orto, which displays several of his paintings, but there is an entry charge.

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Photo Credit: Italysteals

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Sala San Marco Biblioteca

9 Photo Credit: veneziablog

No one wants to visit a hospital when on holiday, but Venice's Ospedale Civile is like no other. Housed in the immense 15th-century Scuola Grande di San Marco, its ornate wedding cake facade dominates the San Giovanni e Paolo Campo, and once you walk through the grand entrance hall with its intricate marble floor, there is an ancient cloister and gardens. But recently, the first floor Sala San Marco has been opened to the public, housing a vast medical library, a quite terrifying collection of historical medical instruments and illustrations, and excellent reproductions of masterpieces by the likes of Bellini, Donato and Tintoretto that were originally painted for the Sala, but are now mostly on display in the Accademia gallery.

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Museum of Music

Photo Credit: traveldk

Near the Renaissance Scuola Grande di San Rocco art museum in the San Polo sestiere you'll find the free and interesting Museo della Musica. Besides a good collection of instruments and an exhibit about violin making, the museum gives an interesting look at the life of Antonio Vivaldi, composer and musician from Venice, in an exhibit called Antonio Vivaldi e il suo tempo.

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| HISTORY ALERT |

OLAUDAH EQUIANO Journalist, Activist (c. 1745–1797)

by Asoloko Muhammad

This is a story of heroic struggle against all odds, survival and eventual triumph, which should inspire you, gives you hope, and the courage to fight. One of the most important aspects of Equiano's project was to dispel a myth entirely by showing the world that an untutored African possess abilities equal to an European, common with all human beings, is quite capable of writing a fine book describing a life which would be considered extraordinary regardless of the racial origins of the person who had lived it. During eighteenthcentury England there was an increasingly widespread myth that Africans were either not fully human or were of a less developed branch of humanity.

Photo Credit: LikeSuccess

C

aptured far from the African coast when he was a boy of 11, Olaudah Equiano was sold into slavery, later acquired his freedom, and, in 1789, wrote his widely-read autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. The youngest son of a village leader, Equiano was born in approximately 1745 among the Ibo people in the kingdom of Benin, along the Niger River, in what is now Nigeria.

He was "the greatest favorite with [his] mother." His family expected to follow

in his father's footsteps and become a chief, an elder, a judge. Slavery was an intregal part of the Ibo culture, as it was with many other African peoples.

His family owned slaves, but there was also a continual threat of being abducted, of becoming someone else's slave.

This is what happened, one day, while Equiano and his sister were at home alone. Two men and a woman captured the children. Several days later Equiano and his sister were separated. Equiano continued to travel farther and farther from home, day after day, month after month, exchanging masters along the way. Equiano's early experiences as a slave were not all disagreeable; some

families treated Equiano almost as a part of the family. The kind treatment, however, was about to end.

About six or seven months after being abducted, Equiano was brought to the coast, where he first encountered a slave ship and white men. As it was for all slaves, the Middle Passage for Equiano was a long, arduous nightmare. In his autobiography he describes the inconceivable conditions of the slaves' hold: the "shrieks of the women," the "groans of the dying," the floggings, the wish to commit suicide, how those who somehow managed to drown themselves were envied.

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The ship finally arrived at Barbados, where buyers purchased most of the slaves. There was no buyer, however, for the young Equiano. Less than two weeks after his arrival, he was shipped off to the English colony of Virginia, where he was purchased and put to work. Less than a month later.

In the summer of 1754, Equiano was sold to an officer in the Royal Navy called Michael Pascal. Pascal gave the boy the name of Gustavus Vassa. This was a rather cruel joke on Pascal's part.

The original Gustavus Vassa was a sixteenth-century Swedish nobleman who had led the Swedish people into a war of independence from the Danes and as a result had become the first Swedish king of the Swedish people. He was thus seen as the man who had led the Swedes out of a sort of slavery. Pascal's renaming of Equiano was a typical act of slave-owners. By taking away the identity of the slave the owner was able to demonstrate the total control he had over his 'possession'. He owned Equiano for the next seven years. As Pascal's slave Equiano was introduced to the naval way of life which gave him opportunities that he would almost certainly have been denied had he been a plantation slave.

'OLAUDAH EQUIANO MAN AND BROTHER' At Stephen Lawrence Centre, Deptford, London during Black History Month UK October 2015

Equiano would move to England, for a start, he was brought to England and saw not only Europe but ultimately many parts of the world. But of greatest importance, he was able to learn to read and write which he did at a school in London where he was sent by Pascal.

He travelled the world on ships under Pascal's command. During this period Equiano saw action in Canada and in the Mediterranean and, by now having fought for the British and having been baptised, He was suddenly sold to another sea-captain who took him to the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, While Equiano was in Montserrat he witnessed the worst tortures imaginable being inflicted on his fellow slaves and this experience, he tells us, gave him an added incentive to achieve his freedom. He was in the fortunate position that he could exploit his job to his own advantage and, after three years, in 1766; he saved up ÂŁ40, the price of his own freedom.

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He found work in the trade business in the West Indies, then in London. As a seaman, he travelled the world, including the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Atlantic, and the Arctic; he took part in an expedition to try to discover the Northwest Passage, a route through the arctic to the Pacific Ocean.

During this period Equiano converted to Christianity. He had been exploring the scriptures and examining his own faith for some time, but it was on a voyage to Spain that he tells us that he saw 'the bright beams of heavenly light' and was 'born again'.

Back in England, Equiano became an active abolitionist. on 7 April 1792 he married an Englishwoman, Susanna Cullen, at Soham in Cambridgeshire. Olaudah and Susanna had two daughters, one of whom survived to inherit a substantial estate of £950 from her father (equivalent to about £100,000 or $160,000 today). He lectured against the cruelty of British slave owners. He spoke out against the English slave trade. He worked to resettle freed slaves.

By 1789, the year he published his autobiography, Olaudah Equiano and became part of the abolition movement.

The book became a bestseller and, as well as furthering the anti-slavery cause, made Equiano a wealthy man.

Equiano’s account is considered an originator of the slave narrative.

Equiano died in March 1797, a full ten years before the slave trade was abolished in British ships, forty years before slavery was abolished in British colonies, and 68 years before slavery was ended in the United States. Although Equiano did not live to see these events, his narrative played an important part in bringing them about.

In 2007 Great Britain issued a set of six stamps commemorating the abolition of the slave trade. The design on the 1st value features a portrait of Olaudah Equiano. The portrait of Equiano on the stamp is the Frontispiece of his book.

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| LUXURY APARTMENT |

All Photos Courtesy Of Pinnacle List

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THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE APARTMENTS: The Odeon Tower Penthouse, Monaco.

Until now, London’s One Hyde Park was home to the most expensive penthouse in the world, sold earlier this year for nearly $240 million. But in Monaco, there’s a new recordholder in play. The city is opening its first skyscraper in 30 years, so of course they had to go big. The Odeon Tower (Tour Odeon) brings one-of-a-kind luxury homes to folks who want to live affluent lifestyles. It rises like a colossus above the impressive waters of the Mediterranean Sea in the very heart of Monte Carlo. Estate developer Groupe Marzocco, architect Alexandre Giraldi and the renowned decorator Albert Pinto collaborated on the twin tower building, which delivers 70 exceptional serviced apartments, duplexes and penthouse.

High-rise construction was ditched in the 80s after a few controversial designs graced the skyline. Then-ruler Prince Rainier III reportedly ordered the stop of tall towers over worries they would mar the character of the seaside principality. In 2009, Rainier’s son Prince Albert II gave the go-ahead to build the Tour Odéon. Work on the tower began in November 2009 in the midst of the economic downturn. It was originally scheduled to be completed in September 2015 last year, when completed, the Odeon Tower will be 170 meters tall; it is the second tallest building on the Mediterranean Coast and will include the world’s most expensive apartment, the “Sky Penthouse” with the record-breaking price tag of $400 million.

With stunning views, the penthouse includes 38,000 square feet of living space spread across five levels, with a kitchen on every level and a water slide extending from a dance floor to >>

“

”

To live at Tour Odéon is to indulge yourself in the ultimate lifestyle.

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the private infinity pool on the terrace. The opulent destination will also come with a private chauffeur, a caterer, three staff bedrooms, a 24-hour concierge service, a water slide and access to a health club. A parking space at the Odeon will cost about 50 percent more than the median American house, at 250,000 euros, roughly $330,000 at today’s exchange rates. As developer Niccolo Marzacco stated, “A property like this one is bought, it is not sold.” At $11,000 per square foot, the Odeon Tower is setting a new standard for luxury living on an international scale.

It is the latest brainchild of architect Alexandre Giraldi, already known as a master of elegant, modern, European architecture.

Everything is done to the utmost; nothing has been skimped in favor of value. It has views out over the Mediterranean Sea and being on the coast of Monaco it has the city’s delights at your fingertips.

The tiny principality of Monaco, nestled on the French Riviera, is best known as a playground of the rich and famous, the city is home to everything from fashion to fantastic food and the annual Formula One motorcar race. Nearly one in every three residents is a millionaire, according to Wealth Insight research.

Real estate agent Savills described the city as "a rare gem of particular value in the vault of ultra-wealth". The region is supply-constrained due to its limited size, Savills said. Its area is just 6 percent the size of Manhattan and 3 percent of Hong Kong Island, but demand for property from the world's ultrawealthy is particularly high.

Whether the Sky Penthouse will sell for the rumored $400 million is another matter, however. Late last year Savills warned that the billionaire residential property boom was slowing. But for Yolanda Barnes, director of world research at Savills, Monaco is in a league of its own. It is a "honeypot for ultra-high networth individuals", she told CNBC in a phone interview. With both land and available properties scarce, the principality "will have a strong market regardless of what happens to other kinds of billionaire properties," she added. James Price from Knight Frank, which is handling the sale of flats in Tour Odéon, said: 'These duplexes and the penthouse are set to catch the eye of those looking for the very best properties across the world's leading markets.' But its large size means the penthouse might not claim the record amount per square foot. This is currently held by the owners of 15 Central Park West, New York, which sold for $13,000 per square foot earlier this year.

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LEADING CHANGE AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CEO OF BUA GROUP,

ABDULSAMAD RABIU This issue’s interview is with Abdulsamad Rabiu CON, the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in sugar refining, cement production, real estate, logistics and port operations with revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. He is also the chairman of Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI) a bank that provides finance to local and foreign entrepreneurs looking to establish new industries in the country. In 2016, Forbes estimated Abdul Samad's wealth at $1.1 billion.

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BUA Group has further ventured into steel, billets and iron ore importation and the supply of multiple rolling mills in the country. Some years back, BUA acquired Nigerian Oil Mills Limited, the largest edible oil processing company in Nigeria and later set up 2 flour milling plants in Lagos and Kano in 2005.

By 2008, BUA broke an eight-year monopoly in the Nigerian sugar industry by commissioning the second largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa which currently produces 720,000 metric tonnes per annum Its major competitor is the Dangote sugar refinery, which produces 1.4 million metric tonnes per annum.

One of the Group’s most recent acquisitions is the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), where it invested $50 million as part of the expansion and upgrade of the company to boost its production output. BUA had earlier acquired a majority stake in Sokoto and Okpella cement companies in a deal worth $100 million. Abdulsamad plans to invest more than $500 million in Nigeria’s economy over the next few years.

Q1

Sir; you were born in Kano, had your early education there, before attending Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Most instructive, you returned to Nigeria in your early 20s to business and before age 30 you established BUA international Limited in Lagos.

What are the greatest lessons you learned and how do these multicultural experiences affect the way you work?

My knowledge and experiences in business only gives me the passion to do what I do to consistently improve the business. We are not only helping to grow the Nigerian economy, but also touching lives, I think what is really important is to do things right, to work hard for your company and for the people around you.

Q2

Some would say that with little or no business experience you took over the affairs of your father’s business at a young age. What initial challenges did you face?

