Don, Author at NairaBrains

In General

Richest Kings in Africa: How Africa’s Wealthiest Monarchs Flaunt Their Wealth

July 6, 2021 No Comments

Who are the richest kings in Africa? Is the monarchy dead in Africa? You bet not. Even after years of colonial rule which basically shifted the role of kings and previously powerful traditional rulers across Africa, some of them have somehow managed to retain and grow their wealth (if not their power).

We take a look at some of the wealthiest/richest kings in Africa;

King Mohammed VI of Morrocco

King Mohammed VI of Morrocco was named as the richest king in Africa by Forbes Magazine in 2014 and 5th richest king in the world. Born on 21 August 1963 he belongs to the Alaouite dynasty and became king on 23 July 1999 upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.

According to Wikileaks documents there is apparently high level of corruption in Morocco where the King has interests in many spheres of business. Wikileaks published diplomatic cables which alleged high-level corruption involving the king himself in December 2010. In April 2016 the King’s personal secretary was named in the Panama papers.

Mohammed is Morocco’s leading businessman and banker. He is estimated to be worth over $3 billion. Mohammed is also a leading agricultural producer and land owner in Morocco, where agriculture is exempted from taxes. His holding company “Siger” has shares in the large agricultural group “Les domaines agricoles” (originally called “Les domaines royaux”, now commonly known as “Les domaines“), which was founded by Hassan II. Les domaines has annual revenue in hundreds of millions of dollars. His palace’s daily operating budget is reported by Forbes to be $960,000 as at 2014.

After the death of his father Hassan II, King Mohammed VI of Morocco inherited a 35% stake in Societe Nationale d’Investissement (SNI), a holding company that has stakes in several publicly traded companies, including the country’s largest bank, Attijariwafa; mining company Managem Group; sugar producer Cosumar; and dairy firm Centrale Danone.

King Frederick Obateru

Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan (born 1950) is a Nigerian monarch and traditional ruler of Ugbo kingdom Ondo state, Southwestern Nigeria. He is worth at least an estimated $200 million. He has a custom built 2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II.

Obateru was born into the royal family of Sir Frederick Adetolugbo at Ugbo, a riverine area in Ilaje as the 4th child in a family of 8.

He is the founder of founder of Obat Oil, one of Nigeria’s largest privately and locally owned oil companies. The company owns one of the largest tank farms in Africa, a modern storage facility able to hold 65 million litres of petroleum products.

King Mswatini III

Mswatini III of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) was born on 19 April, 1968. He was crowned King of Swaziland at age 18 making him the youngest ruling monarch in the world at the time. He rules the country as an absolute monarch together with his mother Ntfombi Tfwala, now Queen Mother.

Mswatini III has 15 wives and leads a lavish lifestyle. He owns several luxury cars including a $500,000 Maybach. In 2018 he was reported to have got himself a plane and an airport worth $190 million for his birthday.

He is reportedly worth over $200 million

King Osei Tutu II of Ghana

Osie Tutu II (born Nana Barima Kwaku Duah) is a monarch in Ghana, the Kumasehene of Kumasi. He studied Accountancy at the University of Professional Studies (formerly Institute of Professional Studies) in Accra. He later obtained a Diploma in Management and Administration at the now London Metropolitan University.

Between 1981 – 1985 he was a senior consultant at the Mutual of Omaha Insurance company in Toronto, Canada. He returned to London and later founded his own mortgage finance firm, Primoda Financial Services Limited, located on Kilburn High Road, North West London.

He became the Asantehene in 1999. The Asantehene is highly revered in the Asante territories (Ashanti Region and other parts of Ghana), and is often regarded as the first among equals of traditional rulers in Ghana.

Osei Tutu is the owner and chief executive officer of Transpomech Ghana; a mining company that provides large industrial companies in Ghana. He is believed to be worth more than $15 million. He also owns extensive real estate in Ghana and South Africa as well as a collection of valuable gold crown jewels.

Togbe Afede XIV of Asogli

Togbe Afede XIV is the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli state, President of Asogli Traditional Area, and former President of the National House of Chiefs in Ghana.

