What a summer this has been! As I mentioned in my first post, I’ve never spent more than a few weeks in Nigeria since the age of two. So, while my duties as a peace fellow have been the main focus, this experience has also given me the opportunity to reconnect with my roots. By exploring new parts of the country, and taking in the best food, music, and art Nigeria has to offer, I can honestly say that I’ve done just that! I’ve also gained a profound insight into the resources, training and social networks that are required for entrepreneurial success here. Knowledge, that will sharpen my perspective as both a student and future practitioner of development policy.

This experience has greatly exceeded my expectations in so many ways. For that, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to the Wimbiz members who have shared their experiences, both the ups and the downs, of growing their businesses in this tough market. Thank you to the Wimbiz team (Ini, Tosin, Maureen, Janet, Idee and Abel), for welcoming me into their office and helping me to explore the city. And, of course, thank you to everyone who has read and commented on my blog. Your support and encouragement has made all the difference.

Until next time!

Tomorrow, my fellowship here in Nigeria comes to an end. The last two weeks have been a true sprint to the finish line! Last week, aside from collecting the last of the Wimbiz Baseline Member Surveys (and finishing up several other projects!), I filmed and produced a short video on the Wimbiz Mentoring Program-at the request of the Executive Secretary. The video will be screened at Wimbiz’s Annual Conference in November, in front of a 350 person audience. It was a bit stressful fitting this in so late in my fellowship, but it was well worth the effort!

On Friday, July 31st, we invited several mentees into the Wimbiz office to capture their experiences and expectations. There were 2 groups: 5 women from the program’s 1st stream (which began in February) and 5 from the 2nd stream (most of which have yet to be paired with mentors).

The entire production was a team effort; Maureen (Program Assistant), moderated both interview sessions and designed our “set,” Tosin (Hub Program Manager) was lead photographer, and I was behind the Filp Camera, filming. Both sessions provided a fascinating look into just how influential this program has been. Most of 1st stream mentees said the experience fundamentally altered the way they do business, in terms of how they engage with their customers, manage their finances and staff. After hearing such praise, 2nd batch mentees are eager to begin. Can you blame them?

Hopefully, once the video is screened in November, it will be uploaded to YouTube, so you can all see it for yourselves!

After launching her career in Sales and Client Services in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Detoun Ogwo moved back to Lagos, Nigeria to serve as a Human Resources manager in a multinational corporation. Among the many adjustment to be made, one issue stood out: she was shocked by the amount of time and energy needed to recruit recent graduates for entry-level positions. While many of the young professionals she worked with possessed the requisite technical skills, most lacked essential “soft” skills, such as interpersonal and negotiation skills, business etiquette and punctuality.

One day, tired of hearing her complain, her husband suggested that she do something about this problem. In 2007, she decided to take his advice by opening the After-school Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), an organization dedicated to helping the  products of Nigeria’s university system, ease into the corporate sphere. A novel concept at first, as vocational guidance is virtually absent in the Nigerian school system, the demand for AGDC’s training programs in project management, team work, and problem solving, (to name a few topics) has been overwhelming.

For example, over 750 young people applied for 70 seats in one of her career guidance programs last quarter. To meet the rapidly growing demand for AGDC services, Mrs. Ogwo has been working to expand the centre’s capacity and also access local secondary schools, so that the next generation of Nigerian youth, are well equipped with the keys to corporate success.

A decade ago, Nigeria’s banking sector was at its peak. So it came as a shock when Arinola Adeniyi announced that she was resigning from her position in one of Nigeria’s top banks to open her own spa, especially since such establishments were virtually nonexistent in Lagos, Nigeria at the time. Few knew, however, that Arinola had planned this exit for years. After realizing that other overworked Lagosians must also long for a relaxing massage between trips abroad, she aimed to become an expert in the health and wellness industry, reading up on all the latest trends and attending international trainings courses and seminars on massage, body wraps, nutrition, and so much more.

Venivici Health Club and Urban Spa is the realization of Arinola’s dream for an oasis from the hustle and bustle of Lagos life. As a trusted provider of world class holistic health services, her award winning spa has become a destination for locals and tourists alike. From Arinola’s perspective, the key to overcoming obstacles like the country’s inadequate infrastructure is the ability to see challenges as mere stepping stones to the next opportunity. As she says, “what you focus on becomes your obsession,” so she counsels female entrepreneurs hoping to follow in her footsteps, to concentrate less on their obstacles, and more on the resources needed to overcome them.

