Do Elections concern Entrepreneurs in Africa?

Happy Sunday Everyone,

I am sure people would clearly give a YES, answer. But it begs the question. If we do know that elections concern Entrepreneurs, why is there still a low voters turn out in elections seeing that it is the most important aspect of the electioneering process. I am not even going talk about the poor participation of Entrepreneurs in partisan politics.


BACKDROP

In this article, I don't intend that this should spur sentimental discord between supporters of the PMB and GEJ administrations but I am going to draw some few points from the differences and similarities between the two administrations and how I feel they affected Entrepreneurs just through the difference in the governance styles.

You might disagree, with the things I am about to say, but please be objective. Share your thoughts and comments in the section below.

THE GEJ ADMINISTRATION

That is not correct! LOL.

Legitimately, Goodluck was one of the most discredited leaders that we have had in Nigeria and evidently so because of the deep lack of security that Nigerians felt at the time. Plus it is argued that people need to first be alive and feel safe before they can pursue higher levels of fulfillment e.g running a business to make money. This is according to Marslow's Theory of Needs.

But from a view point of an Entrepreneur, Goodluck's Administration made a very potent move in diversifying the economy through empowering Small and medium scale Enterprises and Startups across different sectors through different programmes with the YouWin as the most applauded scheme. His Administration recognized that if well stimulated with funding and an easier atmosphere to run, the SME industry would become the highest employer of labour.

I have personally met some Entrepreneurs that were beneficiaries of different funding programmes under the GEJ's Administration and have begun employing between 3 to over 50 staff.

His body language abroad despite the fact that they made for very funny memes did give an air of confidence to investors to play in the Nigerian space and we quickly grew to be Africa's largest economy. The figures spoke for themselves.

A counter argument which also doesn't play to the gains of the GEJ administration were claims of unprecedented corruption.

THE APC constantly ring it as a bell. But is there really any Administration that isn't rife with corruption in Nigeria?

Onto the next one....

THE PMB ADMINISTRATION

Despite my pleas and stern warnings, Nigerians went ahead to vote an octogenarian into power.

I cannot come and go and kill myself. Later the Youth would now be saying, we are the leaders of tomorrow. Uncles and Aunties please shift let me see road.

PMB has not represented us in the best light to the international media and that definitely has caused a downturn in the foreign investment that the country has been able to attract. His body language in the media coupled with terrible fiscal (market and fx) policies with the slogan of fighting corruption, he plunged Nigeria into a recession.

Apparently this isn't his first time of doing it. Let's throw it back to 1984.

Economics was definitely not his best subject in Secondary School. I want to ask for the WAEC result certificate, but it appears WAEC is still searching their records.

I would like to say despite the fact that a rebel force hasn't overtaken Nigeria's physical integrity, a secure Nigeria is far from being achieved. With bouts of riots, ethnic clashes plaguing the Northern Part of the country across our thriving agricultural regions which cause Entrepreneurs to suffer losses as a result and have also affected the mass population as regards to higher cost of market produce.

A lot of programs geared towards Entrepreneurship in this administration have been largely shrouded in mystery. The revamped YouWin programmed termed the YouWin connect promises to be only a capacity building exercise with plans of the government rolling out equity funding for the successful candidates.

If government can't issue and follow up loans effectively. How do they plan to fund Entrepreneurs through equity funding? Does that not require due diligence.

Room for corruption? Perhaps.

But I wouldn't go out on a limb to discredit the PMB administration as they have had the will to implement very good plans initiated by the Goodluck Administration to ensure transparency in the way government agencies handle funds through the Treasury Single Account as well as made strides in creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. We moved 25 places in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index from 169 to 145.

Click below to see my assessment of this improvement

Is it Easier to Do Business in Nigeria?


They have evidently realized that you can fund businesses as much as you want. But if you don't create an environment where these businesses do eventually grow in addition to the lack of  the capacity of the business persons to understand basic business principles, all the funding would be useless.

Theirs seems to be a long term approach, institutionalizing ease of doing business through different governmental agencies that private sector interface with regularly to run their business. The Enabling Business Environment Council was created under the Office of the Vice President for this purpose and they work with the CAC, Customs, Immigration, Nigerian Export Promotions Council, NAFDAC and other agencies to make their processes seamless for Entrepreneurs.

