Forbes2021-86

Nigeria’s Fintech Frenzy: Onwards And Upwards

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CLASS OF 2021 Change-Makers In A Historic Year

Members of this year’s list of under 30s have one thing in common: A NEW COVID-INDUCED AGENDA FOR SOCIAL CHANGE. So what would a historic pandemic year throw up? ground-breaking entrepreneurs and thinkers. Our 2021 class of under 30s are just that: INFLUENTIAL CREATIVES, IMAGINATIVE BUSINESS OWNERS, INNOVATIVE TECHIES, AND GIFTED SPORTS STARS. Celebrating seven years of the FORBES AFRICA 30 UNDER 30 LIST, these achievers prove that now more than ever,&nbsp; they are crucial to the AFRICAN GROWTH STORY.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-the-under-30-team">THE UNDER 30 TEAM</h4>



Words: Karen Mwendera, Chanel Retief, Simone Umraw Art Director: Lucy Nkosi Photographer: Motlabana Monnakgotla Retouching: Newkatz Studio Styling: Keabetswe Mafora; Outfits supplied by: Spero Villioti, Viviers Studio, Sisi the Collection, GertJohan Coetzee, Port of LNG, Amen Concepts, Europa Art Studio: Light Station Studio, Johannesburg | Hair &amp; Makeup: SnehhOnline Beauty



FORBES AFRICA finds out how some of the members of the CLASS of 2021 reacted when they found out that they made the most coveted list in Africa!



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EXTERNAL JUDGES: THE CATEGORY EXPERTS WHOSE ROLE WAS TO SURVEY ALL THE FINALISTS OF THE 2021 30 UNDER 30 LIST, RANK THEM AND PROVIDE COMMENTARY ON EACH CANDIDATE.



BUSINESS: Nigerian businesswoman Uche Pedro, the founder, and CEO of BellaNaija, a media-tech brand known for its entertainment and lifestyle content. She has been in the business game for over 15 years, collecting numerous local and international accolades along the way including making the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA 50 Most Powerful Women list in 2020.



TECHNOLOGY: Olugbenga Agboola, the cofounder and CEO of Flutterwave, an African fintech firm building digital payments infrastructure. He has contributed to the development of fintech solutions at several tech companies and financial institutions such as PayPal, Standard Bank, among others. Flutterwave recently raised $170 million, giving it ‘unicorn’ status with a value of over $1 billion.



CREATIVES: Dr John Kani, a South African actor, author, director, and playwright known for his roles in Marvel movies Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther as well as The Lion King. In addition, Kani is also the Founder of the Market Theatre LaboratoryAcademy, chair of the Apartheid Museum South Africa, patron and Ambassador of the Market Theatre, and Trustee for the WWFNedbank Green Trust.



SPORTS: Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, a Zimbabwean-born professional rugby player who plays for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby and previously for the South African national team and the Sharks in Super Rugby. With 117 caps, he is the most capped prop in South African history and the third most-capped Springbok of all time. He is also a 2019 Rugby World Cup winner. He owns a security company in South Africa and The Beast Foundation.



AUDIT PARTNER: FORBES AFRICA partnered again with SNG Grant Thornton to vet the business and financial statements of the candidates. This involved understanding the landscape, the profitability, growth and most of all, the scalability of each business.



For the full list download the digital copy <a href="https://shop.forbesafrica.com/product/single-digital-issue-30-under-30-june-july-2021/">here</a>

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Forbes Africa #30Under30 List: CLASS OF 2021 Change-Makers In A Historic Year

Members of this year’s list of under 30s have one thing in common: A NEW COVID-INDUCED AGENDA FOR SOCIAL CHANGE. So what would a historic pandemic year throw up? ground-breaking entrepreneurs and thinkers. Our 2021 class of under 30s are just that: INFLUENTIAL CREATIVES, IMAGINATIVE BUSINESS OWNERS, INNOVATIVE TECHIES, AND GIFTED SPORTS STARS. Celebrating seven years of the FORBES AFRICA 30 UNDER 30 LIST, these achievers prove that now more than ever,&nbsp; they are crucial to the AFRICAN GROWTH STORY.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-the-under-30-team">THE UNDER 30 TEAM </h4>



Words: Karen Mwendera, Chanel Retief, Simone Umraw Art Director: Lucy Nkosi Photographer: Motlabana Monnakgotla Retouching: Newkatz Studio Styling: Keabetswe Mafora; Outfits supplied by: Spero Villioti, Viviers Studio, Sisi the Collection, GertJohan Coetzee, Port of LNG, Amen Concepts, Europa Art Studio: Light Station Studio, Johannesburg | Hair &amp; Makeup: SnehhOnline Beauty



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-methodology">METHODOLOGY</h4>



The Covid-19 pandemic posed a unique challenge this year when collating criteria for the nomination process. A new set of factors had to be taken into account for the challenges this year’s hopefuls were faced with. Yet, despite the adversities and setbacks, about 1,000+ applicants and nominees poured into our online portal, and we also dredged them from our 30 Under 30 alum and our own research. This was then narrowed down to the 30 finalists across the business, technology, sports and creative sectors.



The criteria employed this year was the most rigorous it has ever been. Nominees needed to provide valid evidence of their endeavors. Background checks were done to ascertain their calibre, conduct and personal track-record. With audit partner SNG Grant Thornton, we were able to assess their company financials from losses to growth margins to overall revenue and profits since incorporation.



Our criteria for the 30 Under 30 list is that only those under the age of 30 ( just before the publication of this issue) may apply. All decision-making and interviews were conducted digitally this year, as the pandemic did not enable meetings in person. In doing so, we had new appreciation for the technology that powered our research. The finalists were vetted by the editorial team and a panel of high-profile judges and subjectmatter experts (see following page). This list is only but a small indication of the inspiring young talent on the continent who will no doubt grace the pages of FORBES AFRICA in the months and years to come



CHANGE-MAKERS VERSUS Covid! That’s what we were looking for when curating FORBES AFRICA’s 30 Under 30 list-makers this year. After all, 2021 marks an entire year that has disrupted the world. Businesses pivoted and so did our lives as we navigated the pandemic, and realized that the old ways of doing things no longer work.



But surely, there are answers, especially on the world’s youngest continent. A report, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020: Africa, by the International Labour Organization, says that “Africa’s youth unemployment rate is the lowest in the world and compared to other regions”.



So, we celebrate young talent that comes to the fore in finding sustainable ways to overcome the crisis but also helping those who have been the hardest hit. From philanthropic beauty influencers to tech geeks revolutionizing renewable energy and even a chess master championing entrepreneurship, the list features a motley cast of individuals wanting to change the world when it needs it the most.



This year’s list-makers – the youngest being 19 – will go down in history as the Under 30s who survived and thrived during one of the most turbulent chapters on earth. The following pages are a record of the enduring tenacity and fighting spirit of Africa’s young leaders charting a nonlinear trajectory to success. (The list is in no particular order)



EXTERNAL JUDGES: THE CATEGORY EXPERTS WHOSE ROLE WAS TO SURVEY ALL THE FINALISTS OF THE 2021 30 UNDER 30 LIST, RANK THEM AND PROVIDE COMMENTARY ON EACH CANDIDATE.



