Charles Oronsaye started out with a career in law and music before the fashion business, and is now painstakingly growing his brand to craft couture for all Africans.  



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Charles Oronsaye chose fashion as a career not because he was passionate about it, but simply because he didn’t want to become a lawyer. A rebel since his early years, he tried his hand at various professions, including music. 



“I wanted to prove to my parents that I was not a good for nothing,” says Oronsaye. 



And that is exactly what he did. His original dream was to study in Malaysia but due to his parents’ break-up, an outcome of financial misfortune, Oronsaye had to find other ways to make ends meet.



“My dad wanted me to go into the sciences but I never liked it because I was more interested in the arts. My dad said if I was going to the arts, I should go to the apex, which is why I studied law at the University of Benin. I wanted to explore three things: music, law and computer science.” 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I saved a little and with my uncle&#8217;s money, I decided I was going to start a fashion business, but I didn&#8217;t know how.</blockquote>



Music turned out to be his first love. Oronsaye created his
alter ego, Tony Cream, and began taking part in music competitions and even got
shortlisted as a finalist to be an MTV video jockey. The popularity he gained
from his creative endeavors landed him a gig on the local radio station where
he began to leverage his position as an intern to make ends meet while still
pursuing a law degree at university. 



“I got exploited on the radio. I was not getting paid because there was a culture that you don’t get paid as an intern and I worked there for two years without being paid,” says Oronsaye. 



But what he lost in earnings, he gained in a strong fan
following. With an audience of about 5,000 followers on Blackberry Messenger at
the time, Oronsaye decided to monetize his platform. His opportunity came when
his uncle gave him N100,000 ($276) to complete his final year at university.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/10/02/owning-the-african-narrative/">Owning The African Narrative</a>



“Growing up, I still had a sense of fashion. I could tweak everything I saw to my style and people would love it. I understood early that almost all ideas are not original. I saved a little and with my uncle’s money, I decided I was going to start a fashion business, but I didn’t know how.”



The plan was simple. Oronsaye noticed there was a need for
personalization in the fashion industry. He knew that fueled by social media
and the Generation Z effect, luxury was rapidly becoming not about what you
have, but who you are, and all that helps you project that image. 



Buyers in 2010 no longer wanted monogrammed collections of
expensive things, but instead, unique pieces that offered them exclusivity.
Thus, Tony Cream Fashion was born. Oronsaye’s idea was thus: “So, I will go to
the market and ask ‘who is the best person here’, and I say ‘this is my idea,
can you do this for me’ and they say ‘ok’. I would ask ‘how much will they
charge and I will double the price on the one condition, that ‘you will train
me also’.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="637" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-1024x637.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42435" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-1024x637.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-300x187.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-600x373.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-1536x955.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



With over 5,000 contacts, Oronsaye had no need for a physical store. He would simply take the photos of his new creations and post them online, and the orders would come thick and fast.



“I started making money and kept developing from the online
base to real-time base. People began to know me but people needed to have a
brick-and-mortar place where they could find me. I couldn’t do it in Benin so I
needed to go to a place where I could flourish, so I moved to Lagos,” says
Oronsaye.



Lagos is currently one of the most exciting fashion
destinations in Africa, with the likes of Michelle Obama, Solange, Beyoncé and
Lupita Nyong’o all supporting Nigerian designers. 



To thrive in this competitive environment, Oronsaye had to
create a bigger vision. And Africana Couture was born.



“So, I took my iPad and my [photo] collection that I shot myself, and I would go to luxury hotels like Sheraton and Oriental, and I would approach everybody I met that I felt was my ideal client. When I approached them, I would say ‘hey, this is what I make’. Of every ten people, five would give me their cards and three would order and maybe two or one out of empathy, would make an advance payment to just support me.”



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2019/10/31/conscious-fashion-so-much-more-you-can-do-with-discarded-clothes/">Conscious Fashion: ‘So Much More You Can Do With Discarded Clothes’</a>



His formula worked and soon, people began to talk about Oronsaye’s products. The business, which began on Blackberry Messenger, is today on course to become an established Nigerian fashion brand with the opening of its flagship retail store in Abuja.



“We are launching our Africana X which will be the Africana experience store. Because couture is quite expensive, I built a brand of kaftan that’s more affordable but without the same level of detailing&#8230; The goal is to build stores across Africa and change the narrative, which is clothes for Africans by Africans,” says Oronsaye. 



Pieces are from $400 for a bespoke kaftan and Oronsaye has
added new creations including an innerwear line as well as his own fabrics. But
the journey has not been easy. 



Like many industries in Nigeria, Oronsaye is plagued by the
power crisis as well as a lack of technical knowhow in the sector and negative
consumer behavior.



“The average African will give value to Gucci and Zara
because they come from overseas but then when it comes to you, because they can
see your label, they begin to devalue you.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="803" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-803x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42436" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-803x1024.jpg 803w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-300x382.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-600x765.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-235x300.jpg 235w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-768x979.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-1205x1536.jpg 1205w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1.jpg 1506w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 803px) 100vw, 803px" /></figure>



In spite of all these challenges, Oronsaye is more
determined to provide quality products with a global vision.



“Africana means Africa is beyond the jungle of lions and
mountains. “Africa is a spirit. I chose Africana because I have a vision to
clothe Africa in the long run.”&nbsp;

Photo Credit George Okoro1

Haute And Happening

“There is no greater asset to Africa than its youth,” a statement that has been repeatedly proclaimed, but the continent still has a long way to go. Despite robust economic growth over the past two decades, a 1 percent increase in growth between 2000–14 was associated with only 0.41 percent growth in employment. This figure suggests that employment stood at less than 1.8 percent a year, far below the nearly 3 percent annual growth in the labor force. If this trend continues, 100 million people will join the multitudes of the unemployed in Africa by 2030.



With this in mind, researchers, youth representatives, business leaders,
and policymakers have joined over 350 stakeholders in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt,
to significantly move the needle on youth empowerment.&nbsp; 



The annual African Economic Conference (AEC), is jointly
organized by the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa
and the United Nations Development Programme, to discuss pertinent issues
affecting the continent. 



The 2019 AEC is held in Egypt and hosted by the
Bank on the theme; “Jobs, entrepreneurship and capacity development for African
youth” and runs from 2-4 December.



Turning the youth bulge into opportunities has been
the focus of the African Development Bank’s game-changing approach to job
creation, entrepreneurship, and capacity development. In recognition of the crucial
role that entrepreneurship plays in the creation of high-quality jobs, the Bank
developed its Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Strategy&nbsp;(2016-2025). The
Strategy aims to create 25 million jobs for African youth over the next decade as
well as equipping 50 million youth with a mix of hard and soft skills to
increase their employability and their entrepreneurial success rate. 



The impact is already being felt. Since its launch
in 2016, over $20 billion has been invested by the Bank across 318 projects.
These investments are directly making a difference in the African youth skills,
entrepreneurship, business development, and job creation.



In parallel and working closely with its partners,
the Bank is helping strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems in Africa. &nbsp;The flagship Youth Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund&nbsp;(YEI MDTF) program provides&nbsp;interventions
that equip the African youth, women-led start-ups, and micro, small, and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) with skills and financial support to run bankable
businesses. 



The program also assists regional member countries (RMCs)
in their implementation of economic and social reforms toward job creation. 



In just one short year, the Trust Fund’s resources leapfrogged
from USD4.4 million (in 2017) to almost USD40 million (in 2018). By providing
technical assistance through enterprise support organizations and financial
institutions, the Fund is anticipated to reach more than 480 youth-led startups
in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, and Zimbabwe.



The Bank has also been very active on the education
front, supporting higher education institutions to deliver innovative training
curricula that are adapted to the changing demand of the labor market and the private
sector. &nbsp;Academic incubators—also known
as innovation centers of excellence, have been established. 



One great example of success is the &nbsp;African Institutions of Science and Technology
(AIST) Program, whose mission is to deliver quality postgraduate education and
build collaborative research capacity in various fields of Science,
Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI). With funding from the Bank, a
total of 1,477 PhD and MSc students have graduated, out of which 676 are women.
Additionally, a total of 35 partnerships have been brokered with the private
sector to enhance the quality and relevance of research.



Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has
also been acknowledged by the Bank as one of the main drivers of human capital
development alongside enhanced basic education that generates knowledge and
skills more broadly. As such, the Bank’s TVET project in Tanzania, has bolstered
TVET and teacher education with an investment amounting to $52 million. The
expected outputs include expanded infrastructure of 13 institutions targeting
about 8,000 trainees, expanded and extensive use of ICT in instruction at 53
institutions, and increased capacity for teaching, policy formulation, planning,
and quality assurance.



The insights and thoughts provided by other African
stakeholders, youth representatives, and political leaders on the debate on
youth jobs, skills, and entrepreneurship capacities during the AEC 2019 are
immensely important in helping the continent move forward. 



Now, more than ever, we must listen to the voices of the African youth.



&#8211; Hanan Morsy, Director, Macroeconomic Forecasting and Research at the African Development Bank Group.

WhatsApp Image 2019-11-30 at 07.51.13

Op-Ed: Fostering Jobs, Entrepreneurship, And Capacity Development For African Youth: The Time For Disruption Is Now!

As part of FORBES AFRICA’s ongoing eighth anniversary celebrations, we present a CEO Rhetorical Analysis by Anahita Negarandeh, a Harvard University Extension School student, on FORBES AFRICA’s founder and publisher, Rakesh Wahi. The CEO Rhetorical Analysis researches and analyzes the rhetoric — the effective messaging or speech — of a CEO and global business leader. The values chosen to explore in the CEO’s rhetoric are a key part of this article.



This
rhetorical analysis examines the messaging of Rakesh Wahi, Founder of CNBC
Africa and FORBES AFRICA. By consulting with approximately 10 executives from
Wahi’s global team, this rhetoric examines four of his leadership values such
as courage and determination, collaboration, passion for education, and
equality. 



Courage and determination 



Wahi
is a well-respected global businessman based in Dubai and South Africa who has
been involved with approximately 20 corporate development projects. He
continues to grow his establishments in more than 25 offices around the world.
As a leader in media, IT, telecoms, and education, Wahi has built companies in
22 countries, employing over 1,000 employees. Prior to moving to the UAE, Wahi
served in the Indian Armed Forces for approximately nine years and was awarded
the Vishisht Seva Medal by the President of India in 1985 for distinguished
services to the country in peacetime. During his army service, at age 23, he
was part of India’s second base establishment in Antarctica where a near-death
experience changed his life. 



