Ambassador Nimi Akinkugbe's extraordinary journey from a Pan-African childhood to becoming an influential entrepreneur and diplomat is nothing short of inspiring. Raised amidst diverse cultures across East Africa, her unique upbringing instilled a passion for international relations and business, setting the stage for her later achievements. In this episode, we unpack her remarkable transition back to Nigeria, her academic pursuits at the prestigious London School of Economics, and how nostalgia for childhood board games sparked the creation of the first African City edition of Monopoly. Witness Ambassador Akinkowe's commitment to financial literacy and the powerful lessons she learned from her diverse career path.
Discover the fascinating story behind the local Lagos edition of Monopoly—a project that brilliantly entwined Nigerian culture with an iconic global board game. Ambassador Akinkugbe shares her exhilarating journey from the banking sector to entrepreneurship, emphasizing the challenges of securing Hasbro's distribution rights and the joy of seeing local landmarks on the Monopoly board. Her father’s teachings on financial literacy and strategic savings paved the way for a cautious yet rewarding business growth strategy. Through candid reflections, she highlights the importance of patience, partnerships, and personal investment in achieving entrepreneurial success.
In a world where personal finance literacy is crucial, Ambassador Akinkugbe's initiative, "Money Matters with Nimi," is a beacon of knowledge. Motivated by real-life experiences, she has dedicated herself to simplifying complex financial concepts for the everyday individual, culminating in her book, "The A to Z of Personal Finance." Her transition from corporate life to public service as Nigeria's ambassador to Greece demonstrates the power of adaptability and continuous learning. As she embraces a new chapter filled with mentorship, personal growth, and an interest in technology, Ambassador Akinkugbe encourages listeners to overcome imposter syndrome and confidently connect past experiences with future aspirations.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi there and welcome to another episode of African
Business Stories.
Africa is the only region inthe world where more women than
men choose to be entrepreneurs.
What this says to me is thatthe story of business in Africa
is the story of the Africanbusinesswoman.
So we're on a journey ofdiscovery to find these women
(00:23):
and tell their stories.
On the show, we will hear fromfemale innovators and
entrepreneurs building andrunning businesses in Africa.
They will share the highs andlows of their entrepreneurial
journey and lessons learnedalong the way.
Some of these women you mayknow, and many you may not, but
(00:48):
I assure you that all theirstories are inspiring in their
own right.
My hope is that these storieswill inspire you to reach for
your dreams and leave a legacyfor generations to come.
It makes such a big differenceto us if you can rate, review
and share our episodes.
You can do this mainly on ApplePodcasts, and you can find us
on all podcast platforms Ifyou're in Africa.
(01:09):
Spotify is now available, socheck us out there and don't
forget to rate, review and share.
On today's episode, I sit downwith Ambassador Nimi Akinkowe,
founder of Best Men Games and,the immediate past ambassador of
Nigeria to Greece.
She connects the dots of hercareer from being raised in a
(01:32):
diplomatic home to becoming adiplomat herself, and the 20
plus years in banking and yearsas an entrepreneur in between.
She created the first AfricaCity edition of the famous
Monopoly games and reflects onlife as an entrepreneur, the
importance of financial literacyand if she would have done
(01:54):
anything differently.
It was an honor to spend timewith her.
Let's get into it.
Good morning, ambassadorKinkubwe.
Welcome to African BusinessStories.
Good morning, very nice to behere.
So good to finally get theopportunity to speak to you.
I know I was trying to do thistwo or three years ago and I'm
glad that we are finally able tosit down and have this
(02:16):
conversation.
Thank you again.
Thank you, thank you forinviting me.
So you had quite thePan-African childhood, born in
Nigeria and raised across EastAfrica, and I wonder what that
experience was like for you.
I think we had a really idyllicchildhood.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Left Nigeria when I was seven.
So I was at Corona School,ikoyi.
So that was nice because Ifound reconnected with some
friends and classmates of minethat were in school at that time
.
But in East Africa, just beingin an international school with
up to 50 nationalities thatearly just makes you adapt to
people from different cultures,backgrounds.
