Becoming Successful In Africa

So you want to be successful in Africa? No matter how old you are, the African country you are from, the financial background of your family or what you do for a living - you can be successful. 

Below are some important habits of the top successful people in Africa.


1. Kill Procrastination

Don't procrastination to do something important. The more you delay, someone else in your city will get it done before you and will take the glory for doing it.


2. Don't discuss the success of others

Refuse the temptation to discuss the success of others. Rather, discuss the kind of success you want for yourself.


3. Successful people wake up 5:30am latest every morning

If you still wake up at 8am or 9am daily, then forget about success! Its not for you.
Success is not for people that sleep for 8 hours daily. Dangote sleeps for 5 hours daily. Mark Zuckerberg sleeps for 4.5 hours. Jack Ma sleeps for 4 hours. 
To be successfully, reduce your sleep and spend the early hours of the day strategising about how to succeed in the day.


4. Don't pull others down to get to the top

People in Africa who pull others down to get to the top always never last long when they get to the top of the ladder. This is a fact! Why?  Because somebody else will most definitely drag them down too, its just a matter of time. People will never forget what you did to drag them down and will come after you in different ways. They will come for revenge. Revenge is best served cold.


5. It is easier to buy up an existing business than to start one from scratch

In Africa, it takes about 10 years to build a successful business from the scratch. It took Dangote 25 years to build Dangote Plc. It took Otedola 12 years. It took Wale Adenuga 15 years to build Globacom from the scratch. If you are already old and want to succeed quickly, you can choose to buy an existing business that is similar to your business idea and change it to what you want it to be.


6. If electricity is a big problem, pursue a business idea that does not rely much on electricity.

Very simple! Stop complaining about the lack of electricity. There are loads of business ideas that do not rely on electricity. 


7. Cash is always better than profit.

Profit is equal to cash and accruals. Profit may not be given to you in cash form if you have a right to share in the profit of any company.
When you enter a business deal, never accept to receive profit from the business unless the profit MUST be in cash. Never accept profit as stock dividends. Wealthy investors understand this and prefer to receive cash profit. 


8. Become a networking machine.

Every person you meet in a coffee shop, a bar, a bus, a motorcycle, a company, or in a university is a possible link to land you your next job, therefore, you should network. 
Helpers don't fall from heaven, they will either come to you or walk away from you. 
Remember that the 'helper' and the 'helped' must have met each other at some point in their lives for one to help the other. 
Be nice to new people and always leave a formal or informal line of communication behind when you meet new people. 
Also, you need to prioritize your networks. Some networks are 'high-value' networks while others are 'low-value' networks. For 'high-value' networks, you need to follow-up your initial conversion with people in your 'high-value' network because those people meet new people everyday which means they can easily forget you if you don't follow-up.

9. Always spend less than you earn

For every 10 bucks you spend, make sure you have at most 4 bucks left.


10. Never share your idea with people that can implement it quicker than you 

Leave a comment and tell us what you think

Why Nigerian Students Get Distinction in Foreign Universities

Read! Read!! Read!!!

Every student that studied in a Nigerian university can relate to the fact that you have to read, read, read.

A typical Nigerian lecturer rarely give students a clue or area of concentration for the in-class test.

When this is the case, you will have to read the entire lecture note and textbook, and if possible read the glossary, appendix and the foreword of the textbook. This is no joke!

If you think this is a joke, a lecturer in a Nigerian university once asked students to state the first, middle and surname of the two lecturers teaching the course. The question had 10 marks attached to it. 

Students that obtain above 4.00 GPA under these tough learning conditions tend to get distinctions when they pursue further learning in foreign universities, particularly in India, China, UK but less likely in US and Canada.

High Retention Span (CRAMMING!)

Every working adult in Nigeria that has gone through the Nigerian University system understands that cramming is no joke.

Although cramming is not the best way to learn, it is the best way to pass the exam or exam when Nigerian students are faced with unexpected in-class test.