For more on Arinola’s story, check out this video!

I reached the halfway point on collecting Wimbiz Baseline Member Surveys last Friday. (Hooray!) The survey is a measurement instrument designed by Vital Voices, in partnership with the Africa Businesswomen’s Network, to better access the membership base and programatic impact of each hub.

It aims to collect data on the following topics:

1. Basic biographical info (age, family status, etc.)
2. Entrepreneurial/corporate activities (business sector, annual revenue or salary, etc.)
3. Membership activities (types of programs attended, etc.)

As I begin to sort through the data, I’ve been quite surprised by some of the responses, especially in regard to the following question posed to entrepreneurs: “How did you obtain the initial capital [to start your business]?”

The response options are:

A. Savings B.Loans/gifts from family/friends C. Commercial bank loan D. Grant from organization or government E. Other

Of the 29 completed surveys responses I’ve received thus far, only one female entrepreneurs received their initial funding from a commercial bank loan, seventeen relied upon a combination of family/friend support and personal savings and eleven started their business based upon loans/gifts from friends or family alone.

I am simply astonished by these findings! To put things in persecutive, these women are  not small-scale artisans, they are founders of sizable manufacturing, retail, and petroleum corporations. As such, many of them required between 10,000 to 20,000 USD to launch their ventures (several needed more). To think that most of these women acquired the resources they needed from informal social networks alone, is baffling (especially when one takes into account the dollar to naira exchange rate).

On one hand, it’s a pleasant surprise to think that most of the women I’ve surveyed have family and friends that supported their business plans enough to contribute such substantial funds. But on the other, it’s disheartening to think that despite the recent proliferation of micro-credit lending facilities, many female entrepreneurs would still lack access to the funds needed to see their dreams realized, were it not for a strong support system.

In the summer of 2006, Candy Agu was a successful IT Executive, but the desire to have more control over her career path compelled her to change course. The question of what entrepreneurial path to follow loomed large, however, until one night, when her son urged her to explore the toy and game industry through a dream. After much careful research, she decided to heed his advice and establish two separate, but connected, business entities in that precise sector.

The first, Party in a Box Limited, is a thriving party supply and gift retail outlet. The second, Adpete, is an educational toy and game manufacturer. When Mrs. Agu first launched Adpete in 2008, she soon realized that the country’s inadequate road network and power sector, would made it impossible for her to manufacture domestically and remain competitive, so she decided to outsource production abroad. Within the next five to ten years, however, she is hopeful that improvements in the country’s infrastructure will enable her company to begin domestic production.

Technical issues aside, Mrs. Agu’s gender has posed a unique set of challenges of its own. Given Nigeria’s fiercely patriarchal social structure, she has found that business women like herself often struggle to be taken seriously when it comes to negotiating and securing financing, for example. However for Mrs. Agu, the key to overcoming these hurdles has been to leverage the characteristics that set her apart from her male counterparts, such as her attention to detail, ability to multitask and manage effectively.  From her perspective, once other female entrepreneurs learn to do the same, the tables have turned.

For more about how Candy Agu made it as a female entrepreneur in Nigeria, check out this video!

I’ve never been very good at portraying my first impressions of people, places or things. Why? I think there are two explanations, really: 1) I tend to skim over details that are essential to painting a vivid picture of some place or someone, and 2) My eyes naturally gravitate toward commonalities and similarities more so than difference.

This shortcoming has complicated my work here significantly. Finding a way to portray the reality of daily life here is an important aspect of my fellowship, but I’ve struggled to find the right perspective.

The problem is, the country of Nigeria in general, and the city of Lagos in particular, are far from one dimensional. Yes, to be clear, there is unspeakable poverty here and living and working conditions even the most downtrodden westerner couldn’t possibly imagine, but the thought of perpetuating this image of Africa unsettles my stomach. The explanation for why is complicated.

First of all, like all other outsiders drawn into this community, I’m blown away by the poverty and deprivation here and feel an obligation to share my experiences with those back home.