They have shown evidence of progress and they have even gone a step further to allow Entrepreneurs report challenges with different agencies that are making doing business in Nigeria difficult.

This can be done through the PEBEC REPORTING APP.

Click the link to report any challenges that you have within any governmental agency that you experience as an Entrepreneur.

Opportunities like this allow government to listen first hand to the challenges that Entrepreneurs face and find ways to mitigate those challenges.


I could say more, but I am sure you must already catch my drift. That brings us to the first question again.....


DO ELECTIONS CONCERN ENTREPRENEURS IN AFRICA?

YES. A RESOUNDING YES.

The reasons are evident. As private sector we play a huge role in the development or regression that our country can face at any given time. The lack of participation and collaboration between the Nigerian Government and the private sector leads the country to run a quasi-socialist economy where the government, high net-worth individuals, big companies and multinationals tend to dictate what happens in the economy most times to the detriment of the Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs that are supposed to be the bedrock on which our economy runs.

WHY?

As Entrepreneurs, we need to also understand that effective governments are critical to the growth of our businesses. Lacklustre policies lead to unpredictable market responses to our products or services and just as we have seen can lead us into a recession which causes our customers to have reduced paying power, which would, if not properly managed, lead us to retrench staff and shrink our businesses.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

I remember in one of the articles I wrote last year termed AFRICAPITALISM: HOW TO DEVELOP A CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY POLICY, I spoke about different ways Entrepreneurs can decide to play a part in the development of their communties, states and countries. The most effective point I believe was the second one, which was, PUBLIC POLICY INFLUENCING or what people term, ADVOCACY/LOBBYING.

We can create pressure groups that analyse and assess the sustainability and overall effectiveness of public policies vis-a-vis the governmental agencies that would be charged with the implementation of the policies and iron out execution plans with an appropriate risk management strategy.

There are existing advocacy groups, foremost in my mind is the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable run by the  National Economic Summit Group (NESG) and they are focused on bringing players from across different sectors from the government to civil society organisations to private sector to collaborate on different pressure points in each fiscal year and then produce communiques with differently policy suggestions that are offered to the different players for implementation.

Last year, they also ran a pitch event for startups. I applied for HubbonNG, but apparently we weren't old enough and didn't even meet up to other criteria. 😒

Better days are ahead though!


I am not here to claim like I know the solutions to different problems that Nigeria, or indeed Africa faces, but there is the FIRST STEP we must take!.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT/PARTICIPATION

We all have a part to play in the development of our country Nigeria and indeed in Africa and private sector participation is increasingly vital to the success.

I remember when I visited Lagos Business School for an MBA experiential day and they spoke about the ability to predict how governments would affect businesses with a view points across different sectors, so active participation as stakeholders in the developmental process would not only allow us to understand governmental policies better but be able to influence them positively for development.

BUSINESSES DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE TO REACT TO GOVERNMENT POLICIES BUT INFLUENCE IT.

Different governmental agencies organize stakeholder engagement events from time to time. Get Involved! Play your part as an Entrepreneur!


ACTION PLAN (7-POINT AGENDA)

1. GET YOUR PVC

2. JOIN A POLITICAL PARTY and influence their ethos, policies and practices positively.


3. ASSESS YOUR CANDIDATES and call for town hall meetings let them debate and spell out their goals and plans for your communities, states and country.

4. ASSESS THEIR PLANS for the private sector and stimulating Entrepreneurship in your locality.

5. VOTE RIGHT for the people that you believe would collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to develop the community,state or country.

6. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENTS AT ALL LEVELS. Engage with your elected officials to bring up development plans for your communities, engage with the appropriate governmental agencies that would be charged with implementation and constantly ensure that the risk is managed effectively and consistently assess those programs and/or projects to ensure its continuous viability and sustainability.

7. ADVOCATE FOR LAWS and policies that inspire Entrepreneurship, Investment for the growth of the community, state, country and continent.

Elections concern Entrepreneurs in Africa, Let us play our part to transform Africa.

This is a rather long epistle. But I do hope it was worth it.

Thanks for reading!


If you would like to book deliveries of your parcels or promote your business on a growing business platform. Head to HubbonNG.com.

Best regards,
Ejieji Muna
(Co-founder, HubbonNG)

AFRICAPITALISM : How to develop a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Disclaimer : I would always refer to Christian content, or more specifically, Bible verses to form a context, or better still, create an emphasis on which the principles of the post I am writing is based on. This is not to deter readers of other faiths. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas based on your own faiths and ideologies.

