Entrepreneurship is not foreign to Nigeria. Informed global business space stake-holders often comment Nigerians are highly enterprising people. This is unquestionably true going by empirical evidence. SIAKA MOMOH brings you the story of the rising zeal for entrepreneurship in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. It is a must read.
Jaja’s trading policies alarmed other British firms trading in the Niger Delta with the exception of Alexander Miller Brother and Company, which prospered and had stations throughout Southern Nigeria partly because it co-operated with Jaja. It is however instructive to note that the other eight firms that were virulently opposed to his policies ‘ganged’ up to form the African Association which was incorporated in 1889. Hence, it was this African Association and a few other firms that eventually formed the United African Company (UAC) in 1929.
Thus, the history of the origins of the UAC would not be complete without adequate reference to the intense commercial rivalries between Jaja and the firm of Alexander Miller who were contemptuously referred to as the agents of Jaja by the other firms, on the one hand, and the other eight British firms in opposition to Jaja, on the other.
Talking about UAC, Siaka Momoh has clear memory of AT&P (African Timber & Plywood Company Limited) in Sapele which, as well as the thriving export business in ‘Safa’ ( Safa stands for Sapele just like ‘Wafi’ and ‘Lasport’ stood for Warri and Lagos. These were popular slangs that the present Delta State Boma Boys, the equivalent of these days ‘Area Boys’ of Lagos, sing song). Gone are the days when Sapele and Warri were all bubbles.
It was this same UAC, that a few Nigerian entrepreneurs had to contend with in pre and post independence periods. The likes of Timothy Adeola Odutola and Hamzat Beyioku Adebowale were good examples. Adeola Odutola, who, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, is the foremost Nigerian and perhaps, African industrialist in history, had businesses that were household names in the country. His fleet of companies include: Odutola Nigerian Industries Limited – manufacturers of bicycle tyres and tubes in Ijebu-Ode, Odutola Tyresoles Company Limited with factories in Ibadan, Kano and Onitsha – re-threading automotive tyres, Odutola Tyre & Rubber Company Limited with factories in Ibadan for rubber compounding, Adeola Farms known for growing of rubber and oil palm, Odutola Food Industries Limited known for manufacturing assorted biscuits, and Odutola Stores Limited – department Stores.
There was also Adeola Odutola College, Ijebu Ode, where Siaka was to do his HSC (Higher School Certificate) but couldn’t because his father, Omooba Ilori Momoh asked him to take up a job for two years. And he had to wait for six years to continue his education. Most of these six years was spent by him managing small and Medium businesses.
This business guru held substantial investments in breweries and pharmaceutical sub-sectors and served as chairman in many other companies including Kabelmetal Nigeria Limited, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Limited, and Unichem Nigeria Limited in which he had substantial share holdings.
Read also: EDC, SMEDAN, others collaborate to deepen entrepreneurship in Nigeria
Adebowale, on his part, started his career with SCOA Group in 1959 as a marketing manager. By 1961, he founded Adebowale Stores as a retail outlet in Lagos. Taking advantage of the Federal Government’s favourable industrial policies later on, Adebowale incorporated Adebowale Electrical Industries Limited as a manufacturing concern. The move marked a turning point in his career from a businessman to a manufacturer, especially in 1975, when the young company rolled out its first set of locally manufactured electrical/electronics products, opening branches in Ibadan, Kano and Lagos.
There was a list of other indigenous entrepreneurs that the sixties and 70s and thereafter witnessed. This list included: Aminu Dantata, Odimegwu Ojukwu, Augustine Ilodibe of Ekene Dili Chukwu fame, David Dafinone, James Edewor – the Oloku of Eku, Wahab Folawiyo, Chris Ogunbanjo, Rasaq Akanni Okoya of Eleganza Group of Companies, and Adeyemi Lawson.
Only recently, Aliko Dangote, President Dangote Group, currently the richest man in Africa, and Femi Otedola, made the Forbes list of world billions. Dangote is the founder of the Dangote Group, which has operations in Nigeria and over a dozen African countries. Dangote began his career as trader at 21 with a loan from his uncle. He went on to build his Dangote Group into a conglomerate with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, haulage and oil and gas.
Femi Otedola is the Nigerian president chief executive officer of Zenon Petroleum and Gas limited. In 2009, he joined Aliko Dangote on World’s Richest List (Forbes magazine) with an estimated worth of 1.2 billion Dollars. In 2010, due to the recession, his fortune was reduced by half and he no longer figured in the Forbes list. Femi Otedola is the dominant force in diesel business among oil marketing concerns. Otedola started Zenon few years ago and within a short time seized control of the market. Today he has become the pacesetter in the downstream sector while expanding the frontiers of competition.
Also on the list of contemporary Nigerian entrepreneurs of note is Mike Adenuga Jnr., Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Globacom. At age 26, Adenuga had already become a millionaire with connections in high places. With his unique flair for risks and sheer tenacity of purpose, in no time he started reaping profits in billions. He owned defunct Equatorial Trust Bank, and Consolidated Oil which carries out crude oil drilling, refining and marketing. His first shot into the consciousness of Nigerians was when his company, Consolidated Oil became the first indigenous company to strike crude in December1991.