But as a Nigerian myself, I’m hesitant to play the role of expatriate voyeur, peering into the impoverished lives of helpless, hopeless Africans.

During my first trip back in 2006, I remember welling up at the sight of street children selling snacks and household odds-and-ends on the side of the road. In every child’s face, I saw my own. The fate that could have easily been mine if not for an accident of birth. So to photograph them, expose their vulnerabilities to the world, feels unthinkable. Despite the fact that, in many ways, they are the face of Africa.

The question is, whose story do you tell?

The women I’ve interacted with through Wimbiz in particular are some of the most intelligent and successful I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Tapping into their brilliance is the key to developing Africa, as far as I’m concerned. Yet strangely, part of me feels that by sharing their stories, I’m painted an unrepresentative picture of the continent. Exposing a side of it the rest of the world seems reluctant to recognize: the flourishing, resilient side.

For example, in my blog post “Patience is a Virtue,” I went into great detail describing a couple of the greatest challenges to doing business here. Yet, as much as I am blown away by these obstacles, what I find most shocking is the extent to which people here are able to work around them. The extent to which they don’t seem to get in the way of people living their lives, or accomplishing their goals. Furthermore, given that all of my previous trips to Nigeria were to the quaint city of Ibadon, my hometown, I often find myself impressed by Lagos. The level of public services and infrastructural development here, far surpass those of several other Nigerian cities I’ve visited. Yes, in several respects this city is still hopelessly underdeveloped, but the more time I spend here, the less inclined I am to focus on its inadequacies.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it is just as important to highlight the successes of the this place, as it is to draw attention to its shortcomings. In an effort to do just that, I’ve posted the first of a series of short videos I plan to produce on Wimbiz “Success Stories.” I hope you find it inspirational, I certainly did!

Source: werievents

Last Friday, June 25, 2010, I sat in on a Mentor’s Breakfast hosted by Wimbiz. The informal gathering held at Robert’s Cafe, a charming little bistro in Victoria Island- Lagos, was organized to give the women who had agreed to serve as Mentors in Wimbiz’s Mentoring Program, the opportunity to learn more about what their new roles would entail. A fascinating mix of female entrepreneurs were in attendance: Tara Durotoye (CEO, House of Tara-Nigeria’s top, domestically owned cosmetic company), Dupe Ajayi (CEO, Oleander Hospitality and Catering-an enterprise employing hundreds of men and women in and around Lagos) and Audrey Ezeigbo (Executive Director, Falcon Petroleum-one of Nigeria’s leading private and wholly indigenous downstream oil & gas companies), to name a few.

This was an impressive group of women. Women who have forged their own path to success, overcoming sexual discrimination in addition to all of the “normal” obstacles to doing business in Nigeria (inadequate infrastructure, corruption, excessive government red-tape, etc). Women who have made a name for themselves in highly competitive sectors and those who have played a vital role in expanding formally undeveloped industries. It was incredible to hear their experiences with the Mentoring Program.

Most women at the breakfast were new to the program, but a few were among the batch of 19 Mentors who participated in the first, hugely successful round that took place this spring. While listening to former Mentors, like Tara Durotoye, discuss the pleasure they took in sharing their invaluable business skills with other women, something occurred to me. The notion of collaboration and the vital role it plays in fostering economic empowerment in the underdeveloped world, was smartly at the conceptual basis of this and many other Wimbiz’s initiatives, yet it was a concept that I’ve rarely heard mentioned in development discourse.

The brilliance of this program, and any other based upon the concept of peer learning, is the ability to harness the distinct know-how and sheer gumption that it takes to turn a mere idea into a thriving reality, and share it with as many willing recipients as possible. The reality is, even in developed countries, a mere fraction of business ventures reach the level of success achieved by the business women noted above (in both relative and absolute terms). To not investigate how these women were able to succeed, despite all the odds, and spread that knowledge as far and wide as possible, would be an unforgivable offense.

In the harsh business environment that is Lagos State, and Nigeria as a whole, strong social networks are vital. Anyone who has “made it” here will tell you how instrumental a strong support group was to his or her success. But the key here is that those connections remain relevant even after one has “made it.” By counseling the next generation of business women, Wimbiz Mentors spreading the impact of their success, enabling their professional achievements to inspire the next generation, and uplift their communities at large.