“But I realized at that age that life is not something you take for granted, therefore, whatever you want in this world, you have to set out to achieve it. At the end of the day, you are either there or not there; if you are not there, and if there are unfulfilled dreams, they will always be unfulfilled.” (Wahi) 



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2016/10/01/5-minutes-rakesh-wahi/">5 Minutes With Rakesh Wahi</a>



Wahi’s
executive team members, who have known him for approximately 20-30 years,
believe this statement. Based on four personal interviews conducted for the
purpose of this analysis with Wahi’s global leadership team, Wahi “lives this
statement in his everyday life” (Martin). Many acknowledged that he is continuously
determined to fulfil his dreams. Lars Jeppesen, Wahi’s Co-Founder of Tech One
Global, states that “Wahi dreams and then puts all efforts to pursue the
dreams… he is still building universities, creating new businesses, and pursues
his dreams” (Jeppesen). Wahi is known to thrive on challenges and never gives
up on achieving his goals even when faced with obstacles and challenges. 



A
leader’s personal life experiences and adversities play a major role in one’s
values and ethics. In Wahi’s case, facing death at a young age motivated him to
pursue his dreams to become realities. This is an admirable value for
entrepreneurs, especially the younger generation. As a role model, Wahi teaches
them to never give up despite challenges. 



Collaboration &amp; Importance of People 



Wahi
has learned valuable business lessons from his experience in the army, most
importantly, the core lesson taught in the military about the importance of people
and looking after them. His 2016 autobiography, Be a Lion, dedicated a section to The Importance of People.
Books have had a great impact on Wahi, specifically the philosophy of reason
from Ayn Rand while he was fighting for his life from the military
life-threatening incident. As an advocate in the influence of others, he
reiterates in his book, “That it is difficult to achieve anything without the
involvement, commitment, loyalty, and assistance of others. When you come
across a person with whom you can see a future, you must grasp the opportunity
and mutually make the most of it.” (Wahi Ch. 1, location 173, par. 4) 



Wahi executes his philosophy in numerous examples throughout his career, especially one with Daniel Adkins who is now CEO of Wahi’s Transnational Academic Group Middle East. When asked to describe a situation reflecting Wahi’s collaboration with and valuing people, this quality has directly been experienced, Adkins states, “I am probably the best possible example of this philosophy.” (Adkins). He describes his hiring experience entering the organization in late 2009 and rise from the most entry level position at one of Wahi’s Dubai-based universities, Murdoch University, to now CEO for the Middle East operations. 



“Throughout
this entire process, Wahi has provided both direct mentorship and mentorship by
example and has made sure that I did the same for my entire team, which has
produced fantastic organisational results including no turnover with regret for
six years.” (Adkins) 



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2019/03/01/the-most-defining-aspects-of-our-lives/">The Most Defining Aspects Of Our Lives</a>



As
stated in Lancaster University Ghana’s Senior Management biography, Wahi’s
“core focus is on long term corporate and leadership development through
building strong management teams”. Adkins reiterates this statement in an
interview: “Wahi absolutely lives this philosophy and demands it from his
entire management team… the people are the business and there is nothing more
important” (Adkins). 



Wahi
is known to have a special gift and skill to find loyal people and never
hesitates to show appreciation to people’s loyalty. Wahi learned this quality
from his role model parents, a father who was a military, corporate, and family
hero and a mother who was not only Mother Teresa’s friend, but a genuine giver
in life. In other words, Wahi is a “go back to your roots leader” (Al
Abadilah). Wahi was brought up in a giving family and now gives back as a
leader. Because of the people-oriented philosophies followed in his
organizations, employee turnaround rates are phenomenally low. Everyone is
treated like family and the principles presented in Ken Blanchard’s book, Gung-Ho!, are lived by
management. 



Wahi’s
philosophy about collaboration and importance of people is truly refreshing in
a CEO and business leader. In today’s individualistic world, leaders like Wahi
who dedicate a major part of their leadership role to importance of people is a
rare finding. Such values must be celebrated and promoted in all aspects of
business worldwide. 



Passion for education 



As
a sought-after speaker at educational institutions on leadership and
entrepreneurship, Wahi received an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Science from
the International University of Management by the Minister of Education of
Namibia. He was also appointed as an IATF2018 Goodwill Ambassador by The Trade
Finance for Africa. He personally learned and continuously teaches patience to
other entrepreneurs in emerging markets. In an interview with CNBC Africa, The Entrepreneur’s
Entrepreneur: Rakesh Wahi,about his book Be a Lion, Wahi
shares he is “extremely passionate about education”. His vision is to set up
educational centers of excellence across Africa incorporating new innovative
industries such as online and hybrid aspects of education with traditional
classroom environment. He has mentored many people in his leadership journey,
but believes mentorship benefits both parties as he states in an interview with
CNBC Africa: “Within a group, you always learn from each other. Mentorship is
not a one-way journey, you learn every day from your peers, subordinates,
seniors… If you are a student, you will remain a student all your life. You
must be like a sponge, no matter your age.” (Wahi) 



According to Adkins and Martin, executive partners at Wahi’s educational business sectors, Wahi lives his statement daily. Not only does he mentor his staff, he also learns from those on his team whether they are junior level or senior. Wahi has created a business culture amongst all sectors in a way that everyone learns from one another. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="681" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035-681x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42238" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035-681x1024.jpg 681w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035-300x451.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035-600x902.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rakesh-Wahi-035.jpg 1277w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px" /></figure>



“There
is no rank in the discussion. It is both intuitively understood and explicitly
expressed that everyone’s ideas deserve equal consideration and we have made
company-altering decisions based on input received from junior team members
when those ideas turned out to be the best… It is absolutely the culture.”
(Adkins) 



Jeppesen,
now Co-Founder of a tech enterprise with Wahi, states in an interview, “Wahi
has been my mentor since we met 17 years back… Later, when we co-founded Tech
One Global, he was leading our board and mentored me personally as the CEO.”
(Jeppesen). 



The
culture of learning and mentorship from one another has saved the business in
an example of a termination deal of one of Dubai’s university partnerships with
a junior member of the team’s approach. This is proof that critical decisions
are made, as a group despite rank levels. An important aspect of Wahi’s work is
helping the leadership team rise to the next level. 



Equality 



Wahi’s
decision to launch FORBES WOMAN AFRICA was to provide a platform for women
entrepreneurs’ stories and the overwhelming waitlist of these stories in FORBES
AFRICA. 



“The
main reason was that as a startup magazine, FORBES AFRICA was overwhelmed with
a waiting list of stories from 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa; by virtue of
women having a late head start in the business world, the stories were largely
dominated by men who had done great things to transform Africa.” (Wahi) 



In a short period of time, the magazine has risen to be the material of choice for inspirational women stories, with fantastic content being produced. Equality is discussed in an article by FORBES WOMAN AFRICA, Celebrating Five Years with The Founder and Publisher: Rakesh Wahi. 



“We
have discussed the trials and tribulations of women in the workplace and become
a champion for equality. The word ‘equality’ is a living value for us at the
ABN Group and I am so proud that we have been able to personify our values
through affirmative action.” (Wahi) 



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2019/04/01/equality-as-a-living-value/">Equality As A Living Value</a>



According
to a partner of over 35 years, Rajiv Podar, “Wahi has always respected and
admired hard-working women and a firm believer of equality at workplace and
home… Most of his senior colleagues are women too” (Podar). In an example from
a former female executive at one of Wahi’s first ventures 20 years ago in
Dubai, Maha Al Abadilah discusses the value of equality she experienced as a
woman working with Wahi. “I have never experienced anything that distinguished
a man and a woman, nothing but full respect and treating us with our pure
qualifications and titles.” (Al Abadilah.14:19). 



Wahi
repeatedly demonstrates his firm belief in his statements amongst his team
members. When a decision is to be made for an important matter, all team
members discuss as equals. “It is both intuitively understood and explicitly
expressed that everyone’s ideas deserve equal consideration.” (Adkins).
Evidently, not only the value of equality is present within his ABN Group
amongst women in the workplace, but also amongst all employees. Gender and rank
are clearly not considered in any team discussions and decisions. 



Conclusion 



Wahi’s leadership approach and personality embodies unique values such as a life-changing incident, the collaboration and importance of people, a passion for education, and equality. As he was personally approached for research purposes of this analysis, he promptly welcomed connections with over 10 executives and partners of his global team who were all eager to help. Research results and personal interviews with warm responses from his team members and partners portray all qualities examined in this analysis positively. Wahi lives his statements and is a true people-oriented leader. 



Works
cited: 



Adkins,
Daniel. “Re: Business Paper Inquiry &#8211; Harvard University.” Received by Anahita
Negarandeh, 12 Dec. 2018. 



Africa,
Forbes Woman. “Celebrating Five Years With The Founder &amp; Publisher: Rakesh
Wahi.” Forbes Africa, 27 Sept. 2018,
www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/09/27/celebrating-five-years-with-the-founder-publisher-rakesh-wahi/.




Al
Abadilah, Maha. “Phone Interview, Rakesh Wahi Analysis” Voice recorder. 18 Dec.
2018. 



Bandyopadhyay,
Somshankar. “Military Lessons in Entrepreneurship.” GulfNews, 15 Mar.
2017, https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/books/military-lessons-in-entrepreneurship-1.1994221.




Bishop,
Chris. “Re: Chris Bishop CNBC Africa.” Received by Anahita Negarandeh, 12 Dec.
2018. 



CNBC
Africa. “Rakesh Wahi Reflects on CNBC Africa&#8217;s Decade of Broadcasting.” CNBC
Africa, CNBC Africa, 1 June 2017, www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2017/06/01/rakesh-wahi-reflects-on-cnbc-africas-decade-of-broadcasting/.




CNBC
Africa. “The Entrepreneur&#8217;s Entrepreneur: Rakesh Wahi.” CNBC Africa, 4
Nov. 2016, www.cnbcafrica.com/news/special-report/2016/11/04/be-a-lion/. 



Jeppesen,
Lars. “Re: Business Paper Inquiry &#8211; Harvard University.” Received by Anahita
Negarandeh, 12 Dec. 2018. 



Lancaster
University Ghana. “Rakesh Wahi Chairman.” Lancaster University Ghana,
www.lancaster.edu.gh/our-faculty-details.php?id=45. Accessed 8 Dec. 2018. 