BUSINESS: Nigerian businesswoman Uche Pedro, the founder, and CEO of BellaNaija, a media-tech brand known for its entertainment and lifestyle content. She has been in the business game for over 15 years, collecting numerous local and international accolades along the way including making the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA 50 Most Powerful Women list in 2020.



TECHNOLOGY: Olugbenga Agboola, the cofounder and CEO of Flutterwave, an African fintech firm building digital payments infrastructure. He has contributed to the development of fintech solutions at several tech companies and financial institutions such as PayPal, Standard Bank, among others. Flutterwave recently raised $170 million, giving it ‘unicorn’ status with a value of over $1 billion.



CREATIVES: Dr John Kani, a South African actor, author, director, and playwright known for his roles in Marvel movies Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther as well as The Lion King. In addition, Kani is also the Founder of the Market Theatre LaboratoryAcademy, chair of the Apartheid Museum South Africa, patron and Ambassador of the Market Theatre, and Trustee for the WWFNedbank Green Trust.



SPORTS: Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, a Zimbabwean-born professional rugby player who plays for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby and previously for the South African national team and the Sharks in Super Rugby. With 117 caps, he is the most capped prop in South African history and the third most-capped Springbok of all time. He is also a 2019 Rugby World Cup winner. He owns a security company in South Africa and The Beast Foundation.



AUDIT PARTNER: FORBES AFRICA partnered again with SNG Grant Thornton to vet the business and financial statements of the candidates. This involved understanding the landscape, the profitability, growth and most of all, the scalability of each business. 



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For the full list download the digital copy <a href="https://shop.forbesafrica.com/product/single-digital-issue-30-under-30-june-july-2021/">here</a>

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Forbes Africa #30Under30 List: MEET THE COVER STARS

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THE 100th ISSUE: 100 Innovations, Inventions & Icons From Africa

South African- born, billionaire technology and space entrepreneur, Elon Musk, made history at the start of 2021, overtaking Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become the richest man on Earth. While his fortune was made on this planet, his dreams to venture to the final frontier remain. FORBES AFRICA takes a look at his journey to becoming one of the world’s most celebrated innovators and one of the wealthiest men alive.



THE MAN WHO FAMOUSLY SAID THAT HE WOULDN’T BE HAPPY UNTIL WE WERE ALL LIVING ON MARS, IS NOW ONE OF THE RICHEST MEN ON EARTH. WHILE ELON MUSK’S PLANS TO BE BURIED IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY REMAIN UNCHANGED, HE’S STILL GOT MUCH TO CELEBRATE IN THE HERE AND NOW.



On January 8 this year, at approximately 11.30AM on the American East Coast, Musk, known for founding some of the world’s most progressive tech companies, along with his unrelenting space-age ambitions, made yet another historical leap.



His net worth soared by $12.5 billion, to $189.7 billion, making him, for a time, the wealthiest person on the planet, according to Forbes, who broke the news. For the first time, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, who had held the top spot for a record four years, came second with a cumulative net worth of $185 billion.



However, in a twist of fate, stock in his electric car company, Tesla, fell by 8%, denting his personal wealth by a hefty $14 billion, overnight. But like the man himself, Musk’s wealth wouldn’t be down for long.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-819x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49882" width="376" height="470" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-240x300.jpg 240w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-300x375.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-600x750.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1208933748-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px" /><figcaption>UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA &#8211; FEBRUARY 26: Model Maye Musk (Photo by Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Elon’s aim is to save the planet and he also loves the thought of going to Mars&#8230;. I get very excited every step of the way. We all do. Kimbal and Tosca [Elon’s siblings] and I go to the main [SpaceX] launches, we can’t go to all the launches, as he has launched, how many now&#8230; 50 rockets? I’m not sure. I lose track. But we go to the main ones, and we are anxious beforehand and excited afterward and we are very proud of him and support him with all this. He just feels that we should be inter-planetary, starting with Mars. Mars seems to be the most friendly [planet], and that is what he would like to explore. <cite>-Elon Musk’s mother Maye Musk, in an interview from Los Angeles with FORBES AFRICA last year about her memoir, A Woman Makes A Plan, released by Jonathan Ball Publishers</cite></blockquote>



Days later, with the swift rebound of Tesla shares by 4.7%, he wrestled the top spot from Bezos with an impressive recovery of $7.8 billion bringing his total net worth to $183.8 billion against the Amazon founder’s, marginal, but impressive, $182.4 billion.



At the time of going to press, the yo-yo action continued. Tesla’s stock volatility returned Bezos to the top spot, making him the world’s richest by just $200 million, with Musk making a close second. The game is set to continue for much of the year, but it won’t do much to change the fact that both billionaires are still over $30 billion richer than their nearest competitor; the third person on the list, French luxury tycoon, Bernard Arnault, according to Forbes estimates.



Musk’s dizzying ascent is quite an achievement given that, in 2014, he ranked 47th on the U.S. Rich List, compiled by Forbes, with his personal net worth hovering at the $9.4 billion mark, at contemporary rates.



Notwithstanding his meteoric rise, most studies of Musk begin at SpaceX, his landmark aerospace manufacturing outfit, launched in 2002 with plans to make space travel more affordable and meet its founder’s often parodied mandate to catalyze humanity’s colonization of Mars.



“I’d like to go to Mars. I suppose it depends on how old I am when I get there&#8230; But it’s not about me going to Mars. We’re developing new technologies to enable a large number of people to go to Mars and be able to develop a self-sustaining city on Mars,” he told Forbes in 2014.



Inter-planetary ambitions aside, Musk’s ideas often overshadow the story of his origins which are rooted in a very down-to-earth Pretoria suburb, a few miles north of Johannesburg, in South Africa. Born in 1971 to a Canadian mother and a South African father, it was clear that Musk was unique from the start.



“The kind of things he would come up with as a youngster was always surprising. When he was very small, he would ask me, ‘where is the whole world?’, when he was three or four. It was these sorts of questions that made me realize that he was a little different,” his father, Errol Musk, noted in a 2012 interview with FORBES AFRICA.



Eccentricities aside, the young Musk was equally academically gifted.



“We called Elon ‘The Encyclopedia’ because he had read the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Collier’s Encyclopedia, and remembered everything. That’s also why we called him ‘Genius Boy’. We could ask him anything. Remember, this was before the internet. I guess now we would call him ‘The Internet’,” his mother, Maye Musk, recalls in her 2019 autobiography, A Woman Makes a Plan.



Attending Pretoria Boys High School (PBHS), often considered one of the most prestigious schools in South Africa, a teenage Musk kept to himself but found plenty of company in computers. He taught himself how to program using an old manual and eventually sold a space-themed video game that he wrote called Blastar, to a computing magazine in 1984, reportedly for $500, arguably the earliest of his tech ventures.



“My impression is that Elon kept to himself and was relatively quiet and reserved. I believe he was involved with the computer club at school, but otherwise was not really visible in mainstream activities,” Gavin Ehlers, head-boy at PBHS in 1988, the same year Musk graduated, told FORBES AFRICA in 2012.