It was not planned. Rather, I was thrown in at the deep end; my father was incarcerated due to a military coup and I suddenly found myself having to take over his business dealings. The priority in those uncertain times was to make sure the workers were not left in the lurch; they depended on their wages. So it was a significant emotional hurdle that could only be surpassed with a somewhat ruthless businessfocused mind.

At a very tender age, I was saddled with so many things, and had to take a lot of important decisions. Trading was quite different then, compared to now.

It was very difficult, because access to funding and foreign exchange were both very challenging.

However, it was also quite lucrative as not many companies were able to compete. Our participation at that time assisted us in starting our current manufacturing concerns. So I would say the initial challenges eventually morphed into a launching pad for BUA International.

Q3

What is now the BUA Group was first established as BUA International Limited. How has the Group evolved since then?

We made our initial venture into business in 1988. When the company started, we focused on import and export, but later we moved into flour milling, sugar refining, ports management, real estate development, and cement manufacturing. In 2008 we bought a majority stake in the publicly listed Cement Company of Northern Nigeria

(CCNN), which had an old plant that we took over and optimized. We also bought the 500,000 tons per annum Edo Cement Company and developed a 3-million tons per annum greenfield Obu plant. In total, we will have around 10 million tons of cement production in the next two years.

For agriculture we have sugar plantations and processing facilities; however, Nigeria still imports over 95% of its sugar needs as raw product. We also have the 50,000-ha Bassa sugar plantation, which is by far the biggest in the country.

Q4

In 2008, BUA broke an eight-year monopoly in the Nigerian sugar industry by commissioning the second largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa.

As a long-standing, trusted brand in Nigeria. What is it about your personality and skill set that has made the BUA group attain such successful and ambitious strides under your leadership?

You would have to ask my colleagues, or those closest to me to get a more detailed answer, but I think it is the values and principles instilled in me by virtue of my upbringing and education.

As a matter of principle, I believe in giving people the opportunity to choose from different options. Discerning customers deliberately go for the best, as opposed to just what is available.

This simple premise is what I keyed into, ensuring BUA products bring not only choice but also enhanced quality to customers.

We are not only helping to grow the Nigerian economy, but also touching lives, I think what is really important is to do things right, to work hard for the growth of the company and for the people around you. >> MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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Q5

By all standards, you have climbed the career ladder very quickly and have a reputation for turning businesses around. What is the greatest risk you took to get where you are today?

Through several decades and governments, I have always been faced with a broad spectrum of challenges that fall under unfavorable industrial and economic policies but each year in business has presented a learning curve that I have navigated positively, thanks to my experience in this industry and the excellent contributions of my intelligent team of staff.

Q6

What does BUA Group offer in the food and beverage area and how are these product offerings of value to Nigerians?

Currently, we are into Sugar Refining in the Food and Beverage sector, which goes back to one of our core values of producing globally standardized products that suit local tastes and budgets. You are sure of getting good value for money spent on any of BUA brand because you are getting the best quality at the best price anywhere on the market. At the moment, we have the sugar refinery in Lagos and another that is soon-to-be-commissioned in Port Harcourt; the vegetable oil processing mills and the cement projects.

We recently sold our Flour and Pasta plants and are also currently producing cement at our 3 million metric tons per annum cement plant in Obu, Okpella Edo State.

Q7

As you have just noted, in January 2016 BUA sold its flour business to Olam International of Singapore for $275 million, this came as a surprise to the industry. What other difficulties is BUA Group facing at the moment, if any?

Actually I would not rank the sale as arising from difficulty; the more accurate reason is simply a matter of deliberate strategy, which was informed by our propensity to always predict shifts in our operating terrains. Over the past

few years we are purposely scaling our businesses to enable the effective sourcing of 90% of raw materials locally. So for instance, with sugar, we now have new plantations that will provide the necessary sugarcane as well as the facilities for standardized processing and packaging.

Therefore, the money from the sale is being reinvested in new business that have the potential to directly boost Nigeria’s forex earnings via exports. Far from being a challenge, this is more of a strategic move to reduce any overdependence on forex; nothing more nothing less. If you are not importing with forex, the money is instead ploughed back into saving production costs and improving quality, with the serendipity of strengthening the local economy. Asides from that, we so indeed face difficulties, and have some challenges peculiar to some other manufacturing companies in Nigeria. For instance, various government agencies are spending huge sums of money on key infrastructure to attract fresh foreign investment, despite the progress recorded; energy issues remain a drain on growth.

Also, one of the major problems we have today is irregular supply of Low Pour Fuel Oils (LPFO), which is the main energy used by our cement company in northern Nigeria – the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN).

Since August 2014, the Kaduna Refinery has not supplied LPFO; hence we had to rely on other sources, mostly importers. Supply from other refineries is also epileptic. The company had to, at intermittent periods during the last quarter of 2015, shut down plants due to scarcity and cost of energy. This is why a group of our size must remain amenable to diversification, to guarantee viability where it matters most: the bottom line.

Q8

You are named as one of only six billionaires from corporate Nigeria on the Forbes list and are also listed in the news media as among a handful of “billionaires that can rescue the country from recession…”

This is the first I have heard of such a list – the rescuing of Nigeria from

recession.

It does exist, sir and my main point is: do you specifically have a plan in this regard by any chance?

The growing challenge for most FMCG markets such as ours in Nigeria is sourcing foreign exchange. With the price of crude oil coming down and the demand for foreign exchange going up, we made a strategic decision to venture into businesses where the sourcing or utilization of foreign exchange is less, to reduce the burden on the fiscal system whilst retaining and creating badly needed jobs locally.

We have specifically chosen to diversify our business further, and stimulate the Nigerian economy.

At a time when many firms in the sector are retrenching, we are hiring, because we have made savings in forex and due to our fixation on remaining a local workforce capable of bringing global quality products to the market.

Q9 BUA Group has witnessed a huge growth since its establishment in 1988, what do you think is the reason for this and do you think we will continue to see year on year growth?

Nigeria is a motley of exciting and perplexing markets; that means a lot of opportunities with adequate resources and a huge market for investors. We therefore appreciate every policy, every work being undertaken by government to reduce the challenges of doing business in Nigeria. I welcome the decision to involve the private sector in ensuring that all legal and regulatory frameworks are effectively in place.

We operate with the mindset that business will always be daunting, but rewarding, and growth can only be achieved by matching and surpassing existing quality, even if that means besting your own records. Despite the challenging business environment, we have witnessed huge growth within the group since inception due to our determination to consistently produce quality products for the Nigerian market and continuous expansion of our production capacities to create or meet market demands where applicable.

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Q10

What is your take on the Federal Government drive to encourage Nigerians to purchase made in Nigeria products?

I am impressed with the Nigerian government moves to encourage made in Nigeria products. It is expected to improve business for the manufacturing sector of the economy. The private sector should in turn ensure that product quality remains sacrosanct and uncompromised.

Q11 BUA Cement, owns and operates Nigeria’s first floating cement terminal and recently signed a contract with China's Sinoma International Engineering Co. to double its capacity. What is the next step for BUA Group?

We will consistently increase our production capacities in all our production plants to meet market demand for our products. We are also pushing a backward integration program on sugar, which will see us invest heavily in the short-term in bringing our sugar plantations fully on stream. We currently have about 75,000 ha of farmland, which we intend to dedicate to this.

We believe this will further reduce the country's dependence on imported raw sugar while supporting the value chain in sugar production within Nigeria. We are also working on several infrastructure development projects in view of Nigeria's huge infrastructural deficit and the commitment of the new government to closing that gap. We expect to almost double our cement production within the next 18 to 36 months.

Q12

What would you regard as the greatest achievement/breakthrough BUA group has had in recent years?

That would be the establishment of BUA’s 3million mt production cement plant in Edo State. So far, this is one of our greatest achievements but we hope to exceed this as we currently have so many plans for more business breakthrough with more factory expansion and new projects in progress across Africa. We are in talks to build a new integrated steel plant in Nigeria.

Q13

You more than anyone else know manufacturing is a cut-throat industry. What step is BUA group taking or plans to take to maintain its growth and efficiency?

I do not see business, businesses or my peers—I mean businessmen and women— as cut-throat. I choose to see the field as an open market, as an equal opportunity employer that will remain favorable to those who are willing to work, negotiate fairly with the staff and customers they we are privileged to have.

So we remain primarily focused on consistently increasing capacity in all our production plants and are also pushing a backward integration program on sugar, which will see us invest heavily in the short-term in bringing our sugar plantations fully on stream. We currently have about 75,000 hectares of farmland, which we intend to dedicate to this. We believe this will further reduce the country's dependence on imported raw sugar while supporting the value chain in sugar production within Nigeria.

We are also working on several infrastructure development projects in view of Nigeria's huge infrastructural deficit and the commitment of the new government to closing that gap. Most crucial to our growth is that we expect to almost double our cement production within the next 18 to 36 months.

Q14

Do you have any interesting predictions regarding the market for 2017?

And what is your take on Nigeria remaining a world-class hub for Brands in Africa, given the current fall in the value of the Naira?

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with around 170 million people.

That means a lot of opportunities with adequate resources and a huge market.

Apart from investment in the oil sector of the economy, there are other resources in Nigeria that could definitely contribute more to the economy.

Nigeria is a challenging environment but the returns are high. A good idea will always be a good idea, no matter where you are.

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HEAD TO HEAD TOP PERFORMERS 2016

From the worlds 3rd fastest growing economy, this year hasn’t generally been a good year for the Nigerian economy, with Nigeria dropping out of the Top 15 in Africa. Having enjoyed blissful growth over the past decade, Nigeria was one of the fastest growing economies in the world, In 2014 and early 2015, Nigeria was named the third fastest growing economy in the world by CNNMoney, with China and Qatar, taking the lead at 7.3% and 7.1% gross domestic product (GDP) growth respectively.

However, as we usually do in every last edition of the calendar year. We recognize and celebrate outstanding businesses that have excelled in their various areas. To determine which companies make the list, our research team created a statistical formula to sift through publicly available data from credible organizations locally and internationally on different areas of performance to get concrete results and separate the best from the rest. For each list compiled, we based our rankings on available financial metrics like each company’s stock performance and total shareholder returns over the same periods and factored in each’s ratio of debt to capital. To eliminate any form of bias in weighing the Non financial elements we relied on customer surveys.

For some rankings, we used between 12 to 24 months information, as up to date data was not readily available, we also wanted to identify companies that shone in the past year but eliminate any flashes in the pan who had a single good year after a slump. For sectors where we couldn’t find relevant data, we excluded them from the list.

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RETURN ON EQUITY: OVERALL DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS According to the report released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Dangote Flour Mills, which saw the reemergence of Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Industries Limited as the core investor, recorded the highest stock gain so far this year of 240.7%. Few months after Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) repurchased the majority equity stake in its erstwhile subsidiary, Dangote Flour Mills (DFM) Plc, sales and profit have reached new highs and the flour-milling group appears to be out of the woods.

By June 30, 2015, Dangote Flour Mills (DFM) Plc was trailing the foods sector’s lowest rungs with a pre-tax loss of N9.55 billion and net loss after tax of N9.11 billion. Loss per share was about N2.42, compounding the steep depreciation in share price at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). By the end of the year ended September 30, 2015, pre-tax loss had built up to N12.47 billion while loss after tax had risen to N12.68 billion. In its fourth successive year of losses, accumulated losses had wiped out shareholders’ funds, leaving a deficit of N3.07 billion by the end of September 2015.

Faced with the dire situation of outright liquidation and bankruptcy, Tiger Brands Limited, South Africa’s largest food company that had in 2012 bought the majority equity stake in DFM from Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), reached agreement with DIL to resell the troubled flour-milling company to DIL. Within six months of the return of DIL as majority core investor in DFM, the story has changed and the figures have changed. Few months after the re-acquisition, Dangote Flour Mills has returned to profitability, posting a profit before tax (PBT) of N2.64 billion in the period ended June 30, 2016, compared to a loss of N9.55 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2015. Dangote Flour Mills Group consists of Dangote Flour, Dangote Pasta, and Dangote Noodles.