Martin, Gary. “Re: Business Paper Inquiry &#8211;
Harvard University.” Received by Anahita Negarandeh, 12 Dec. 2018. 



Naicker,
Roberta. “Re: Business Paper Inquiry &#8211; Harvard University.” Received by Anahita
Negarandeh, 12 Dec. 2018. 



Podar,
Rajiv. “Re: Business Paper Inquiry &#8211; Harvard University.” Received by Anahita
Negarandeh, 12 Dec. 2018. 



Vettath,
Malavika. “Global Entrepreneur Rakesh Wahi: &#8216;I&#8217;ve Been a Very Bad Personal
Investor&#8217;.” The National, The National, 25 May 2018,
www.thenational.ae/business/money/global-entrepreneur-rakesh-wahi-i-ve-been-a-very-bad-personal-investor-1.733606.




Wahi,
Rakesh. Be A Lion. Penguin Books, 2016. Kindle eBook file. 



Wahi,
Rakesh. “Re: Business Paper Inquiry &#8211; Harvard University.” Received by Anahita
Negarandeh, 12 Dec. 2018.

Rakesh Wahi

Analysis: The Values That Make A CEO

Fashion is about creating beauty, but its ugly side is the carbon emissions. Designers are now looking to play it safe, even if it means going to dangerous lengths for the sake of greener fashion.



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In South Africa, the fashion industry is now starting to do
its bit to negate the effects of climate change, with some designers going
green, in interesting, creative and even lucrative ways. 



Ayanda Nhlapo, a stylist and entrepreneur, is one of them. 



She hosted and co-produced her own TV fashion show, Ayanda’s
Fashion House, where she explored the work of some of South Africa’s most
prolific designers and creatives in the fashion industry. The fashion aesthete
says the influence of the industry is far-reaching, and therefore, must be more
responsible about the environment and preservation of resources. 



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/economy/2018/12/19/no-christmas-cheer-for-fashion-firms-in-never-ending-sales/">No Christmas cheer for fashion firms in never-ending sales</a>



“I’ve always had a knack for creating, whether I’m creating
from scratch or recreating something that already exists,” says Nhlapo. So,
upcycling, or repurposing, is what she is into. 



“However, recreating or upcycling has always given me much
more excitement and a deeper sense of purpose. 



“Upcycling can be challenging but rewarding in the sense that it’s not just about the creativity but it’s more so about contributing to solving the effects of fast fashion on the environment and the economy. It is very important that we preserve our culture, identity and resources,” she says. 



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/12/28/in-pictures-the-business-of-african-fashion-nigeria-takes-a-slice-of-the-pie/">IN PICTURES| The Business Of African Fashion: Nigeria Takes A Slice Of The Pie</a>



Fascinated about culture as well as traditional wear, some of her design ideas are fairly unconventional, such as Zulu sandals made of tyres. Besides clothes, she also designs accessories, such as earrings and key-holders. One of her designs is earrings shaped like water droplets to highlight the importance of saving water, whilst also bringing forth the beauty and importance of recycling and upcycling.



Her market is largely young women, but the brand is also for
those who love and consume fashion consciously. Nhlapo uses fashion as a tool
to influence people and encourage them to think carefully about how they use it.




“Fortunately, through traditional media and social media, I
am able to reach thousands and thousands of people, not just in South Africa
but across the world. If we consume fashion correctly and consciously, we have
the power to reverse certain cycles and change the direction of our future,”
says Nhlapo.



&nbsp;She goes on to say
that the fashion industry is among the highest polluters&nbsp; in the world, however, thankfully, it is
gradually moving towards a more responsible way of operating. 



“In fact, green fashion is the next big thing. Designers and consumers are finally becoming more and more aware of the damages and negative, rippling effects of fashion and are now beginning to take such issues seriously. We are starting to see more sustainable fabrics on the runway and more eco-friendly brands launching into the market, while well-established brands are also moving in the direction of going green. Before we know it, green fashion will be the only thing we know.”



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/7-questions-with/2018/08/03/fashion-fame-and-finances-with-sa-designer-david-tlale/">Fashion, Fame and Finances With SA Designer, David Tlale</a>



South African designer JJ Schoeman elaborates on ‘fast
fashion’ and ‘green fashion’.



“I think we need to still go on a robust campaign on the
implications of fast fashion, where we create more awareness around its
consumption, as I feel that most consumers are still a little blasé about their
purchase.



“There was a call for green fashion, because of the wasteful
nature of production lines within our industry. This call was made to encourage
designers like myself to use environmentally-friendly fabrics and methods in
the production line.”



One of the ways he implements this in his production line is
to cut material in a way there is less wastage. 



“Over and above this, I also found ways in which to ‘get rid’ of the waste we accumulated over a season – these included donating to the trade, for reuse. I also try my absolute best to use fabrics that are more environment-friendly, but of course, I always need to take into consideration what the client wants.”



Schoeman opines the green fashion trend is growing.



“Absolutely, if we just take into consideration the amount
of international names that have agreed to not using real fur in their
collections. Recently, I read about the #G7Biarritz movement, which saw the
Prada Group, Ralph Lauren and 30 other fashion industry brands sign the pact.
The Fashion Pact is going to change the game in sustainable fashion all over
the world.”



Yet another trend is ‘thrifting fashion’ that has become the cornerstone of shopping trends popular among the youth. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thrift-326-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42170" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thrift-326-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thrift-326-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thrift-326-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thrift-326-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/thrift-326.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Vathiswa Yiba is an employee at a vintage thrift store in
the lively Braamfontein area of Johannesburg. She has immersed herself in the
culture of thrifting. 



The store is one of several thrift stores in the city, and
among the popular ones at the thrift market not far from Africa’s largest
railway station, the Johannesburg Park Station. 



“Thrifting is buying clothes that people think are not good enough anymore and those that they have discarded,” says 22-year-old Yiba.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> “It’s interesting with thrifting because the most dangerous places are where you find the nicer things&#8221;<cite>&#8211; Vathiswa Yiba</cite></blockquote>







The lower prices also offer financial reprieve and more options for the buyer. 



Yiba has been thrifting since her high school days when she
started with her own clothes.&nbsp; 



“I don’t step into retail stores unless I am buying shoes,” she says.



“My first thrift was buying from people who sold from their
bags, then from their car boots, then I leveled up and started going to the
biggest market in the&nbsp; Johannesburg
Central Business District; MTN Taxi Rank, known for its pavement crimes,
despite the danger in that part of town, they have the best clothes.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-145-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42173" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-145-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-145-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-145-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-145-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-145.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



The street-savvy Yiba offers advice to those who are novices
in the industry.&nbsp; 



“It’s interesting with thrifting because the most dangerous
places are where you find the nicer things, and here is a tip when you are
going thrifting – make sure you have loose change and put it in safe pockets,
away from pick-pocketers. That way you will be able to shop safely. However,
you can find good-looking items but it’s not in your size; which is where the
community comes in. 



“We have tailors to alter the garments for you and it will
be exclusive because it’s thrifted, no one has the same clothes. There is so
much more you can do with discarded clothes. With the littlest things, you can
make an amazing thing and you’ll be the only one who has it.”



Of course, there is a tinge of stigma associated with
thrifting. Yiba says people think the clothes could also have belonged to those
who have passed away, but she’s of the view that thrifting creates other
opportunities. 



“The [thrift clothing] may look messy and seem dusty, but once cleaned or altered, they will look retail. So it’s not just the connotations, it can be something perfect and the next person wouldn’t even know.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-132-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42175" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-132-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-132-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-132-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-132-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/recycled-fashion-132.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



These are sentiments also echoed by Leago Nhlapo, a content
creator for fashion brands like Adidas, Sportscene and Skechers, who began his
journey as thrifter. 



“It started with thrifting because it makes you unique;
there is no similar garment, every single garment is different from the next.
So, I jumped from really cheap clothes [recycled clothes] to really expensive
clothes,” he says.



However, Leago encourages green fashion because he says the
fast fashion industry is the second-highest contributor to carbon
emissions.&nbsp; 



“The more people buy clothes, the more we contribute to
global warming and we all know the global crisis, so if we recycle clothes,
there will not be a need to make clothes, there are enough clothes for everyone
existing. I am proof that second-hand clothes are cool and look better than
people paying tons of cash.” 



Seventy kilometers south of Johannesburg’s Central Business
District is Nokwakha Qobo, who was born in the squatter camps of Phuma
Zibethane in Sharpeville. And in the garbage dumps of these camps, the fashion
designer in her emerged.



Qobo currently has a clothing line with an international reach. She fashions garments out of wastepaper she collects from rubbish dumps. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> &#8220;I’m a self-taught designer from a dump in Vanderbijlpark, that’s where I learned everything <cite> &#8211; Nokwakha Qobo </cite></blockquote>







As a young girl, Qobo had to walk to school, and through the course of her journey home, she would pass a garbage site where old fashion magazines and newspapers were discarded. 



It is often said that ‘one man’s trash is another man’s
treasure’. This adage was not lost on her because she took inspiration from the
articles in those magazines and now creates pieces that are sought after.



“That’s where I learned about fashion trends, that’s where I
learned about different colors for different seasons, that’s where I learned
about the body structure of a woman, actually, I’m a self-taught designer from
a dump in Vanderbijlpark, that’s where I learned everything,” she says.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="681" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093-681x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42174" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093-681x1024.jpg 681w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093-300x451.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093-600x902.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Nokwakha-093.jpg 1277w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px" /></figure>



Inadvertently, she too is contributing towards a shift in
culture based on conscious consumption. 



Perhaps, with the benefit of time, green fashion will be the norm as many believe we already have all we need.



&#8211; Motlabana Monnakgotla

Nokwakha 022

Conscious Fashion: ‘So Much More You Can Do With Discarded Clothes’

Stephan Eyeson started a basketball business at the age of 19. That venture failed, so he tried the data business instead. He is working and playing hard.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



First, the facts.



Africa has a data problem. For all the talk about data being
the new oil, the continent comprises about 12.5% of the world’s population but
only accounts for less than 1% of research output, according to global
information and analytics firm, Elsevier. 