Yet, despite his remarkable talent and comfortable upbringing, Musk’s childhood was blighted with peculiar challenges. As the shortest, smallest, and smartest kid in the class, he was an easy target for bullies, who tormented him until he was 15 years old.



“I was a late bloomer. So I was the youngest and the smallest kid in class for years and years&#8230; The gangs at school would hunt me down – literally hunt me down,” Musk told Rolling Stone magazine in 2017.



At home, things weren’t easier. His parents divorced in 1980.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">If somebody else is working 50 hours and you’re working a 100, you’ll get twice as much done in the course of the year as the other company.</blockquote>



The tumult of his early life did much to shape the man that Musk would later become. Even as a youngster, he held strong to his principles. At the time, in apartheid South Africa, mandatory two-year military service was in force for all white males who had completed their secondary school or tertiary- level education. In his objection, Musk said he didn’t prescribe to what the state was doing to its citizens.



“I don’t have an issue with serving in the military per se, but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn’t seem like a really good way to spend time,” he explained in the 2007 book, Rocketeers, by Michael Belfiore.



At 17, Musk relocated to Canada to attend university in 1989. After a number of transfers, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, part of the prominent Ivy League in the United States, with a dual degree in Economics and Physics, setting him firmly on the path of a tech entrepreneur. Like all the greats, he dropped out of his Ph.D. program at Stanford, instead of establishing his first startup, against the euphoria of the dot-com boom of the nineties. He founded the company, Zip2, with his younger brother, Kimbal – who has been a keen business partner to Musk throughout his entrepreneurial career – in 1995.



“When my brother and I were starting our first company, instead of getting an apartment we rented a small office and slept on the couch. We were so hard-up we had just one computer so the website was up during the day and I was coding at night. Seven days a week&#8230; all the time. I briefly had a girlfriend during that period and in order to be with me she had to sleep at the office,” he said with a smile, during a 2014 Commencement Speech at the University of Southern California (USC).



Hard work is a cornerstone of Musk’s entrepreneurial ethos. His constant refrain to anyone who inquires on his success is to outwork the competition, where possible, to get that all important edge.



“If somebody else is working 50 hours and you’re working a 100, you’ll get twice as much done in the course of the year as the other company,” he told the audience at USC.



Clearly, the hard work has paid off for Musk who joined the five-man centi-billionaires club; all with a net worth over $100 billion, in August 2020.



Members include Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and veteran tech titan, Bill Gates.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;Given that as a South African, he has managed to conquer the industry he’s in should be an inspiration to us and to Africa, in general. There are many sides to him&#8230; But let us draw inspiration from him because he is a product of the public school system in South Africa.&#8221; &#8211;Fred Khumalo, author and journalist, South Africa</blockquote>



However, it hasn’t been an easy ride to the top. In 2018, Tesla was in dire straits, the company was struggling to build a viable product and was hemorrhaging cash almost daily. Musk had already sunk a bulk of his early fortune in the business, some of which came from the $165 million sale of his stake in PayPal, the online payments pioneer, after his exit as CEO.



Leading the company during that time took a toll. In a very personal interview with The New York Times, Musk revealed that he was losing sleep and had spent most of his birthday working on the factory floor, where he was also spending most of his days and nights. The work had taken over to the point of almost missing Kimbal’s wedding, where he was the best man. A disheveled Musk admitted that while he regretted the havoc it wreaked on his life, he had no regrets about being so determined to pull Tesla from the brink of collapse.



“The worst is over from a Tesla operational standpoint. But from a personal pain standpoint&#8230; the worst is yet to come,” he told The New York Times.



Musk’s passion is evident in almost everything he has done, and in every business he has built. After leaving PayPal, and selling his stake in the company, he used a bulk of the $165 million fortune to found the companies that would make his name – SpaceX and Tesla. Any seasoned entrepreneur would have considered the move a risky one but Musk was quite adamant about his ambitions and making them a reality.



“I think there was like literally one week where I actually worked 120 hours and just didn’t leave the factory. I didn’t even go outside,” Musk told American television news magazine program, 60 Minutes, in 2018.



His intense work ethic has not only worked to transform Tesla but has inspired a number of other young entrepreneurs to build the electric car industry and get rich in the process.



For example, William Li, who founded electric car maker, Nio, in 2014, was 12 times richer in 2020 thanks to his shares in the U.S.-listed carmaker. In fact, he’s now among the world’s 500 richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Chinese entrepreneur, He Xiaopeng, chairman of XPeng Motors, has also seen his wealth jump more than 600%. Overall, fortunes of the handful of people tracked by the Bloomberg index in the electric vehicle industry have gone up by over $140 billion including Musk’s $111 billion surge.



However, far removed from his status on the global billionaire league tables, which have come to form the foundation of his popularity, Musk maintains his very own niche but loyal following, all devoted to his Twitter feed; his preferred mode of communication. Muskians, as they are known, see him as an eclectic superhero figure of the modern age where he is at once a conscientious technology entrepreneur and demi-god.



However, in 2020, following statements made on the impact the Trump administration’s Covid-19 policy responses had on his business, Musk received heavy back- lash from the mainstream and even managed to alienate some of his loyal fans. But all is forgotten now that the South African-born entrepreneur is among the world’s richest men.



While his wealth may be a relentless conversation starter, globally, it’s hard to ignore Musk’s legacy in the business arena. The journey from a quiet, intelligent and passionate young entrepreneur to an influential manufacturing magnate has been driven not just by a belief in hard work but by an ability to settle for dreams beyond the stars.



For generations to come, his place in time will always be confirmed by his commitment to not only conjure up ‘moonshot’ ideas but to actively pursue them; to Mars and back.



&#8211;BY MARIE SHABAYA



Get Your Copy Of FORBES AFRICA <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/product/single-digital-issue-the-billionaires-list-feb-march-2021/">here</a>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-793x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49836" width="285" height="367" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-793x1024.jpg 793w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-232x300.jpg 232w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-768x991.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-1190x1536.jpg 1190w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-1586x2048.jpg 1586w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-300x387.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-600x775.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FA-OFC-2021-Feb_March-scaled.jpg 1983w" sizes="(max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px" /></figure></div>

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Rockets To Riches: The Rise And Rise Of Elon Musk

FRANCE-AFRICA-FORUM

African Of The Year: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

A look at the never-say-die Nigerian film industry’s emerging money-spinning trends.



POPULARLY KNOWN AS Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry is the world’s second-largest producer of commercial cinema, and also accounts for 5% of Nigeria’s GDP. It is estimated that over 2,500 movies are produced each year in Nollywood with the industry employing more than a million people. Ingenuity and resourcefulness have always been a trademark of Nollywood, from homemade movies to ground-breaking blockbusters over the past decade. But the industry is not without its share of controversies. On the one hand, you have the never-say-die attitude of Nigerians combined with the glitzy and glamorous red-carpet events with celebrities attracting multi-million-naira brand endorsements. But underneath, the industry is characterized by a lack of funding and piracy, which has consistently robbed filmmakers of their revenues. But Covid-19 has led to a halt in Nollywood production decimating millions of dollars in earnings for the industry. The pandemic’s arrival has led to producers looking at new ways of staying afloat as well as focusing on higher-quality movies for streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon who are hoping to take a slice of the 200-million content market. FORBES AFRICA spoke with three of the key players in Nollywood to find out about the current state of the industry and what trends will affect its future. 



