Africa Check in conjunction with Facebook, expands its local language coverage as part of its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme.
Facebook’s reality checking project depends on input from the Facebook people group, as one of numerous sign Facebook uses to raise possibly false stories to certainty checkers for survey
Facebook), today with Africa Check reported that it has included new neighborhood language support for a few African dialects as a major aspect of its Third-Party Fact-Checking program – which surveys the exactness of news on Facebook and expects to decrease the spread of deception.
Propelled in 2018 crosswise over five nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon, Facebook has banded together with Africa Check, Africa’s first free certainty checking association, to grow its neighborhood language inclusion over:
Nigeria, in Yoruba and Igbo, adding to Hausa which was at that point bolstered
Swahili in Kenya
Wolof in Senegal
Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho and Southern Ndebele in South Africa
As indicated by Kojo Boakye, Facebook Head of Public Policy, Africa, stated: “We keep on trying huge interests in our endeavors to battle the spread of false news on our stage, while building strong, sheltered, educated and comprehensive networks. Our outsider reality checking system is only one of numerous ways we are doing this, and with the extension of neighborhood language inclusion, this will help in further improving the nature of data individuals see on Facebook. We know there is still more to do, and we’re focused on this.”
Remarking, Noko Makgato, official chief of Africa Check, said “We’re excited to grow the munitions stockpile of the dialects we spread in our work on Facebook’s outsider truth checking program. In nations as semantically different as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, certainty checking in neighborhood dialects is imperative. In addition to the fact that it lets us actuality check increasingly content on Facebook, it likewise implies we’ll be contacting more individuals crosswise over Africa with confirmed, believable data.”
Facebook’s reality checking project depends on criticism from the Facebook people group, as one of numerous sign Facebook uses to raise possibly false stories to certainty checkers for survey. Neighborhood articles will be reality checked close by the confirmation of photographs and recordings. In the event that one of Facebook’s reality checking accomplices distinguishes a story as false, Facebook will demonstrate it lower in News Feed, essentially lessening its dispersion.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
African entrepreneurs are never leaving any stone unturned. Zimbabwe’s William Sachiti and his team at the Academy of Robotics have launched Europe’s first roadworthy self-driving delivery vehicle, “Kar-go” which aims to reduce the cost of last-mile delivery by as much as 90 percent.
In the first week of its launch, Kar-go has been hosted by the Duke of Richmond and praised by both the Duke and Zimbabwean dignitaries including Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo and Zimbabwe ambassador to the UK Christian Katsande.
A Look At Kar-go
Kar-go is a self-driving vehicle that works with the help of an app
Recipients of parcels can simply track their delivery and meet the vehicle at their preferred destination just like meeting a pre-booked taxi.
Recipients will then use the app to open the hatch of the vehicle to release their specific parcel.
Inside the vehicle, a patented package management system will sort and re-shuffle packages on the move.
Powered by Tesla batteries, Kar-go can drive at 60mph and cover around 120 miles before it needs re-charging — around the same distance as an average delivery driver covers daily.
Traveling at up to 60mph, the vehicle has been developed in collaboration with the UK’s vehicle licensing authority, the DVLA, to travel on the roads.
As part of the vehicle’s development, Sachiti “trained” the Kar-go technology to operate on roads in Zimbabwe.
Academy of Robotics founder and CEO, William Sachiti explains how the vehicle works:
“There are some great delivery robots out there, but most of them are designed to run on neat pavements or sidewalks of grid-like cities. We want Kar-go to be universally applicable, so we have trained our technology in a number of different environments and of course, for me, Zimbabwe was a natural choice.”
Kar-go has already attracted significant interest in investment from China, the UK, Australia, Germany and Switzerland and the Academy of Robotics is in discussions with a number of retailers and logistics companies with commercial trials for Kar-go on the roads in the UK planned in the next few months.
Sachiti, adds:
“We have had a number of very promising conversations with potential partners and investors and we are confident that Kar-go will be on the streets in a few months with a series of trials with high street retailers and logistics brands to follow. We are very grateful for the support we have received both in the UK and from the Zimbabwean community.”
An Emblem of the Future.
This electric, self-driving vehicle, Kar-go has since been selected by the team curating FOS Future Lab for the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS) as an emblem of the future.