You would wonder why  my second #GiveBackSunday post is still on this issue of Corporate Social Responsibility. Click to read Corporate Social Responsibility.

So the question here is:

WHY IS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SO IMPORTANT?

In today's Gospel Reading (Matthew 25: 31-46) it was said that on the Final Day, God will separate the sheep and goats. The sheep would be kept on the right side and praised for catering for the people around them and the goats admonished and sent into the eternal fire for refusing to cater to the needs of the people around them.

It's so simple isn't it. It then begs to question why African Companies don't do much of it OR their CSR policies are shrouded in so much mystery.

I had a discussion with a friend of mine, a graphic designer that I am working with to develop a "book cover design" for my book that is  titled "From Clueless to CEO in a Year". 

Any thoughts? Good caption?

He iterated the vast complexities that the Nigerian State and indeed the African continent suffers from and felt that life in developed countries are somewhat better. 

Perfect Analogy. This how most Africans feel that moving to Europe or America would be like.

From experience, and this is entirely my opinion, All countries have their pros and cons. It is easier to leave a fairly comfortable life in the US or UK with a reasonable salary across board. Life becomes considerably harder raising a family as you would probably live your life servicing debt.

But hey!, there's electricity and DisneyLand so it's all good!

In Africa, well in Nigeria specifically, there is that essence of "brotherhood" that I would not trade for anything in the world. The fact that you can visit your cousins and eat their food and stay for an unlimited number of days without being asked when you would leave.

I know how tough it was when I had my "ex" over just for the weekends while I studied in Coventry, United Kingdom.

I bet we can all understand that all countries have their challenges.

Now to the major point....

REAL CHALLENGES IN AFRICA

I was not in any way trying to trivialize the real challenges that we face in Africa. I can begin to enumerate them but I am more solutions-oriented. So I ask this question instead

WHAT ARE AFRICAN COMPANIES DOING ABOUT AFRICA'S CHALLENGES?

As a 2017 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, We were introduced to the ideology behind "AFRICAPITALISM" and it is fairly simple in my opinion.

Building African Businesses around solving Africa's Problems.

It is fairly simple especially if you understand that it is only Africans that feel the bane of our "multi-dimensional problems" so we are the ones in the right place to create the solutions.

PS: Searching for funding for your running business or business idea?  Click the link below

http://www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/

DIFFERENT WAYS COMPANIES CAN APPROACH CSR

1. Poverty Allevation

When companies think of CSR, this is the usual go-to. Let's set up a tent somewhere and give polio vaccinations and take pictures of poor African kids.

 I typically detest this because it is not "scalable". It  does not change the conditions of the families in those poor communities. You could essentially be going to the same community every year and nothing changes. This is why I enjoyed when The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum that took place from the 12th of October to the 15th of October was particularly interesting because they brought to Aid Organizations to get them to rethink their "Aid" models.

2. Public Policy Influencing

This are where pressure groups or better still "Think-tanks" come into play. A group of companies set out a chunk of their revenue and build a sound team of people working round the clock to create policies for the government and their MDA's to collaborate on making "Doing Business in Africa" easier as well as create policies that would increase the earning capacity of all Africans thus increasing the GDP per capita in African countries. 

Ory Okolloh and and Kola Aina of Ventures Platform state it very clearly. Don't believe in that Startup Ecosystem bubble and hype in Africa, we cannot simply Entrepreneur ourselves out of Bad Governance and poor policies. We must work with government to be better and to create better working conditions for Africans to thrive.

It's our work o!.. (Hum the response)LOL

That is why I am so happy that the Presidential Enabling Business Environmental Council, has created an app to log complaints of Entrepreneurs where they find it difficult to do business especially with regards to certain MDA's that make things unnecessarily difficult to do business.

Click here to see the app: PEBEC Report App

3. Education and Human Capacity Development

Instead of giving a man a piece of fish, teach him how to fish.

This in my opinion is the strongest means of building the Africa that we all yearn for. Support existing academic institutions to innovate their systems in order to  impact greater values in the population. We can also create impactful programs that would create value for Africans and enable them create more opportunities for other Africans.

We need to create a "ripple effect" of greatness in Africa by adding up the little bits of greatness found in each and everyone of us.

