TIM AKANO is one Nigerian, an African man with serious passion for Africa and Africans. As a business man, investor and an entrepreneur he believes success is not limited to one’s personal worth but through impacts made on the generation coming behind. For this and other reasons he started One Africa Initiative, a platform to groom young Africans towards growth and development.
On Sunday January, 22, 2023 through One Africa Initiatives, Akano attracted African youth of diverse background and aspirations to meet, learn and focus on their personal life ambition and the future of Africa through a webinar on entrepreneurship on the continent.
They had as the topic of discussion, From Zero To Billions: The Secrets to a Successful Business, with top eminent and distinguished Nigerian business gurus to do justice to the topic.
On hand were tested, skilful and highly experienced business magnates among which were the President and Chief Executive Officer of O Pay, Mr. Olu Akanmu, the innovative business guru and the pioneer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Peace Mass Transit Group of Companies, Chief Sam Maduka Onyishi, and by the side, Edward, one of Akano’s young mentees were all on hand to give a good account of themselves.
The platform by all indications provided answers to many probing questions and fears of investors and all that wish to go into private business.
Leading the discussion, the host, Tim Akano intimated his audience with the vision, aims and objectives of One Africa Initiatives which according to him was a Non Profit Organization made up of individual Africans and organizations from all across the world with passion for contributing in whatever manner towards the transformation of the African Continent and her people.
“Our aim is to bring the youths in Africa together, we intent to come up with students exchange programmes among African youth because unity has eluded us in Africa, we intend to organise programmes like Students Union exchange to bring together students across nations and schools in Africa” with the belief that “If it is done in 10 or 20 years we would have been getting more united in Africa,” and “To transform Africa we need the energy of the youth. OAI seeks to galvanize Africans and all of African descent to build a continent that is home to all her offsprings.,” he explained, before Olu Akanmu took over the floor.
In his about 30 minutes of discourse, Akanmu, a trained Pharmacist turned banker and telecommunication merchant was able to take his audience through what it takes to go into business and to remain in business.
According to him, O Pay was established in Nigeria few years ago and it has been able to reach out to more than 5000 agents and 10million customers all over Nigeria under his supervision.”
He began, “To start a business, you need to get needs for your products,” in what he called Product Market Fit, he asked some pertinent questions that a prospective entrepreneur is supposed to answer before taking off.
“Do you have a product solving problem in the market place? Do you have the Minimum Viable Product that customers are willing to pay for readily? Do you have paying customers? Are you solving real problems customers cannot do without? Are you ready to solve big problems? Is your product a pain killer or multivitamin?”
Having been satisfied with this he listed out what steps a good business person needs to take thereafter.
“You need to think about Agency Marketing Scale and move rapidly, the need to run quickly and scale up, do not waste time and never delay, mobilise resources, capital men and labour, lock up the market and run rapidly, build a formidable business model, move to adjacent markets from your core offline to online, build partnership for innovation and value added service and distribution for market reach, find access to more markets through partners. Be purpose driven, reach out to served, unserved, underserved or excluded markets, note incremental and disruptive innovations, see market opportunities, build sustainable commercial models to unlock excluded markets,” submitting that “great purpose attracts great talents, and profit is a bye product of solving large social problems commercially through innovation.”
He also chipped in some ideas about business financing and workable financing models.
According to him, “The right idea is the most important thing. Loans can be sourced through formal and informal settings like the Lagos Employment Trust Fund” as he advised young investors not to borrow to start a business.
He of course advised that business could be funded with Equity/Angel Investors, or venture capital, and loans are meant for matured business and not for start ups, concluding that opportunities would convince investors to support young and budding investment.
“Let people see opportunity in your business, they would invest,” he advised.
Akanmu’s presentation was followed by the inspiring story and presentation of Chief Sam Maduka Onyishi which could be summarised as a typical tale of from zero to billions.
No theory, no formula, he simply told the audience that his presentation would be a story of his life retold.
According to him, he was born of a bricklayer father and a petty trader mother who used to sell vegetables to the residents of the mixed rural and urbane community of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, now in Enugu State of Nigeria, he was able to weather the storm to become a giant in business with his hands in many successful enterprises across the world today.
“I lost my father in February 1997. My mother was left to take care of seven children. Even with that my mother saw me through my secondary school in 1981.”
He variously did several menial jobs for survival. He served as a bus conductor, driver, second hand clothe dealer, and construction worker.
“While growing my mother was paid a sum of N1,200 as host community compensation by the UNN which she gave me. I used it to start second hand clothing business in 1987. I did that for two years and saved N12,000 to go into motor spare parts business in Kano in 1989 and 1993.
“I came in contact with a merchant in Kano who used to come from Jeddah. He gave me some Toyota contacts to take to Lagos. The man was the first person to pay for my flight. I sold the products and returned his money intact. I sold it for N70,000 and came back with all his money. I made a profit of N17,000 and he gave me N2,000 more. I did not understand the trick of buying other products with the money to sell again in the north. So I came back with all his money and he was impressed.
“The man then introduced many of his friends to me. Before I knew it I had made money, I opened the first and second spare parts shops, got married and built a house in my village.”
Even with that Maduka believed education had a place in his heart and he went back to get education.
