One of the banes of micro and small businesses in Nigeria — and by extension Africa — is what we are about to discuss in this article. It is one of the things responsible for keeping businesses stagnant and unable to expand and tap into opportunities for growth. It is one of the reasons why most micro and small businesses do not survive beyond their owners.  As we had noted in one of our previous articles on small businesses , "small businesses are the drivers of any economy. In our opinion they are the mainstay of capitalism / societal economic development, creating wealth while closing the employment gap in the society" . Therefore any society that wants to make significant progress and create jobs while reducing the unemployment gap must take the success of micro and small businesses seriously. Africa must create jobs for her burgeoning and teeming youthful population, and so must be interested in and deliberate (with all hands on deck) about ensuring that her m...

  Access Holdings PLC (Access Corporation) has been working with a rolling 5-year Strategic cycle Document clearly outlining their 5-year strategy and plans and how they intend to execute, which they publish to the investing public ahead of the next cycle. In 2023, under the leadership of the late Herbert Wigwe (the deceased Group Managing Director) they published their Strategic framework for 2023 to 2027 cycle and did an Investor presentation on it. Ever since they have continued to execute in line with their strategy, even after the unexpected demise of the Company's co-founder and then serving Group Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe. Although Access Corporation has been executing in line with their strategy, for some reasons investors have not really embraced that story as it has not reflected in their share price over the years. Their 2027 5-Year Strategy Document (2023 - 2027) has been available online, clearly outlining their expansion plan across Africa and beyond, but it ap...

  "I just want to speak to our Investment yield... We are an investment company, we can draw our strategy around the quasi dividend paying institution and at the same time an investment institution. If we are not going to invest again and we freeze, we will give you (shareholders) all the dividends you want... We need to have at the back of our mind the fact that we also have to keep growing the institution by looking for investments and opportunities. If you look at our Balance sheet you won't find any borrowings anywhere, we don't borrow money. So it is either we go the way of complete expenditure and know that we are not buying companies again... or we prudently just find a way of making you (shareholders) happy and at the same time continue to expand the base of the organization. Berkshire Hathaway does not pay dividends, they only rely on value of the shares, and majority of the original shareholders are billionaires... So we could go that route and lock in and not pa...

  NIGERIA: Mr Olufemi Otedola, the Group Chairman of First Holdco PLC seems to have adopted Elon Musk's style of transparent Investor communication with his recent use of X (formerly Twitter), communicating his thoughts about the company and its strategy directly to the investing public, more or less taking up the role of "Chief Investor Relations Officer" of the company, and taking the lead to explain and "sell" the company's strategy and activities to investors. With this move, he might just be connecting more with Millennial and Gen Z investors, getting them more interested in the First Holdco story and to invest in it, which could lead to a big pay day for him (through share price appreciation) when he eventually decides to divest or sell down his stake (if his investment antecedent is anything to go by- Forte Oil, Geregu PLC). Already, looking at some of the replies to his tweets shows that these generations of investors are progressively showing intere...

Austin Avuru, Nigerian geologist, Entrepreneur, and the much respected cofounder and former Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), graced an interview by the Afropolitan Podcast recently, and it turned out to be a masterclass on Entrepreneurship, Business, Life, Legacy, and Philanthropy. It is one of those podcasts you have to listen to repeatedly to ensure not to miss the tiniest detail, as almost every sentence from him was an eureka experience.  Austin spent over 40 years in the Nigerian oil and gas sector and was Managing Director of Platform Petroleum Limited and in 2010 became the pioneer CEO of Seplat Ltd, a company he co-founded. Under his leadership, Seplat was dually listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nigeria Stock Exchange, a massive feat that has scarcely been matched ever since. He retired as CEO of Seplat in 2020 and remains on the Board. He is also the Chairman of AA Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to creatin...

Warren Buffett is an Investor and Philanthropist, who sits as the Chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway, and American conglomerate. He is regarded as the Oracle of Omaha, currently has a net worth of about $142 billion according to Forbes, and can be said to be the greatest investor in the past several centuries. He has a cultlike following of value investors, and never ceases to teach on investing and life lessons through various mediums, including his Berkshire Annual Shareholders meeting which he has chaired for many years. He has been described as a voracious reader and avid learner, and is therefore a great source of inspiration and learning for investors any day any time. His investing lessons are applicable not only in America, but all over the world, with veritable results from some investors who have copied his style over the years across the world.   In this article we explore some of his invaluable and evergreen Investment lessons and aphorisms which he has shared in th...

One of the sweetest/orgasmic feelings one can get as an investor is the alert of cashflow into one's bank account from one's passive investments- more like getting your money to work for you while you sleep. Once the initial investment is made, without any extra effort on your part, you just receive regular inflow of cash either as interest or dividend payments. That is what a good Passive investment looks and feels like. If you have not had this feeling before, make a promise to yourself to avail yourself such privilege immediately after reading this article. You deserve it. In some of our previous articles we had outlined some passive income investment options available for investors to take advantage of- Money market funds , Commercial Papers , etc. Click on the links to read. It is always a pleasure to see testimonials from beneficiaries of information from our articles, sharing their experiences receiving their first passive investment income, and the feeling thereof. In t...