As for Tiger Brands, the deal represents a painful exit from a loss-making business that impaired its profits for the last three years. Tiger Brands’ other businesses in Nigeria include Deli Foods, the biscuit producer; and UAC Foods, the makers of the popular Gala sausage rolls.

UNITED CAPITAL United Capital returned 74.8% so far this year. The company is engaged in the business of investment banking and provides issuing house, corporate investment advisory services, project finance, debt restructuring, mergers and acquisitions. Through this year, towering above the challenging environment, United Capital recorded an impressive performance. Continuing from last year ended December 31, 2015. It posted gross earnings of N6.154 billion, showing an increase of 32% compared with N4.677 billion in 2014. Net operating income rose by 38% from N5.496 billion to N3.968 billion. Profit before tax grew by 41% from N2.309 billion to N3.263 billion, while Profit after tax stood at N2.570 billion, from N1.846 billion.

Despite the higher cost of doing business in that year, the company maintained a cost to income ratio of 53%. Earnings per share grew from 41 kobo to 43 kobo, while return on average equity improved from 21% to 26%. Based on the improved performance, the directors proposed that a dividend of 35 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each, amounting to N2.1billion, be paid to shareholders upon approval at the annual general meeting. In Q1 of 2016 the company recorded gross earnings of N1.857 billion alone, compared with N1.307 billion in 2015.

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TOTAL NIGERIA Total Nigeria posted eight-month return of 63.3%. 2016 Half Year results showed a 29.9% growth in revenue to N145.48 billion ($463.31mn) from N111.97 billion ($356.59mn) Year-on-Year (YoY) while profit after tax grew by 270.55% to N8.93 billion ($28.45mn) from N2.41 billion ($7.68mn) YoY. Gross profit grew by 80.02% while cost of sales declined by 4.39%. Operating profit grew by 336.09% YoY while finance cost declined by 61.76% YoY. The Company proposed an interim dividend of N3.00 per share for the period ended June 30, 2016.

First Quarter ended 31 March 2016 Revenue was down marginally by 0.56% to N59.70 billion ($190.14mn) from N60.04 billion ($191.21mn) Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) while profit before tax grew by 301.67% to N3.84 billion ($12.23mn) from N0.96 billion ($3.05mn) QoQ. The Nigerian government somewhat deregulated the downstream sector when it changed the pricing model for PMS in May 2016 capped at N145 per litre.

It was a welcomed development to companies that had positioned to take advantage of such government policy. Total recorded higher downstream margins as it grew top line and bottom-line aggressively. Gross profit margin and operating profit margin peaked at 15.74% and 10.63% respectively while return on asset increased to 7.15%. Total’s stock price has increased by more than 55% since May 2016 bringing its YTD returns to 61.35%.

E-TRANZACT E-payment solutions provider, E-Tranzact followed with a gain so far this year of 97.4%. Established in 2003, the firm facilitates mobile banking services of 11 banks through its mobile switching platform which is pivotal and instrumental to the adoption of mobile money in Nigeria. In 2015 financial year, it recorded $30 billion with over 110 million transactions.

Growing its turnover from N7.1 billion in 2014 to N8.6 billion in 2015, and profit before tax from N0.6 billion in 2014 to N1.1 billion in 2015, signifying a 22% growth in turnover and 76% growth in profit before tax respectively.�

The firm has been recording double-digit growth in earnings since 2013, then it recorded a 60.33% increase in gross profit to N2.47 billion. Cost of sales ratio fell to 70.35% from 78.35% in the period under review as against 78.35% as at December 2014. E-Tranzact’s was able to translate top line upward trajectory to bottom line growth as net margin, a measure of profitability and efficiency, jumped to 8.11% in December 2015 from 5.74% as at December 2014. Additionally, Earnings per share (EPS) increased to 17k per share in December 2015 from 10k as at December 2014.

COMMENTS: Other top gainers included Presco, 37.2%; AG Leventis, 43.6%; Union Dicon Salt, 39.3%t; Neimeth International Pharmaceutical, 32.6%t; DN Meyer, 30%; Seplat Petroleum Development Company, 49.4%t; Eterna, 33.7% and RAK Unity, a second-tier stock that posted a year-to-date return of 61.3%. Altogether, investors have lost more than N3.75 trillion in the past 32 months as the stock market groaned under political tension, steep decline in crude oil prices, foreign exchange crisis, uncertain policies and other domestic and global macroeconomic concerns. The second half of 2016 has however seen considerable share price recovery compared with the steep losses in the first half. In the first quarter alone, Nigerian equities had recorded a net loss of N1.15 trillion.

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RETURN ON EQUITY 2016: COMMERCIAL BANKS GUARANTY TRUST BANK (GTB) Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) ranked within the top gainers’ list with an 8-month gain of 45.76% so far this year. In its audited financial results for the half-year ended June 30, 2016 the Bank recorded positive growth across all key financial metrics.

Gross earnings for the period grew by 37% to N209.9billion from N153billion reported in June 2015; driven primarily by growth in fee & commission income as well as foreign exchange income. Profit before tax stood at N91.38billion, representing a growth of 45% over N63.11billion recorded in the corresponding period of June 2015.The Bank’s loan book grew by 14% from N1.373trillion recorded as at December 2015 to N1.562trillion in June 2016 with corresponding growth in total deposits which increased by 23% to N2.008trillion from N1.637trillion in December 2015.

Further analysis revealed that the Bank closed the half-year ended June 2016 with Total Assets and Contingents of N3.42trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of N453Billion. The Bank’s non-performing loans remained low and within regulatory threshold at 4.39% (Bank: 3.54%) with adequate coverage of 170.1% (Bank: 214.8%). Increase in collective impairment was borne out of the prudent stance of the Bank, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 18.25%. On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 35.8% and 5.7% respectively. The Bank is proposed an interim dividend of 25k per unit of ordinary shareheld by shareholders.

UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (UBA) UBA posted a heartwarming 8 months gain in the equities’ market with a return of 28.7%. In its Audited 2016 Half Year Financial Results for the period ended 30 June 2016 showed that the bank recorded gross earnings of N166 billion, net operating income of N109 billion and profit before tax of N40 billion. The bank also recorded a significant growth in total assets, rising 20% to N3.3 trillion, crossing the three trillion mark. Following the sterling performance, the bank’s Board recommended the payment of N0.20 interim dividend on every ordinary share of N0.50 each. UBA achieved several strong positives in its performance for the half year. The bank’s net loan position rose 29% to N1.29 trillion partially boosted by the depreciation in the value of the Naira. UBA also recorded a significant 16% growth in deposits to N2.41 trillion already surpassing the 15% target growth in deposits set at the beginning of the year, the bank maintained its strong asset quality, with non-performing loans ratio at 2.4%; well below the CBN set limit of 5% for the banking industry.

However, for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016. The bank posted gross earnings of N54.941 billion, showing a decline from N58.669 billion in the corresponding period of 2015. Net interest income rose from N30.783 billion to N34.421 billion.

Profit before tax stood at N18.083 billion, showing a decline from N18.389 billion in 2015, while profit after tax increased from N16.956 billion to N16.986 billion. The bank’s annualized earnings per share (EPS)) of N1.96, outperformed both their estimate of N1.40 and consensus’ N1.48.

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ACCESS BANK

Access Bank followed with an 8 months gain of 14%. Its shares rose 4.8% as investors reacted positively to its impressive halfyear audited results for June 30, 2016. Despite the headwinds in the operating environment, Access Bank reported positive top and bottom-lines and recommended an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share for shareholders. In its Half-year operations it recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N39.5 billion, against N31.3 billion posted in the corresponding period in 2015, the bank’s unaudited result for the second quarter ended June 30, 2016 showed that the bank’s PAT for the period rose to N39.489 billion, representing a 26.21% growth when compared to N31.287 billion in Q2 2015.Profit before tax (PAT) was up 27.89% to N50.022 billion in half year 2016 from N39.113 billion in Q2 2015.

Specifically, Access Bank maintained its robust profitability, recording an annualized 20.7% return on average equity (ROAE) from 19.2% in the first quarter of 2015. The unaudited first quarter 2016 financial results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, showed that the Bank recorded gross earnings of N80.3bn in Q1 2016, up 5% y/y from N76.8bn in Q1 2015, with interest income and non-interest income contributing 69% and 31%, respectively. Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the period rose to N22.6bn, representing a 37% y/y growth when compared to N16.5bn in Q1 2015. Profit After Tax (PAT) up 42% y/y to N19.4bn in Q1 2016 from N13.7bn in Q1 2015

ZENITH BANK Zenith Bank, against all expectations, trailed with a modest gain of 6.05%. Its 2016 half-yearly result showed an after-tax profit of N44.8 billion. The bank’s profit for the first six months of this year declined 15.7 %, compared with N53.2 billion reported in a similar period of last year. The bank’s revenue also fell to N214.8 billion, 6.5% lower compared to its revenue in H1 of last year. Zenith Bank loan loss provisions rose by 97.6% to N14.2 billion in H1 2016 compared to N7.2 billion posted in a similar period of last year. The bank’s non-performing loans (NPL) ratio grew to 2.34 per on account of naira devaluation.

Zenith Bank recorded a foreign exchange gain of N26.06 billion in the period under review compared to a FX loss of N2.82 billion last year. This boosted “total comprehensive income for the period” to N48.33 billion in H1 2016 compared to N19.99 billion last year. Its liquidity ratio was 55%, which is far above the 30% regulatory limit and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 19% also above 15% statutory limit. The bank’s total assets rose 8.7% to N4.36 trillion, from N4.01 trillion recorded in H1 2015.

Zenith Bank declared an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share despite basic share earnings falling to N1.43 per share in H1 2016 from N1.69 per share last year.

COMMENTS: Banking stocks suffered the most among 25 top losers in the equities’ market in the past eight months as share price decline left investors with a net capital loss of N372 billion. There were 10 banking stocks among the top 25 that lost 30 per cent and above in the past eight months. Some of the top losers recorded as much as 60.1% in equities price reduction. Conversely, only one banking stock made the few top gainers’ within the period. Altogether, there are 15 banking stocks quoted on the Nigerian stock market. Losses in the banking sector generally significantly outweighed the overall market’s average loss so far..

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TOP NIGERIA BANKS: SHAREHOLDERS FUNDS ZENITH BANK

FIRST BANK

Zenith bank tops the list with $2.837 billion shareholders fund. It was ranked the 7th top bank in Africa and 325th globally. For the year ended December 31, 2015 Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc approved the payment of N62.79 billion dividends earlier recommended by Board of Directors of the bank. This translates to N1.80 per share dividend payable to shareholders whose names appeared on the register of members as at March 24, 2016.

First Bank ranked the 2nd top bank in Nigeria with a shareholders fund of $2.036 billion, 11th top bank in Africa and occupied the 417th position in the global ranking. For the year ended December 31, 2015 Shareholders of FBN Holdings Plc approved a dividend of N5.38 billion proposed by the board. The dividend, which translates to 15 kobo per share, was paid despite a major fall in the profit of the bank. The company posted a profit after tax of N 15.1 billion in 2015, down from N84 billion in 2014 due to N119 billion impairment charges.

The Group total assets rose by 6.7% from N3.76 trillion in 2014 to N4.01 trillion in 2015, while customer’s deposits grew marginally by 0.8% from N2.54 trillion to N2.56 trillion. Group shareholders fund grew by 7.5% from N552.64 billion in 2014 to N594.35 billion; gross earnings similarly grew by 7.2% from N403.34 billion to N432.53 billion in 2015.

GUARANTY TRUST BANK Guaranty Trust Bank followed as the 3rd top bank in Nigeria with shareholders fund of $1.673 billion and ranked 13th top bank in Africa and 490th in the world. For the year ended 31 December 2015 it declared a PBT of N120.69bn.with growth across all key financial indices during the year. Gross earnings for the year grew by 8.4% to N301.9billion from N278.5 billion reported for prior year. The Bank’s loan book grew by 7.5% from N1.276 trillion recorded in December 2014 to N1.372 tril-

lion in December 2015.