Togbe is the executive chairman of World Trade Centre Accra and was voted member of the Board of Directors of the World Trade Centre in 2015. SAS Finance Group Ltd, constituting Strategic African Securities Ltd, a stock brokerage and corporate finance advisory firm, and SAS Investment Management Ltd, an asset management firm. Other firms he owns or co-owns include Strategic Initiatives Ltd (SIL) a portfolio and private equity investment firm, Databank Financial Services and Africa World Airlines.

He is estimated to be worth at least $10 million

Obi Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe

Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe is the 21st Obi of Onitsha in Anambra State, Nigeria. Before he became the Obi of Onitsha is 2002 he had a long, accomplished career in the Royal Dutch Shell Group where he served as Director in several companies in the group.

He has been Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University. His several corporate board positions include Chairman of the board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria as well as Chairman of the board of Directors of International Breweries Nigeria (ABInBev).

He is estimated to be worth between $5 – $10 million. His fleet of cars includes a 2016 Rolls Royce costing around $200,000.

Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar of Sokoto

Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto. The Sultan is regarded as the spiritual leader of the muslims in Nigeria.

Sultan Abubakar served in the Nigerian military and retired as a Brigadier General. He has several cars including a Rolls Royce 2017 model.

The Sultan of Sokoto’s networth is estimated at between $5 – $10 million.

Recommended Read: See some of the treasures stolen by the Europeans from Africa

In General

How to Transition From Full Time Work to Freelancing

July 2, 2021 No Comments

Today you find that many more people are interested in how to transition from full time work to freelancing, especially with the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. People may desire to move to freelancing for a variety of reasons.

Why Would You Want to Freelance?

Typically people want to become freelancers because of the following reasons;

Time: You want to own more of your time, determine when you work or not. With a regular full time job your choices are limited, you have to show up at specific times.
Income Flexibility: You find that with a full time job you have a fixed salary and it is not always in your power to earn more no matter how hard you work (except you work in areas with performance driven compensation such as sales or executive careers where you take home bonuses based on performance)
Love: People sometimes work at jobs they tolerate. The move to freelancing sometimes is to enable you do what you love most eg someone who leaves a good job to become a freelance writer.

Leaving your full time job for Freelancing comes with its challenges of course. You just have to be aware of them and plan accordingly. While there are lots of advice on balancing freelancing with a full time job there is barely significant information on how to switch from full time to only freelancing. This will involve understanding the following;

Income Stability: Have you thought of how your income will be affected by the move? With a full time job at least you have income stability, you know you earn a particular sum every month. Moving to freelance you should know the first few months may come with significant change in how stable your income is. Planning for those months until you get into your stride is important.
Adaptability: It will take you sometime to adapt to the different rigours of the freelancing life. For one you are only changing bosses and your new boss (clients) will make different demands than you are used to. Freelancing is by no means easier as the quality of your work will have bigger impact on your earning potential

When’s the Right Time to Move or Leave Your Full Time Employment?

There are lots of advice on this. However it boils down to two simple things.

The Money and Your Feeling

And both have to work in harmony. If you jump ship just because you feel you have to, without making plans to have enough finances to tide you over the first few months, things might be rough for you.

Plan ahead before quitting your job. Maybe test the waters, take on one or two freelance gigs while still holding down your job. Build your reputation and potential client base without sacrificing your job yet. That way, when you finally quit you should

have enough money saved up to take you through the start stages
have an idea of the freelance market already before going in fully

Taking jobs on the side will help you learn core freelance skills you need to succeed in your chosen area as well as discover your weaknesses and strengths.

Jump Only When You’ve Saved up Enough

We cannot emphasise this too much. Having several months worth of income stashed away in your short term investment or savings account will allow you start your freelance journey without falling into desperation. You will not need to underprice your services just to make ends meet. Building a successful freelance career or business takes time so you will need the cash to burn slowly as you work up the earning ladder.