The Festival of Speed is an annual event dubbed motorsport’s ultimate garden party, as it takes place on lawns and paddocks of the Duke of Richmond’s Goodwood estate.
The Duke hosts motoring enthusiasts from around the world who flock to see the latest concept cars to classics.
Festival Of Speed Future Lab is the Duke of Richmond’s latest addition to the Festival of Speed and has become a centerpiece of the event.
The Man Behind This Unique Concept Vehicle is Zimbabwean-Brit, William Sachiti, From Harare.
Having exited his first start-up (123-registration) at 19, team leader William Sachiti (34) has since founded and exited 3 businesses including Clever Bins, a business he pitched aged 24 on the BBC Dragon’s Den show.
Before he turned his attention to AI and robotics his last business, MyCityVenue was acquired by Secret Escapes in 2015.
During his visit to the UK, Minister Moyo together with ambassador Katsande made time to meet Sachiti.
The dignitaries inspected the Kar-go vehicle at an exclusive reception and hosted by the Westbury Mayfair hotel in the prestigious Mayfair district where William was speaking at an event on the future of transport alongside leaders from the automotive industry.
At the reception, organized by Conrad Mwanza and the Zimbabwe Achiever Awards (ZAA) team, the party discussed the Kar-go technology and William and the team’s work to make the technology internationally applicable.
The reception was supported by British-Zimbabwean businessman Byron Fundira, an early investor in the Kar-go project, who was introduced to fellow ZAA winner by Conrad Mwanza.
Sachiti who moved to the UK aged 17 remains close to his family back in Zimbabwe and frequently returns.
The Academy of Robotics
The Academy of Robotics is a UK-headquartered self-drive car manufacturing company, founded by William Sachiti with a technical team of engineers, scientists, and researchers. The Academy specializes in creating technology to perform or simplify complex tasks.
Combining the best techniques from machine learning and mechatronics the Academy builds powerful self-adapting machines and task-specific artificially intelligent software.
Starting out of a university campus in Wales, the Academy of Robotics now has offices in London, Brighton, and Wales and has successfully filed several patents for its autonomous technology.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.
Zambian startup, Rent to Own (RTO) is determined to achieve its goal of providing productive-use assets to rural SMEs in Zambia. The startup has just raised a EURO 1 Mn (USD 1,121,849) in a new round of funding from the Seed Capital and Business Development facility of the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF).
DGGF, managed by Triple Jump BV is a fund of funds investment initiative from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs that invests in funds and financial intermediaries that provide capital to SMEs.
Through its seed investment in RTO, DGGF will help support rural SMEs to improve livelihoods and develop sustainable income sources.
According to an official disclosure, Rent To Own engaged Open Capital Advisors, a management consulting and financial advisory firm based in Africa, to provide investment-readiness and transaction advisory support for this deal.
Own To Rent intends to use the funds primarily as working capital to double the company’s portfolio for rural Zambian entrepreneurs.
Building upon convertible notes, Rent To Own provides high-impact assets to rural entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in Zambia.
Offering a unique “all-in-one” package of uncollateralized financing, delivery, installation, and equipment training, the startup empowers its clients to grow their businesses and improve their quality of life. RTO’s flexible, tech-enabled platform also provides a route-to-market for equipment suppliers and supports the rapid adoption of innovative assets, such as solar-powered irrigation pumps.
“We are extremely excited by the opportunity provided by DGGF to continue to focus on this mission and rapidly grow our loan book despite the harsh economic conditions we are currently experiencing in Zambia”, says Jeffrey Scheidegger, CEO.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.
For startups venturing out into the unknown territories of a tech startup business, here a few tips shared by Wiza Jalakasi, head of international expansion at Africa’s Talking on how to build a successful tech company at the just-concluded third Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa program held in Lagos Nigeria. Wiza runs Africa’s Talking which raised $8.6m from the IFC, Orange Digital Ventures and other partners. Africa’s Talking is on its international expansion efforts as it scales APIs for infrastructure (SMS, USSD, voice, airtime, banking, and mobile money) across Africa
Patience And Passion
Building a business takes time, for most, it takes four to five years. There is a process that is involved and it’s not always colorful. It’s day-to-day grinds, doing seemingly mundane things and you need to get it in your head that that’s the only way for you to get where you’re going. Fall in love with the process.