Total customer deposits declined slightly by 0.5% to N1.610 trillion from N1.618 trillion in December 2014 owing to deposit loss as a result of implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) directive in Nigeria during the year, with earnings per share of 351 kobo compared to 332 kobo per share for the year ended 31 Dec 2014.

ACCESS BANK Access Bank, which ranked 4th in Nigeria with a shareholders fund of $1.536 billion, ranked 14th in Africa and was positioned as the 522nd bank among the top 1000 banks in the world. The shareholders approved a final dividend of 30 kobo per share in addition to the interim dividend of 25 kobo, which was paid in September 2015.

Access Bank’s profit rose from N52 billion in 2014 to N75 billion in 2015. Revenues grew by 38% to N337 billion in 2015, from N245 billion in 2014, raising N41.7 billion of additional Tier 1 capital, which met healthy demand from investors.

This was in addition to the $400 million Tier II capital issued in 2014.

COMMENTS: The Data used was from The Banker database.

The Banker Database provides comprehensive financial data, news feeds and executive contact data on the leading

banks in every country. Its data has been standardized for regional reporting and regulatory variations. The Banker is the world's premier banking and finance resource, providing global financial intelligence since 1926.

Ten Nigerian banks made the 2016 Top 1000 World Bank ranking by Financial Times. Seven, however, featured in the top 25 Africa Banks going by their shareholders fund position. Globally, Chinese banks continue to dominate this sector. Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) remains number 1 and China Construction Bank number 2, with 4 out of the top 5 places held by Chinese banks. US banks did well in the ranking with JP Morgan placing third, Bank of America 6th, Citigroup 7th and Wells Fargo 8th. UK bank profits fell 22% and HSBC is now the only British bank in the global top 10,placing 9th. The outlook for UK banks is even more uncertain following the surprise UK vote to leave the European Union.

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MOST CUSTOMER-FOCUSED BANK ZENITH BANK

GUARANTY TRUST BANK

Zenith Bank topped other Nigerian banks in the Customer Satisfaction Index with a total of 74.6 points to clinch the prime position in the retail-banking category, thereby reenacting the feat it achieved in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, the bank cleared all three categories: Retail, SMS and Corporate Banking, having similarly won two of the three categories but SME the previous year.

Guaranty Trust Bank came second with 74.1 points.

GTBank distinguished itself by providing a superior but lower-cost customer experience. They introduced what they referred to as “Orange Rules”, a series of principles, which emphasized service, professionalism and innovation. More than an empty mission statement, this formed a part of new employee interviews and was communicated across the organization. Then, they found innovative ways to bring this to life.

The most customer-focused bank in Nigeria, Zenith Bank is Nigeria’s largest bank by Teir-1 capital and has earned local and international reputation for the adoption of cuttingedge technology to deliver banking solutions. ‎Zenith Bank recently launched the *966# Friday campaign, which is aimed at rewarding its USSD banking customers. Which gives customers a chance to triple their airtime purchased every Friday on the platform. For opening an account customers can simply dial Simply dial *966*0# and follow the onscreen prompts. An account number will be created automatically and sent via SMS.)

GTBank targeted young and middle-income customers who were seen as unprofitable by other banks. They provided products to attract students and middle-income individuals such as zero balance savings accounts and cash back on cinema tickets. To get the message out, they sponsored several events at high school and undergraduate schools, providing instant bank accounts and bankcards, a novelty in a country where less than 40% of adults have access to formal banking services. GTBank also introduced GTB-on-wheels, mobile branches.

DIAMOND BANK

STANBIC IBTC

Diamond Bank came third with 73.5 points. Diamond Bank has maintained a customer-centric strategic mix; passionately leading the revolution in mobile banking innovations and financial inclusion of the un(der)banked in the country.

Its mobile app is the most downloaded and registered in the financial services sub-sector, with over 1.5 million users.

The Bank’s Diamond Ye’llow account has remained the most successful in the country, with over 5 million account holders in two years and through its monthly DiamondXtra draws, Diamond Bank has given out N4 billion to its loyal customers in the last five years, while setting aside N600 million for its loyal customers this year.

Stanbic IBTC came fourth with a score of 73.1. Stanbic IBTC Bank is a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Stanbic IBTC belongs to the Standard Bank Group, the largest African financial institution by assets and market capitalization.

Stanbic IBTC Bank recently upgraded its core-banking platform to enhance its information technology (IT) infrastructure and operational efficiency. According to the bank, the systems upgrade is in conformity with the customer value proposition of the bank, which is to provide exceptional financial solutions to its customers. “

Apart from beefing the human capacity, the bank deployed cutting edge digital mobile technology, which reduced cash cycle and consolidated its hold on the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) segment, while growing its corporate market. These, it said, have helped in expanding its local market share and deepened its global reach.

COMMENTS: KPMG’s Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS) for 2016. The KPMG BICSS was launched in 2007 to heighten the consciousness of service delivery among Nigerian banks. The survey covered 29 locations across the country covering over 28,000 customers across segments. The Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) is composed of five key factors - Convenience, Product/Service Offering, Executional Excellence, Value for Money and Customer Care 70 MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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LARGEST TELECOM COMPANY: SUBSCRIPTION BASE MTN NIGERIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS MTN has a subscription base of 60,558,569 GSM and 32,771,259 Internet subscribers in the Nigerian market. Last year, Nigeria fined MTN $1,000 for each of the 5.2-million subscribers not properly identified, in the country’s drive to prevent Boko Haram militants using cellphones to co-ordinate attacks and buy arms. MTN said in its March quarterly update, that the Nigerian subscribers it was required to cut off meant its subscriber base in that country dropped 6.9% to 57-million from the end of December, causing its total subscriber base to fall 1.4% to 227.5-million. Data revenue grew by 20.1% in the March quarter compared with a year earlier, contributing 24.2% of the group’s total revenue. Data traffic rocketed by 123.3% from the previous year while voice traffic grew 12.1%.

MTN South Africa however reported a 7% per cent increase YoY in subscribers supported by improvements in the prepaid distribution channel while MTN Ghana showed a healthy subscriber growth increasing its subscriber base by 20%. The Groups’ revenue increased by 15% YoY, supported by a 21% decline in the average rand exchange rate against the naira together with a 23% decline in the average rand exchange rate against the US dollar compared with the previous period. MTN plans to list in the NSE by 2017.

GLO/GLOBACOM Globacom Limited has a subscription base of 36,752,012 GSM and 26,984, 975 Internet subscribers in the Nigerian market as at August 2016. In its January 2016 figures, an analysis of the 12 months figures compared with the previous year, shows that Globacom added a total of 7,251,657 new Internet users during the period which is 53% of the total 13.644million new customers who subscribed to internet services of the four major operators and in June 2016 report, while the industry gained a total of 318,008 new internet subscribers, Globacom had 272,674 of the new customers.

EMTS LIMITED (ETISALAT) Airtel has a subscription base of 22,599,970 GSM and 15,248,932 Internet subscribers in the Nigerian market as at August 2016. Having identified improperly managed unsolicited marketing messages and calls as a major source of customer dissatisfaction within the Nigerian telecommunications industry, Etisalat has implemented the DND service, which is designed to offer subscribers greater choice in determining the type and frequency of messages they receive.

Etisalat Nigeria also introduced Super Recharge Offer, which guarantees real bonuses that could be used across all networks.

COMMENTS: The rank is based on data collected from the Nigerian Communication Commission, the independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. By “largest” we mean the number of subscribers per each individual telecoms operator. Others are Visafone Limited 324, 633 and Multilinks Telkom 4,460 for CDMA. As at August 16th, 2016 Nigeria has a total of 152,285,320 telecom subscribers and 93,591,174 Internet users.

Airtel has a subscription base of 32,375,069 GSM and 18,519,233 Internet subscribers in the Nigerian market as at August 2016. Airtel Africa is a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Airtel, which operates in 17 countries across Africa. Airtel has been woven around series of new customer propositions, including the ‘SmartConnect’ and a new data service, which it introduced with a view to attracting new subscribers at a faster pace to its network.

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TOP OIL AND GAS COMPANIES

Exxon Mobil produced globally on average 2.1 Million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the most recent fiscal quarter. The Enterprise value in billions of U.S. dollars at the close of business on August 26, 2016 stood at $409.1 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, in billions for the trailing twelve months (TTM) stood at $25 Billion. Exxon Mobil managed 4.51% net margin over the 12 months, which is the lowest level of the past decade. Net margin was as high as 10.5% during that span. Despite this dip, Exxon Mobil still generated $11.5 billion in net profits

SHELL

Shell produced globally on average 1.7 Million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the most recent fiscal quarter.

The Enterprise value in billions of U.S. dollars at the close of business on August 26, 2016 stood at $282.0 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, in billions for the trailing twelve months (TTM) stood at $17.3 Billion.

Chevron produced globally on average 1.7 Million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the most recent fiscal quarter. The Enterprise value in billions of U.S. dollars at the close of business on August 26, 2016 stood at $229.4 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, in billions for the trailing twelve months (TTM) stood at $14.7 Billion. The company's 1% net margin over the 12 months was the lowest of the past decade, during which time margins often fell between 8% and 10%. This precipitous fall still yielded $1.8 billion in net profits.

Total produced globally on average 1.2 Million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the most recent fiscal quarter. The Enterprise value in billions of U.S. dollars at the close of business on August 26, 2016 stood at $150.6 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, in billions for the trailing twelve months (TTM) stood at $18.8 Billion.

COMMENTS: Data gotten from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The rank is based in U.S. dollars at the close of business on August 26, 2016. This year hasn’t been kind to oil and gas companies, as sliding oil prices have eaten sharply into bottom lines and caused layoffs and bankruptcies across the industry. However, the titans of energy are still standing tall, even as their businesses are pressured.

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TOP ONLINE PLATFORMS

Nigeria’s online marketplace, Konga rank as 133 in the word and No 1 in Nigeria, with an SR Score of 89,689. Konga.com was founded in 2012 and started purely as an online retailerselling baby and beauty products. Its growth was rapid, rising 11X in its first year and 4.5X in the second. In 2014, Konga opened Seller HQ – Konga’s Marketplace. Through the platform, business owners could display and sell their items on Konga.com. Since then, Seller HQ has witnessed a phenomenal growth.

Currently, Konga.com has about one million customers. The website receives an average of over 300,000 unique visits daily, orders from the marketplace accounts for over 70% of sales with over 30,000 sellers registered and trading on the site today. Konga’s logistics network KOS has a fleet of over 200 branded vehicles, which comprises of vans, trucks and motorbikes.

Konga as part of its growth strategic plans recently announced it will allow merchants to store items in the KONGA warehouse and has extended its payment solution, KongaPay, to users outside its platform

Dubbed as the Netflix of Africa, iROKOtv Ranked 262 in the world, and No 2 for Nigerians with an SR Score of 83,966. Backed by $35 million in funding from investors such as Kinnevik and Tiger Global, IrokoX’s parent, Iroko, was founded by Nigerian entrepreneur Jason Njoku in 2010. Having first launched in 2011 as a free-to-watch streaming website for Nigeria’s “Nollywood” movies the world’s second-largest film industry by output, the Lagos-based group has since shifted to a “mobile only” subscription app strategy.

Subscribers download an app and pay a monthly fee to watch unlimited movies. iROKOtv developed its app to stream films on low bandwidth so as not to deter customers who cannot afford large monthly data packages. While many of its 65,000 subscribers are in the African diaspora, not on the continent, iROKOtv faces competition from Netflix, which entered Africa in 2016.

The firm recently secured a $19m from investors including France’s Canal Plus to produce original content and expand across the continent.

Jumia ranked 284 in the world, and No 3 in Nigeria with an SR Score of 83,516. Jumia was founded in 2012 by Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonne, since then, it has gone on to become one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Africa. In May 2016, Jumia optimized its mobile platform making it easier for customers to make their purchases with their mobile phones. Jumia Group operates in more than 26 countries in Africa, and employs about 5,500 personnel worldwide. The Kenyan operations of Jumia are now ranked third in revenue generation in Africa behind Nigeria and Egypt, underlining the fact that online shopping is gaining currency in Kenya.