This is why I continue to applaud the work Joshua Shodunke, a Human Capital Development Consultant that is doing a great job at building the next set of  African Entrepreneurs through Education!

Never Forget!. Africans are the only ones that can make Africa Great!

We should never remain the sleeping giant of the world.

Awaken Africa!

This was a really passionate write for me,

I hope I was able to contain my feelings?

I want to hear your thoughts and ideas on this post in the comment section below,

Thanks!

Best regards,

Ejieji Muna

(HubbonNG)

Corporate Social Responsibility in Africa

DISCLAIMER

I would be referring to christian content but this is not to deter my amiable Islamic readers but I would refer you to excerpts from the bible to iterate some guiding principles on which this post is developed from.

What are you doing with your talents?

According to the Gospel of Matthew 25: 14- 30, we are told that servants of a master had property spread across them each according to their abilities. We read that to the one that was given 5 talents, he brought back 5 more talents, the one that received 2 talents brought back 2 more talents in return and the servant that was given 1 talent he went ahead to bury it in the ground. We heard that even the one talent that he was given was taken away from him.

Why this analogy?

Indulge me for a minute, Imagine that you were funded N5 million naira for your business, how would you assess your success rate , would it be by posting N5million naira profits? Although profits are good, I assess success to be when you have the ability to fund another person's business with N5 million.

Again this is just an illustration,

As Entrepreneurs we are supposed to view Entrepreneurship as a vehicle for progress for ourselves and our communities. In Africa, we have the mandate to transform our continent and create prosperity for our communities. The 'ingenuity' of Entrepreneurs is a God-given 'talent' and we are expected to multiply those talents by impacting our communities either through educational, poverty alleviation, Investment, human capacity development etc.

African Startups

As an African Startup Entrepreneur, we might not have the funds to do amazing projects for poor communities around our business communities or where we live. But participating in outreach events and spending time with the disadvantaged people and sharing a smile with them might be all we could do to make one life easier than it was yesterday.

We need to build the culture of ensuring that our businesses directly have positive impact on the communities where they run their businesses or reside in. We should see ourselves as the drivers of change on our continent, using Entrepreneurship as our vehicle. We need to drift away from that understanding that Entrepreneurship is merely for profit making.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post,

Best regards,

Ejieji Muna

(HubbonNG)

The Potters Foundation

This theme was pointed out by one of our amazing readers, a fellow 2017 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, the amazing lady Sochi. We need to let you guys know about her business. Ginger her to pay for a featured post. LOL. But she is a truly amazing person indeed.

The theme for today is #GivebackSunday and it is really important to note that Entrepreneurs can easily be swayed in the pursuit of personal wealth and prosperity whilst the reason we began the journey in the first place was to solve problems in our communities and across our continent. We must always be conscious of our environment and the people that need our help the most.

I attended a Entrepreneurs Town hall meeting hosted by Kwese Inc and it had their CEO, Mr Strive Masiyiwa and he reminded us African Entrepreneurs that we bear the burden to transform our continent from a sleeping giant to a 'woke' giant. Okay he didn't say woke but I had to spice it up. LOL.

He emphasized the importance of lifting each other up. He explained that  the best way to do that is to be in touch with the needs of the people in our community. He mentioned that he had, at the turn of the AIDS Epidemic, began Higher Life Foundation that trained the orphans left behind by the AIDS Epidemic in East Africa. He has trained 250,000 orphans to date. He said he started this when he wasn't rich. He explained that one doesn't need to be rich to contribute to a cause or to impact positive change in his/her society.

A couple days ago, I was invited by my friend, one of the members of  My Hustle Squad, Vincent Nnagboro, MD of Minuteman Associates to donate to The Potters Foundation as they had planned to carry out an outreach program to a disadavantaged community in Gwagwalada. It is not enough for me to send money because I have and I feel pity. It is pertinent that I go there to visit and share the bit of love that I get from God on a daily basis, not as a result of the strength of my faith or any good will of mine, but because of His grace. We are called constantly to use the blessings of God in our lives to bless others. It could easily be you in that position. It does not have to be monetary, but a little thing as small as a smile can go a long way.

The question I would leave with you tonight is:

Apart from creating a business to make money, what else are you doing to create progressive change on the African continent?

Short read. I hope it appealed to you guys?

Best regards,
Ejieji Muna
(HubbonNG)