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<h3 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">‘Nollywood Offers A Gateway To A New Opportunity In Africa’</h3>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">Mo Abudu, CEO, EbonyLife Media</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-703x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48273" width="323" height="470" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-703x1024.jpg 703w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-206x300.jpg 206w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-768x1118.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-1055x1536.jpg 1055w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-1407x2048.jpg 1407w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-300x437.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-600x873.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Mo-Abudu-1-scaled.jpg 1759w" sizes="(max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px" /></figure></div>



Abudu began EbonyLife in 2013 by launching a premium TV channel and in the same year, the company announced its first international partnership with Disney Media Distribution EMEA on the iconic hit series Desperate Housewives, bringing a new take on the series’ darkly comic view of suburbia to African audiences. In 2018, Sony Pictures Television announced a three-year deal with EbonyLife TV, In January this year, AMC Networks (USA) announced its partnership with EbonyLife to produce Nigeria 2099, an Afro-futuristic crime-drama created by EbonyLife and in June, Netflix signed a multi-title deal with EbonyLife to create two original series and multiple branded films and a series. Abudu shares more:



How has Nollywood evolved over the years?



The Nigerian entertainment industry is currently going through a renaissance. While historically, Nigeria has been dependent on oil and agriculture to subsidize its economy, Nollywood is rapidly taking over this role, not just in terms of content creation, but also in terms of distribution within Africa and the rest of the world. It’s inspiring to see more stories out of Nollywood told by Nigerian creators, and using resources found in Nigeria.&nbsp;



As a result, there is an international desire to invest in Nollywood stories, to make investments in productions within the nation’s borders, and hence elevate the quality of output to make it more appealing to a global audience. For example, among the highlights of our partnership with Netflix will be a film adaptation of Death and the King’s Horseman, a play by Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, and a series based on Lola Shoneyin’s best-selling debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. Nigerian entertainment is no longer just for Nigeria, but also the world.



How far can Nollywood go in the global content marketplace?



The new interest in black culture and the questioning of colonialization’s legacy has resulted in international interest in Nollywood. Nollywood can draw upon the rising momentum in the United States and the United Kingdom in particular and offer viewers a wide array of works by black creators. Global streaming services are now offering more curated content to subscribers than ever before. Now, millions of people have access to content from Nollywood. EbonyLife’s first feature film Fifty, the only film selected from Nigeria, and one of only five films from the entire continent of Africa from 238 films selected globally for screening at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival, became the first Nigerian film to stream on Netflix in 2015. Our other film projects licensed by Netflix include The Wedding Party 1 and 2, Chief Daddy, and The Royal Hibiscus Hotel. Recently, Netflix acquired EbonyLife’s most popular drama series: Castle &amp; Castle, Fifty: The Series, Sons of the Caliphate, and On The Real, amongst others.&nbsp;



What are the current trends you are noticing in the content space and how is Nollywood adjusting to those trends? 



Nollywood offers a gateway to a new opportunity in Africa – in light of the recent racial tensions around the world, broadcasters are now more committed to commissioning relevant and authentic content reflecting the lives of global black audiences on an ongoing basis. There is a new desire, in short, for authenticity, or people speaking from their own experiences, telling stories from their unique perspectives. Nigeria has a historic tradition of exhibiting emotional, dramatic, and dynamic, rich content. Nigerian audiences have always been unafraid to see social issues mixed even into otherwise escapist entertainment. New media and the craving for new ideas has made Nollywood creators interested in exploring new formats for storytelling. Nigerian creators are also seeking outside training and resources to produce films that meet high international standards of visual and artistic interest. To meet this demand, EbonyLife is setting up a creative academy to build a bridge to the sub-Saharan African film and television industry, towards a value chain based on international best practices.&nbsp;



How has Covid-19 affected the Nigerian entertainment industry? 



In light of Covid-19, many international film festivals and global conferences have gone online, which has enabled more Nigerian creators to gain access to new audiences through live streams and virtual spaces rather than physical sessions that are more costly to attend. As a result, the online move has opened doors for virtual networking and building opportunities with Nigerian creatives in the industry. The pandemic also forced Nollywood to work differently, to become more technology-driven in a manner that reaches more specific niches, including black audiences all over the world.&nbsp;



There are now more reasons than ever to connect people around the world via the internet. The fact that more people are watching content on the small screen versus movie theaters has, in particular, caused this shift. Despite the halted production and gradual move back with increased health insecurity and insurance costs, interest in film-making remains high in Nigeria. The loss of jobs has balanced with opportunities for innovation. There has been a greater focus on pre-production, story development, writing and post-production work virtually.



<h3 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">‘We Have Stories The World Hasn’t Heard’</h3>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">Omoni Oboli, Actress, Producer and Director</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-746x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48276" width="413" height="567" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-746x1024.jpg 746w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-219x300.jpg 219w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-768x1054.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-1120x1536.jpg 1120w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-1493x2048.jpg 1493w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-300x412.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868-600x823.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Omoni-Oboli-2-scaled-e1602166800868.jpg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 413px) 100vw, 413px" /></figure></div>



Oboli began her career in 1996. Her company, Dioni Visions Entertainment, has produced blockbusters in Nigerian cinema, with such films as Being Mrs Elliott, Wives On Strike and Okafor’s Law which was an official selection at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Her movies are on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Iroko, and other streaming platforms. Her views on the movie business:



How would you describe the current state of the Nigerian entertainment industry?



The Nigerian movie industry needs a major boost to spark the flames that are clearly unwilling to be put out. Unlike other forms of entertainment, movie producers have only the sales and release of their movies to make their money back. With no serious checks and curtailing of the nature of piracy and no aggressive protection of intellectual property, we’re pretty much left to our own individual means of getting our money back from our work.&nbsp;



While all areas of entertainment are touched, I’m more specific about the movie business. We’ve been able to push our products far and wide with little resources, so it’s clear we have what it takes to break the ceiling given the talent that abounds, but without the structured means of having good returns on our investment, it’s hard for so many who are in the industry, especially those who are not at the top of the food chain, to make ends meet. There’s hope, and that’s the hope many hold on to.&nbsp;



What factors would you say have contributed to the global demand for Nollywood?



The first would be the obvious one: migration. With Africans everywhere in the diaspora, our movies, music and brand of comedy, and stage performances, are being demanded by them first, and then by others who see the infectious frenzy around our work by Africans everywhere. Our movies and entertainment bring a nostalgic feeling. The next is our unique stories. We have stories that the world hasn’t heard, or nuances to the same stories that breaks the monotony of the often-recycled stories.&nbsp;



What we may lack in production value, [compared to the likes of Hollywood and Bollywood], we are able to hold our audiences with the storylines, which are different, but resonate with everyone who watches them. Also, with the internet and social media, we can see the cross-cultural advantages that come with the global village and the growing yearning for inclusion and diversity. Whatever the reason, we love what we see with the popularity of our work.&nbsp;



Do you think Nollywood has what it takes to compete in the global content market? 