Recently, the e-commerce giant, AIG decided to subsume all its entire ventures under the Jumia brand. Under the new brand harmonisation regime, the other entire Jumia sister ventures will shed their identities and assume new identities anchored on Jumia. The main online retailer will remain Jumia, the marketplace, previously Kaymu will now be known as Jumia Market, online travel platform, Jovago, becomes Jumia Travel, while online real estate venture, Lamudi becomes Jumia House. Other ventures include Vendito, now Jumia Deals, Carmudi has now become Jumia Cars and online job marketplace is now Jumia Jobs.

COMMENTS: The national e-commerce market is valued at $1 billion per year and has emerged as one of the most resilient and dynamic sectors. Nigeria is home to some of the keenest mobile shoppers on the African continent, and is also the third largest mobile commerce market in terms of incidence of mobile shoppers according to a report by Paypal. Data was gotten from startupranking. Startup ranks e-commerce companies globally using SR Score, SR Score is a number between 0 and 100,000. It reflects the importance of a firm on the Internet and its social influence. It is calculated based on SR Web and SR Social. Airbnb ranks as N0 1 with Uber as closely following as N0 2 Globally.

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SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE Topping the list of these companies is GTBank, with a huge presence on social media.

GTBank has over 4.3 million likes on its Facebook page and over 792,000 followers on its Twitter account. GTBank launched its social banking platform on Facebook were individuals with a valid Facebook user account can open an online account with the bank. It is the first of its kind in Nigeria. Immediately this information was shared on its Facebook page and Twitter account, there was a massive response by its customers and prospective customers who interacted with the banks’ social media team on Twitter and Facebook. Customers were ably informed of how the social banking on Facebook works. GTBank brought banking to its customers and prospects on Facebook by allowing them to open an account and do other transactions using their Facebook accounts. Also, their customer service is open to everyone on Facebook and Twitter.

Telecoms giant, MTN Nigeria is second on the list with over 3.9 million likes on Facebook and over 656,000 followers on its Twitter account. MTN Nigeria gives up to date information about their products and services on these social media platforms. Their interaction with customers is satisfactory as customer service enquiries are encouraged and responded to promptly on their Twitter account. Through these social media platforms MTN Nigeria consistently interact with their customers by offering rewards and prizes to different quizzes and they take questions and suggestions from customers on the services they offer.

Online retailer Jumia has a huge presence on social media. On Facebook, Jumia has over 6.5 million likes and over 105,000 followers on Twitter. The e-commerce company allows client to order for goods on both their Twitter account and Facebook page. Jumia interacts regularly with customers via social media – updating and announcing the arrival of new stocks. Also, customers can track their orders on these social media platforms and the response from the Jumia team is good.

Another telecoms provider in Nigeria, Etisalat has an impressive presence on social media. It has over 1.6 million likes on Facebook and over 320,000 followers on Twitter. Etisalat regularly updates its customers on these platforms on new products and services and responds to their requests as well.

Etisalat also informs customers of other activities they are involved in and their Facebook page and Twitter account is always buzzing with replies to customers’ questions.

Konga.com, another retail online megastore, also has a good social media presence. Konga has over 1.4 million likes on Facebook and over 132,000 followers on Twitter. Customers place orders on their social media platforms and track their orders on them as well. New stocks are also announced and displayed on their Twitter account and Facebook page. The interaction between Konga and its customers on its social media platform is also very efficient as customers’ requests are responded to promptly.

COMMENTS: In Nigeria, two social media platforms command the most usage, they are Facebook and Twitter. The companies that “Top” this list have through Facebook and Twitter, built brand awareness and loyalty by constantly engaging and interacting with customers and potential customers. The criteria used in picking these 5 companies are the amount of followers and likes they have on their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages respectively, how often they share relevant product or service information to customers, if they encourage customers to provide feedback by leaving comments and how often do customers respond.

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HIGHEST ADVERT SPEND MTN leads with the highest advert spend of N4.7billion; MTN group is a South Africabased multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African, European and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johhnesgurb. The company plans to substantially increase capital spending in Nigeria next year (726.13 million dollars) to upgrade its network in Nigeria) after agreeing to settle a $1.7bn fine in its biggest market. In a media report MTN says it will extend 3G coverage to 90% of Nigeria in 2017 and start a fibre-network rollout in six cities in the country. MTN more than doubled its 2016 capital-spending target to R11bn ($716m) from R5bn last year, as uncertainty surrounding the fine lifted.

Aitel come second with N4.1billion advert spend, Airtel Africa is a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company Airtel, that operates in 17 countries across Africa. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G or 4G depending upon the country of operation.

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, branded trade name Etisalat (cpmes third with N3.7billion advert spend. It is a multinational UAE based telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. On 31 December 2015, Etisalat reported consolidated revenue of US$14.08 billion and net profits of USD US$2.26bn.

Globacom Limited (or GLO) is a Nigerian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Lagos. T comes third with N3.7billion advert spend. GLO is a privately owned telecommunications carrier that started operations on 29 August 2003. It currently operates in four countries in West Africa, namely Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Ghana and CĂ´te d'Ivoire.

NIGERIAN BREWERIES Nigerian Breweries Plc comes bracket third with glo with N3.7billion advert spend. The company is the pioneer and largest brewing company in Nigeria. It serves the Nigerian market and exports to other parts of West Africa. Incorporated in 1946, its first bottle of beer, STAR Lager, rolled off the bottling lines of its Lagos brewery in June 1949.

COMMENTS: From information released in July 2016 by Mediafacts, a key media resource for marketing professionals in West and Central Africa. The telecommunications sector retained its lead position as the highest advertiser in Nigeria last year with a combined total expenditure of N16.7 billion.

According to the report, the figure represents 17% of the total advertising spend in Nigeria of N97.9 billion in the same year. The report further revealed that the television stations attracted the highest advertising expenditure of N39 billion last year. The report also put the advertising expenditure attracted by the print media, outdoor and radio stations at N23.7 billion, N20.1 billion and N15.1 billion; respectively.

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| FINANCE |

Photo Credit: www.blossomlandllc.com

BECOME A DATA GENIUS: TRACK EVERYTHING IN YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

by Haris Bacic

A

s someone that has worked for small technology-based businesses for years, I’ve come to learn some of the best habits of small business geniuses. While most business owners are unique and every business is different, there is one very important trait that is shared by the most successful ones: they track everything. Tracking is one of the key pillars of a successful business. Without tracking, the business owner simply cannot know what works and what does not. It is also difficult to see where the inefficiencies are and how they can be improved upon.

The best way to become a data genius is to get into the habit of tracking every-

thing when it comes to your business, and that includes the website, customers, and employees.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS It is crucial for every good business owner to have a solid customer relationship management (CRM) and tracking tool.

That includes tracking everything from lead acquisition to customer retention.

One of the most important software your business will need is the CRM software. Here are some of the best CRM solutions I would recommend.

SALES FORCE The clear industry leader, Salesforce has everything your business needs including sales management, service

management, and marketing management. It has just about all the features you will ever need. The only caveat is that it can get pricey fast; however, the company has a limited-feature starter package that’s quite affordable.

INFUSIONSOFT A great alternative to Salesforce, Infusionsoft is a feature packed and surprisingly versatile CRM solution. It includes many of the same features Salesforce does, but with a price tag that’s typically lower.

Employee Task and Goal Tracking The next aspect of tracking is employee task and project management. >>

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The only way to ensure your employees are doing their job and work is getting done on time is to have a way to manage all of the tasks and projects that need to be done. Whether your employees are full-time employees, freelancers, or contractors, you will always need a way to measure their work and find any inefficiencies or wasteful spending that may be occurring. Two great tools for this are Wrike and Basecamp.

WRIKE Wrike is a feature-packed project and task management tool that is free to use for up to 5 users. For more advanced features, I would definitely recommend upgrading to one of the company’s paid plans, but it is helpful to be able to try out it for free first to see if your business can benefit from it.

BASECAMP It is one of my favorite project management tools. The user interface is simple and effective and it makes getting tasks done much easier. Like Wrike, Basecamp also has a free account so you can try it before you buy it.

WEBSITE TRACKING This section deals with tracking everything on your website. That includes tracking your SEO keyword positions, website phone calls, and traffic on your website.

How do you know if your SEO efforts are working if you don’t know how your keywords track over time? Two of my favorites are IntelliSerp and SerpFox. INTELLISERP This is a keyword-tracking software..

It tracks keywords multiple times per day and allows the user to set up both email and text notifications when ranks

Photo Credit: crowdviews

change. It also has a neat feature where you can request a keyword update “On Demand.” In other words, you can do it any time you please. It also has a “Keyword Insights” feature, which allows the suer to find other similar keywords to try to rank for.

SERPFOX Serpfox is another nifty keyword-tracking software tool. It is simple, fast, and easy to use. Although its website feels a bit outdated right now, the software behind it is pretty solid and reliable. The tool also has limited reporting functionality, but if you have clients that need reporting features, then perhaps you could utilize that.

PHONE TRACKING If you’re not tracking phone calls on your website, that means you don’t know anything about the customers that call you. How did they find your website?

Did they come from paid search, free search, social media, referrals, etc.?

All of these questions can be answered by simply implementing a phone call tracking software. Two great tools are CallRail and Mongoose Mentrics CALLRAIL CallRail is in my opinion a clear leader in call-tracking software. Implementing its solution on your website is as simple as placing one short JavaScript snippet at the bottom of your pages. The best part is that it can integrate beautifully with Google Analytics to provide your GA account with all the phone call tracked features.

MONGOOSE METRICS (DIALOG TECH) Mongoose Metrics is now known as Dialog Tech. The company’s call track-

ing is a bit harder to implement than CallRail’s, but the results are almost the same.

TRAFFIC And finally we have traffic tracking, otherwise simply referred to as website analytics. I saved this section for the end because I’m hoping that the majority of business owners already have traffic tracking in place (although I suspect many do not). Ever since Google Analytics became publically available, it has made setting up website analytics effortless. That means business owners have NO reason or excuse not to have analytics on their website.

Google Analytics Google Analytics is the king in this industry. It is free for up to 10 million hits per month per account. As you can imagine, that is a large number of hits, which covers the majority of small businesses. Google Analytics is so featuredpacked that it’s really no use listing them all here, but some of my favorite ones include goal tracking and funnel visualization.

Woopra It is hard to compete with Google Analytics and that’s why I won’t say that Woopra does. But Woopra is sort of in a league of its own. It tracks customers on an individual basis and if they fill out a form on your website, you can feed that information directly to Woopra for even more insights. For example, if you have a budget field on your form, you can categorize clients in Woopra by budget and see where they’re from, what pages they visited on your website, and much more. Although you can do similar things in Google Analytics, it is much harder and messier and it’s simply not what Google Analytics is made for.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Haris Bacic is the creative strategy at AdFicient, which is a search engine marketing and business development agency.

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| INTERVIEW |

Q&A with

AGHEDO-ERO IKPONMWOSA

CEO/MD PINNACLEROCK

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e are delighted to introduce Mr. Aghedo-Ero Ikponwonmwsa, C.E.O. of PinnacleRock, He is primarily associated with the successful supply of cement and management of approximately 400,000 sq meters of some projects in Lagos. Mr. Aghedo-Ero, is extremely busy and cautious of his time, has a warm personality and is an optimist.

Under his thoughtful leadership, he has strategically grown his firm from originally supplying cement to projects sites to a diversified and centrally managed portfolio which encompasses building services, business services and manpower services to sites.

Q: Sir, can we get to know you?

A: I am Mr. Aghedo Ikponmwosa, an Edo born Entrepreneur. Happily married to Mrs. Olayinka Williams Aghedo Ero. I am a graduate of University of Benin, Banking and Finance. I started with buying and selling of cars in Benin, then moved to Lagos and decided to move into the construction industry, first, by being a distributor of Elephant and Dangote cement. I later, decided to expand the business offering to encompass project management, facilities management and Real Estate under one Umbrella Company, which is Pinnacle Rock.