Set Income Realistic Income Targets and Work Towards Them

When setting out as a freelancer set realistic monthly income targets. This should basically help you know how many gigs you need to complete on average to hit your earning target. Then work your way towards meeting the target. Of course when you have hit a target consistently you can raise it to a higher amount and push on.

In Life

4 Most Effective Exercises to Get Rid of Pot Belly

July 1, 2021 No Comments

What are the most effective exercises to get rid of pot belly? If you have a pot belly (as lots of men do) you are probably looking for a way to get the damn thing down.

First you have to realise there are no shortcuts to getting rid of pot belly. It will require work and some dedication but we are sure you will feel they were worth it when you attain that flat tummy.

Pot bellies can be caused by a variety of reasons. Some people have weak stomach muscles and can bloat easily even when they do not consume too much food. Sometimes it can be caused by lifestyle choices, drinking too much beer and very little or no exercise.

You should however note that reducing pot belly will not happen based only on exercises, you will have to also make lifestyle adjustments on what you eat and how much you eat to complement the exercises. Then you will see some very good results.

1. Weight Training

A study showed that healthy men who practiced 20 minutes of weight training daily had a lower increase in age-related abdominal fat in comparison with men who performed aerobic exercises for the same amount of time.

Start with lifting appropriate weights and increasing as your strength builds. Weight training is most effective when done 2–3 times a week per muscle group with 8–12 repetitions. It is always recommended to seek the guidance of an experienced trainer if you are a beginner.

2. Core Exercises

There are several core exercises that will help with reducing belly fat. Here are some basic, effective ones to start with.

Mountain Climbing

The mountain climber exercise helps with toning up your abdominal muscles, as well as burning extra calories. Here’s how to do it;

Face the floor in a push-up position with your palms flat on the floor, shoulder-length apart.
Hold yourself with your arms outstretched and back flat.
Bring one knee to your chest and then return it to its previous position. That’s one repetition.
Repeat the steps on the other leg.
Do 3 sets of 10–20 repetitions per leg.

Depending on your current level, you can perform this exercise 3–4 times a week.

Basic Crunches

Crunches are very easy to do, and you have plenty of variations to choose from. They are a great basic exercise for a beginner to build up the core muscles. Here are some directions on crunches you can do.

Lay down with your back flat on the floor.
Raise your legs off the floor and bend them to a 90° angle.
Place your hands by your ears, but do not clasp them together behind your head.
Bracing your abdominal muscles, lift your head and upper back from the floor and hold for 2–3 seconds.
Repeat for the reps desired, starting with 3 sets of 10–12 repetitions.

You can do this exercise 3-4 times a week

Bicycle Crunches

The Bicycle crunch targets the rectus abdominis and obliques and is a good variation of the traditional crunch.

Here’s how to do the Bicycle crunch

Similar to the basic crunch, you start in the crunch position but with the legs straight.
Lift your head and upper back.
Bring one knee up to the chest, and reach the opposite side elbow to the knee.
Lower the knee and elbow back to the starting position and repeat on the opposite sides. Focus on slow movement, rather than trying to complete it as fast as possible.
Repeat for 10–12 reps each side for 3 sets.

You can do this 3-4 times a week

3. Yoga Poses

There are yoga exercises that help with tightening the flesh and muscle in the stomach area. Asides helping eliminate excessive abdominal fat they also have other significant benefits: increased flexibility.

Chair Pose (Utkatasana)

The Chair pose helps strengthen not only your abdominal muscles but also your legs and arms. It is an isometric exercise, which means you hold the position for several seconds without moving.

Standing Forward Bend (Padahastasana)

The forward bend helps with stubborn belly fat. With the forward bend yoga pose there is complete compression of the abdominal area occurs, leading to fat burning in the tummy and waistline area.

What to do to Complement Your Exercise and Reduce Belly Fat Faster

Eat more of vegetables, fruits and lean proteins
Limit your consumption of processed foods
Sleep enough
Drink plenty of water throughout the day
Watch the portion of food you eat

Recommended: Check out more life improvement articles such as How to Overcome Shyness and Embrace Talking to People

In Personal Finance & Investments

6 Practical Pieces of Money Advice from Billionaires

March 31, 2021 No Comments

It is common sense that if you want to be rich you should listen to rich guys. There is always a lot to learn from millionaires and billionaires who have made their own wealth.