And Survey 54, an AI mobile survey platform solving the problem of data collection on the continent, wants to offer a solution. Founded by Stephan Eyeson, Survey 54 focuses on providing good quality data essential for governments and private businesses to accurately plan, fund and evaluate their activities.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/10/02/owning-the-african-narrative/">Owning The African Narrative</a>



“Data in Africa is such a prevalent problem, in a sense of
when you are going to start up a business, it is hard for you to get consumer
data on say ‘how many people eat out in Lagos every day? what is the
transactional value? what are the types of things that people eat? what do they
want to eat etc?’ All these things are available in the West but for people who
want to move into Africa for business, how do they get their data to make their
decisions and how do we make it really easy for them and not just for a startup
but for even governments and larger businesses,” says Eyeson.



Fresh out of a master’s program in innovation and management from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom (UK), Eyeson joined Survey Monkey, an online survey development cloud-based software as a service company, as part of the team responsible for building their enterprise function in London as well as looking after customers in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). After learning the ropes, he decided to branch out to start his own company to offer a more robust and tailored solution for the African market.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> &#8220;For people who want to move into Africa for business, how do they get their data to make their decisions and how do we make it really easy for them?&#8221; </blockquote>



“The problem around data in Africa and emerging markets is a
massive one. So, for us, it’s about how do we become a data platform not just
for a company but for governments to help them understand their people easier.”



Data is the first step. Then you need intelligence around
that data to enable you to make objective analysis that will shape your
decision-making process, as well as provide the foundation for policy-making
and budgeting.



“Instead of hiring an agency to go to Ghana and do a face-to-face interview, for example, we look at how governments can get mobile data faster and then how they are able to manipulate that data to get the results they need,” says Eyeson.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/10/07/the-100-trillion-opportunity-the-race-to-provide-banking-to-the-worlds-poor/">The $100 Trillion Opportunity: The Race To Provide Banking To The World’s Poor</a>



Due to the dearth of knowledge, Eyeson’s unique
understanding for the data space is relied on by many startups and larger
businesses who depend on his expertise to drive results in Africa. 



“Stephan has great expertise in strategy and high-level
corporate business development. Survey 54 has and will be instrumental for
companies to make decisions within Africa and emerging markets, making it
easier to use and understand consumer data. A platform like Survey 54 is
essential for companies operating on the continent,” says Nana Adomako, head of
UK &amp; Ghana growth at Taptap Send.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BYRIGBY-980-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41956" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BYRIGBY-980-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BYRIGBY-980-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BYRIGBY-980-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BYRIGBY-980-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BYRIGBY-980.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Born to Ghanaian parents in London, Eyeson’s first stint at entrepreneurship began in his early years at university, when his dream to become a professional basketball player was shattered.



“I had a scholarship into America for basketball and that
scholarship was taken away due to some technicality with my results so I
couldn’t go and so I started a basketball business instead when I was 19. It
helped Americans play in Europe and Europeans play in America. I made the
system easier. So, players paid a monthly fee to get seen and coaches paid to
get access to talent.” 



But unfortunately, the business failed to take off because the market was not big enough for Eyeson to remain profitable. 



The data business, on the other hand, is huge: worldwide
revenues for data and business analytics are forecast to reach $189 billion
this year and $274.3 billion by 2022, according to technology market research
firm IDC. Even though Survey 54 is in its first full year of business, the
company has already secured contracts with multinationals like Colgate, amongst
many others.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/04/30/a-germ-of-an-idea/">A Germ Of An Idea</a>



“I was one of Survey 54’s first clients and it has been a
pleasure watching Stephan grow the company into what it is today, working with
some of the world’s largest brands. 



“There is a significant lack of data in the region so the
need for a sophisticated data insight product is essential and I believe
Stephan’s mission-driven leadership style will enable the company to become one
of the largest software businesses driving investments to the content,” says
Yvonne Bajela, Principal and Founding Member at Impact X Capital.



The company has recently secured a spot on the coveted
Startupbootcamp platform in Cape Town. While Survey 54 is trying to secure a
first-mover lead in data on the continent, challenges remain. As the company
scales, they will need to overcome the language barrier across the African
continent and learn to interpret data by bringing the cultural context into the
surveys organizations are seeking.



Eyeson has his eyes set on moving into the US markets as a
long-term plan, but for now, the goal is transferring the abundant and
ubiquitous asset of data in Africa into millions for his startup.

BYRIGBY-990

Having A Ball With Data

South African filmmaker and producer, Kutlwano Ditsele, takes pride in re-telling the African narrative in a way that empowers and represents the continent as progressive. There’s also always a twist in the plot. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



“A Japanese man on holiday with his wife in South Africa falls in love with a…”



An incomplete idea is stored and filed away in the digital
pages of a smart phone. 



The author is not only a creative director but also the
co-founder of South African production company, Seriti Films. 



By merging his passion for celebrating African stories through film and television with entrepreneurship, Kutlwano Ditsele’s story is on its way to a happy ending. 



 READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/08/14/the-maverick-in-tech/">The Maverick In Tech</a>



He debuted his career as a filmmaker with a music video for
South African mega-star AKA in 2010, shot in the heart of Johannesburg’s
Central Business District.



The initial production cost was a humble R20,000
($1,360).&nbsp; 



A serendipitous bicycle race on a Sunday afternoon saved
them from paying heavily to close off certain main roads and public areas
downtown, during the filming of the music video. 



Ditsele recalls the silence and how the emptiness edified
the aesthetics of AKA’s song, Victory Lap. 



An artist owning the streets of the country’s economic and
financial hub for a day, even if it is by chance, opened a world of
opportunities for Ditsele, who was propeled into the limelight after the video.




Today, ideas constantly fall on his lap, even when he is on
the move. 



As he scrolls through his phone, he stumbles upon a
never-ending list of ideas he forgot existed (such as the one at the beginning
of this story). With surprise, he recites various plot lines. 



“Crime family show, three sisters and a kid brother with a grandmother… Whenever I am on a train, plane, car or even a jog, a small idea will come into my head,” he says.  



 READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/personal-finance/2019/09/30/the-one-thing-i-want-to-do-before-i-die/">‘The One Thing I Want To Do Before I Die’</a>



Kutlwano’s relationship with film goes back to when he was
eight years old; setting up a make-shift cinema for his cousins at their family
home in the mountainous parts of Rustenburg, in the North West province. 



Despite limited resources (television and electricity), what
little exposure they had to the enchanting effect of those screens would
inspire the young Ditsele and his cousins to re-enact those scenes, with him
assuming the role of the director. 



“Your responsibility is for that single mother who wakes up
at 4 o’clock in the morning, who has to get water outside, boil that water, get
the kids’ food ready, get on a train for an hour or two to be the first to get
into the office and having to leave at three or four o’clock, to sit in front
of the television at eight in the evening, to forget about her problems for the
hour,” he says. 



Intellectual property is a commodity in the local film
industry that leaves filmmakers like Ditsele working twice as hard to build a
name and fix the misrepresentations that were previously normalized before
African filmmakers had the means of production. Globally, the industry has
created more opportunities for black filmmakers. 



In 2005, Ditsele was awarded the opportunity to study at the
New York Film Academy. 



The cultural exchanges he shared with students from
Singapore, Indonesia, China and Brazil taught him that filmmaking is not only
about learning in class but exploring one’s environment. 



Learning in Hollywood placed him in a privileged position when he returned to South Africa in 2008. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> “Your responsibility is for that single mother who wakes up at 4 o’clock&#8230;to forget about her problems for the hour.” </blockquote>



He took it upon himself to re-tell the African narrative by
documenting positive representations of the continent. However, this becomes a tightrope
walk for local film producers who need to ensure their work has commercial
appeal. 



A contemporary challenge is that story-tellers, like
Ditsele, have to compete for a seat in the mainstream industry.



“It is more about the African narrative other than just the
South African narrative. I think that it is hard for us to ignore that the
biggest propaganda machine, America, is in the films. How we view America is
from everything they have done. 



“Aliens are coming, and America will save them (humans). They have told this incredible narrative about themselves and it has gone out into the world. The narrative around Africa has been quite the opposite. A narrative of poverty, jungle, primitive and they keep telling that narrative and they shy away from progressive stories,” he says. 



The filmmaker highlights that although the local industry
developed over the last 25 years, the number of those waiting in line remains
high, and those who fortuitously manage to float to the top and become brands
are few and far between.&nbsp; 



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2019/09/11/side-hustles-the-entrepreneur-employees/">Side Hustles: The Entrepreneur Employees</a>



Despite being behind the camera, Distele says there are
industry inhibitors that prevent creatives from owning their intellectual
property. 



In a bitter twist of irony, many local stars who are
celebrated far and wide will die without a cent to their name to the extent
that their families are forced to crowdfund for burial costs.



“What you create is owned by someone else and they can make
as much money as they want. I think it is wrong because Picasso should decide
how much his painting is worth, not somebody else,” he says.



A simple idea, like the 2018 South African Film and
Television Awards (SAFTA)-nominated production, The Herd, achieved immense
commercial success as the story lines are often merged with the topical issues
of the day.&nbsp; 



For Distele, South African productions about love, power and
wealth are an example of how the production company keeps the African narrative
relatable to all viewers. For instance, the plot twist of a young girl thrust
into power in a modern world; cultural ceremonies are portrayed in a way that
the millennial audience can immerse themselves in.



The proliferation of social media and digitalization has
given the audience agency to comment in real time and engage and be critical of
the content given to them and directors like Ditsele are paying close
attention.

KutwanaD_GL

Owning The African Narrative

Nompumelelo (Mpoomy) Ledwaba is the darling of social media. In a mere 12 months, she has grown her Instagram following to close to 100,000.