Craze for entrepreneurship
Never in the history of Nigeria has the awareness about entrepreneurship be so popular like it has been in the last decade. The reason for this is not farfetched. Job losses came with plant shut downs and we churn out about two billion graduates from our tertiary institutions yearly when we create jobs in thousands.
Now, Nigerians generally think self-employment and not paid employment. In answer to this development, tertiary schools across the country have now introduced entrepreneurship programmes into their curriculum. Moreover, capacity building institutions such as Fate Foundation, Pan African University’s The Entrepreneur Development Services and a number of other private capacity building institutions are found across the country. When you add all these to small business development institutions that governments – federal and states – have created over the years, the robust focus on entrepreneurship by government becomes clearer. The Federal government had the National Directorate of employment (NDE), The Small and Medium Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and the states have institutions for the development of small businesses. Moreover, the CBN brought on board Microfinance Banks to replace moribund people’s banks.
Tony Elumelu Foundation
Tony Elumelu has come to take the passion for entrepreneurship to new heights. He created the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) in 2010.
At a time when international governments and agencies are increasingly recognising that the route to Africa’s transformation is through African-led solutions and private sector growth, Tony Elumelu’s track record of business success—founding the United Bank for Africa, now one of Africa’s leading financial services groups, with presence in twenty African countries, New York, Paris and London and multi-sector proprietary investment holding company, Heirs Holdings, together employing of 30,000 Africans—typifies a new generation of African business dynamism.
The Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent.
Read also: CNN’s African Voices Changemakers meets Tony Elumelu
The Foundation has currently assisted 7,531 entrepreneurs thus far through its flagship Programme—the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.
This Programme is the $100million commitment by the Elumelu family to empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs across 54 African countries over a 10-year period. The Programme is the only one of its kind and scale in Africa focused on the transformation of Africa through empowering African entrepreneurs and advocating for entrepreneurship for the sustainable development of the continent. The goal of the Entrepreneurship Programme is to create at least 1million jobs and contribute over $10billion in revenue to the African economy.
According to the Foundation’s CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, “This investment in young African entrepreneurs will not only create hope for a burgeoning youth demographic but will break the cycle of poverty on the continent and drastically reduce the economic underpinnings of Africa’s migration crisis.
• We actively convene global and African political leaders to ensure that entrepreneurship and the necessary enabling environment is prioritized. At our most recent Forum in Abuja, H.E. Paul Kagame, President, Republic of Rwanda; H.E. Macky Sall, President, Republic of Senegal; H.E. Félix Tshisekedi, President, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); H.E. (Prof.) Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; and Hon (Dr.) Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister, Republic of Uganda, representing the President of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Museveni were present, following the presence of H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, and H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya in 2018. Earlier in June 2018, President Emmanuel Macron participated in a town hall engagement hosted by the Tony Elumelu Foundation, where he interacted directlywith 2,000 young African entrepreneurs.”
Entrepreneurship in Africa
With approximately 60% of Africa’s population aged under 35years, entrepreneurship has become the most important intervention to sustainably lift the continent out of poverty. Some pertinent statistics relating to African entrepreneurship:
• 80% of Africans view entrepreneurship as a good career opportunity
• 22% of Africa’s working age population are starting new businesses, the highest rate in the world
• The median age of Africa’s entrepreneurs is 31, younger than in other developing regions.
• Firms with fewer than 20 employees and less than 5 years’ experience provide the most jobs in Africa’s formal sector.
• 44% of African entrepreneurs start business to exploit market opportunities while 33% do so because they cannot find jobs.
• African women are much more likely to start businesses than women elsewhere although they are 3% less likely to engage in early stage entrepreneurial activity like their male counterparts
Source: African Development Bank
TEF entrepreneurship forum
Every year, the Tony Elumelu Foundation holds what has become the most influential entrepreneurship gathering on the continent – a convening of the African entrepreneurship ecosystem. This year, the TEF Forum hosted 5 African Heads of States, 60 speakers across 3 continents and an audience of over 5,000, out of which were thousands of African entrepreneurs across the continent. The principle themes of discussion were job creation for the young African entrepreneurs, women empowerment and promoting trade relationships across Africa.
TEFConnect
TEFConnect is the largest digital platform connecting African entrepreneurs to the tools and the opportunities they need to succeed.
With over 800,000 registered users across the continent, the platform was launched in 2018 by the Tony Elumelu Foundation to provide opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs to create their own luck and establish the trade relations they need to scale their business, despite geographical limitations. The platform provides support to the thousands of entrepreneurs who may not easily access the right business tools, funding and networks on their own.
TEFConnect hosts the 12-week intensive business training, likened to a mini-MBA programme, which was developed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation to equip entrepreneurs with knowledge for business. The platform connects entrepreneurs with mentors and likeminded entrepreneurs, as well as boasts a Marketplace for entrepreneurs to trade easily from wherever they are.