Focus
You need to focus on your business. It’s very easy for you to get distracted by ecosystem events. Don’t be your start-ups. Spend your time and energy on things that are directly related to the outcomes of your business. Mind your own business, drink water. Remain teachable. Check your psychology as grow, especially when people start talking about you. Don’t let that get into your head, tomorrow is another day and you still need to pay your bills.
Customer Care
Spend time with your customers. If as an entrepreneur you’re not willing to get your hands dirty, it’s not going to work out for you. Do not fall in love with this notion that you can sit on your high table with a laptop on your lap and think this is how you’ll build your business. Sometimes you need to sit down and talk to someone to get things done. That’s how you build a technology company.
Be Stable In Competition
When you see similar business pop up, that’s a good thing. It validates that there’s value in the space that you’re creating and it’s important for you to be aware of what’s happening in the industry. Don’t be scared when you see the competition and don’t double down on trying to beat the competition directly. Focus on your customers.
Be Accountable
If you’re trying to run a business and you’re trying to avoid accounting, it’s not going to work. You need to get comfortable with basic administration. You need to be running a profit and loss from day one.
Loss Will Come Anyway
Don’t have a goal of making a profit immediately. You’ll make a loss for many years. What’s important is keeping those records so when the time comes for fundraising, you have your ducks in order.
You may think investors don’t want to see losses on your books but what investors are looking for is a consistent attitude towards record-keeping and responsibility, you must build that from day one.
Get Some Culture For Your Startup
The company culture is what you as the founder do on a day-to-day basis. You can’t build culture through writing nice bullet points. It’s what you do on a day-to-day basis and you can only lead by example. Be deliberate about the culture from day one.
Fundraising Is About Story-telling
Fundraising is about telling a good story. The market doesn’t always reward great ideas, if you fail to tell a good story you might not have access to capital. Be good at storytelling. If as a founder you are not good at storytelling, find someone who can do it for you.
If you’re not good at storytelling, start building relationships early. Some investors will back you simply because you’re consistent with the information and they’ve seen you grow.
Think Twice Before Expanding
Expansion is extremely difficult. You’ll spend twice your budget. I don’t recommend that tech startup jumps into expansion from day one. Stop and validate your idea in your home market and respect that base.
See Yourself As A Different Person From Your Startup And Respect Partners And Staff
Kindness is an important tool that you can leverage to build your tech startup. Be kind to yourself as a founder. Separate yourself as a founder from your tech startup. The success or failure of your start-ups will never be tied to the success or failure of you as a person.
Your business partner will more likely become one of the most important people in your life. Have empathy for who they are — their strengths and weaknesses. Take time to cultivate an authentic relationship in which you as co-founders can have extremely difficult conversations on a day to day basis without breaking the company.
Take care of yourself. You can be a start-up founder and live a normal life. This idea that you need to be breaking your back to make your start-up work is not true. Let it go.
Be kind to your staff. The people working for you are going to make a pass on opportunities that they could take advantage of elsewhere. If you treat your staff members as your first customers and your job as the CEO is to make sure your customer is happy, they will actually build the business for you.
Reputation Opens Doors
Be guarded about your reputation and integrity, people will use it to decide on whether to work with you.
You don’t get what you don’t ask for. Speak to people and share your progress and struggles.
Launchpad Accelerator Africa Class 3 comprised of 12 startups from six African countries — Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. 58% of co-founders were female.
Teams who graduated were trained in machine-learning technologies and implemented AI in their product as a result. The startups in this class raised about R129 million in funding, created more than 120 jobs and accumulated over 270,000 users on their services.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.
Businesses, entrepreneurs or contractors in Uganda selling goods and services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the U.K. can now receive payments faster and more conveniently following the launch of WorldRemit for Business in the country.
What This Means
With this launch from the world leading digital remittances firm WorldRemit, U.K.-based SMEs can quickly pay their employees and contractors in 140 countries worldwide, including fast-growing emerging markets such as Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa. The new service will first be available to U.K.-registered businesses.
For Ugandan entrepreneurs and contractors doing business with clients in the U.K., this service will lead to significant time and cost savings.