The 24-year-old was first introduced to the media-crazy masses when she married South African Idols finalist and recording artist, Brenden Praise (Ledwaba). It intrigued thousands and generated quick clicks, likes and follows. She is today an influencer in her own right.
It is a warm Friday afternoon in Melville, a hip suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa, when we meet Mpoomy and Brenden at their nail and coffee bar located on the bustling 7th Street. The salon is packed with women getting their nails done for the weekend. The room is painted grey and decorated in white and spurts of pink and yellow.
Stars such as Mapaseka Koetle-Nyokong, Mmatema Moremi, Jessica Nkosi and Thickleeyonce come here for nail pampering.
This is a world away from where it all began in Middelburg, a farming and industrial town in eastern South Africa where Mpoomy was born. She moved to Johannesburg to study accounting at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). In her second year, she took on a job as a banker at Investec to pave the way for a career in corporate.
“It was a busy year. I worked from 4PM until midnight or from midnight till 8AM. In between, I had classes to attend. It was fun at first until I got bored and frustrated,” says Mpoomy.
It marked the beginning of a journey that broke and built her.
First, she quit her job.
“I didn’t diagnose it as depression but now because I understand what depression is, I know it could have been that,” she says.
Then, she did something no one thought she would.
It was in one of UJ’s exam halls where she was scheduled to take her finance exam. On this day, she says she was well-prepared. The examiner gave students 10 minutes reading time before the exam started. During this time, students plan their answers to the questions but Mpoomy says she was planning a business.
“When the examiner said ‘you may start’, I hadn’t read through the exam questions. I tried to page through it but I just couldn’t start. I stood up and I left the room and I never went back,” she says.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2015/04/01/the-man-in-the-beauty-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Man In The Beauty Business</a>
It was a brave move. She had no money, no experience and she knew her parents would not be impressed.
“I went home to my parents immediately. I think my mom knew this could happen. She wasn’t shocked but she was hurt… My dad was upset. I stayed home for a day and my mom told me to go back to Johannesburg to write my exam and I refused but still went back to Johannesburg.”
Her father cut her off financially. It was time for Mpoomy to fend for herself. The road to entrepreneurship was cold, lonely and frustrating.
“I didn’t even ask my dad why he wasn’t sending me money anymore. I knew I had lost the right to do so because I had decided to be an adult by making that decision. He didn’t owe me anything. I was hurt and upset but I’m grateful that happened because it gave me the push to hustle. I even tried to borrow R10,000 ($703) from my mother to do a nail course and she refused,” she says.
Although the plan was not clear and everyone around her said she was making a mistake, Mpoomy says she had faith her dream to open a nail business would one day come true.
<blockquote>“I spent my days crying and praying. It was a tough time. I knew I had made the right decision but everyone and everything around me tried to break me,” she says.</blockquote>
According to Mpoomy, Brenden, her then boyfriend and now husband, is the only one who shared the same faith.
“He was there with me all the way no matter what. He supported me and told me everything will be ok,” says the now-pregnant Mpoomy.
While trying to find her way, she joined a modeling agency. Her first job was a billboard and a TV advert that paid her R22,000 ($1,546). Following in her father’s footsteps, she invested it in a cleaning business.
“My dad’s business started as a cleaning company. He was a hustler trying to figure things out. Now, he manufactures various cleaning products and has a safety line…one day, when I was home, my mom was reading a magazine and came across an article that listed 10 businesses that require no startup capital and she showed it to me and I knew I had to start,” says Mpoomy.
She made a flier of her new-born cleaning business and posted it on WhatsApp groups. She found her first customers. She ran it for a year until she had to clean client homes herself.
“In December, all my helpers went home for the holidays and I had to clean for our clients. It was tough and I learned you can’t start a business in something you don’t know or you are not passionate about,” she says.
In January 2017, she got married and Brenden gave her R15,000 ($1,054) to go to nail school.
“He had just paid lobola and we had just gotten married which didn’t come cheap and now he had just invested in my education. Although my fees were paid, we didn’t have money for transport. At our wedding, someone gave us an envelope with R2,000 ($140) and that is what we used,” says Mpoomy, her eyes watering.
Life got tougher.
“We sacrificed everything we had to get started. We had financial problems at the time. It was the first year of our marriage and we had so many things to do. We just worried about getting through the day. I remember there was one time I didn’t know if we were going to have food for the rest of the month,” she says.
After three months, she was ready to get working experience but no one would hire her. She then mounted a poster on her car advertising her services and started a mobile nail salon.
“I did my nails every three days. We would go to a restaurant every week because they have a lunch special for R50 ($3) that comes with unlimited wifi. We would download videos so I learned how to be better.”
The mobile salon grew and she started making about R1,000 ($70) a day. She knew it was time to grow, open a shop and employ staff. With the help of a mentor, she opened Aneno Nail &amp; Coffee Bar.
<div id="attachment_37613" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37613" class="wp-image-37613 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mpumi-153-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="494" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mpumi-153-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mpumi-153-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mpumi-153-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mpumi-153-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mpumi-153.jpg 1654w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />Mphoomy Ledwaba. Photo by Motlabana Monnakgotla</div>
“A week before our opening, I asked a family friend, who is a celebrity, to help me by coming to my nail bar and have her nails done for free and advertise on social media so I can get clients, but she undermined me. I could tell from the way she looked at me. She told me she works with big brands…I was hurt but I understood that you don’t need anyone to make something successful. God is the one who makes things happen.”
Today, she employs six people and plans to get into the hair industry, create a nail product line and then franchise the business. This is definitely not the last time you hear about this small-town girl with big dreams.

Mpumi-182

The University Drop Out Who Built A Beauty Business

From rock ‘n’ roll roadie to corporate speaker and entrepreneur, Richard Mulholland has run Missing Link, a presentation firm in South Africa, for 21 years. The self-described hobbyist talks finance, investments and expensive tattoos.

How does your company generate profit?
Different entities do it in different ways; Missing Link is a service organization where we basically sell our brain for the pound, whereas TalkDrawer and The Sales Department have a subscription and retainer model respectively. Exploring different business models intrigues me; it’s something I believe all entrepreneurs should embark on. You won’t be killed off by a better business; you’ll be killed off by a better business model.
&nbsp;
What is your investment philosophy? 
I know my weaknesses and this is one. As such I have a set-it-and-forget-it mentality. I find smart people that I like with diversified philosophies and leave them to it. The obvious exception to that is when we invest in starting new businesses.
&nbsp;
What is your most prized investment? 
I hate to be a cliché, but I timed crypto pretty well and have been pretty lucky there. My most prized investment would have to be starting a business though, that has certainly reaped the biggest dividend.
&nbsp;
What advice would you give someone interested in investing? 
In spite of what you’re told, unless you are super rich and have money to blow, investing isn’t a hobby. Find someone smarter than you to do it. Or, if you’re like me, find diverse, smart people and share the investment love.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment/2018/10/02/investing-in-memories-not-material/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Investing In Memories, Not Material</a>
Legacy or innovation? Which would you invest in and why? 
Again, diversity is key. All that is old is not bad, and all that is new isn’t great.
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Your biggest investment blunder? 
I’ve invested in businesses as a complete outsider, and not given the love and support that they needed at the beginning to get traction. That has never worked… and I never seem to learn.
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What do you spend most of your money on? 
Of late, board games and electric skateboards.
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What is the most expensive item in your wardrobe? 
A motorcycle riding jacket.
&nbsp;
How much were you earning as a rock n’ roll roadie? 
R400 ($27) per week, or R600 ($40) per week while on tour.
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What is the most you spent on a tattoo? 
About R15,000 ($1,000) for a tattoo on my back.
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Would you invest in longevity (prolonging your life) and why/not? 
Only in so far as staying healthy.
 
What is the most interesting thing you have invested in? 
Other people’s businesses. Troop Travel is one I’m quite enamoured with at the moment.

Meandmymoney2

From Rock ‘n’ Roll To Corporate Speaker and Entrepreneur

From cattle herder to comedian to liquor businessman, Mashabela Galane is a man of many talents.
This is not a joke. This is the story of South African comedian and entrepreneur Mashabela Galane from the dusty streets of Mmotong Kgohloane village in Limpopo where he once led a life herding cattle.
“Growing up in the rural areas is not easy. You are not sure if you are going to pass [matric], but what you want is to get out of your village [after matric] and move to Johannesburg and make something of your life,” says Galane.
On this warm winter’s afternoon when we meet him, Galane emerges, wearing a coat and holding a bottle of his Moringa Gin product, recently introduced in the South African liquor market.
The man of humble beginnings has an infectious smile – his job is to also make people laugh – and you can sense the pride in his voice as he talks about his life.
In the year 2000, he was a student at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, studying for a bachelor’s degree in performing arts and media studies.
“It was difficult for me when I got to Witwatersrand because I was not used to the environment. I used to think that I was one of the smartest in high school until I arrived at university,” says Galane.
Having never set foot in a library or even been to a career exhibition, he was determined to learn in order to succeed. His motivation was his family – he didn’t want to disappoint them.
“It was very sad to be one of the slowest students in class… But I worked so hard because I told myself that I am here to make it,” he says.
“Most of the students that work really hard at university are the ones that come from the rural areas. Because they know that they need to pass because they have nothing else to fall back on at home unlike those that come from privileged families.”
It was in his third year at university that Galane’s fortune changed, that would literally see him laughing all the way to the bank.
“We used to go to the Witwatersrand theater where we would watch plays and sometimes there would be comedians who would come to perform. When I saw them perform, I knew that this was what I want to do,” he says with a big smile.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2018/10/18/no-wasted-opportunities-for-swazi-entrepreneur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: No Wasted Opportunities For Swazi Entrepreneur</a>
So he started a society in performing arts intended for students from rural areas.
“So it was then that I started making jokes and I would perform around the residences,” he says.
Though he started his performances in English, he later opted for stand-up comedy in vernacular languages, which turned out in his favor because that is what set him apart in the comedy industry and put him on South Africa’s cultural map.
“There are people who want to laugh in their mother language,” he quips.
“As a vernacular comedian, we have a wider market compared to the English-performing comedians. They would struggle to fill up a 1,000-seater venue at The Lyric Theatre and I can do Big Top Arena [in Johannesburg] and it takes a capacity of 3,500.”
<div id="attachment_37527" style="width: 693px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37527" class="wp-image-37527 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468-683x1024.jpg" alt="" width="683" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Mashabela-468.jpg 1366w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" />Mashabela Galane. Photo by Motlabana Monnakgotla.</div>
In 2008, Galane turned comedy into a profession and recorded his first DVD, Strictly Vernac.
This would be a game-changer earning him plaudits in the world of comedy, and this success spurred him on to also try his luck in the liquor industry as an entrepreneur.
He had saved some of the money he made from his annual stand-up comedy shows.
His future would be as an entrepreneur infusing the organic flavors of the moringa plant, native to parts of Africa, into a distilled spirit.
“Hustling in the comedy industry helped me because it needed me to have a business mentality,” he says of his acumen for enterprise.
He first stumbled upon moringa juice, and then moringa beer, which he only sells at markets.
“Within the first two months, while I was still waiting for the beer to brew, I went to a gin market which had different flavors of gin,” continues Galane.
It is then that he decided to digress from craft beer to craft gin. His first attempt was not successful. The gin tasted like whiskey.
“I didn’t like it, it wasn’t nice. I lost more R300,000 ($20,443) of my savings trying to get it right.”
It has been an arduous journey since. Finding the right packaging not already on the market was a challenge as well as having to provide distributors with the product before they pay.
But the bumpy ride has been worth it, says Galane, because he always knew he would find his entrepreneurial side.
“I have always had the characteristics of a businessman because I used to sell chips at the taxi rank during school holidays.”
Galane is laughing all the way to the bank as his craft gin is available nationwide; soon he will launch an App for placing orders. He plans to also branch into the cosmetics industry using the moringa plant.
He has discovered the serious side of business, and unlike his on-stage alter ego, it’s not funny.