(02:57):
It's quite extraordinary whatthat does for you in terms of
exposure and many some of thefriends I made at that time.
I've kept the friendships going, even though they all went all
over the world to differentplaces and so on.
So I found that has been reallyimportant, especially today
when we talk about diversity andaccepting other people for who
they are.
(03:17):
I had friends from literallyall over the world at that time.
It was an incredible experienceIn terms of the childhood
experiences.
Sometimes I look at my children,what they had and what my
grandchildren are having.
It's so different.
We had huge gardens and outdoorplay and climbing trees.
That was such a different typeof thing.
(03:40):
Whereas my grandson now wantsto have a nursery rhyme played
and he just tells Siri or Alexato say to sing to him.
And I'm just like what on earthis this?
He just says Alexa sing, maryhad a little lamb, and then she
sings.
So I'm just getting used tothis whole new space age kids
(04:00):
type thing.
Yeah, my daughter was telling merecently about joining the dots
.
In fact she reminded me of avery interesting quote.
I think it's.
Yes, it was Steve Jobs.
He said you can't connect thedots looking forward, you can
only connect them lookingbackward.
So you have to trust that thedots will somehow connect in
(04:21):
your future.
She was describing that with mein mind, that literally
everything has come full circle.
So I grew up in a diplomaticenvironment as a child of a
diplomat, so I learned thatexperience firsthand of what it
felt like being in thediplomatic circle.
And we grew up playing boardgames so chess and Monopoly and
(04:46):
Scrabble and Racing Demon, allthose games and then that was an
obsession as a child.
It really was.
Also, my father brought hiswork home, so dinner table
conversations were totally aboutinternational relations.
What she was saying was when Ijoined the diplomatic service,
it was just like coming fullcircle and having a board game
(05:07):
company.
The dots just all come together.
So that was just an interestingthing that she just happened to
mention.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, talking about intention.
So I noted that you came backto Nigeria to go to high school
and do O-levels.
Was that an intentional move byyour parents or had your family
moved back to Nigeria at thetime?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
My father was going to Cambridge to do some research
works.
My mother joined him and theysent us back home intentionally
so that we would have some fit,because I've noticed that with a
lot of diplomats' children theydon't fit in.
They've gone away for such along time all over the place and
they come back and there arehuge gaps because those
(05:49):
friendships that you make it wasjust I was back for just two
years, but those are my bestfriends that I made at the
international school in Ibadan,so it's really it made a huge
difference.
You need that network.
Those friends that you make inyour teens count for a lot.
So people should be a bitcareful sending their children
(06:10):
away for too long and not havinga chance to come back.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That's interesting.
So you then go on to LSE.
What did you study at LSE?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Economics and international relations and
nothing to do with having avision of what my future would
look like.
I loved economics, had afantastic economics teacher, so
it was just like a natural Agrade to do that for university.
But because of my father'sdiplomatic career and even
family prayers we're praying forIndira Gandhi and praying for
(06:43):
Uthant I just had a passion forthat.
So at LSE I was able to do acombined degree of economics and
international relations.
That's why I did that, neverknowing that that would be an
interesting thing to have doneas an ambassador down many years
later.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So how did you end up in banking?
Because you were in banking for23 years.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I think the economics degree got me very interested
in anything in that space.
So I came back and my youthcore was with a stockbroking
firm.
In fact one of the things.
You're not supposed to regretthings.
But I really wish I hadfollowed that through and also
got a stockbroking license.
But that's.
You can't have done everything.
And so I was raising a youngfamily and that was the time
(07:24):
when all these wonderful newinitiatives were starting, these
fantastic new banks in 1989.
So there were so many of themand were these young, dynamic
leaders setting up banks?
So that was when IBT fee wasstarting.
So that was when IBT-C wasstarting, and so I approached
(07:45):
them and said I would like towork for them.
At first they didn't seemterribly sure because I was a
young nursing mother and I askedif I could work part-time and
to my amazement they agreed yes.
(08:07):
For the first year at IBT-C Iwas closing at one o'clock so I
could go home to my babies.
But my parents were alsoextremely intentional about
spotting your interests andtalent early.