We have put together some simple and relevant advice from a few billionaires on how to improve your finances, earn/make more, save more.

Buy in Bulk – Mark Cuban

“It’s so hard to make a return on regular investments that […] you’re better off buying two years’ worth of toothpaste when it’s on a 50% discount. There’s an immediate return on your money. That’s real savings that you get to put in your pocket.”

2. Find your passion, find something you believe in – Oprah Winfrey

“You become what you believe. You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed.”

3. Be a Cheap Bastard, Save! – Chris Sacca

Don’t spend your money! Instead, he advises you to pinch your pennies and have your priorities in order for the long haul. “Being a cheap bastard now means so much more freedom and choices later,”

4. Have a Lifeboat – Reid Hoffman

You have Plan A, which is a your current plan, the business you’re trying to launch or the job you’re working at. It’s your plan to move up in the world.

Then you have a Plan B, your backup plan; it’s what you’ll switch to if you get out of Plan A. Maybe your Plan B is a side project you’ve been working on, or other jobs you’re thinking of applying for. But your Plan B should be flexible. You should be open to pursuing multiple opportunities or having a variety of backup plans should your Plan A fall through.

5. Have an Emergency Fund Set Aside – John Paul Dejoria

“Before investing or starting a company, make sure you have enough money saved for at least six months to pay bills or anything else that might come up financially,”

6. Understand that Entrepreneurship is a High Risk Path – Dustin Moskovitz

Entrepreneurs often work long, grueling hours and there’s very little glamour to it, he said. According to Moskovitz, a surer path to wealth is joining a later-stage company and helping them grow it. You’ll have a better chance of getting a high salary and achieving financial stability.

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In Business

Eight Things They Don’t Teach You in College About Business and the Labour Market

October 29, 2019 13 Comments

There will always continue to be the argument on whether college or university prepares the average individual for success in the real world.

Of course college has its uses. There is abundant theoritical knowledge on almost any discipline you can think of. Still I hardly know of any successful fellow who made success based only on what he/she learnt at the university. There are many things college doesn’t prepare you for;

1. Networking: Funny how our universities do not deem it fit to develop a very practical curriculum on interpersonal relationships and networking. The benefits for the average graduate will be enormous. Many leave college still shy and unable to connect effectively with people that will link them faster to their ambitions. If you’ve been to a typical Nigerian higher institution you will have enough academic workload on your hands that you may really not have time to learn the skills that matter later in life (networking included).

Joining clubs with focus and involving in students unionism all helped me learn how to relate and meet up with people but it wasn’t easy. You did all that at your own peril or risk. So what it means is that to learn people skills you have to mix and interact, rack up meaningful relationships especially with people higher up the ladder than yourself. If the colleges would teach that most of our young people will have a tool that will serve them well in business and career.

2. Selling: Have you noticed how many graduates have the phobia for selling anything even themselves. In the past two years I had interviewed quite a lot of graduates for positions within my new company and found one alarming thing; All of them didn’t want to be put where they’ll have to sell anything to anyone or convince anyone to buy anything.

How the hell are you expecting to be paid if you don’t want to sell. All companies make money by selling something and those who are willing and prove to the company that they can sell and pull in the profits have an edge over any others any time any day. I watched appalled as all of the job seekers I interviewed dodged from any marketing or sales related job. Everybody wanted to be in the office pushing papers and generally doing nothing. We had enough office staff but very little marketing guys who could help double or triple revenue. It was not acceptable.

How do our universities not teach students how to sell. Selling is vastly important.

– When seeking a contract you sell yourself and your company to the client
– You sell yourself to the Interviewer, trying to convince him to hire you
– You sell yourself to investors asking them to invest in your startup or idea
– You sell yourself to that pretty girl you met in the banking hall because you want to date her
– You sell yourself to your boss at that’s why you always want to impress and get that raise or promotion you need so badly.