Mashabela-extended1

The Comedian With Spirit

In the mountainous kingdom of eSwatini, a former pre-school helper is turning trash to treasure.

On a sunny afternoon in May, Swaziland entrepreneur Lungile Beuta sets up her stall in the swaying sugarcane fields of Malkerns, a small sleepy town with a magnificent view of the mountains in the landlocked country now known as ‘the Kingdom of eSwatini’.
May is also when the annual bushfire festival brings together thousands of music-lovers from around the world to this little strip of land for a cultural fiesta. Beuta’s stall selling bric-a-brac is set up in a corner of the marketplace surrounded by other stalls.
A banner fronting her stall and created out of used paper packets says ‘ban-twa-na’ – the name of her business – meaning ‘children’ in siSwati. Around her are more empty packets and wrappers that contained chips, snacks and sweets. It’s a riot of plastic and color at first glance, but passers-by soon realize this isn’t just meaningless rubbish, but everything from purses to pencil cases to handbags made out of them.
<blockquote>“For me, there’s nothing more that brings joy than making these products,” says Beuta.</blockquote>
The 43-year-old grew up in Mbabane, the mountainous capital city of the kingdom.
After high school, she wanted to study design. Her parents sent her to Technikon Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she pursued a diploma in fashion design.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2018/09/26/ghanas-wastepreneur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Ghana’s Wastepreneur</a>
In her last year at college, tragedy struck. A week before the 21-year-old Beuta’s graduation, she was asked to leave for Swaziland immediately. Her mother had gone missing. Her world came apart.
Even today, Beuta is hopeful she will one day find her mother.
“We tried to search and search and it didn’t help. We were told to look here and go there, but I still do have the hope that she is alive. That’s me. And people look at me like ‘ok, she should be in her 70s’ and I’m like, ‘is there anything wrong with that’?”
As Beuta gets emotional, passers-by stop by her stall, intrigued by her products. One customer asks for Beuta’s business card. She wants to make a bulk order of her bags for a wedding in South Africa.
“Thank you for giving us something worthy to buy,” the client says.
Her sorrow forgotten, Beuta’s face lights up. The over five years in this business has been worth it.
After her studies, she had been a self-employed designer, working from home. It didn’t work. In 2006, she secured a job as a helper in a pre-school in the town where she lived. Beuta loved children, would help them learn nursery rhymes and take them for nature-walks. She would also pick up the waste scattered in the streets a few meters from the school.
Beuta planned on giving the children farewell gifts for their end-of-year party. She then had the idea of creating beautiful objects out of the waste packets she picked up. With her sewing skills, she made them pencil cases out of used chips packets. The children loved them.
“Their parents were like ‘hmm, chips? Why are you giving my kids chips?’ And I had to tell them, ‘no it is actually a chip bag’,” she says.
“It was exciting and then the parents were like ‘ok, you know what? Why don’t you try and turn this into a business’.” The rest was history.
Beuta decided to join the Swaziland Fair Trade (SWIFT) to attain crucial skills selling handicraft and running a business.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2018/07/31/kingdom-calling-at-the-bushfire-festival/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Kingdom Calling At The Bushfire Festival</a>
Her husband worked with Beuta to get her business off the ground. They would collect the waste bags, she would sew them and he would manage the brand and finances.
She says the business has since grown by 75% and she plans to employ more people to help with the production and grow her business into a wholesale company.
In 2016, she participated in 100% Design South Africa, a large curated exhibition platform for sourcing high-end contemporary design in Africa. She stocks her products in stores and hotels around the country and has become a SWIFT board member.
“I use [the profits] to support my family. I am now able to save and not just [live] hand-to-mouth, which is important,” says the mother of two.
Besides the growth in the business, she is content she can also give back to the environment.
“…you’ve got the aspect of knowing what you are doing out there for the environment as well, because we have a major problem here in Swaziland, with plastic flying all over the place, and people burning plastic,” she says.
Beuta has also expanded to up-cycle cans, washing powder packets, newspapers, magazines, maize meal packaging and more into nifty key holders, coin purses, eye glass cases, wallets, sling bags, shopper bags.
This year, she has also introduced limited edition Afrocentric laptop bags, toiletry bags and backpacks.
In her search for more success, Beuta hopes that one day she will also find her missing mother, who she says has been her biggest inspiration.
Nothing is life is a wasted opportunity for this Swazi entrepreneur.

DSC_0445

No Wasted Opportunities For Swazi Entrepreneur

Hein Wagner throws himself into extreme adventure to boost the confidence of others living with blindness. His daring trysts have been across land, air, river and sea.

Hein Wagner, entrepreneur, global speaker and adventurer, has cycled up rocky mountains, jumped off flying planes, run on ice and negotiated Africa’s fiercest rivers.
He has successfully completed challenges such as the Absa Cape Epic, the Antarctica Marathon, the Two Oceans and New York Marathons, the Ironman and Cape Town Cycle Tour. He has also rafted down the rapids of the Zambezi River, and climbed the highest mountains of the Western Cape. Now 46, he has had more adrenaline-driven experiences than most.
And Wagner is blind.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-37335 alignleft" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo7-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo7-199x300.jpg 199w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo7-300x453.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo7-600x906.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo7.jpg 636w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
He was born with a rare, inherited eye disorder called Leber Congenital Amaurosis resulting in vision loss at an early age. The doctors discovered it when Wagner was six months old.
When he was six years old, his parents made a tough decision – to send him away to a boarding school 100 kilometers away from home.
“It was a hard thing for me, I was just used to the family home – I could move around on my own, I could just get by on my own, I could sort myself out. My parents decided to send me away…To me, it was quite traumatic, I got lost. At home, I could find my way anywhere, the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom, it was comfortable,” says Wagner.
“As a small child, you kind of don’t understand why. Later, you realize the decision was harder for my parents to make; they had to send me away but it paid off. It was the ideal place for me to work with teachers qualified to educate blind kids, and also meet other blind children with similar challenges.”
School was a precious learning experience, but the hardest part was in his teenage years, especially on weekends.
“The sighted kids could make eye contact with people. Going into adolescent years, they made eye contact with the girls, and they could interact by just looking or just winking.”
Without that ability, says Wagner, it was like standing in the back of a queue. But he always looked for another perspective.
“It was all in your head because there’s other ways of doing it. You don’t have to see to have a successful relationship for that matter. But you feel like a misfit because of how society treats you; they think you can’t do this or do that, but that’s not true, the only thing that doesn’t work well is my eyes.”
He proved his physical prowess in every possible way.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-37336 size-full" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo5.jpg" alt="" width="949" height="749" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo5.jpg 949w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo5-300x237.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo5-600x474.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo5-768x606.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 949px) 100vw, 949px" />
In 1998, he was part of the Blind Cricket South Africa team that won the Blind Cricket World Cup that year.
By the time Wagner finished school, he started playing around with computers. Voice technology had just started to develop and a blind person could actually work on a computer. He was fascinated with computing and ended up working in Information Technology for 12 years, working his way up the career path. He did a number of computer courses including one stint for three years in London that equipped him well.
He managed teams in companies such as Thawte-Verisign, a tech firm founded by Mark Shuttleworth, the first African to travel to space as a tourist.
Wagner enjoyed the corporate life, and met the $50 million targets. In 2014, he quit – to pursue his passion for action beyond the boardroom.
“People wanted me to speak about my adventures because at the time I had done a few of the Cape-to-Rio yacht races.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/02/01/blind-not-will-farm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: ‘Blind Or Not, I Will Farm’</a>
Wagner discovered his adventurous side as a teenager. He was up at the Table Mountain in Cape Town six times. People would never stop talking about the view and he wanted to experience it too. It was after his first hike – it took him six hours to get to the top – that he fell in love with nature.
“I felt some sense of achievement, and the other thing I realized on the way is that it was so much bigger than I imagined. You also have a sense that the top of the mountain is flat, but it’s not; it’s rocks,” he says. His view was different from everyone else’s and it was no less beautiful.
His adventurous streak led him from one exciting experience to another.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-37341 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo8-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="494" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo8-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo8-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo8-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo8-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/photo8.jpg 1654w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />
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“Things got a little bit more [hectic], I did the land-speed record. The first one was in 2005. I drove a Maserati at 269.2km/hour, beating the record, which was 269km/hour. Then a Belgium blind guy drove a Lamborghini at 308km/hour. So my navigator and I went back and did 322kms/hour on a runway in Upington with a [Mercedes-Benz] AMG 65 black. The record still stands,” he says.
Wagner also jumped off Victoria Falls, a 111-meter jump. He went into it without knowing how long the jump would be nor knowing what he was jumping towards.
“I got on to the bridge, met the guys and let the guys put stuff around my ankle. You can see the loop going up and down, but I don’t have that luxury. I had to trust them immediately. When you are blind, you have to shift your trust all the time, because you rely on people many times when you actually don’t know them. You observe and learn to trust quicker,” he says.
The reason Wagner is always hurling himself into extreme adventure, he says, is to lift the profile of people living with blindness. It is to push the boundaries and see how far the human spirit can go, but to also inspire.
<blockquote>“I’m blind, what’s your excuse,” he says.</blockquote>
Today, Wagner is a motivational speaker. People, companies and sports clubs were keen to hear him talk about his life.
“I realized people enjoy my sense of humor, the things I talk about. They started offering me money. I realized there may be an opportunity in this. Today, I have been running a successful business for the last 14 years, and speak all over the world.”
However, he had a rough start; the first three years were difficult. He had just quit and had no budget for marketing. He relied on presentations. His first talks were at schools, simply because young learners were brutally honest when it came to feedback.
Step by step, he grew, investing time and energy in his business. Besides South Africa, Wagner also speaks overseas.
Beyond his daring trysts across land, air, river and sea, Wagner’s greatest achievement is he accepted his condition, turning adversity into opportunity.

Hein-Wagner-609

Never Blind To Possibilities

Richard Hardiman is using drones to rid the world’s seas of trash. He faced bankruptcy and depression before the project went from prototype to profit.