Sure it does. Nollywood started as the outlier; the great stories (product) with a poor wrapping, but has metamorphosed into the more presentable work we see today, and improving and competing with contemporaries the world over. We may not have arrived where we’re going, but where and what we are right now is far from, and better than, where we used to be. We have the stories, and with new stories to tell, the world has come to appreciate what we’re saying, and with time, has grown to appreciate and celebrate how we’re delivering it. With better returns on our investment, we can see more and more works of great art with each year and each producer pushing the envelope to give our stories more life and present our stories in its raw yet easy-to-watch format that resonates with all audiences. With the growing love the world has for our music, and its expression by us through our movies, we have seen more foreigners beginning to appreciate our candid presentations that are closer to our reality than if they were shot by a foreigner who may have the means to do justice to the production value, yet lose the essence that makes it authentically Nigerian. You can’t separate our stories from our mannerisms and language and culture.



<h3 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">‘The Progress Of Nollywood Is In Leaps And Bounds Now’</h3>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">Richard Mofe-Damijo, Actor and Producer</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833-822x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48275" width="369" height="459" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833-822x1024.jpg 822w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833-241x300.jpg 241w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833-768x956.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833-300x374.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833-600x747.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Richard-Mofe-Damijo-e1602166644833.jpg 853w" sizes="(max-width: 369px) 100vw, 369px" /></figure></div>



Mofe-Damijo, popularly known by the moniker ‘RMD’ is one of the most successful actors in Nollywood. At 59 years old, the veteran actor has starred in over 75 movies and is also a qualified lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property. Over his acting career, which spans a period of 37 years, he has won every best actor award there is as well as is the only actor who has won the prestigious African Movie Academy Awards twice for best actor along with receiving a lifetime achievement award. He is the founder of RMD Productions which produces content for DSTV as well as is currently developing a slate of docu series in Nigeria. He is also starring in a lead role in Netflix’s first original Nigerian series.



How far has Nollywood come over the years?



The progress of Nollywood is in leaps and bounds now and there is a lot of collaboration with other film-making countries in the world. The streaming services have been very kind to us in Nigeria, so Nigerian movies have a very strong presence on the Netflix and Amazon platforms&#8230; So, in terms of impact, they usually say we are the second-largest film production industry in the world or the third, always between Hollywood or Bollywood and the good thing is we are in contention.&nbsp;



Covid-19 has been a major threat to the industry but just like the never-die spirit of Nigeria, we are all back again and making sure we keep producing movies.



What factors have led to the proliferation of Nollywood on the global market?



The authenticity of our stories means we tell our stories in the best way we can. We don’t have access to funds as most Hollywood or Bollywood movies will have. What we do here is like performing bypass surgery with forks and knives because of the limited funds. Technology has improved so we have embraced technology in production. So at least the standard of production has increased significantly. This has accounted for the big box office movies we have and created the cinema-going culture.&nbsp;



Nigerians are also getting cast in international movies now and we have more or less affected the whole of the West African region and African continent and a lot of them are now also looking inward to tell their own stories. Nigerians in the diaspora are constantly looking for ways to connect back home so our movies have become a tool for them to connect. The reason Netflix is here is because they know we can compete; our films are beginning to speak for themselves.



What new trends are shaping the stories being told in Nollywood?



Producers are looking to get their movies to the point where we can get our movies to be judged for international awards now and this means we are going to get more authentic stories from Nigeria.&nbsp;



This is something that will help boost our movies globally.

Screenshot 2020-10-08 at 16.13.58

The Blockbuster Named NOLLYWOOD

Opening Day Of The World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017

A NEW CAPITALISM: Views From The Top

As Africa’s biggest economy marks its diamond jubilee, there are mixed views for its post-pandemic recovery forecast. But there is reason to be hopeful about the hyper-competitiveness and resilience of the country’s middle class and youth through the fog of uncertainty.



OCTOBER IS CELEBRATION SEASON IN NIGERIA. A historic excuse for some dining, sober reflection, and bouts of national moaning.  



As Africa’s largest economy by GDP marks her diamond jubilee independence anniversary on October 1, the theatrics of the political class, the floundering economy, and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the polity occupy the mind of most Nigerians.



Every October, Nigerians unite to engage in the pyrrhic ritual of collective nostalgia and wishful thinking. They embed their hopes, patriotic aspirations, pains and perforated potential in long speeches. This October, they will also ponder the fate of their personal and collective economy in the emerging post Covid-19 world.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Some 42% of employed Nigerians surveyed had lost their jobs during the pandemic, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.&nbsp;



By July 2020, inflation had accelerated to 13%, the highest in 27 months. The pandemic showcased Nigeria’s (and also sub-Saharan Africa’s) underinvestment in her public infrastructure, housing, education and healthcare sectors.



&nbsp;Nigeria’s physician-to-patient ratio is four doctors per 10,000 patients, according to World Health Organization data. Statistically, a third of Nigerians born in 1960 may have already died.&nbsp;



The country has the world’s third-lowest life expectancy rate of 55 years, only better than Central African Republic (54) and Sierra Leone (53), according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). War-torn Afghanistan has 65 years, Somalia, 58 and Syria, 73.&nbsp;



As this edition of FORBES AFRICA goes to press, over 56,478 Nigerians have been infected with the coronavirus, with 1,008 deaths, according to the website of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).&nbsp;



The actual impact of the disease may be significantly more.



&nbsp;“This year is a lost year,” Ade Ayeyemi, a Nigerian and Group CEO of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, told me in July, from his Lome, Togo base.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“From an economic and investment mobilization perspective, 2020 has been lost… we must now begin to focus on optimizing resources and taking advantage of the situation.” </blockquote>



Even before the lockdown, Nigerians were grappling with endemic unemployment and brain drain, the Boko Haram insurgency in the north of the country, disgust and semi-indifference to nepotism, religious intolerance, corruption, productivity hiccups and local and foreign currency constipation.&nbsp;



When Covid-19 arrived, the aviation, transport, retail, entertainment and hospitality services were hit. Income for artisans, street traders, event venues, cooks, cleaners, taxis, cab-hailing operators, beauty salons and barber shops dried up.&nbsp;



A sub-economy driven by Covid-19 relief initiatives emerged from the doldrums of the economy. The government set up a Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 to coordinate relief efforts nationwide. The International Monetary Fund approved a $3.4 billion Rapid Financing Instrument for Nigeria in April. Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja also received a $104 billion World Bank Covid-19 support facility. The African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and a plethora of multilateral organizations, private and state-owned enterprises, high net worth individuals, local and international non-profits including the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Jack Ma Foundation and Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation all contributed to federal and state Covid-19 relief funds.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In April, the private sector-led Coalition Against Covid-18 (CACOVID) announced it would help set up isolation centers in Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Borno and Enugu states and Abuja. It had also ordered for 250,000 supplies of test kits and 150,000 extraction kits to fast-track testing.&nbsp;



Sadly, the mega-donations and noble plans have had little impact on society.&nbsp;



“For a country of nearly 200 million, only around 350,000 persons have been tested,” admitted Dr Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the PTF. This is way below the 1% of the population test target set by the government. Aliyu spoke on the live Television Continental program Your View, broadcast on August 17.&nbsp;



Curbing communal infection remains a key priority. But enforcing compliance for face-covering, social distancing measures and city-wide lockdowns has been difficult in a country where livelihoods depend on daily incomes.&nbsp;



Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, an infectious disease epidemiologist and director general of the NCDC, says the pandemic is an excellent opportunity to upgrade health infrastructure nationwide and advocates “a bottom-up approach to fixing state healthcare with stakeholders from the public and private health industry”.



