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“You cannot sell much when your branding is poor” - Obanor

  Ik Obanor is a graduate of English from the prestigious University of Ibadan. He is the President and Founder of the Catalyst, an organisation that provides Branding and Printing solutions for organisations. In this interview with JOY NGWOLO, he shares his journey of starting out as an employee with no pay to owning his business, he also highlights some problem-solving tips for entrepreneurs. What led you into the Branding and Printing business? After youth service, I decided that I was going to stay in my place of service which was Akwa Ibom state. And way back in school, I had always had this interest in printing and branding but I had not really gone into it full time. When I decided to stay in Akwa Ibom, I considered the option of venturing into printing and branding. So, one of those days, I stumbled on a printing and branding firm, I went in and asked that I wanted to work, and that I had just finished service and would like to work. They told me that since I did not have a v
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Elumelu calls for investment to tackle poverty in Africa

  The Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Mr. Tony Elumelu, has called for a framework that would spread prosperity in Africa rather than against the presence of a few billionaires in the continent. Elumelu made the call when he spoke at ‘World Government Summit Dialogue: Africa’s Future Post 2021’. He said the continent needs massive investments in infrastructure, electricity, digital technology and healthcare to address the challenges in the continent, adding that future Bill Gates could come out of Africa if access to electricity is increased. He said: “We can see more billionaires. The ones we have are getting stronger, climbing the league table while new ones are coming up. But we need to move the emphasis away from these so-called billionaires. “We should be talking about how many young Africans will be impacted in the next five to 10 years. Instead of us having a pyramid of few billionaires, I will prefer that we have a large base that has prosperity, happier people an
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MTN launches customer engagement platform, eyes SMEs

  MTN Nigeria has launched a new unified customer engagement platform, EnGauge, designed to enable small-to-medium enterprise business owners to seamlessly administer transactions with customers and potentially increase their productivity. Developed in partnership with Ajua, a leading African start-up, EnGauge is an agile application that offers innovative customer management solutions, including digital payments using a unique USSD code, CRM tools, customer feedback channels, debt management and tracking, business and product promotions through mobile and social media channels. The solution is downloadable on the Google Play store and only available on the MTN network (for now) with a monthly subscription of N500 and a yearly subscription of N5, 500.    Following installation and registration, businesses are automatically provided with a unique USSD code that allows their customers to interact, transact and communicate with them in real-time. With Engauge, entrepreneurs can securely r
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Continental Reinsurance Plc positioned to deliver value post-Covid recovery of African nations

A lmost 35 years after it was founded in Lagos, Nigeria, leading private pan-African reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance today announces it is “delivering and is positioned to deliver long-term value to shareholders and a wide group of stakeholders across Africa”. According to its Group Managing Director, Dr Femi Oyetunji, 2020 was one of the most challenging years ever experienced globally, following the Covid-19 pandemic. “We faced daunting business conditions, but our teams responded with the enterprise and commitment I have come to expect.  We boldly adapted to the business environment and embraced a range of new opportunities.” The announcement coincides with the publication of an independent brand survey by Kantar that recognised Continental Re-insurance as a truly credible pan-African company.  Conducted in six representative markets, the survey shows that the company exceeds the global reputation benchmark. “It was gratifying to obtain an overall score of 79 points which is abov
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Border Closure was of great benefit to Nigeria’s economy - Olateju

  Olateju Olabode is the CEO of Bodetek Solutions, a clearing and forwarding agency company in Tincan, Apapa, Lagos. An experienced professional in the industry, he shares with JOY NGWOLO his opinion on the border re-opening by the government. What does your average day look like? We resume work at the port in the morning alongside the custom officers because they work for the government. Indirectly, we work for the government as well because we are the ones that run the documentations. When the custom officers are okay with our documents, we gain access to either our cars or commodities. Unlike other businesses, in Clearing and Forwarding, you need to have a good network of clients, in particular, people who want to clear consignments. If not, you need a large capital to invest in the business yourself. You can choose to import cars from overseas, or some other essential items that are in high demand. It is ether you run the business or you work for people doing the business. That
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Chimamanda Adichie Bags Best Women' s Prize for Fiction

  One of Nigeria's award-winning authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has added another feather to her cap, with her book "Half of a yellow sun" winning the best women's prize for fiction. She has also been named the ‘Best of the Best’ of the winners of the second decade of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction ,  as chosen by the Chairs of judges of the past ten years. In her acceptance note, she said "This is a prize that I really respect because I think this is a prize that has consistently brought very good literature to the forefront and has introduced really good books that might have not received the kind of recognition if not for this prize" Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in Nigeria. Her work has been translated into thirty languages. She is the author of three novels;  Purple Hibiscus , which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction;  Half of a Yellow Sun , which won
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Access Bank Produces Africa Banker of the Year

  Add caption Herbert Wigwe of the Access Bank of Nigeria has made the country proud by emerging Africa Banker of the year at the African Banker Awards, 2020. EcoBank also won an award for Innovation in Financial services while the Bank of Industry, Nigeria emerged SME Bank of the year.
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