I’m in the process of developing a series of short video documentaries on how the woman of Wimbiz have managed to beat the odds, with a particular emphasis on the importance of informal social networks and professional collaboration. I look forward to sharing more about this and other projects as they develop.

A la prochaine!

I am now over a week into my fellowship. Things have been slow moving so far, but I’ve been learning a lot.  I’ve yet to receive the Vital Voices survey that I will spend much of the summer administering to Wimbiz members, so most of my work in the past few days has concentrated on expanding the role of social networking in Wimbiz’s advocacy efforts. See the new Wimbiz Flickr and Twitter pages to get an idea of what I’ve done so far!

Although I have yet to formally interaction with the Nigerian business women that compose Wimbiz, I’ve already gotten quite a frightening impression of how difficult it must be to run a business here, particularly as a result of the following:

Traffic

The “go-slow” that perpetual clogs up all major roadways in Lagos brings standard big-city-congestion to epic proportions. During the past week, I’ve spent up to 1 hour traveling a distance of less than 2 miles. The upside is that while you wait for the hold-up to clear, you could do your weekly grocery shopping or refurnish your apartment based on the wide array of products offered by vendors walking through traffic or those that who have smartly setup shop along the road. Lagosian could buy everything from fruit to a new love seat without even leaving the car during their morning commute!

What makes Lagos traffic so bad, you might ask? There are several explanations:

1. As sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous city, Lagos is very densely populated.
2. While there are major construction projects underway, the condition of most roads remain poor.
3. The city lacks a mass transit system.

All of these factors make navigating through the city to accomplish the simplest of tasks, an incredibly frustrating and time-consuming endeavor.

NEPA

Lagos has long been Nigeria’s commercial and economic capital, even after State Administrative bodies moved to Abuja in 1991. Yet local residents and business owners cannot rely on the State to provide the most basic of services. NEPA (the National Electric Power Authority) rarely provides more than 8-12 hours of electricity per day. The rest of the time, Lagosians most either reply upon generators for electricity or sit in the dark. For Wimbiz’s modest 3 room office, the cost of using a generator to subsides the electricity provided by the State can reach up to $80-$90 per week, plus generator maintenance fees. When one takes into account the productivity lost each time an unexpected power outage wipes unsaved work off of office computers, the costs soar even higher.

These are just two of the major obstacles that I’ve come in direct contact with in my short time here, there are many more. In fact, the World Bank recently identified a whole host of government regulations that constrain business activity here in Nigeria in Doing Business Nigeria 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times, an annual publication that presents quantitative indicators on business regulations across 183 economies. According to this report, Nigeria ranks 125th in Ease of Doing Business, approximately 30 positions after Ghana and 50 before Benin. Unsurprisingly, Singapore ranks first.

It bears mention that all of the above were difficulties I well anticipated. (This is my 4th stay in Nigeria in the past 4 years.) But these annoyances take on a whole new life force when experienced through the eyes of a local worker. Hopefully, once I start to administer the baseline member survey and profile Wimbiz success stories later this week, I’ll have a better idea of just how one overcomes the many obstacles to doing business in Nigeria.

**Personal highlight of the week: taking a horseback riding lesson on Lekki beach Saturday afternoon

It is less than 24 hours before I am scheduled to begin my Advocacy Project fellowship. While the three days of training in DC last week gave me a fairly clear picture of what I will be responsible for this summer, I am still not sure exactly what to expect, on both a personal and professional level.

However, I am incredibly passionate about the work I’ll be doing this summer. Along with many of my colleagues, I am convinced that tapping into the intelligence, drive and ambition of African women is a prerequisite for sustainable development on the continent. Working with Vital Voices and WIMBIZ should provide me with invaluable insight into exactly what type of support business women in the region really need.  As much emphases has been placed in micro-finance in recent years, I have got a sneaking suspicion that a lack of financial resources is only one of the many obstacles women here face, but I am sure I will have a much better understanding of these issues come the end of August.

On a personal note, participating in this fellowship will also enable me to reconnect with my homeland. Although I was born just a few hours north of Lagos (in a city called Ibadon), I’ve spent a very small portion of my life here in Nigeria. This summer, I will spend more time here than I have since the age of 2. So there is no doubt this experience will change me. I cannot wait for the adventure to begin!