 Recalling the country’s proven record of eradicating polio and containing the spread of the Ebola viral disease in 2014, Ihekweazu told reporters during a PTF briefing in Abuja in August: “The NCDC is working hard to ensure Nigerians have access to the Covid-19 vaccine when available. We are working with the African Union through the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a vaccine strategy to ensure global vaccine access.”



Unlocking ‘the new normal’ 



Sixty years after its political independence from British colonial rule and barely 10 years to the 2030 checkpoint of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the ‘Nigerian project’ appears to be sprinting ahead on either of two lanes: depending on who is speaking, Nigerians are either experiencing a new nadir of hope or they are on the verge of activating and unleashing their locked-in potential.&nbsp;



“Nothing is normal anymore in this topsy-turvy economy,” Kayode Abayomi, a financial analyst and stockbroker-turned-agri-preneur told me in July, as government authorities began to ease the nationwide lockdown. “No doubt the coronavirus introduced a fresh set of problems but it has been six decades of struggling, stagnation and economic difficulties occasioned by systemic challenges of corruption and widening income disparity. This must be one of the toughest places for businesses to thrive.”



Despite a 4.6% per annum growth in the country’s urban population, upper middle-class earnings continue to fall in real terms. The national currency, the Naira, has depreciated and the value forecast for 2021 is not a happy story, as manufacturers struggle to satisfy local demand.



&nbsp;&nbsp;While Ecobank’s Ayeyemi believes the post-Covid-19 era offers Nigerian (and African) businesses and public institutions an excellent opportunity to create new business models and adopt new technologies, the sentiment on the streets of Abuja, Abakaliki, Dutse, Jos, Lagos and Port Harcourt is not so optimistic. Business folks and startups say commercial plans are constantly hobbled by regulatory and structural inefficiencies.&nbsp;



The July 2020 Business Expectations Survey of 1,050 businesses conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria revealed widespread pessimism on the macro economy. Firms identified insufficient power supply, competition, unfavorable economic climate, financial problems, high interest rate, unclear economic laws, unfavorable political climate, insufficient demand, access to credit and lack of equipment as major factors constraining business activity.



&nbsp;Economists and business folks say transparent, business-friendly regulations and tax harmonization would help, for starters.&nbsp;



Thankfully, Ayeyemi’s confidence in the efficacy of technology is already being tested by proactive organizations and the justice delivery system nationwide, including the Lagos State judiciary which has begun the gradual migration to digital platforms.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



With over 60 million Nigerians working from home, helping to boost their fortunes, it’s about time big tech – Skype, Zoom, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, eBay, Alibaba et al –pays a lot more attention to the world’s largest concentration of black enterprise.&nbsp;



To put things in context. Africa experienced a 10% drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in 2019 to $45 billion, according to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2020, which also forecast that FDI inflows to the continent will fall in 2020 by between 25% to 40% on account of Covid-19.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But dampened demand for Africa’s commodities, including Nigeria’s crude oil mainstay, meant investments flows to the region was already on the decline before the crisis.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Beyond the volatile oil and gas sector, I expect demand for global IT outsourcing to Nigeria to pick up next year. The key risks remain the government’s inability to curb insecurity and hyperinflation. This intensifies brain drain which is upsetting the local IT ecosystem,” Chidi Ifediora, the CEO of Infospeq Solutions, an IT solutions and services company, told me.&nbsp;



Ifediora points out that as virtual reality activities become mainstream, the aspirational character and resilience of the middle class and Nigerian youth will shine through the fog of uncertainty and may actually be gradually overriding the systemic issues associated with the harsh economic environment faster than it seems. “Suddenly, as you can see, the youth voice is growing and everyone is hanging out online – for webinars, online meetings, parties, weddings, even funerals.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Indeed, there is growing acceptance of pro-active gender politics and the role of the not-so-well-off youth in Nigerian society – with many youth becoming speakers and key opinion-formers online. This development has ushered in a new season of social media discourse in Nigeria.&nbsp;&nbsp;



For a class and status-conscious society like Nigeria, the pandemic has further democratized online and social media culture. The fact that the contagious virus has no regard for ethnicity or power was also a balm of sorts for many Nigerians. The business and military elite, members of the political establishment including the Presidency, the middle class and those at the ‘bottom of the social pyramid’ were not spared the wrath of the disease.



The rat race and a resilient economy 



How do you recover from a global pandemic in an already troubled domestic economy?&nbsp;



A win-win partnership between foreign capital and local knowledge and expertise is required in Nigeria’s post-Covid-19 economy, says Mike Ikpoki, CEO of Africa Context Advisory Partners, an Africa entry and growth advisory firm.&nbsp;



Ikpoki, who once managed the Ghana and Nigeria subsidiaries of MTN, a pan-African mobile telephone company, reckons that more home-grown businesses with deep local expertise and much more nuanced understanding of consumer needs will be much better-positioned to serve local markets. Besides, “the seeming lethargy of FDI into Africa at this time presents an auspicious opportunity for stimulating local domestic investments to grow local companies more adept to the economic realities of the time”.



He, however, warns that henceforth, the corporate and communal threshold for resilience and the proverbial rat race will take on a new meaning in Africa’s most populous nation.&nbsp;



“Nigeria’s population and massive youth market makes the country a very dynamic and hyper-competitive environment,” he says.&nbsp;



Weyinmi Egbe, a Nigerian IT expert and Oracle’s Alliance and Channel Leader for Africa, argues: “In order to compete effectively in the emerging global economy, Nigeria’s public sector institutions need to lead the drive for the adoption of cloud computing and data analytics technologies to drive up efficiencies and productivity, and enable e-government solutions. All of these will very much depend on political will and altruistic public sector reforms.”&nbsp;



“The pandemic has exposed the fragility of global value chains and shown both the positive and negative sides of globalization. Markets and nations are extremely interdependent on one another. The aftermath of the crisis offers Africa’s business and policy leaders an opportunity to come up with a renewed and more focused agenda for their strategic economic ties with themselves and the rest of the world,” opines Kenneth Amaeshi, a professor of Business and Sustainable Development at the University of Edinburgh Business School.&nbsp;



Like the rest of Africa, Nigeria’s dreams of regional economic connectivity, and continental prosperity may have been delayed by the virus outbreak.&nbsp;



Notwithstanding this delay, Angela Emuwa, Chairman of Punch newspapers, says:



 “Our 60th independence anniversary offers stakeholders and brand-owners a good opportunity to project their corporate responsibility and social values. We need to nurture ourselves into becoming an advanced, industrialized, inclusive, and humane society. It shouldn’t always be about promoting sales.”



