Job creation and wealth creation are essential for any society, especially one like Nigeria where there is a large population of young people in search of opportunities. In recent times, young people are being encouraged to gain useful skills and embrace tech, in line with global trends. Many have also left the shores of Nigeria in search of greener pastures.
In this interview with Adesuwa Tsan, Mr Nwoke Chibuzo Emmanuel, a tech expert, speaks on the importance of tech in trade, job creation and wealth creation, as well as opportunities available to young people in Nigeria.
What made you decide to go into tech despite having your roots in trading?
I went into trading not with the intentions of just being a trader. With my knowledge in economics and the understanding of the workings of the microeconomic sector of the country, I came to the conclusion that no nation can grow without attending to their microeconomic needs, and that is mostly the informal sector.
I decided to make a change right from the time I became a trader as a graduate. My customers continued to grow and I had no way to keep in touch with all of them. I found myself repeating the mistakes of the traders I met at the market. When I began to see customers’ books and creditors’ books, I discovered they were too bulky and many to analyze and go through. I began to think outside the box and this gave birth to development of tech tools to undergo the task seamlessly and within lesser time.
As a trader who is now active in the tech space, in what ways would you say tech can impact the Nigerian economy?
Tech as an innovation is creating a multiplier effect in the microeconomic sector of every nation which Nigeria must also benefit from. In the area of job creation, so many graduates are looking for jobs because they were taught to get good grades and just look for jobs but these jobs are not many out there. In the adoption of technology, a single person can control thousands of traders without feeling the impact of the number.
With technology, you can have access to multiple businesses, solving their problems without even being physically present with them and that is what we call leverage. When you leverage yourself with the technology of numbers, you will realise that if you make 100,000 a day by solving the problem of 100 people, the 100 people can turn to one million people with technology. Job and wealth creation work together. If you want to generate wealth, solve problems for many people and tech can help you with that. It will greatly amplify your efforts.
As someone with experience in the informal sector, what challenges are prevalent there and how can government better engage traders and other informal business owners?
In the informal sector, most people are not tech exposed because they learnt business through the informal business mentorship system called the NwaBoi system. When you learnt from your mentor who had no tech experience, you will recycle his old way of doing things and integrate it into your business. Government can leverage technology to help people in the informal sector, especially by seeking those who are open to acquiring new skills and the technical know-how to boost their businesses. This can serve as a bridge to reach the uneducated people in the informal sector. This is why I designed the Tradabook App which is an application seeking to bring the traders in the informal sector into the tech world. The traders in the informal sector want to digitalise their trading but the road to doing so seems to be very long, but with this innovation, any trader who has a cell phone can digitise their trading activities. It is designed in such a way that it can be deployed for any trader in the informal sector to have detailed transaction records with customers.
Before now, traders could do their trading without knowing who bought from them. They usually just sell without keeping in touch with the customer. With this app, they can now have a perfect record of their trades and also have records of their customers. Apart from taking note of customers’ transactions, there is a reward aspect of the process through which traders can reward their loyal customers. This encourages customers to want to buy again from the trader through a repeat discount offer. During their spare time, they scan through their trading records for the day to see who and who is eligible for discount. Doing this will motivate their customers to buy again from them.
Businesses should be enlightened on the need to adopt tech as the new and modern way of doing business. In the areas of stocktaking, business records reconciliation for example, things have been digitized but many are still doing things the old-fashioned way. Government can equally use apps like Tradabook to reach the teeming number of traders in the informal sector who don’t have digital assets in their businesses.
How do you think women and young people can be encouraged to build careers in tech?
Tech has been dominated by the male gender and from my own experience, gender balance has been adopted in my own approach. I believe that a woman can do what a man can do. In fact, the Tradabook App was built by a woman called Coach Barakat Awoyemi after I was disappointed by many men who promised to do it but they could not deliver at the appointed time. She did an excellent job, delivered ahead of time, and her professionalism is exemplary. I have come to realise that women are very good at multitasking – they can do well in their family life and business life while men can be distracted easily by their social lives. I believe so much in women empowerment. Gender balance must be taken very seriously by every business owner.
From your understanding, what are the major challenges with tech adoption in Nigeria?
Technology is not typically Nigerian culture. Our traders here see technology as the white man’s approach or way of doing things. Of course, every new innovation comes with the good, bad, and ugly and this also applies to technology but this application considers the good aspect of technology. The traders in the informal sector need reorientation.
Sadly, some young people use technology for fraud, and this is the ugly side of it. By the time we consider digitizing the positive aspects of our day to day activities, people become automatically exposed. especially when it comes to buying and selling in the informal sector. The time an average trader spends watching Youtube can be used by the average trader to interact with their customers through Tradabook.
What advice do you have for young people who are unsure of how to navigate Nigeria’s economic landscape?
The divide between the rich and the poor is so wide that starting a new venture for the average Nigerian is becoming even cumbersome. My advice to them is this, face your fears, don’t run away from your fears. It is always impossible until it is done. If you refuse to quit, perseverance will open the door that you did not know existed when you started out. If you want to succeed, delete the Japa syndrome from your mind. Decide to prosper in Nigeria and you will.
What are the three major things that prospective business owners should keep in mind?
As a prospective business person, you should know that you can get to your destination but the route there will most likely never be a straight line. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking you must be wealthy before starting a business, start with what you have. Don’t be discouraged because of the inadequacies you encounter along the way. See them as opportunities. Always ask why. When you get your why, your how will come. Don’t be afraid.
What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs regarding how to manage their finances?
The area of finance is not a knowledge that most graduates have and that alone scares them away from engaging in business activities so they often opt for the security of a job offer where they do not have to deal with managing finances. I will advise them to read financial books if you want to upgrade your financial know-how.
The first book that motivated me when I started out was Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad. The book will open your eyes to a lot because in the business world, when it comes to finances, you need three things to be a successful businessman – education, skill, and financial literacy. Even if you don’t have excessive cash, know what you want to do, and the finance will follow the knowledge you have.
How do you try to attain a work-life balance?
It has not been easy and that is one of the reasons I have decided to leverage technology to help me with the balance. What tech can help you to do will enable you to make money while you sleep. If you cannot make money while you sleep, then it means you will labour for the rest of your life. This can only be possible through tech adoption and automation of processes. In maintaining work-life balance, technology has been the hallmark of my life and journey because it allows me to sleep, work, and play when I want.