All we do everyday is sell, sell and sell some more.

How better we will be if our colleges and universities can teach us how to do that.

3. Fundraising: Getting funded is one of the biggest challenges to small and medium scale businesses and tech startups in Nigeria. The funds sit in bank vaults but are extremely difficult to get hold of. I wish I had a course (something like Funding 312) when I was in college probably taught by an established businessman who had to raise his own funds and not by a white haired, stooping professor of Business Administration whose only experience in running a business was at age 9 when he helped his mum sell groceries.

If experienced business gurus and CEOs were to hold fundraising and capital sourcing classes at least one semester for each student many graduates would have had it easier going into business for themselves and giving birth to the ideas that run riot in their minds.

4. Money Management: Yes, we made money while in school or at least I made money in school but then I spent it as fast as it came sometimes even faster so I had to be in debt some of the time. A class in practical money management (not the lame financial management classes taught by lecturers that were even broke as they taught) would have done me and lots of others a world of good.

Sometimes you don’t need millions to start a business and grow it big. If you were taught how to bootstrap and form a lean business that will go on to make you serious money I bet you would have been further on the road than where you are right now. Same as myself. But pity we had to learn the lessons ourselves the hard way.

5. Rejection: Does our colleges teach one how to handle rejection and not be bogged down by it. It matters because you are going to be rejected many times in your life before you get that ‘Yes” that makes all the difference.

Look at what college doesn’t teach you about rejection;

– That girl you had a serious crush for rejects you, how do you handle it?
– They don’t teach you what to do when your job application gets rejected 25 times?
– Do they teach you what to do when 12 banks and 5 private investors turn down your request for funding?
– Do they teach you how to handle the rejection of two investors on whom you had all your hope for funding your Startup company?

I could go on and on. These are things that matter and everyday many young bright people get discouraged by several rejections. Wouldn’t it be nice if they taught you in college how to prepare for and handle rejection.

6. Failure: The University/college is probably the worst place to learn about failure. There they treat failure like a plague. If you fail it seems you have done something terrible. Assuming you were an A student and suddenly you failed 2 courses. Classmates and friends would keep discussing it. How did he fail? That guy afterall, doesn’t know as much as we thought?

That is why many students cheat. They are so afraid to fail that even after they leave school they can’t work on actualising their ideas because they are afraid of failing. They are scared of what their parents, friends, relatives will say if their first business failed.

They are scared of hearing things like,”I warned you to get a job, Now see how useless you are,” “You threw the whole money away, punk head!” “You are good for nothing, go get a job”

Wouldn’t it be nice if the college system was changed so that failure doesn’t become an anathema but something to learn from and progress. What if colleges focus on helping students handle failure instead of creating entities that end up so afraid to even give a speech for fear of failure.

7. Creativity: In college, I hated it when a lecturer in one of my engineering classes insisted on having us solve his problems in a particuar way. One other man gave you questions to which you must write the answers as exactly as it was in his notes. They simply did all they could to turn us to robots.

The lack of creativity in our schools is scary. And I guess we are paying for it with the quality of graduates that come into the labour market every year.

If you have ever interviewed graduate job seekers you will understand why there is an urgent need to revitalise our colleges and universities.

8. Managing Others: Management is a course in most colleges but that is not what I mean. If we were taught how to get people around us to work in harmony towards achieving a common goal we would have had a better head start in business and life generally. Management of people is an important skill we should have been taught in college but unfortunately we were just taught theoritical management principles and jargons that really do not equip one for the real world out there where the struggle can get rough and everybody is inherently selfish.

If these eight things were taught in college many more people would have been better prepared for business and career success.

In Business

Small Business Recruiting: Low Cost Strategies to Hire the Best Employees for Your Young Startup

October 5, 2019 No Comments

If you are running a new business (with most likely very limited funds) the success of your first few hires will play an important role on the speed at which your young startup business progresses.
Big companies and businesses are always on the lookout for great talented workers and the reality for a young and inexperienced business entrepreneur is that he/she will have to battle with the bigger companies for the available talents in the job market.