Traditional bank payments, which are still the dominant international transfer method for businesses sending money abroad to Uganda, can take up to a week, and often incur high fees and exchange rates. In contrast, WorldRemit’s low fees and exchange rates are shown up-front and customers can send money easily via the app or website.
Transfers To Uganda To Be Processed With 24 Hours
With this new service, users sending funds to Uganda can easily track their transfers in real-time on the WorldRemit app and opt-in to receive daily exchange notifications to send money at the optimal time.
Transfers to Uganda are processed within 24 hours or less and local entrepreneurs can receive payments via bank account, mobile money or cash pick-up — whichever method is most convenient for them.
“When I first started WorldRemit, I was frustrated with the high charges and long delays in sending money abroad both as a business owner and consumer. Over the past 9 years, we’ve made it easier for 4 million people around the globe to send and receive money,’’ Ismail Ahmed, Founder and Executive Chairman at WorldRemit said.
Today, we’re pleased to extend that service offering to businesses, and put an end to the steep fees that many pay, especially when sending to Uganda. We’re committed to making it quick, safe and easy for you to pay individuals across borders, leaving you to focus on growing your own business.”
WorldRemit customers complete over 1.4 million transfers every month from over 50 countries to over 140 destinations using its app or website and remains committed to providing innovative solutions to meet money transfer needs across the world. Earlier this year, the company announced a new partnership with FINCA and Diamond Trust Bank to further solidify its vast partnership network.
The U.K. is one of Uganda’s most important trading partners, with Uganda mainly exporting tea, coffee, and horticultural products. However, with the advent of digital technologies such as e-commerce, smaller entrepreneurs have been able to capture a growing share of U.K.-Uganda trade, especially in the services sector. WorldRemit for Business will enable this new class of digital savvy Ugandan entrepreneurs to get paid quickly and securely.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.
When Mr. Tola Fadugbagbe relocated back to Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city for the second time in his young life, there was nothing yet like cryptocurrency or bitcoins or tokens or Blockchain technology. He could only be fused into one of the over 17.5 million people living in the city. And it appeared he was merely making up the population because it seemed the city looked too overwhelming to fit in. It didn’t take long before several months of homelessness hit him hard in the face.
‘‘For several months, I stayed in an uncompleted building. Life was nothing but hell. I was running around struggling to get funds to complete my education to university level,’’ he tells Afrikan Heroes.
Then a job stint at a highly successful real estate development company. A break-away to start up a local block making factory, and a sudden bankruptcy and closure of the facility because clients who promised to pay took delivery of his blocks but never cared to pay back, Mr. Fadugbagbe says he is still banking on his integrity, determination, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to take him farther than he has ever thought.
‘‘ One thing I always prove to people about myself wherever I go is integrity. Anywhere I am, people always get to know me as someone with integrity. That was why I stayed longer than expected at the real estate company,’’ he said.
Mr. Tola said he learned his lessons about running his first startup the hard way:
While I was working in the real estate company, I discovered that there was a problem that needed to be solved: the quality of concrete blocks being delivered to this site. You know, the blocks they usually supplied the real estate company were not strong enough. So I thought that if I ventured into this business, I could make some future from it. So after I left the real estate company, I set up a block making factory.
When the factory was up and running, I was so happy that I was progressing. I was generous and selling on credit. But before I knew what was happening, people were withholding my money and they were telling me stories. As I’m talking to you now, these people are still owing me. I was back to square one after that nightmare: I could not even produce even though my equipment was on ground.
‘‘Till Date, It Has Been Marvelous Getting Involved in Cryptocurrency.’’
While reading about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sometime in 2016 from two of his Facebook friends ‘who were not usually detailed about the terms and the philosophy behind the concept’, Mr. Tola got interested and began extensive studies and inquiries into what cryptocurrencies are, only to discover that cryptocurrencies suited his philosophy. Since then, he says it has been ‘‘marvelous getting involved in cryptocurrency.’’
Today, he is part of a local network in Lagos and Nigeria that hosts conferences, seminars, boot-camps, and workshops training people on what cryptocurrency is and how they can trade in it.