-By Muyiwa Moyela

Rear View Of Man Standing In Farm

A Nadir Of Hope In ‘The New Normal’?

DSC_2550

The New Tycoons Ready For The Next Normal

In 1993, Dr James Mwangi walked away from a promising career at one of Kenya’s largest banks, to join the Equity Building Society. Three decades on, few could have predicted his entrepreneurial leadership would work to transform not just Equity but the financial services of the region. FORBES AFRICA meets the man behind East Africa’s billion-dollar banking empire.



Dr James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO of Kenya’s Equity Group, is a captivating figure. His trademark smile and down-to-earth demeanour set him apart from the traditional banker. But Mwangi isn’t your run-of-the-mill chief executive. His journey to the C-suite has been fuelled by sheer resolve, belligerent bravado, and an uncanny concern for his customers.



It’s hard to believe that the force behind East Africa’s pioneering billion-dollar banking brand grew up in circumstances far removed in rural Nyagatugu, a tiny village flanking the Aberdare mountains in central Kenya.



“I am a product of my upbringing [and] it has [had] a significant influence on how I see things today&#8230; [but] my village of Nyagatugu was not enough to say that I conquered Africa,” declares Mwangi from his office at Equity’s corporate headquarters in Upperhill, Nairobi’s swanky business district, in an interview with FORBES AFRICA in July.



The banker describes his childhood as humble, dignified but fraught with difficulty. Born in 1962 to peasant farmers, Mwangi’s parents had no formal education and lived apart from what he calls the ‘monetary society’. As a boy, he had never met anyone who owned a bank account or even fathomed being served by any of the country’s banks which, at the time, only catered to a privileged few.



“It was a simple life. As boys, we grazed cows and goats&#8230; we hunted wild animals like rabbits. Growing up, we didn’t know [if] people were ‘well-off’ or [if] people were ‘poor’, we were all equals. [As a community], we built houses together, tilled the land together, and even socialized together at village dances,” he reminisces.



While it may seem contradictory, it was this deeply communal atmosphere that inspired the business that Mwangi built.



Founded in 1984, Equity did not start its commercial life as a bank but as a mutual society trading as the Equity Building Society (EBS). Back then, as Kenya was forging a new national identity, most banks were hesitant to provide its vast population with even the most basic financial services. As an answer, indigenous building societies took root. However, while buffeted by good intention, these fledgling financial institutions were poorly run, leading many to ruin.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I realized that there is no wealth without work! Entrepreneurship means folding up your sleeves and working. Profit is the reward.&#8221;</blockquote>



In the 1970s, while these societies were emerging, life’s challenges had already begun to shape the young Mwangi. Shortly after his birth, his family had suffered a major tragedy with the untimely death of his father. His mother, Grace Wairimu, was not only widowed but was left with seven children to raise on a meager income.



Never having gone to school herself, Mwangi’s mother, who was an anchor throughout his life, was adamant that all her children, including her daughters, would study; a controversial decision at the time. And she was not prepared to compromise.



To achieve this dream, Wairimu imposed a strict code of discipline in her household whilst encouraging an entrepreneurial fervor in her children. The family sold milk, tea, charcoal, and fruits to stay afloat. It was an important training ground for the young Mwangi.



“We were vending to eke out a living, to pay school fees, and to feed the family. My instinct for commerce [came] from [there]&#8230; I realized that there is no wealth without work! Entrepreneurship means folding up your sleeves and working. Profit is the reward,” he explains.



Nyagatugu was where Mwangi really cut his teeth in business. Then, owing to his academic talent, he had the opportunity to study the theory that governed his early entrepreneurial experiences, on scholarship, at the University of Nairobi several years later.



“Taking milk to the village restaurant or selling fruits to the village middleman, who would take them to [the market] in Nairobi, introduced me to the concept of ‘supply chains’. I realized that I was the ‘primary producer’ with my mother, the ‘middleman’ dealt with logistics, and then an ‘aggregator’, who was our face in the marketplace, played on volume and made more money than everyone else. The owner of the shop received [goods] from the ‘aggregator’ and sold them to ‘consumers’, through the ‘brand’ of his shop. I [finally] understood how the value created [in the supply chain] was shared.”



After university, Mwangi began his career as an auditor with Ernst &amp; Young in Nairobi. Four years later, he moved to the now-defunct Trade Bank Group. Then an innovative financial services firm, founded in 1985, it quickly gained prominence as Kenya’s first attempt at mass-market banking.



Over a brief career at the bank, he climbed the ranks from teller to Group Financial Controller.



However, just as things were looking up, a familiar face came calling. In 1993, the EBS was in trouble, with debt on its books. Founder and Chairman, Dr Peter Munga, had known Mwangi as a boy and was convinced that the young banker was his only hope. By then, Equity had been declared insolvent and was facing dissolution.



“We came from the same village where I had developed the reputation of a ‘brilliant boy’. I was the first boy [from Nyagatugu] to get a university degree. I was also a youth leader in the church. In Nairobi, I had risen up to be a director at Trade Bank by the age of 28 [where] I had a reputation for being a sharp young man who was good at analytics and bold decision-making. All of that combined to package me, in the eyes of Dr Munga (and other EBS executives), as a credible, reliable person,” he says.



Munga’s confidence was not misplaced. Eager to oblige, 31-year-old Mwangi left his job at Trade Bank to take on a role as Director of Strategy at the stagnating society.



“I had gone with [EBS executives] to Central Bank because they had been condemned with closure. Suddenly, the Governor looks at me, as I try to plead their case for more time, and he says [to me], ‘if it was you who was talking of turnaround, then I would give you the opportunity’. I was between a rock and a hard place; if I hadn’t made the sacrifice to join them, then they would [have had] to close,” recalls Mwangi.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I had a singular mind to build a bank for my mother who [I saw] bury savings under her mattress.&#8221;</blockquote>



So, in a seemingly fool-hardy move, the young banker agreed to take on mounting debt, unpaid salaries, dwindling membership, and declining morale at Equity. He even remortgaged his own house to inject some desperately needed cash into the business, inextricably linking his fate, and hard-won reputation, with that of the beleaguered building society.



&nbsp;Given a carte blanche to transform the business and with no option of turning back, Mwangi was determined to meet his mandate.



“I had made the decision from an emotional aspect [and] I didn’t want to fail them. But I hadn’t realized that Equity was in [such] a bad state. It had not done any [debt] reconciliation, it had not published accounts for three years, and it had not had a board meeting for [over] two years. With everything at stake, it was only my entrepreneurial skill that would [eventually] get us out of insolvency.”



Mwangi’s reforms were more an attempt at reinvention rather than resuscitation. He began by re-training the organization’s remaining staff in the ethos that would later come to define them – customer care.



“We didn’t have money&#8230; the currency that created Equity was a passion to please the customer. I had a very small staff, none of whom had gone beyond Form 4 [Grade 10]. They didn’t have the skills but they had enthusiasm. We didn’t [even] have a meaningful product so we had to give our clients an experience that they had never had anywhere else and that they were willing to pay for,” he continues.