So I started piano lessons atfour years old, and it wasn't
just about playing the piano.
If my parents found you coulddo something very well, they
expected you to take it to thehighest level.
So while I was doing my degreeat LSE, I was also studying for
(08:29):
my piano teaching diploma at theRoyal College of Music.
Wow.
So while I was workingpart-time at IBTC, I got home at
one o'clock, picked my kidshome from school and then from
four to six I had some lovelychildren coming home to have
piano lessons.
Oh, that's nice I was able tosupplement my because I was
getting half pay in the night,so I got.
(08:50):
I earned a bit more by byworking part-time on my side
hustle.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
So did you know when you were doing the diploma that
you were going to use it in thatway?
They?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
wanted us all to have something that you could fall
back on.
My mother always said shewanted to know that wanted every
one of her daughter to be ableto earn a living from home.
She was very intentional aboutthat.
So my sister is an extremelygifted interior designer.
She's a lawyer but she's aninterior designer and she also
(09:19):
sews.
So for many years she wouldsupplement her income making the
most wonderful clothes.
And my other sister is the bestbaker I've ever come across.
So cakes and Christmas andEaster.
She's a medical doctor but shecould even till today.
If she makes a cake, you'll beamazed.
So mine was.
Everybody's a pianist in thefamily, but I took it to the
(09:41):
highest.
Okay, now our children havetaken it to another level.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I remember going to one of your Ajumagobia concerts
at the Mousson one Christmas Ican't remember many years ago,
and your family just reminded meof the Von Trapp family.
That was all of you on stage.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
People keep calling us and saying that nothing has
replaced that concert.
We did it for 10 years and thenwe just all got too busy.
But even this year someone hassaid they'll sponsor can we just
come back and do this?
And we just thought, my God, wecan hardly cope with what we
have on our plates right now todo that.
But hopefully the next gen thatwill bring that back.
But it was an incredibleinitiative for scholarships for
(10:21):
science students in my father'smemory.
Wow, so scholarships forscience students in my father's
memory.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah, so you're working part time, raising your
kids and teaching piano parttime.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I got promoted.
So that just it was just apowerful method that when you
let a woman have that show thatyou care for her family, when
you show that you care for herfamily and you give her that
space, she gives you more thanyou ever imagined.
Even though I was working parttime, I was working at full pelt
and I got promoted in that yearAfter a while.
(10:52):
Of course, after a year it wastime to go full time if I
definitely wanted to have acareer in that firm.
So I did that.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
What was your role at that point in the bank?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Initially I was almost like an operations person
, part time doing the returns tothe central bank and so on.
And then, after when I waspermanent then I moved on to the
treasury, which I loved, andforeign exchange dealing and
then after some years it becamenecessary to set up a private
banking department and I wasgiven that opportunity with my
(11:27):
team to set that up and that wasone of the most amazing
opportunities I ever had becausewe set up a really superb
private bank and I enjoyed thatimmensely.
And that was where I got bittenby the financial literacy bug,
because I saw what can happen topeople who don't have financial
(11:48):
knowledge.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
At what point did you start considering
entrepreneurship full-time?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Full-time after I left my first job and I moved on
.
That was at Stanbeck IBTC.
But I moved on to Barclays Bankas regional director for wealth
and investment management whenI saw what could happen to
families when they did noteducate their children about
money.
And these were wealthy clientsin the private bank and you know
(12:14):
, know, historically you've seen, one generation makes the money
, one generation spends it andthe other has nothing left.
So we wanted to make sure thatour clients children were
educated about money.
So we used to have next genseminars, bring in our clients
children and teach them aboutmoney.
(12:35):
And when the bank was mergedwith Standard Bank of South
Africa, I know that South Africahas gone a lot further in terms
of the financial literacy play.
So I contacted them and said doyou have any tools that would
help us teach these children?
Because we were doing seminarsand so on.
(12:56):
But gaming is such a fantastictool for learning.
And they sent a game, a boardgame called Winning Teams and it
was a great game.
But it was all in Rand and thatwas the first time when I
thought, oh, I need to have myown board game in.