The reality is that the typical Nigerian student cram when:

a) when a lecturer suddenly tells his students that they have a test tomorrow morning.

b) when the lecturer cancels the last test because it was too easy and sets another test in the next three days.

c) when you don't like the module and the module does not like you, but you must pass anyway!

d) When you don't know anything in the course and you still have to pass or else your parents will send you back to the village if you fail.

Nigerian students that mastered the art of cramming difficult courses, will find it very easy to obtain distinction in foreign universities.

Too Familiar With Your Lecturer

Getting close to your lecturers in Nigeria can be a blessing when things go well or can be a curse when there is conflict of interest. 

It can be a blessing if you continue to support your lecturer's interest by doing the little errands etc, but can be a curse if you unintentionally upset your lecturer and he refuse to let you know he is pissed off. 

In several Nigerian universities, the brightest students keep a distance from their lecturers to avoid conflict of interest. 

For instance, I wasn't close to my lecturers either. They only got to know my name when I received an award for best student in 100 level at Uniben. 

Don't Call Your Lecturers By Their First Names

Of course, lecturers in foreign universities don't really care if you call them by their first names but they are smart to know when the student cross the line to disrespect them. 

But in Nigeria, don't try this at home! You are warned.

If you don't respect your lecturers by articulating their title(s) when you call them, they too will not respect your G.P.A and your G.P.A might need deliverance soon.

It's called respect and respect is reciprocal. Let's face it.

Some foreign lecturers say they like Nigerian students because they are respectful to lecturers even when the lecturer is younger that the student.

Written by Ozili Peterson.

For more information, like, share, comment and subscribe.

If you have other reasons why you feel Nigerian students perform better in foreign universities, feel free to leave a comment to state your reasons below. Leave a comment.

Loan Loss Provision - How Much Is Too Much?: Loan Loss Provisions: Too Much Prudence Is Not A G...

Loan Loss Provision - How Much Is Too Much?: Loan Loss Provisions: Too Much Prudence Is Not A G...: Questions To Ask Your Banker, Central Banker or your Professor Why should banks be required to set aside provisions for risks they...

Loan Loss Provisions: Too Much Prudence Is Not A Good Thing?

Questions To Ask Your Banker, Central Banker or your Professor

Why should banks be required to set aside provisions for risks they cannot estimate accurately?

Why should banks set aside large provisions after collecting high-quality collateral from potentially risky borrowers?

When expected losses for which provisions were made do not materialize, what do banks do with these provisions? Don't tell us that banks just keep them as reserves. That's theoretically accurate according to financial accounting theory but the non-accounting person do not want this answer. So, what do bank do with provisions?

Also, during a recession, banks would normally require high-quality collateral in exchange for loans and still increase overall provisions, perhaps, due to adverse selection and moral hazard issues. These practices provide evidence of too much prudence in banks' credit risk function. This brings us to the question: how much provisioning is too much? Is over-prudence a good thing?

Why do banks set-aside provisions?

The simple answer is that banks are being cautious, careful and proactive about loan loss and therefore, set aside some amount of money to cover for credit losses on bank loans. In the event of failure to repay loan by the debtor or group of debtors, the bank can recover the loan looses from provisions.

Bank Regulators wants over-prudence.
 
The good thing about over-prudence is if it accurately estimates credit losses on the loan portfolio. However, we know that this is not usually the case in banks. Academics know this, as well. The bad thing about over-prudence is that it often over-estimates credit losses.

Over-prudence: Bank Regulators vs Medical Doctors

Just as medical doctors know that excessive dosage of a particular drug prescription do not make a patient any better and might lead to unintended health consequences, bank regulators do not understand that over-prudence or over-regulation do not make banks any better, rather, it motivates banks to engage in behaviours that may lead to unintended regulatory consequences, for example, income smoothing, capital management, etc. Following this reasoning, too much prudence may not be a good thing because while it solves one problem, but creates another problem - leading to unintended consequences. Regulators should find the exact amount of provisions that optimally measures credit loss