According to a Lagos Business School case study, Mwangi ensured that, in this way, his 12,000 customers were accorded with the dignity they deserved, breathing new life into the institution. This had an impact on both sides of the counter. Customers felt valued and continued to patronize the building society. On their side, staff felt confident and empowered even whilst working long hours.



&nbsp;In 1997, things looked promising. Equity had cleared its debts, encouraging staff and customers to begin purchasing shares in the company. This time around, Mwangi made sure that records were meticulously kept.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“We didn’t have money&#8230; the currency that created Equity was a passion to please the customer.&#8221;</blockquote>



According to its website, Equity’s client accounts had grown exponentially from 32,000, in 1997, to 482,000 by 2005. This exemplary track record allowed Mwangi to raise capital from the European Union (EU), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and other institutional lenders to introduce computing technology to the building society, paving way for his ambitious expansion plans.



“Transaction times dropped from 30 minutes to five, queues disappeared, the process, including signatures and so on, was automated. Equity was now on a rapid, but solid, growth path,” notes Mwangi in a 2012 interview to African Business.



Steady growth made the building society’s transition to Equity Bank, in August 2004, possible. Two years later, the bank listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Bolstered by further investment, Equity made its first foray into the region, listing on the Uganda Securities Exchange, as EBL in 2009.



Within five years, the bank was operating subsidiaries in Rwanda, Tanzania, and was among the first to open branches in South Sudan, Africa’s youngest country. By 2019, the bank had transformed, yet again, becoming Equity Group Holdings, with customers across East Africa.



In 2020, three decades after Mwangi made his debut, the Equity Group boasted a market capitalization of KES128.1 billion (approx. $1.3 billion) making it the largest banking outfit in East Africa, out-rivalling its closest competitors.



Equity’s tremendous transformation is due, in large part, to what is now known as ‘The Mwangi Model’. Thanks to this ground-breaking framework, Mwangi has been able to introduce a bulk of East Africa’s low-income population to the financial services sector. It is a model of inclusion that thrives on high volumes, low margins, and mass-market appeal.



“I realized [after leaving Trade Bank] that it was not the bank of the common man. My mother would have never been able to [open] an account there. Nobody in my village would have qualified for an account either. In fact, not even [EBS Founder] Dr Peter Munga would have qualified. I had a singular mind to build a bank for my mother who [I saw] bury savings under her mattress,” reveals Mwangi.



At the time, this drive to serve the so-called ‘unbankable’ population had only been attempted once before at the Grameen Bank founded in 1984 by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. However, in Kenya, the model was risky, untested, and needed modifying.



“To be honest, [in 1993] I didn’t have a very good view of what Muhammad Yunus was doing. His [main product] was group lending, Equity started out with individual lending. I simply wanted to remove the barriers for people, like my mother, in opening bank accounts. We could do better than a mattress!”



This revolutionary perspective blew open the Kenyan banking sector. By eliminating monthly ledger fees, minimum balance requirements, and easing withdrawal limits, Equity ended up engineering a product that it could bank on.



By 2000, Mwangi says, Equity began signing on an average of 100 new clients per day. Going directly to its customers, initially, in weekly marketing campaigns in rural towns and villages, the bank eventually developed a network of third-party ‘banking agents’ to provide services across Kenya, even in the most far-flung corners.



Today, with mobile banking, Equity’s customers benefit from yet more convenience with access anywhere, any time, and at a minimal cost.



As a result, Mwangi’s entrepreneurial reward has extended far beyond profit. The ‘Mwangi Model’ has been recognized and analysed in case studies at some of the world’s most prestigious business schools including Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, and the Lagos Business School.



He is also the holder of numerous honorary degrees and the winner of countless awards for his commercial prowess. The first, and most memorable, he says, was the ‘Global Vision Award’, which Mwangi won alongside fellow micro-finance trailblazer, Muhammad Yunus, at the 2007 G8 Summit.



In 2012, after clinching the title of FORBES AFRICA ‘Person of the Year’, the Kenyan banker triumphed over 58 global business leaders to become the first African ever to be crowned Ernst &amp; Young’s ‘World Entrepreneur of the Year’ in Monaco.



Mwangi, as Founding Chairman of the Equity Group Foundation (EGF), is also a prolific philanthropist. In May this year, EGF, with the Mastercard Foundation, pledged KES1.1 billion ($10.3 million), to Kenya’s Covid-19 response and to provide personal protective equipment to frontline medical staff in public hospitals. A portion of the endowment, KES300 million ($2.8 million), was a personal donation from the Mwangi family. Since March, the banker has been a member of the Covid-19 Emergency Fund Committee, a 10-member board peopled by the country’s most accomplished private sector leaders, convened by President Uhuru Kenyatta.



A key feature of the ‘Mwangi Model’ is its resilience which the current pandemic is putting to the test. In June, Equity saw its acquisition plans, through the highly-anticipated Altas Mara deal, in Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia, halted. Instead, Mwangi announced that the Group was doubling down and would take a more conservative approach to see through the crisis. In an unprecedented move, shareholder dividend payments were also delayed to safeguard liquidity reserves.



“Covid-19 has been a turning point. We have analysed over 1,200 years of data, starting with the bubonic plague, to understand this [Covid-19] pandemic. The only way we can survive this is if [our] business is agile and resilient enough to navigate these times.”



While much is still uncertain, the pandemic has had some positives for Mwangi, a proud husband and family man.



“I am not a very outgoing character so ‘working from home’ has been very exciting for me. I’ve been able to spend more time with my family, which is important for me,” he says.



On another high note, Mwangi jests that Covid-19’s most visible impact has not been on his balance sheet but his waistline.



“I have been making the best of this crisis. Instead of 30 minutes, I am now able to put in at least two and a half hours at the gym. When I look at myself [in the mirror], my body is looking much better!”



Despite the present tumult, Mwangi insists that the fundamentals remain unchanged and only the things that matter get him up, at 3AM, to start his day.



“Seeing a smile in people’s lives still makes me happy. I’ve lived a full life and it’s humbling to know that the child my mother raised has not changed and [with the values she taught me] I’m able to share what I have with others. Thirty years later, it’s been a journey of changing one life at a time.”&nbsp;



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James Mwangi’s 10 Tips For Entrepreneurs During Covid-19



1. Stick and focus on purpose, use essence to filter dos and don’ts.



2. Protect the public license. Society will never forget the side or position you took when you had the chance.



3. Support the supply and value chain and recover. Bend backwards to accommodate your business’ unusual circumstances.



4. Adopt a shared prosperity model using social and impact investing.



5. Adapt to ‘the new normal’. Be aware Covid-19 might have irreversibly changed your world in terms of resource reallocation, priorities, tastes and preferences.



6. Be part of the solution to our shared global challenges in humanity, health, and livelihoods. Don’t run away from the reality your customers are facing.



7. Focus on the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution like digitization, big data, technology and innovation.



8. Adopt an appropriate leadership style for these uncertain times. Provide visibility, hope and answers to concerns and when carrying your followers along with you.



9. Preserve cash, liquidity, and capital reserves for the long haul.



10. It is all about people: staff, customers, society and humanity.



– By Marie Shabaya

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The People’s Banker: ‘Entrepreneurship Means Folding Up Your Sleeves And Working’

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