Q: Your background is in finance, what informed your decision to switch to facilities management?

cludes; building services, business services and manpower services to sites.

We offer innovative solutions for the full range of assets and facility management services.

Q: Why did you launch Pinnacle Rock?

And how does Pinnacle Rock? Differentiate itself from the competition in the sectors it is in?

A: People and organizations expect tailored products, services and solutions.

Companies expect their facility manager to supply individualized services that maximizes their value proposition that is what we do.

Q: What are the key features of Pinnacle Rock’s Excellence?

A: We are uniquely experienced; we have an expertly qualified team. Also we are accredited, process and performance driven and we offer a one stop solution to clients.

Q: What was your first experience of business?

A: My first proper business experience in Real Estate was when I became a major distributor for Dangote cement and Elephant cement, supplying cement to construction companies and property developers in Lagos.

Q: What is your inspiration?

A: Owning and creating something that is truly my vision and to use that to improve the quality of life for those around me.

Q: What is Pinnacle Rock? What services do you offer?

Q: From a Finance perspective, in your opinion, is creating value in Real Estate management measurable? And how?

A: Yes, it is. Through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). For example, values could be measured through: percentage of user satisfaction from facility management services, Percentage of planned maintenance Vs. practice maintenance ratio, Gross facility management costs, End user complaints and Maintenance costs.

A: Pinnacle Rock means the highest successful point of business. Our motto is: The peak of excellence. Which guides our business strategy. Our service in-

Q: As an expert in managing Real Estate, What common mistakes do you see Builders making at newly constructed buildings in Nigeria? What

A: I am a man of excellence! During supplies of products to project sites.

I met construction companies, property developers and many more. I saw a lot of properties being mismanaged.

Even projects that I supplied products for, some years back, still had similar management problems. So I decided to bridge this gap.

advice or “best practices� can you give homebuilders?

The Common mistakes I Have seen are: Some builders design the floor plan with no concern for site orientation.

The home should be oriented to take advantage of natural day lighting and some airflow. Another mistake is that Builders do not ask for help. Too often builders stubbornly cling to the notion that they have all the answers and that the competition is their enemy. Sometimes, problems shared are problems solved.

Another very common mistake is alienation of Realtors. The purpose of realtors is to sell homes and builders are being penny wise and pound-foolish.

When they try to work around them (Realtors) and avoid the commission fee. It is wise to use realtors because they are professionals at Marketing and Sales, provide better access to prequalified clients and can help to manage client expectations.

Q: If a prospective client walks up to you and asks for your services, but his capital falls short of what you would normally advice for the services the client requires, what will you do? And what is your compromise between cost and quality?

A: We could explore ways of keeping expenses down without compromising quality. As with many things in life, Pinnacle Rock services is a compromise.

Sometimes customers do not agree with your opinion, but in order to make both sides agree, in our case, the negotiation is usually between providing separate specific services to meet specific and defined goals, contrasted with staying inside of some arbitrary budget.

PINNACLE ROCK email | pinnaclerock24@gmail.com mobile | +234(0) 8038075767 MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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| FINANCE |

NIGERIAN GRANTS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT! Bimbo Kehinde

T

hese overlooked funding sources could help your small business or startup.

You might have to dig for the right one, but federal, state, private and international organizations grants are commonly overlooked sources of aid for struggling startups. Grants4Good owner and president Margit Brazda Poirier, who does grant writing consulting in Rochester, New York, views grants as a “a small piece of the puzzle” supporting small business development. “It’s a great complement to a loan or other source that comes with interest rates, such as lines of credit,” she says. And most grants don’t have to be paid back.

Yet startups don’t usually seek them out. “What I find with businesses is they don’t know where to go,” That lack of funds hinders the transition from idea to business is no news. But money is not the most important factor in that transition. In Nigeria, money is almost always part of the usual suspects young entrepreneurs list when asked what challenges they face growing their business. In no respective order, this are some of such entrepreneurship funds that support small business owners. So if you are reading this now it’s not too late.

Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100 Entrepreneurship Fund: On the 1st of December 2014, Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu announced the launch of a $100m Pan-African entrepreneurship initiative- The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program, a multiyear program of training, funding, and

mentoring, designed to empower the next generation of African entrepreneurs. “I am determined to ensure that Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs have the platform they need to turn their entrepreneurial aspirations into sustainable businesses that will drive economic growth and job creation across Africa,” says Tony Elumelu.

Dangote-BOI N5bn Fund for Small Businesses: Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote recently partnered with the Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BOI) to set up a 5 billion naira small and medium scale enterprises fund to grant low interest loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses in Nigeria. The fund is targeted at development of MSMEs across the nation with loans attracting only a 5% interest rate and a focused Bottom of the Pyramid Scheme to deepen access to the fund by entrepreneurs and micro enterprises. According to the Nigerian industrialist, “the funds are expected to impact directly on up to 13,000 registered groups in the country.

Shell LiveWIRE: Since its inception in 2003, Shell LiveWIRE Nigeria has provided 2,748 young people with funding to start and grow their businesses, according to information on its website.

Last year, 50 young entrepreneurs from Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States were awarded funding of N300, 000 by Shell LiveWIRE Nigeria to enable them to start up, or grow, their own businesses.

Business Fund for Women: Another entrepreneurship support program under Nigeria’s Bank of Industry is the N90 million-Business Development Fund for

Women (BUDFOW), which focuses on women in business. Set up on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMWASD), it provides soft loans to women entrepreneurs. So if you’re a young female entrepreneur, why not invite opportunity?

Bank Of Agriculture: Bank of Agriculture Limited (BoA) is Nigeria’s apex agriculture and rural development finance institution. It is Nigeria’s largest development finance institution operating through 6 zonal and 201branch offices nationwide. BoA provides financial support for all agricultural activities and along all segments of the agricultural value chains in addition to rural micro enterprises.

Youths Entrepreneurship Support (YES) Project: The Muhammadu Buhari administration, through the Bank of Industry, formally launched a N10 billion Youths Entrepreneurship Support (YES) project to empower youth with loans to start businesses. Participant under the scheme could access up to N10 million loan with single digit interest rate and repayable over three to five years.an applicant must present NYSC or higher education certificate as collateral to qualify for the loan with two external guarantors.

SABMiller/International Breweries PLC Kickstart: It is a corporate social investment (CSI) initiative run by its subsidiary IB PLC Foundation. Support through the program includes: Business development skill training, Business mentoring and coaching and Provision of grant for business start-up and or >>

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Photo Credit: www.recruiter.com

expansion The program has also been implemented in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Tanzania. The International Breweries Foundation Kickstart program is open only to Nigerians who live or have their business within the South Western region.

Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET): The Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET) is a program designed to support budding entrepreneurs. Every year, 50 entrepreneurs are selected from the pool of the numerous applications received and these entrepreneurs undergo six (6) months intensive entrepreneurial/business training. At the end of the training period, the Top five (5) Entrepreneurs are awarded financial grants as seed capital for taking their business to the next level. Last season, one of the Top 5 winners was featured on African Voices (a program on CNN), thus giving huge brand visibility to the BET initiative and the Bank.

The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards ($100,000 Business Plan Awards): The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards are an international business plan competition created in 2006 by Cartier, the Women’s Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD business school to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs. Since their inception in 2006, they have accompanied 162 promising female businessowners and recognized 58 Laureates.

Cointreau Creative Crew Grant Scheme for Nigerians (€20 000 Grant!): Cointreau established and launched a Nigeria Creative Crew inspiring, talented and creative women from across Nigeria to share their goals and their dreams. The Cointreau Creative Crew Grant Scheme is part of the worldwide philanthropist program. It is a creative competition that will see one entrepreneur be awarded a €20,000 bursary to support a creative project. Anything that expresses creativity and passion in your area of expertise – whether it is art, music, design, film, food, or even cocktails is eligible for grant.

YouWIN: YouWiN! Stands for Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria. It is an innovative business plan competition aimed at job creation by encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurial youth in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas.Award recipients will receive between 1,000,000.00 (One million Naira only), and N10,000,000.00 (ten million Naira only), depending on their business needs. President Buhari led administration has confirmed readiness to continue with the program, initiated by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

In June 2016 alone, the sum of N1.687 billion was paid to 638 awardees, according a statement from the finance ministry signed by the spokesman, Salisu Danbatta.

The U.S. Consulate General Lagos Grant/Funding Opportunity: The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General Lagos works with nongovernment organizations (NGOs), academic institutions and individuals to increase cooperation on issues of mutual interest. Contingent upon availability of funds, through small grants of less than $9,000, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria is able to provide financial support to a specific program or initiative that supports shared goals. Funded projects typically range from 5,000 to 9,000 USD. Grants may be awarded to support Democracy and Human Rights (minority integration, human rights, transparency in government, freedom of media, empowerment of women and youth, and citizen participation in entrepreneurship), Mutual Understanding (culture, art, higher education, understanding American society and government), Global Issues (environment, energy independence and sustainability, counter-terrorism, immigration, and economic prosperity) and Regional Security (transatlantic cooperation) Applicant should be a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that is registered, or individuals based in, the following states: Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Cross River. All Applicants must give a project description and implementation plan.

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| BUSINESS |

WHAT TO DO WHEN A CLIENT SAYS "NO" TO YOUR PROPOSAL

by Matthew Kane

Though it never seems to get any easier, rejection is an unavoidable reality. You might have done all the necessary groundwork, put your heart and soul into the proposal, and delivered what seemed like an extraordinary pitch only to have a prospective client simply say “thanks, but no thanks.” It’s part of what makes creative work both frustrating and rewarding. But while you can’t eliminate all rejections, many times it’s completely out of your control you can take steps to minimize the number of “no’s” received.

Photo Credit: www.jodycalkins.com

UNDERSTANDING THE TYPES OF “NO” Often “No” really doesn’t mean “No”.

According to research from Marketing Wizdom, 80% of prospects decline a proposal four times before eventually saying "yes." Which then means that the vast majority of time clients are not saying, “no, thank you.” Rather, they're saying, “no, convince me” or “no, I need more time.”

Discerning the difference is as easy as shifting the conversation. If you have a strong inclination that a prospective client is interested and yet still hear “no,” dial back the original pitch to ask ques-

tions such as, “What's preventing you from saying 'yes'?” or “What happens if you do nothing to fix your marketing issue?” Generally, if a prospective client is receptive to a more casual back and forth, it’s a signal there remains interest in your services. From there, all that’s needed is a little calibration. Of course, sometimes a no is just a no, but we’ll get to that later.

WHEN “NO” ACTUALLY MEANS, “CONVINCE ME” Assuming you're confident that your prospective client falls into the “no, convince me” camp, there’s a number

of tactics to consider that may earn you a “yes.”

1) Ask for Feedback Draft a handful of questions and schedule a short session with a prospective client to ask for her perspective on why your proposed services or project is not a good fit. Sometimes a client’s rejection can stem from a simple miscommunication, in which she (mistakenly) believes the gap between her goals and how you can help reach them is too large. A more informal, less-pressured conversation can go a long way in rectifying these misconceptions, which will help you increase trust and move the client closer to a "yes." >>

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Keep in mind, though, these feedback sessions should be casual and inquisitive. You should genuinely be looking for information that may help you ascertain what initially put the client off, not using the premise of a feedback session to press harder. At the very least, even if you can’t turn the “no” into a "yes," any constructive criticism can be used to redefine your sales process and future proposals.

smaller project, such as a content audit, developing buyer personas, or keyword research. The ultimate goal is to help build trust between your agency and client. Your ability to provide great client service and your high standard of delivery, even on a smaller project, will show the client that you are the right partner for solving their marketing problems.

2) Challenge Them Clients will get cold feet for a variety of different reasons. Maybe they’re overwhelmed at the size and scope of the project. Maybe they believe it’s too much money. Maybe they can’t see the value in it. Whatever their reason, tactfully challenge the assumption.