I believe that cryptocurrency is a big deal. Big corporations can’t stop talking about cryptocurrency. They can’t stop implementing cryptocurrency in one way or the other. Look at the CEO of JP. Morgan, Jamie Dimon, who once told his workers that if they ever got involved in bitcoin they would be fired. He called Bitcoin a fraud, a scam and an evil. Few weeks later he bought bitcoins on Poloniex. Right now, J.P Morgan is using fragments of JPM Coin, the native coin of JP Morgan Bank. I mean JP Morgan is a US banking giant that move trillions of dollars across the globe daily. Right now they want to use their own token to scale payment protocols and remittances,’’ he says.
Mr. Fadugbagbe is not far from the truth. Earlier in February 2019, J.P. Morgan became the first major U.S. bank to create its own cryptocurrency with the launch of “JPM Coin.” The digital token was designed to settle transactions between clients of its wholesale payments business, specifically for international payments and securities transactions that migrate to the blockchain.
Mr. Fadugbagbe remembers one incident about how cryptocurrency has been more than a helpful innovation in the payment system.
‘‘Someone in the US sent bitcoins to me today. I sent Naira equivalent to the person’s beneficiary in Nigeria. If they are to rely on Western Union, the fees, the delay and all that would be too much,’’ he said.
‘‘I believe that cryptocurrency has come to stay. You know, there are some people in Diaspora that find it difficult to send money back home. Now, crytopcurrency has made it a lot more easier for them because they could just create crypto accounts over there and using those accounts, they can now send bitcoins to me, and I, in turn pay off their beneficiaries in Nigeria the Naira equivalent of the bitcoins sent to me. These things happen within a space of few minutes.
He says that unlike fiat currency that government can only print more, borrow more and yet remain heavily in debt, cryptocurrency always has an edge.
‘‘You can’t inflate it. Instead you can only reduce it. This means that, with time, crypto can always gain value. The only downside of it that it that it is highly volatile. That is why people should be cautious about the type of crytocurrrency they get involved in. In fact, the crypto market is highly competitive right now. So if you lay your hands on a token doing similar things to other similar tokens in the similar same crypto market, and if the token is not highly innovative, then it would not scale,’’ he says.
‘‘Whether You Like It or Not, Everybody Will Get Involved In Cryptocurrency’’
Mr. Fadugbagbe said the only thing remaining for cryptocurrency to become widely accepted is for governments to give their nod to it. For that, he sees a huge opportunity for early investors.
”So if you look at the future of cryptocurrency, you can’t but be part of it at this early stage. Many people see Bitcoins, ethereum and cryptocurrency as the dark part of the internet because some governments are yet to approve it. Whether we like it or not government plays a major part in controlling the mindset of the citizens. Just take a look at the stories of MTN and DSTV before they became big players in their industries. We all know are they were first rejected by governments,” he says.
Why Africa is Lagging Behind In Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology?
Mr. Fadugbagbe says Africa is lagging behind because of the continent’s low rate of adoption of the innovation. He says anything revolutionary will be adopted quickly in any continent or any country when the government welcomes it wholeheartedly. Although he says African governments are usually ‘‘just slow in adopting something as disruptive as cryptocurrencies,’’ he has hope that Africa would get there someday.
”This is one of the reasons why we’ve been hosting seminars, workshop, bootcamps. We still need to engage the government.We just have to keep talking about this. We hope that one day, we would get the attention of the government to approve the necessary framework for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Just take, for instance: if you can now travel to all West African countries using Bitcoins. It would really mean that more people would get interested in bitcoins. If the government also says you can now pay your tax with bitcoins, many people would be eager to pay tax,” he says.
Mr. Fadugbagbe also finds a big problem with the way international communities see cryptocurrencies coming out of Africa.
”International communities believe that an average Nigerian or African is a scammer,’’ he says. ‘‘ Once cryptocurrencies are coming out from Africa or Nigeria, the international community doesn’t usually trust them, even when the intention is good,’’he says.
How Startups Can Leverage Crypto To Boost Their Businesses
Mr. Tola says smart startups can leverage cryptocurrencies to boost their business even without any formal partnerships with any blockchain organizations or blockchain platforms. To do this, he says African startups may consider accepting cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins, bitcoin ethereum or any other viable coins. Doing this not only boosts startups’ businesses but also gives their businesses free advert.