“In 1993 I came back to the UNN as a student. I was driving while I was a student and I stopped driving in 1998, by then I had got 48 buses before I stopped. Today I have about 4,000 buses.”
One other testimonial of the transport guru was a life of modesty, satisfaction and integrity.
“I used to pay with post dated cheques. My cheques never bounced. Yet I have never taken any loan to buy any bus. Even in China, I got my supplies without agreement or any collateral. I trade with Elizade and other Motor companies. It is all about trust. We have many people who want to help younger people in investment but they would want to pull you down, and people take their money to saner climes where there is trust.”
Chief Maduka also shared testimonies of a life of satisfaction and contentment. He said, “What gives me joy is not the amount of money I accumulate but the satisfaction and contentment with what I have. I don’t count money among the first five of my successes but other things that God gave me like running mass transit for about 30 years without sleeping in the hospital, for 35 years I have never had a fight with my wife. She is a partner in my business and that has manifested in my children with five First Class from the best of schools and courses, with four doing PhD and the last doing his Masters programme.
“My family was in China and we never had a car or house. Here we believe in hard work more than cash. I believe N100,000 I worked for is more than 100 million I did not work for, got by fraudulent means. 100 naira that gives you sleep at night is better than millions that does not give you rest.
“I value my family more than money. Nothing stops my prayer from being answered. For 40 years I have been in business and God keeps me going and I have other investments in Banking, Marines Services, Logistics, Banking, Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Auto Assembly, Courier Services, Chemicals, Petroleum, and Lubricants.
“My concern today is how I will be remembered. It is about how I transfer these values to the younger ones. That is why I decided to build a university. When you make money you should be proud of passing it to your children. You cannot pass evil money to your children. Success without successor is not a good success.
“We have Maduka University in Enugu and we want to do more as the Lord permits. We are prayer warriors in my family with my mother. It is not easy to be controlling 5,000 drivers without the help of God. To succeed in business you must see yourself as a messenger for the owner of the business. We are vessels which God uses to pass wealth to those who need it. I am happy because I have what money cannot buy. I never went on leave for 25 years.
Asked how he handles failure in business, the multiple award winner Chief Onyishi answered, “In business it is either you succeed or fail and you must prepare for that. Test the ground before putting your two legs into it. Prepare and make up your mind. It depends on your risk appetite. Have a trial before managing huge funds. Integrity, trust, pay in business.”
On why he ventured into investing in University education, the consummate business magnate was excited to provide a quick answer.
His answer, “I have always been known for learning new skills. Till now I am still learning in schools to get things better. In Africa we have big opportunities by our hand. In Africa I believe we have a green land to take. I believe I have something better to take around. My concern is how do I make impact and one of them is by building a university. The students will be our ambassadors. Our target is to produce graduates that can do business and create wealth. There are more opportunities in Africa than in the US or Europe. What you can do and make impact in Africa, you would do it in US or Europe with nobody looking at you. Make a good name for yourself here before stepping out to manage other people’s resources.”
The third presentation was made by Mr. Edward, one of many numerous mentees of Mr. Tim Akano, sharing what he called the secrets to a successful business.
“Some of the principles I have learnt in business from Zero to Billions, are that the journey must be deliberate and decisive. It is possible to move from zero to billions” citing Jan Koum, the owner of Whatsapp, Steve Jobs of Apple Computers, Aliko Dangote and co.
On How do I start? He recommended “Complete mindset shift. Decide, think differently, believe it is doable. Start where you are. Decide what do you want to sell, product or service? Find a mentor you can learn from and he will give you the direction.”
He also shared the the fears of starting, which are “Fear of ‘If I fail, fear of the unknown, what if it doesn’t work, fear of fences, of battles and competitions.”
He was very quick to advise, “Don’t compromise quality. Promise that you can do it and do it well. Ensure prompt delivery and use the power of feedback. Be persistent, there is power in persistence. Most businesses succeed after 6th trials. Be open to your collaborators.
“Develop from Idea to Imagination, Plan, write down your plans, be realistic, before you expect bountiful harvest. Relationship matters. Build on relationship. Get mentors who are people who believe in your vision.”
By the end of the meeting held on Zoom, it was clear that the organisers had made strong impacts on the participants.
Winding up, Tim Akano promised that such sessions would be held monthly in their drive to encourage and challenge young Africans to make strong impact in their lives and in the continent of Africa as a whole.
The convener, Tim Akano, a graduate of International Relations of the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University) is an investor, entrepreneur, writer, author, mentor and life coach, who after his two decades in the business world working with multinational conglomerates is presently the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of New Horizon Solutions Nigeria Limited, a franchise of the world largest computer training institute, New Horizon International.
He is also the founder/CEO, WiniGroup, an agric investment company, Pioneering founder/President, One Africa Initiatives, an NGO founded out of his burning desire to see Africa transformed with membership strength from over 13 countries of the world.
In doing this, he believed that “Africa for too long has been a story of failed potential given the richness of both her human and natural endowments, as Africa is estimated to house 30% of the world’s natural resources. For too long we have been the poorest in all areas of development. For too long our people have failed to live life on their own terms, and time is now for us to come together to help ourselves instead of being a beggarly continent dependent on others for things we can do for ourselves,” which he sees as the mandate of One Africa Initiatives.
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