Remember: The proposal should simply be the written version of previous conversations, nothing in it should be a surprise.

WHEN "NO" MEANS "NO"

Articulate that you understand the concerns of the client, but explain how their hesitations may be unfounded. For example, if a client determines that the size of a web design project will place too much undo stress on her team, explain how it can help her better hit her KPIs in the long-run. Or if the client suffers from “sticker shock” a hesitation about pricing that may exceed their budget underscore a return on investment that far outweighs the cost. Clients believe the price is right when the value is higher than the investment.

And when it comes to pricing …

3) Be Flexible With Your Prices If you determine that a client is not using budgetary concerns as an excuse and your attempts at articulating the valueto-price ratio fail, consider reevaluating what you are charging. This is not to say that you should slash the prices across the board. That’s not beneficial and can actually backfire as it may come across as desperate. But if you can work with the prospective client to peel back certain services in exchange for reaching a more agreeably priced project, it can turn a "no" into a "yes."

4) Build Trust If you remain unable to get buy-in on a larger project from a prospective client, consider selling them on doing a

When you’re unlucky enough to be counted among the 20% of sure-fire “no’s”, it’s time to reevaluate a few things.

1) Take Stock of How You Qualify Leads It’s possible that your prospective client was not a good fit from the beginning and nothing you could have included in the pitch or proposal would have changed it. Maybe she's not the right person to make decisions. Maybe there was no way to reconcile costs. Whatever the reason, take time to consider why you lost the project and how you could have avoided the lost time and resources. Ask yourself these questions: • Does the client align with one of my ideal profiles?

• Did we properly qualify the prospect by addressing budget, authority, need, and timeline?

• Did we establish our expertise and build trust in the process by sharing relevant case studies?

2) Evaluate Your Sales Pitch All too frequently, a new business pitch emphasizes capabilities without demonstrating the solution the agency provides. However, to bring value to the prospective client (and therefore, to make a sale), you must understand her unique pain and adjust your pitch accordingly. It’s not rocket science. Essentially, tailoring your sales pitch involves a few key strategies:

interested in what they have to say. Clients who can see your interest are more likely to divulge information.

• Ensure accuracy by repeating your prospects' concerns, showing them you understand their pain points, and then explain how your services can help.

3) Reconsider Your Competitive Advantage.

If losing business is an all too common experience, consider reevaluating your competitive advantage. It’s possible that you're positioning your agency in a way that puts you at a disadvantage when competing with more-established agencies. Take stock of your talents to determine what makes your agency uniquely positioned to solve a prospective client’s problem.

These differentiators should be comprised of two main components. One, they should encompass anything your agency provides that is different from competitors such as talent, subject matter expertise, proprietary knowledge, etc., and two, they should be tied benefits. So, for example, if your agency has an expert staff of web designers that have more experience than most, your competitive advantage would be how those experts can execute better and more efficiently than the competition.

OVERCOME THE FEAR OF REJECTION Being rejected is inevitable. But by understanding the different meanings of the word "no" and adjusting your strategy accordingly, your agency can learn to turn a "no" into a "yes."

• Asking open-ended questions to get the client talking about their specific concerns rather than asking questions that can be answered with just “yes” or “no.”

• Use open body language and maintain eye contact to convey that you are truly MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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UNIVERSAL RAPPORT Building Topics to Use With Prospects Who Hate Small Talk

by Dan Tyre & Alen Mayer

Photo Credit: www.philyoungdesign.co.uk

Connecting with someone in a social situation or professional capacity can range from being pretty fun or tremendously nerve-wracking depending on who you are talking to. Lots of people find interacting with a total stranger a bit of a struggle. There is a raised level of expectation that can create anxiety if the person you are talking to hates small talk. However, with just a few pointers you can be prospectcentric, polite and effective.

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WHAT IS SMALL TALK?

degrees sometimes feel that small talk is gratuitous or even annoying.

to get an appointment.

Small talk are polite conversations about unimportant or uncontroversial matters. It is important to spend time on small talk to build a personal or human relationship before moving on to your business agenda. Typical small talk topics include how a person is feeling, the weather or change in seasons; local sports teams, or regional and national news. It is a good way to get to know someone a bit better and makes the interaction more human. But some people hate small talk and you have to recognize and deal with them as a natural part of the sales process.

4) People who don’t like talking about themselves.

HERE ARE SAMPLE RAPPORT - BUILDING TOPICS

WHY CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHICS HATE SMALL TALK

People who get annoyed with small talk fall into a few different categories.

1) Severe introverts

While not all introverts fall into this category, many introverted people have difficulty interacting with strangers. You can identify them by the long silences and curt answers they give to open-ended questions. Here's how a conversation might sound with one of these prospects: Sales rep: How are you doing today?

Prospect: Good. [Silence] Sales rep: I saw that you went to university of Ibadan?

Prospect: Yes. [Silence] It is nothing against you; it’s just your prospect's preference.

2) Incredibly Busy Type A Professionals

Many business executives who are incredibly busy find small talk a total waste of time. You can probably empathize a bit with that category, because of their limited time, they are wired to get right to the point and don’t feel the need to deviate from their agenda.

Most of them don’t intend to be mean, they have just been highly successful with being “direct” in the past.

3) Academics with multiple degrees

I’ve encountered many prospects in this category, and I’ve found that serious academics or people with multiple

Some people are simply unwilling to share personal information, which makes it hard to build rapport the traditional way. It doesn’t mean they are bad people; it’s just the way they roll.

First things first, how do you sell what you offer to a decision-maker? Do you believe you are targeting the right customers? Is your product or service vital to the success of the business you are trying to sell? If you answered yes to these two questions, then start with knowing your customer. How do you do that? Here's how.

First, make sure the person you are trying to sell is the decision-maker.

Sounds simple but how many times have you talked to someone at a business who appears interested in what you have to sell only to find out that s/he can't pull the trigger and give you the order? You've built a rapport and think you'll make the sale only to discover you're actually selling to the wrong person.

Second, you need to find out what makes the decision-maker tick. How? Start with research. Scour the company's website. Read everything and start with its people. Learn their roles and their history with the company. Find out as much as you can about them.

Third, go deeper. Use resources online to find out what the decision maker likes to do outside the office.

Do they have a family? Hobby? What civic organizations do they support?

Are they on any charitable organization board? Where did they go to college?

Have they won any awards or been recognized as a leader in their industry?

Most business owners are introverts who require trust before they commit to anything. So to build trust, you must exhibit a sincere interest in them and their business.

Get to know the gatekeeper. Most CEOs rely on an executive assistant to screen calls and schedule appointments. If you can build a rapport with this person, you are much more likely

1) A recent public presentation or blog post that they wrote or were mentioned in.

“I saw that you were presenting at a local chapter of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria Lawyers association” You don’t even have to ask a formal question. By making this statement, you are inviting the person to talk about something that they obviously spent a fair amount of time on professionally and should feel pretty good about opening up about.

2) Their academic background or business accomplishments By calling out an advanced degree or categorizing their experience using an opener like, “Sir you have a strong academic background that includes a law degree and business experience” or, “Five startups in 12 years is quite a track record!” you demonstrate respect and that you’ve done research.

3) Reference a press release for the company (extra points if they are mentioned) This is another option that works because it is really business talk and the type of question that this persona really likes, right to the point and not personal.

4) Use Dr., Chief, Barrister or Professor to address your prospects when applicable, play to their professional titles.

Expect and embrace silence so that you are being respectful of your prospect's preferences.

The strengths of introverts vary but most have common traits. They are successful and they are proud of their accomplishments. Acknowledge their success and take an interest in helping them grow their business or solve a problem. And, while this may be difficult, do not oversell to them or appear in a rush to get the order. You are building a relationship to nurture well after the sale is complete.

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TOP

9

SOCIAL MEDIA NO-NO’S TO AVOID

by Chika Ofor

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veryone makes mistakes, but committing a major social media no-no has the potential of hindering your business’s hard-earned reputation. In the age of personal branding, the line between what is and what isn't acceptable to post on your handles often gets blurry. A good rule of thumb is, “when in doubt, don’t.” But, if you’re wondering about specifics, here are the top social media mistakes to avoid.

2

DON’T EMBELLISH Whether it’s a promotion, a contest, the specifics of what your service or product can offer, or a reaction to a mistake, exaggerating or embellishing can be incredibly obvious to a large audience. This mistake is common with Nigerian artists.

In our Amy’s Baking Company example above, the Bouzaglos later tried to cover up their major social media meltdown by posting, “Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked.

Lying to backpedal instead of apologizing and owning up to a mistake will only backfire. Honesty is the best policy.

1

DON’T LASH OUT Sometimes it’s hard to deal with constructive and/or blatantly harsh criticism from others, especially on such an open public space or forum like Facebook. People can be infuriating, whether naturally or on purpose. Sometimes you want to scream and punch a hole in the wall. Don't respond when you feel that way. Instead, try to find a way to open a civil dialogue, but do it in a way where you disprove what the commenter says without making them look stupid. Two wrongs don't make a right and responding to a put-down with a put-down isn't going to help put the fire out. Take a look at the social media meltdown that Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro had on Facebook; it’s an excellent example of what not to do. Owners, Amy & Samy Bouzaglo lashed out on Facebook in response to some not-so-nice criticism. Responding quickly and calmly to a customer’s complaint, and trying to resolve it as soon as possible is simply the best thing you can do.

CONTROVERSIAL CONVERSATION & TOPICS This is another huge mistake business owners make all the time. Your political views and religious beliefs don’t belong in any of your business social media platforms (or in any conversation that’s not with a close friend or family member for that matter).

Stick to neutral/objective topics and avoid the disastrous occurrence of controversy.

If your opinion could be offensive, it's best not to broadcast it all over the Internet.

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BRAGGING Although it's the perfect forum, don't brag. Yes, you have the ear of everyone you know. Yes, whatever you touch turns to Gold! Yes, you are the most fashionable and love anything luxurious and expensive!! You have the filtered and edited pictures to back up your claims.

You even get the instant gratification of watching those likes roll in. But you've got to refrain. Even worse than bragging? The humble brag. And you might not even know you're guilty. A business platform is meant to be useful (utility) i.e. share information and to connect people, not to generate pride and envy.

5 6

USING SHORT HAND LANGUAGE ON A BUSINESS PAGE This is, unfortunately, all too common in the business world of social media use. It’s one thing to relate to your prospect base by engaging like they do, but it’s a whole other scenario when your business page comes off looking like it’s being used by a six year old.

Yes, many users do tend to replace ‘you’ with ‘u’ and ‘are’ with ‘r,’ but the majority of your Facebook and Twitter leads are educated, and are following your pages to learn more about what you do and how it fits into their life.

Don’t let a simple writing style take that away.

REMOVING NEGATIVE COMMENTS More often than not, most companies will simply remove a bad comment from any of their pages, hoping this will destroy that pesky keyboard warrior who keeps bugging you on your page. Unfortunately, all that does is create extra problems for your company. Instead of deleting any negative comments, you need to face this negativity head on.

Find out why they are commenting, what they are commenting about, and if they have in fact used your product or service before. Respond to the criticism head on, and try and find a solution that helps both parties by solving any issue that shows up, you broadcast this to the entire social media world. Don’t forget that just because you delete a post on your page doesn’t mean that same individual won’t broadcast their opinion to their entire friends list, so it’s best to have a chat with them and see if you can find a solution. Great customer service is the best press.

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POSTING THE SAME UPDATES ACROSS ALL OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS We mean literally, word for word. Sometimes sent out at the same time. If your lead has you on Facebook, chances are they have you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and any other social media channel you use. The minute your audiences learn that you are sharing the same thing in multiple places, you open the door for them to choose one and not frequent both. You never want to give a choice. It also shows a lack of creativity and attention to detail that any lead will instantly recognize. Keep it different, keep it interesting, and always encourage conversation you always want to provide value and a reason for people to follow you in more than one place. And if you don't have enough content for all that, start by choosing the network where you know you have an audience.