”Free advert because cryptocurrencies guys everywhere in the world will begin to refer your business. Take for instance, the impact of having a barbershop somewhere in Nigeria where you can now have hair cut and pay with bitcoins. In trying to convince your folks about the existence of such barbershop, you may begin to refer to such words as ‘‘look at the barbershop here. Look at its office phone number.’ The same way, you may refer to a hotel in Cameroon where you can now check into, pay with bitcoin and get discount. Or somewhere in Zambia where you can vacation to and pay with cryptocurrency. This will give startup owners free adverts. Just imagine a consumer in Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda talking about your business.”
”This is why celebrities keep progressing because we keep talking about them. Who knows? But Reginal Daniels has so much been in the news and may be landing brand ambassador deals even. So this will give startups free adverts, thereby generating more leads for their businesses.”
‘’Governments Can Use Blockchain Technology To Keep Records Of The Number Of Books Received By Each Student’’
Mr. Fadugbagbe tells prospective blockchain technology investors in Africa to start submitting proposals to the government because there is a huge opportunity in that regard.
‘‘Africa needs blockchain tech the most. We can use blockchain to curtail the inefficiencies in the system. In most education ministries in Africa, for instance, books are distributed from time to time. Government can use blockchain tech to keep records of the number of these books received by each student. For every book the students receive, they can thrown in a token from their backends, using a smartphone. This is the smartest way to get feedback from Africa’s cluttered data management system. So let’s begin by sending in proposals,’’ he said.
Mr. Fadugbagbe says blockchain technology makes for more accountability and efficiency in the system, and unlike humans, data stored in blockchains cannot be tampered with.
‘‘You look at blockchain as a record that cannot be edited,” he said. ‘‘For instance, a list of items or names, or a football team. When humans are involved, they can add or remove the names at will, but with blockchain technology, the list cannot be padded. So once added, the information cannot be altered.”
For a business model that was worth over $700 billion as of January 2018, the global cryptocurrency market is booming and is not relenting. Mr. Tola Fadugbagbe does not see this ending too. No longer homeless and frustrated by bad debt, at least not in the category he once fitted in at his former startup, he has since moved on.
‘‘Right now,’’ he says, ‘‘I am living in a good and comfortable apartment. I have been reinvesting into large scale agriculture — a cocoa farm and and poultry — from the proceeds of my blockchain business. My aim is to grow them into the biggest phase they could ever be in. I like my life so simple because of what I have experienced in the past. I’m not going back to that nightmare.’’
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.
In his usual collected demeanour, Mr Gene Maxon Adigu, a top leader in the Network Marketing Professionals of Nigeria, does not see himself giving up soon on network marketing.
He is the business and the business is his friend. Out of school since 2010, Mr. Adigu now boasts of an annual base income in millions, as well as other fleet of investment and acquisitions. All from network marketing since the last eight years. For a man who read from Robert Kiyosaki to John C. Maxwell to other bestselling business and crazy books while in school, it appears the journey is still far from over.
‘‘ Entrepreneurship is not for babies,’’ Mr. Adigu told AfrikanHeroes . ‘‘I didn’t just focus on reading only the academic books while in school. And that helped me so much psychologically and mentally. It prepared me well for the world out there, after school. So when I graduated with no job in sight, I resorted to a network marketing business because it was the only business I could start then with small capital. Network marketing is a business that has helped me, and today I am living the life of my dream. ’’
‘‘Network Marketers Are Also Entrepreneurs’’
For a business model that was once valued at US167 billion (2012) globally, engaging at least 89 million network marketers with the Asia-Pacific region of the world forming the largest market with a share of 44 per cent followed by North America, Central and South America (20 per cent share, each) and Europe (15 per cent), Mr. Adigu said network marketing is your regular business with all the structures and the organisation and the workforce and the strategies of established businesses, and not a Chit Fund or some Ponzi Schemes.
‘‘Network marketers are also entrepreneurs, Mr. Adigu said‘‘Network marketing is not a different business model. In every business in this world, there is network marketing. Network marketing is a profession. Network marketing is a normal business, like every other business on Earth.’’