Rubbish in the world’s oceans has reached critical levels that threaten not only marine life but also our own future on this planet as we know it, as fragile eco-systems are eroded.
What is already out on the seas, estimated by National Geographic to be growing by almost a million tonnes per year, is lost, but South African entrepreneur Richard Hardiman has developed a drone to catch this waste at source – the harbors and ports of the world – before it hits the ocean.rubbish in the world’s oceans has reached critical levels that threaten not only marine life but also our own future on this planet as we know it, as fragile eco-systems are eroded.
The WasteShark has been in planning and product testing stages since 2015, but is now sold globally as a drone that can clear the water of waste and help halt what is a growing catastrophe on our seas.
It has been a long personal battle for Cape Town-based Hardiman, one that brought him to the edge of despair.
But with the product in the water in a growing number of countries, including South Africa, the United States, India, the United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, his Rotterdam-based company RanMarine Technology is primed to be a leader in this niche field.
“The initial idea was not motivated by trying to solve environmental problems,” Hardiman tells FORBES AFRICA. “I was sitting at the Waterfont in Cape Town watching these guys out in boats with pool nets pulling the plastic from the water.
<blockquote>“It irritated me that there was a lot of trash and they were trying to solve the problem with a little net. In was inefficient and you could see trash being swept out into the open ocean.”</blockquote>
Hardiman, who worked as a radio host for much of his adult life, developed the idea for a drone that could mechanize the process, either controlled from the shore or on its own as a robot in the water.
“I built a prototype, literally in my garage, by sticking some PVC pipes together and did some research on the internet,” he says.
“I taught myself how to code on to my phone and came up with a small drone I put into my pool and started to drive around. It did what it was supposed to do.”
Hardiman had no luck finding early investors in South Africa though.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2015/12/01/diving-ocean-cash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Diving Into An Ocean Of Cash</a>
“The feedback was quite good, but if I’m honest my pitch was terrible,” he says. “In trying to raise money, the one thing I have learned is that your pitch needs to be perfect. If you cannot be precise with every answer to every conceivable question, it turns investors off.
“Although people love the environment, let’s face it, if they are putting money into it they want to see a return on investment.”
The ingenuity of the idea caught the attention of Accelerator though, a program to help start-ups based in Rotterdam. Hardiman began in the top 1,000 entries from around the world, eventually making it to the final 20 after an arduous series of interviews.
<div id="attachment_37257" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37257" class="wp-image-37257 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-Copy-of-ranmarine-4690-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="494" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-Copy-of-ranmarine-4690-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-Copy-of-ranmarine-4690-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-Copy-of-ranmarine-4690-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-Copy-of-ranmarine-4690-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-Copy-of-ranmarine-4690.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />WasteShark is becoming a feature of a number of ports and harbors.</div>
He was then required to make the journey to the Netherlands for the finals and by this time had sunk so much energy, time and money into the project that the married father-of-three had nothing left to fund the trip.
“I was completely broke, I had no money left. I was taking any job I could get. I was penniless,” he admits.
Hardiman eventually found a local investor who took a punt on the project and lent him the money to get himself to the Accelerator finals.
“He gave me enough money to pay for the trip and to survive for about six months. But when I landed in Rotterdam, his cheque hadn’t cleared yet, my credit card had zero funds in it and I had five Euros in my pocket.
“Each day for a week I would walk from my hotel to the [Accelerator] event, which was about five kilometers away, sometimes in the rain and snow.
“Everybody else was so well-dressed and I would arrive in a soaking wet suit.”
But the response to WasteShark was overwhelming and he made it into the Accelerator program, which meant leaving his Cape Town-based family behind to live in Rotterdam for the next three months.
“After the three months we had done really well and we got a pilot with the Port of Rotterdam, which is the largest port in the world. They put 100,000 Euros into what would be a six-month project.”
But there would be more hurdles for Hardiman to face and the worst was yet to come.
“I fell out with the original engineering firm and brought on another partner that proved to be a disaster. It just wasn’t the right fit. By the end of 2016, I was completely out of money again and we were only halfway through development.
“I came back to South Africa licking my wounds. We had spent a lot of money and it had not really gone anywhere. In terms of investors, I found that the Dutch love innovation, but they hate risk, so nobody wanted to come into the project early.
“I went into a deep spiral of depression. I’d gone from having money to no money again. I had half a product that I needed to make work because I had a family to support.
“But I found I just couldn’t get out of bed, I really felt like I had screwed up and let everybody down.”
A chance meeting at a children’s party led to Hardiman finding a local South African investor who liked the idea of the project and could see the potential. He returned to the Netherlands.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-37258 alignright" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-IMG_2188-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-IMG_2188-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-IMG_2188-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-IMG_2188-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-IMG_2188-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Copy-of-IMG_2188.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“I just needed enough money to get through to June 2017 because by then we would have finished the product development stage. Then we could start selling.”
A little more than a year on and WasteShark is becoming a feature of a number of ports and harbors, and Hardiman has now moved on to the next stage.
“We sold one, then another, and suddenly it just started taking off,” he says. “We have been inundated with interest from all around the world. It’s a new position for us to be in, from the phase of trying to get a finished product out to going into production.”
Hardiman says that while they could have gotten carried away with technology on the WasteShark, the aim was actually to make the drone as simple as possible.
<blockquote>“I had this vision of a guy on Lake Malawi using our drone and when I sat down with the group of engineers to plan the product, there were many fantastic ideas about what we could do.</blockquote>
“But I was firm in my mind that we need to cater for that guy in Malawi. If a thruster is broken, he can fix it himself. It must be easy for him to operate, be simple and robust.”
Hardiman says they have numerous other versions of the WasteShark in planning and production including one that provides data on the quality of the water and another that can clean up oil in harbors. The next version will be ready September.
He adds he is most often asked what he hopes to do about the critical issue of plastic in the oceans, but the realistic goal for now is to stop the problem getting worse.
“My goal is not to solve the issue that is already out there, because that’s not realistic. It’s to stop the problem getting worse.
“If we can do that in a canal, river, marina or harbor, where most of the trash in the sea comes from, then you are starting to win the battle.”
&#8211; Nick Said

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The Man Who Sunk His Finances To Clean The Ocean

Makafui Awuku has slept on a bench, hunted in the bush, worked at a church and sifted through mountains of plastic waste. He is the man turning trash into cash in Ghana.

Thirtyfive-year-old Makafui Awuku has been through enough pain and penury in life to see beauty in the little things. He is the man who can turn plastic scrap to nifty objects of desire.
His is a life filled with odd, interesting assignments.
It is easy to see why Awuku is not particularly fond of his early years. The social entrepreneur and founder of Mckingtorch Creatives did not have a privileged life.
Born in Keta, Sogakope, in the Volta Region of Ghana, his father, who was a driver, passed away when he was aged 12 leaving Awuku, his sister and mother to fend for themselves. Surviving on his mother’s income as a nurse was not enough for Makafui to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor. Instead, he had to depend on his wits for survival.
He would hunt with a catapult in the bush and even started his own poultry farm to generate extra income. Then in 2005, life became grimmer.
His mother passed away from a stroke and Awuku found himself stranded with no help.
Armed with just $1,000 from his mother’s pension contribution, he moved to Ghana’s capital city, Accra, in search of greener pastures.

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<blockquote>&#8220;There was a lot of waste generated during board meetings,&#8221;</blockquote>
That same year, he got admission to study marketing at the Institute of Professional Services but the money he made was not enough to pay tuition fees.
“I have struggled most of my way through life. I have slept on a bench in Accra and I have also slept at a 24-hour internet café. I didn’t have anywhere to sleep, so I decided to just spend the night behind the computer there. While in school, I had to find part-time work to pay my fees and pay my medical bills as I had asthma,” says Awuku.
He would do assignments for his colleagues and charge them for it, and also pick up odd jobs such as being a part-time soccer teacher for an international school in Accra. But he eventually had to drop out of school because he couldn’t afford it.
“I eventually met one of my mentors and supporters, Reverend Richard C. Whitcomb, a senior overseer of the Agape House New Testament Church in East Legon. He gave me a job at the church, then he helped pay my rent and then when I had to go back after I deferred my final year, he helped pay my tuition fees too.”
Awuku published his first book in 2015, The Tertiary Years, to address inefficiencies in the education system in Ghana and help young students build leadership skills.
That was followed by his social project called Student Initiative Ghana, a platform for the personal development and training of young people.
“I have visited over 15 schools and trained over 80,000 people over the last 15 years in the areas of brain-training and memory enhancement and helped young people with learning difficulties.”
He subsequently gained admission to the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) program created by former American President Barack Obama in his early years at the White House to develop the leadership of young people in Africa creating value in their communities.
“I spent five weeks in Nigeria at the Administrative Staff College in Badagry. I returned to Ghana to do an internship program. I worked with the One Ghana Movement and one of the programs they were doing was on sanitation. The team was going to be buying 1,000 bins and installing it in various places in Accra in partnership with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly,” says Awuku.
This is when he found his Eureka moment.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/04/18/roll-used-tyres/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: On A Roll With Used Tyres</a>
“While I was doing the internship, I realized there was a lot of waste generated during board meetings. I decided I wanted to do something about this. I looked through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and I looked at the plastic waste problem. I said to myself, ‘I took a course on waste management at university and I am a fan of clean environment, so let me do something with sustainable communities and cities which the plastic waste falls under’,” avers Awuku.
A 2002 report by the African Development Bank said that Ghana generated about 3.6 million tonnes of solid waste per year made up predominantly of food, plastic and wood. Awuku decided to join the fight to clean up Accra’s streets. He started Mckingtorch Creatives in January 2018 to turn plastic waste into art.
“So I started collecting bottles from the office and decided to try designing a Christmas tree from plastic waste. I got a welder to install a frame for me that looked like a frame for a tree and I decided to buy ropes. I would drill holes under the bottles and on top of the bottles and pass the ropes through them and install them on the tree. A day before Christmas, I had finished the tree. I bought lights and put them up and there were actually 396 plastic bottles on that tree,” says Awuku.
He installed his new creation in a major street in Madina, a suburb in Accra.
“I realized that it was changing people’s attitudes, they were shocked that plastic waste and bottles could be used in this manner. So I decided that I could take things a lot further and look at modeling some solutions I could develop using plastic waste,” says Awuku.
Some of his creations include flower pots, bins, wall-hangings and even sandals.
He also teamed up with one of the biggest manufacturers of bottled water in Ghana to create a fence with over 10,000 bottles for World Environment Day.
Awuku is determined to tell the youth that there can be workable solutions for waste and that they can be a pertinent part of building a planet free of plastic.