To develop a smart recruitment strategy for your young company you have to be aware of the challenges you face in your bid to get in quality staff and team members.

Do You Have the Finance to Be Competitive Enough?

While it may not take much to hire for such positions as receptionist, clerk, personal assistant etc the fact remains that for your young company to grow faster and produce better products and services you will eventually need to hire star quality performers in such areas as programming/design, engineering, business development etc and you will find it very difficult to hire the super performers your company needs at low cost.

Unless you come across a generous investor at the early stages of starting your company chances are that you may not have the resources to offer the sort of wages to attract real top talents to your startup. That is a problem you should be aware of. Still you will not be doing your company any good by settling for low quality workers that you can pay little.

Does Your Location Matter?

Previously as an up and coming inexperienced entrepreneur I never agreed that location was that important in today’s technological business environment. However when I started my first company a technology services firm in a town not known for harbouring great talent I had a firsthand experience on how difficult it can be to attract good employees who will be willing to leave their location to come work at a quiet, sleepy town. The town was and is still behind technologically.

In as much as I and my partner saw an opportunity there to bring in quality ICT services, break new ground and reap the rewards we soon discovered how difficult it was to get good lieutenants with the right skills to help us build the company. For our job adverts we mostly got people who lived far away from our business location. As a young, self funded company we didn’t have the funds to help them relocate or even pay the kind of wages they expected. While we received applications from some candidates who lived in the town they were not of the quality we wanted and lacked many of the skills and experience we were looking for.

These and some others are the questions you must consider if you are intending to hire and grow your business as quickly as possible.

How Then Can You Increase Your Chances of Hiring Great People Even With the Limited Funds Your Company Has

Recruiting is one of the toughest jobs of being an entrepreneur or founder. You either hire people who help your company/startup grow faster or you get people who slow down your company’s progress or even, at the extreme, halt it.
Here’s how you can make sure your recruitment of your first few employees becomes a success;

Get a Clear Picture of Who and What You Want

Before you ever put out word or place any advert for vacancy be sure to sit with your team or partner and write down who and what exactly you are hiring

For instance as a small company you might need a receptionist who will also double as customer assistant and answer calls from customers. You will have to decide what exact position or job title you will be putting out. Remember that a job title can give a perceived bigger or lower value to the prospective employee and thus affect the expectations they will have of you as the employer including salary demands. Once when we wanted to hire a front desk officer who would also act as secretary we advertised a job title that somehow gave candidates the impression that the job would pay more than it actually was. As a result we got mostly overqualified applicants who we couldn’t pay.

A job title conveys the importance the prospective employer attaches to the job. Some titles will attract under qualified persons while certain titles will draw the attention of the kind of people you need.

Be Clear as Possible on the Requirements and Responsibilities

It is very often that I see entrepreneurs putting out job adverts that do not have clear eligibility requirements. Very scant summary of requirements might attract applications from very unqualified candidates. On the other hand putting out very high and sophisticated requirements will scare away some good candidates you might have got otherwise. The key is to strike a balance between the ideal candidate descriptions you wish for and the average qualifications and requirements you need to get a good, if not star employee.

Advertise Creatively

Creative job advertising is a blend of online and offline non-conventional methods. To get the word out there about your job positions you may place your jobs in proven job sites to get the needed exposure. Let colleagues and associates be aware that you are hiring. If your company has a facebook and twitter account be sure to share the information on the vacancies open in your company. One good thing about these social media platforms is that users who read your information can easily share and retweet to their connections and help spread word about your vacancy.

Interviewing Prospective Candidates

One mistake most young entrepreneurs make is to assume they have read all they need to know about the job interviewing process. The truth is there is more to a job interview than just asking the right questions. You have also to watch out for the right signals from the prospective candidates. Most times a candidate’s attitude during interviews will tell you a whole lot more about them than their answers.

Some candidates will give you all the right answers they have been trained to provide during interview situations so you will need the ability to look beyond the answers and look at the characters of the persons you interview.