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DON'T CREATE FAKE COMMENTS, BUY FOLLOWERS OR LIKE YOUR OWN POSTS Who doesn’t want engagement and comments on posts. Creating comments or liking your own posts seems so minor, but it smacks of desperation and it boils down to dishonesty, and customers can easily see through it. It's not all that different from putting your own dollar in the tip jar. You are better off having zero likes for a while than one that belongs to you. Include calls-to-actions in your social posts like, “Like this post if you agree,” and ask questions that’ll entice customers to respond. You can also give rewards or discounts to those who do write reviews, but honest ones! Don’t also buy followers or fans. It may be tempting to make social media a numbers game.

The point of social media isn’t to acquire a mass following, but to build relationships with legitimate potential and current customers.

DON'T PLAGARIZE Lastly, and most important, Do not plagiarize! “stealing content” aka plagiarism, isn’t cool. Content marketing is all the rage these days; however, creating your own quality content is of the utmost importance. It’s okay to use other posts, websites, articles and studies as a source of reference in your own content, but they absolutely must be cited and attributed – no ifs, ands or buts about it.

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| BUSINESS |

Photo Credit: startup-crownbiz

KEY TO BUSINESS GROWTH: STAYING AUTHENTIC

by Shazie Visram, Kissmetrics Authentic businesses inspire and prosper. A bold statement, but one that is very hard to argue with. You might think that by its very nature marketing and operations cant be authentic, but in the digital age where people are increasingly savvy that preconception is being forced to change.

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o start-up should be built, based on a “get rich quick” notion. This will result to compromising customer satisfaction, reducing product quality and ultimately lowering the company’s standards to make profit. A Business shouldn’t operate for the sole motive of making profit, but rather aim to meet a need or solve a problem. As a business grows, it's important to maintain the authenticity that consumers fall in love with. People fall in love with small brands because they have a sort of sixth sense about them. It's personal. They can feel the authenticity in the company's grassroots approach, product innovation, and commitment to the community.

As a business grows, though, there is (almost) no greater challenge than maintaining that authenticity. With mass market success often comes mass-market operations--from sales to marketing to manufacturing.

Indicators are everywhere, for example the 2012 Goodpurpose study demonstrated that where quality and price were equal the leading purchase driver for 53 percent of consumers was ‘social purpose’. Consider also Facebook’s upcoming changes to newsfeed which reflect the trend toward content that shows more heart and encourages the forging of deeper connections, giving users the ability to focus only on image based posts or tune out brand updates completely. In fact in many cases the only way businesses are going to get their news seen is if friends share it, and to achieve that they’re going to have to be convincingly honest and authentic. The more virtual our lives get, the more we hunger after something genuine. What people really want now is not just a product or a service, it’s an experience. An experience that is more honest and transparent …more authentic and businesses are going to have to keep up with growing consumer authority and give people what they want if they want to survive.

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SO WHAT IS AUTHENTICITY? Simply put, being authentic means staying true to who you are, what you do and who you serve. In an environment in which more human elements matter it creates value and benefits for your followers as well as improving your business.

Authenticity works because … It elevates your business above the competition, It builds your identity and image into something influential, It gives substance to your business, services and products, It enables people to relate to your business, It marks you out as a reliable, trustworthy company and It encourages engagement and can turn audiences into advocates.

So with the benefits (and the necessity) of authenticity in mind, how can you demonstrate it convincingly in order to grow your business? There are multitudes of practical ways you can develop your authenticity simply and effectively.

MAKE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS OUR NO. 1 PRIORITY. Customer service may take on other forms, from knowledgeable employees who can answer consumers' questions to simply sticking to the age-old mantra that the customer is always right. Either way, if you're starting a business, making customer service a priority will pay off.

Give people as many ways as possible they can easily contact you, and make SURE someone (and by ‘someone’ I mean a REAL person, not a machine or an auto responder) is going to be there to respond promptly, politely and effectively. Doing so adds a personal element to your customer service and shows you follow through on your promises – it goes a long way to building a solid and authentic reputation.

BACK UP WHAT YOU SAY ‘All mouth and no trousers’ is a quaint English expression that basically refers to someone who can talk a good game but cannot back themselves up or effectively deliver on their promises. They get a reputation, and people learn not to listen to them or pay them any attention. Unfortunately, today’s savvy consumer is much more likely to see straight through the banter to the lack of substance underneath. Authenticity goes hand in hand with being transparent, so avoid any embarrassment by never making claims you can’t prove.

Highlight Your Reputation with testimonials from real people (with real names and genuine photographs) are also powerful aides to authenticity, so display them pointedly and with pride. Make people aware of any industry awards you have won and any respected groups and associations of which you are a member, it will all help to round out the impression of a bona fide, reliable business.

BE REAL Sounds simple right? Yet it’s amazing how many businesses get this wrong. Share your passions and your mission and get back to basics. Who are you? What drives you? The best way to be perceived as authentic is to BE authentic, so build a purpose for your business beyond making a buck. Get back to grass roots and apply your core values, goals and beliefs as the heart of how you approach every aspect of your business. Don’t over self-promote or force things on others; it will only have a detrimental effect.

In a bid to convince consumers, businesses have to become more like people, and genuinely charitable souls work hard for their causes and gain a lot of respect as a result.

Be Accountable, If you make a mistake, be professional enough to admit it – and be humble. Own up and apologize before anyone else has the chance to publicly make a harsh judgment that could damage your reputation further. Everyone has flaws – it’s what makes us human. Handled correctly, being honest about and accountable for your mistakes could turn a ‘situation’ into an advantageous state of affairs.

GIVING BACK In a bid to convince consumers, businesses have to become more like people, and genuinely charitable souls work hard for their causes and gain a lot of respect as a result. Affiliating your company with a charity and building campaigns around it goes a long way to winning people over with your altruistic nature, but you have to go the whole way to be convincing, which mean not just making a donation once or twice a year, for real impact make yourself the true champion of a cause instead.

Giving back to a cause you genuinely believe in creates authenticity in two ways: first, it shows you care about more than just the success of your business; second, it gives your business a bit of a personality. Both of these things allow people to connect with your brand on more than one level.

Get to know your audience intimately and let them get to know you too through personal interaction, bios, videos, blogs, behind the scenes coverage and glimpses into the personal lives of company members. Talk to them. Give them the benefit of your expertise and experience – for free. Position yourself (subtly) as an authority in your industry and your authenticity will shine through.

DON’T SHARE EVERYTHING WITH EVERYONE While it’s great to share some secrets and involve people in some behind the scenes insights, authenticity does not require the same level of transparency with every relationship.

A business can have many different facets as long as they are untied underneath the umbrella of your core identity. Show a little savoir-faire by being sensitive to each audience and each situation, and catering your content accordingly.

Equally don’t feel obliged to share more than you are comfortable with there’s no need to give away the secret ingredients to mama’s special sauce…

Focus on the following key approaches which can be easily implemented into any business to get you focused and give you a head start.

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| FINANCE |

ARE YOUR PRICES TOO LOW?

by Nellie Akalp

Photo Credit: www.thedrinkbusiness.com

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othing has a bigger impact on your business’s sales, health, and bottom line than your pricing. Set prices too high and your products or services won’t sell. However, lowball prices are a far more common problem for businesses. It’s easy to understand why this phenomenon happens. Startups and small businesses have a habit of setting their prices low in order to attract customers. A brand new consultant might offer heavy discounts to win business and build a portfolio.

Then, she never readjusts her prices back up to market rate. A web startup may keep a feature free for far too long, even though it’s clear that people are willing to pay for it. These businesses face a similar future: they continue to win new customers, clients are happy, and their business is humming along

busier than ever before. The problem is, it’s simply unsustainable. These entrepreneurs end up working as hard as they can just to stay afloat. In extreme cases, a business actually loses money with each new sale.

ARE YOUR PRICES TOO LOW? Someone once told me, “If you set your prices once, they’re probably wrong.”

That’s because with time, the cost of making a product and running your business typically increases. Maybe you’re a caterer and the price of milk has gone up over the past few years.

A jewelry designer’s business is tied to the price of gold and silver. Costs for a consultant also rise, such as gas/travel, health insurance, contractors’ compensation, etc. All these rising costs need to be factored into your current pricing.

In addition, if your initial business strat-

egy was to undercut the competition based on pricing alone, your prices are too low. Unless you are a multinational corporation selling, then cost cannot be the only weapon you have to attract new clients. It’s time to pick a new strategy and raise your prices.

GET CONFIDENT: KNOW YOUR VALUE. What’s at the root of low prices? For the new business owner, it typically boils down to a lack of confidence. You charge the least amount on the market for fear that clients won’t pay more. Then, once those low rates are established, you worry what will happen when you try to raise them. If you have fallen into this trap, then you know that this approach results in long hours, barely enough revenue to get by, and clients who don’t particularly value your services.

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At the end of the day, running a business is about charging the money you deserve for the value you or your products bring to customers. Lowball prices send the message that your services, products, and talents are worth less than others on the market. Think about it: what type of quality do you expect from a pair of 2,000 Naira shoes versus 20,000 Naira shoes? Of course, everyone wants to keep their costs down, including your own customers and clients. But at the same time, they don’t want to hire an amateur to do important work or buy a low-quality product that may break in a few weeks. Your low prices may in fact be turning away those clients who are looking for quality professionals, and instead be attracting only bargain shopper clients, the ones who are looking to get a lot for a little.

Don’t worry if you lose a sale or two. By raising your prices, you end up working with the kind of clients who understand the value of investing in higher-priced, higher-value solutions.

HOW TO RAISE YOUR PRICES Maybe you’ve known for a while that you need to raise your prices, but haven’t been sure what the best way is to go about it. Here are a few tips for getting your business back to a healthy, sustainable level: 1. Sell based on value, not just price.

Many small business owners never think about the lifetime value that their product or service offers. For example, a financial advisor isn’t just offering a one-hour session at X Naira an hour; she is helping people save thousands on their taxes for years to come. Likewise, a mobile app designer isn’t just building a new mobile site; he’s helping convert new customers and increase revenue by a healthy%. Do you think you can charge a premium for delivering that type of value? You bet you can. Work on differentiating your services by illustrating the unique value you bring to the table. By competing on performance instead of purely price, you can frame the customer’s decision in terms of your company’s strengths.

2. Create tiered packages.

If you’re worried about what kind of resistance you might face by raising your prices, you can ease into the waters by creating tiered packages that appeal to a broad range of customers. That’s what Apple attempted to do by introducing the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s models. For example, your current clients

can keep their existing prices, but they won’t enjoy the same level of support, response time, or other deliverables as those customers opting for your premium packages. You’ll be surprised at just how many current clients will be more than happy to move up your pricing ladder in order to benefit from the better service and enhanced value.

3. Just do it.

Sometimes the best way to determine if customers are willing to pay more is to simply raise your prices and see their reaction. If you’re selling products or have an online business, set up a landing page with higher prices.

If you are a service provider with longtime clients, you’ll need to offer more communication than simply changing a landing page. Let these clients know that you appreciate their business and need to enact new pricing. Using terms like “market rate” and “scheduled increase” helps justify the increase from a business standpoint. You can even let them know you’ve already increased your rates with all newer clients or mention how your skills and expertise have expanded over the years. Most important, keep your communication brief and don’t apologize for the pricing change.

4. Don’t worry about a lost sale or two.

If no one has complained about your prices, it’s time to raise them. Let’s say that 100% of your current customers are happy with your current pricing, what happens if you were to raise your prices? Maybe only 80% will be happy and stick around at the higher rates, but you will have a more profitable and healthy business overall.

Don’t worry if you lose a sale or two. By raising your prices, you end up working with the kind of clients who understand the value of investing in higher-priced, higher-value solutions. In short, your pricing strategy can help you attract the right kind of customers to build a sustainable business for the long haul.

Nellie Akalp is a passionate entrepreneur, small business advocate and CEO of CorpNet. MARKET DIGEST NIGERIA

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