The World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (‘WFDSA’), which is the global body concerned with the business, and which has the membership of 60 national associations and one regional federation, defines network marketing as “the marketing of products and services directly to consumers in a person-to-person manner, away from permanent retail locations”. An important objective in a Network Marketing model is to generate sales by constant interaction with customers along with engagement of new distributors down the line.
‘‘Network Marketing Business Is A Sustainable Business Model’’
Mr. Adigu does not see the network marketing business model ending soon.
‘‘ Network marketing is a system through which you market your business. It is not the type where you, for instance, pay CNN to run adverts for you. Network marketing is word-of-mouth marketing, which makes it a unique system and can never be outdated. Network marketing will always be a reliable business; in fact, for the next 100 thousandth year. It is a system of referring some other persons’ products and services to your friends and families and you get paid for doing so.’’
Mr Adigu may not be so far from the truth. Vorwerk & Co. KG, a German network marketing company was founded in 1883, and is still in existence 136 years after. The company has presence in over 76 international markets across the world and reported revenue of $3.7 billion in 2013 alone. United States’ Alticor (Amway) founded in 1959 is the world’s leading network marketing company, posting a revenue of $11.8 billion in 2013, and has presence in over 100 countries.
‘‘Network marketing business lasts,’’ he said. ‘‘ The question is the company you are partnering with: are you going to last with that company? You are not supposed to ask whether network marketing business would last. The question should be: would the company you are partnering with last? Are you going to last with that company till you succeed? This question is very important.’’
‘‘The Greatest Challenge of Most Network Marketers Is That They Take Things Personal.’’
For a business that involves selling a consumer product or service from one person to another, in an environment that is not a permanent retail location, Mr. Adigu expects that this would not come without a fight.
Hence, when the mind-spinning, rapid and unexpected rebuff comes, he also does not expect network marketers to swallow it hard. But they have to do so, anyway, if they would want to get ahead. And because most network marketers don’t usually do so, he sees it as a major challenge.
‘‘When you start a network marketing business, learn how to recruit the right network marketers. You need to keep teaching them how to market their products effectively,’ he said. ‘Also, learn how not to take things personal. If somebody tells you that he is not interested in your deal, learn how to swallow it calmly. Don’t take things personal.’’
Mr Adigu also pitched some advice for marketing products. Marketing products is fun, he said, as long as you believe in them and make some research about them. You have to also study why the products are necessary before passing them over to your network.
‘‘ I was promoting a business back then, about some coffee products. Nigerians don’t normally take coffee, but my team researched about these products and we started building the business. It was surprising to suddenly see Nigerians using the products, making coffee from them. In fact, the business was so successful that I averaged over a million naira a month from it. This happened because we were interested in the coffee products; did some research on them and tabled the products’ exceptional health benefits to our target customers,’’ Mr. Adigu said.
Breaking The Ice and Making Profit From Network Marketing
Earning from the Multi-Level Marketing or Network Marketing usually follows an arch: each direct seller recruited can potentially recruit new distributors and create a down line of direct and indirect distributors or sellers. Distributors purchase products to sell to the consumers. They receive commissions and bonuses on the sales made by them and the sales made by their down-line sellers and retail markups.
Mr. Adigu said network marketing business is so profitable that he once averaged over ₦200 million ($556,000) from the business in a year.
‘‘In a year, for starters, depending on the work you put in, you can earn two to three million naira ($6000), with additional earnings depending on how hard you work,’’ he said.
Global direct selling was a USD 167 billion market in 2013 and employs around 90 million people worldwide. While the industry grew at a low rate of 5.4 per cent in 2012, over 2011 (growth rate of 19.7 per cent), due to global economic slowdown, the long term growth prospects of the industry remain robust. Cosmetics and personal care is the biggest category capturing more than 35 per cent share globally in the network market, followed by wellness products and household goods.
‘‘If You Don’t Have The Stamina To Grow A Business, Just Go and Get A Job’’
Mr. Adigu does not see himself giving up any time soon. He has other plans, though; to work harder and live the best of his life.
‘‘Being an entrepreneur is not for people who easily give up,’’ he said. ‘‘ When you start a business, be prepared that you would give it all your best. Sometimes, giving all your best doesn’t even work. The only thing that usually works in the end is consistency. Consistency is the ice breaker.’’
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh, a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.