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Ghana’s Wastepreneur

Accenture is on the hunt to find Africa’s top tech start-up superstars – the digital pioneers solving critical challenges with technology across the continent. It’s a search for Africa’s big thinkers and big doers – visionaries who fearlessly push the boundaries of progress to shift African innovation to the next level.
Around the world, diverse players are coming together – forming new ecosystems to solve social and business problems. Africa is no exception. Some of the most pivotal parts within these ecosystems are the disruptive tech solution providers – those creating new ways of solving problems, supplying innovative products and offering faster development times and cost-effective delivery.
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The Africa top 30 tech start-ups initiative, powered by Accenture Africa alongside publication partner Forbes, runs as part of Accenture’s market-leading focus on open innovation. “Open innovation allows a path for collaboration between established businesses and innovative start-ups with great products, but no direct route to market,” says Sandiso Sibisi, Open Innovation Africa Lead at Accenture South Africa. “African start-ups often struggle to find an opportunity to plug their great technologies into established client value chains. Yet, with the right support, this all becomes possible, opening the doors to amazing opportunities for value creation, benefiting Africa and its people.”
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About the initiative
The initiative is open to start-ups from across Africa who are solving the continent’s challenges in business, government, civil society and more. All qualifying entrants are welcome (see rules below). Accenture is also particularly interested in entrants working in the spheres of artificial intelligence, blockchain and security, big data and analytics capabilities, Industry X.0, DevTech and Automation as well as extended reality.
Through careful research and field surveying, Africa’s Top 30 tech start-ups will list and fairly reward Africa’s best. The judging panel will include directors of VCs, tech incubators and accelerators from across the continent, academics as well as corporate sector specialists familiar with open innovation and the integration of start-up technologies into established value chains.
In addition to media exposure, listed companies will also participate in the Accenture Africa led Corporate Market Access Week taking place in Johannesburg in February 2019, where they will have an opportunity to showcase their offerings, sell their ideas to corporates, learn how to pitch for new business, and co-create solutions based on issues faced by Accenture clients. They will also get a chance to display their offerings within the Accenture South Africa’s Liquid Studio for a year and be part of the global Accenture Open Innovation network.
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The judging process
Entrants will undergo two rounds of judging. Round 1 will involve quantitative assessments and questionnaires, after which a longlist of top candidates will be decided upon.
Round 2 will identify the final top 30, with judging including a set of qualitative survey questions and analysis of key business metrics, among others.
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Rules, important information and how to enter
Applications for Africa’s Top 30 start-ups opened 07 September and will close 07 October 2018.
List of top start-ups will be finalised November 30th and announced alongside the survey results in the Feb/Mar 2019 edition of Forbes Magazine.
Highlights and results of the research process will be published alongside the Africa’s top 30 tech start-ups.
To qualify, start-ups must:
<ul>
<li>Be an African start-up, founded by an African</li>
<li>Be a registered business</li>
<li>Have been in operation for less than 9 years</li>
<li>Demonstrate innovation</li>
<li>Target and fill a significant market gap</li>
<li>Demonstrate exponential growth</li>
<li>Provide a product or service unconstrained by geography</li>
</ul>
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Additional evaluation criteria will include, but not be limited to, businesses’ financial metrics and performance, innovation measures, team experience, knowledge and media attention. Number of employees, impact creation, representation of diversity, patents, business models and more will also be factored into the judges’ final decision.
To enter, visit <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__platform.younoodle.com_competition_africas-5Ftop-5F30-5Ftech-5Fstartups&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=eIGjsITfXP_y-DLLX0uEHXJvU8nOHrUK8IrwNKOtkVU&amp;r=O_d6gfGZe3omUngrk9mlhituvBHT9ju2h9DEa9g5Cz0&amp;m=nM3PXdtowo-SBRBnVFCCn4XtlFK2k3XKKVannZYiWZg&amp;s=-c_g_4vPlaGntyIhl__p_gXbqJW076fRaPXJOQWBqeQ&amp;e=">https://platform.younoodle.com/competition/africas_top_30_tech_startups</a> and follow the instructions.
Fire Starters don’t wait in line. They see further and reach further, always going beyond to solve the challenges they know they can find unique solutions to. Accenture seeks to recognise these unique start-ups and accelerate the transformation of how Africans everywhere work and live.
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Accenture

Africa’s Top 30 Tech Start-Ups Opens for Entries

Don’t tell Akin Alabi there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything. He just might tell you off.
At 41, he has built multiple businesses and is making money and time for more.
Alabi is the founder of NairaBET, Nigeria’s first and leading sports betting platform, a company he started in 2009 after he identified what he calls “a starving crowd”.
By that, he means a customer base willing and able to pay for services enough for him to make a sizeable profit.
Besides NairaBET, Alabi owns a small football club, has a book-writing business, is into digital marketing, business coaching and seminars, and is also contesting for a seat in parliament in the 2019 Nigerian elections.
The entrepreneur-investor likes to spend his days identifying specific gaps in the market and providing solutions to address them.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2018/05/23/nigeria-where-football-is-life/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Nigeria; Where Football Is Life</a>
Over the years, he has identified many ‘starving crowds’. He found the first one just after completing a diploma in business administration in 2001. At the time, there was a growing desire for Nigerian youth to travel abroad, especially to Canada, in search of greener pastures.
According to data from the Canadian immigration service, as many as 27,625 immigrants from Nigeria were residing in Canada by 2011.
Alabi tried his luck too.
In 2001, after his visa got rejected, he decided to collate his experiences navigating the complicated visa application process and sell that knowledge online to first-time applicants.
<blockquote>&#8220;So anything I learned, I created the information pack and I put it online and sold it,&#8221;</blockquote>
“I started downloading information tutorials and videos about the Canadian application process. I put all the information together and said some people will be interested in this so let me put it out there for sale. So in January 2003, I launched my first business, which was selling information products, and the first information product was this Canadian visa package,” says Alabi.
The guide was an instant hit. Alabi was selling it at N10,000 ($28) per copy and over 100 copies later, he knew he had struck a gold mine. It was time to find other crowds. Alabi decided to share his experiences making money online through his new startup in another how-to guide, which also found demand. After the success of the two digital products, Alabi decided to register his company at the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
“I went there myself and I did everything myself and I was surprised I didn’t need a lawyer. So I created another information product – how to register your business with the CAC without a lawyer in 21 days or less. I put that out and people were buying. So anything I learned, I created the information pack and I put it online and sold it,” says Alabi.
He had stumbled on a booming industry. According to Stratistics MRC, the global e-learning market accounted for $165.21 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $275.10 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period. The flexible learning, low cost and easy accessibility of the market bolstered by the increasing proliferation in the internet during the dotcom boom, presented Alabi with a hungry market eager to grab anything offered online.
<div id="attachment_36929" style="width: 224px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36929" class="size-medium wp-image-36929" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322-214x300.jpg" alt="" width="214" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322-214x300.jpg 214w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322-300x420.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322-600x840.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322-768x1076.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322-731x1024.jpg 731w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/EM5A1322.jpg 1071w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px" />Akin Alabi. Photo provided.</div>
Alabi’s story is one of organic growth. Setting goals and achieving them is a prominent theme in his new book Small Business, Big Money: How to Start, Grow, and Turn Your Small Business Into a Cash Generating Machine, where he presents a practical guide for startups looking to scale.
“As early as I can remember, I wanted to be rich. I was fixated on wealth because I did not experience wealth growing up. It is something I believe gives you freedom. Freedom to do things you really wanted to do and freedom to impact this world. You can help the less privileged and also give your family the basic comfort of everything they want,” says Alabi. “I know money is not the most important thing in life but it is reasonably close to oxygen in terms of importance.”
After the success of his digital offerings, business began to slow down, but Alabi wanted more growth. He decided he would venture out of Nigeria to the land of milk and honey, in search of that elusive wealth.
“I got to the UK and wanted to work. I looked at the potential of what I could make and after four months, reality dawned on me. I didn’t want to become an illegal immigrant and felt I was better off doing what I was doing in Nigeria. So I said ‘I had something going for me, it might not be big but there was potential’. I said ‘let me go back and make it bigger’. I was not investing in the business so it was time to do it properly.”
But before leaving the UK, a chance encounter with the bookers would lead to the serial entrepreneur’s most lucrative venture yet. His brother called him from London while he was in the town of Milton Keynes to make a bet in an online sports shop for a football game so they could win some money.
“So I played and I made some money and then I played again and I lost and I played again and I won. And I said ‘wow, anybody can do this and people in Nigeria will love it’. So I wrote down on paper, how to make money from football betting. It was just 14 pages and I put it online and I called my friend in Nigeria to help me go and run an advert in the local newspapers,” says Alabi.
He invested N200,000 ($555) in the advert and made N450,000 ($1,248). That demand was going to progress from online content to a new customer base wanting a platform to bet on sports.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2017/08/02/success-bag-entrepreneur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Success Is In The Bag For This Entrepreneur</a>
“So those that bought the information product from me started reaching out to me that the website I recommended they should bet on did not work in Nigeria. And I was like ‘wow, you people are actually taking this seriously’. They wanted to place bets from $100 to $750. So I got thinking, these people are actually sending money to me abroad to place bets for them. Isn’t there anyone in Nigeria that has a business like this? And there was no one. So I said to myself ‘I have to create this platform’.”
That was almost a decade ago. He could not afford the software to create the platform at the time, which cost almost $1 million so he used a local developer to create his first platform. Today, NairaBET, a major player in the online sports betting market, has steadily transformed itself from just a football betting platform to a 360-degree sports booking platform covering digital, SMS, apps and retail betting. And, they have a new million-euro software upgrade in place, according to Alabi.
The total value of the global sports betting market is difficult to estimate because of the lack of consistency in how it is regulated in some parts of the world. Betting makes up about 30% to 40% of the global gambling market, which also includes lotteries, casinos, poker and other gaming, according to a report in Reuters.
This has led to challenges regulating the sector in Nigeria with issues arising from double taxation from the Lagos State government. But Alabi is hopeful these issues will be resolved once there is proper legislation of the sector. In the meantime, he is betting on a career in Nigerian politics and the corridors of power.

Tag: Entrepreneur

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