Nigeria a financial money gamehere, and that was the first
(13:22):
time I thought about it, but Iwas still so busy with my job I
didn't take it much further.
And then I moved to Barclays,wealth.
And incredible, just being inthe right place at the right
time, and how opportunityfavours you when you are just in
that space.
I was at my son's school in theUK and they launched the
(13:44):
Monopoly board game.
I was astonished because I'dnever.
I grew up on the Mayfair ParkLane, old Kent Road.
In fact, recently in London Isaw a bus going to Old Kent Road
.
I almost chased after itbecause I've never known where
that place is Anyway.
So that was so I just saw thisschool board game, monopoly.
(14:04):
So I went to the school officeand asked where was this from?
And they led me to a companywho has the franchise from
Hasbro.
Hasbro owns Monopoly and theyhad handed the franchise to
another company for Europe,middle East and Africa.
So I went to them and said I'mthe best person in the world to
do a Lagos edition.
(14:25):
So it took about two years.
I wasn't ready to leave bankingbecause I felt I just I still
was exploring this, but I, so Igot a consulting firm to do a
business plan.
We worked together and twoyears later I got the
distribution rights to docustomized editions of the
(14:45):
Monopoly board game for Africa.
So Lagos was the first evercity edition, right, yes?
And then I thought, oh, thisseems like something I would
like to do permanently.
So that's when, after two and ahalf years, I left Barclays to
Bessman Games full time.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Wow, and what was that transition like?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Total out of my comfort zone.
But then when you're passionateabout something, this was like
so exciting the thought of beingable to have Nigerian children
playing our own Monopoly gamewith Agege and Ikeja and Third
Mainland Bridge and the taxoffice it was just amazing.
(15:27):
So, even though I was nervous,it was a no-brainer for me.
It was just a no-brainer, andthat's what happens when you're
an entrepreneur and you'repassionate about something.
We did a formidable businessplan so we had thought of a lot.
Of course, now, in hindsight, alot of things in that plan
didn't work, but at the time Ihad some savings.
(15:48):
So another great thing is ifyou've been working for a long
time and you've been verytentative Sorry, another lesson
my father was very tentativeabout financial literacy as
children, so he would borrowmoney from us and pay us back
with interest.
I was saving as a child andlearnt about money just from
(16:09):
that experience and so I'dalways been saving.
And then working for a banklike mine and being taught about
money and teaching clientsabout money, you begin to pick
up quite a bit about investingin the stock market and property
and investments and so on.
So I was able to have put someskin in the game myself, which
is very useful for entrepreneurs.
(16:30):
If you have a bit of your ownmoney to put in, that makes it
easier for others to support you.
Unfortunately, I'm a bit riskaverse when it comes to debt, so
I would probably have done alot better if I had just closed
my eyes and borrowed and justgone in full scale, but I'm
still not able to do that.
So it was very tentative growthyeah.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
So what kind of challenges did you face in those
initial startup days?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I think one of the main things would have been
funding not being able to dosome of the things that would
have been clearly important todo at that time, for example,
hiring.
I had some extremely goodpeople, but maybe I should also
have had some much more seniorstaff who could assist me, so it
didn't all end with me, sort ofthing.
(17:17):
I really wish I had a partnerwho had a stake in the business
as well, so I wasn't taking allthe risk myself.
I think that would have beenvery important.
I wish I'd been much morecircumspect about some of the
support that we had in terms oftax consulting or accounting,
(17:39):
that sort of thing.
That would have been veryhelpful as well.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
You're saying that if you could do things differently
, if you could do it all overagain, you will still be
tentative with regards toraising money.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I could have done much, much bigger things at the
time if I had just gone all out.
Some people are very daring.
They just go out there and setup this incredible thing with
office space and people and soon.
I was much more tentative and Iprobably would still do the
same thing.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So what then inspired you to start Money Matters with
Nimi?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
The same thing.
My journey has all been relatedto that whole piece.
Just seeing families like.
I remember I had a client oncewho had done very well but he
was just completely averse toinsurance.
He just wouldn't, no matter howmuch we advised him.
He just didn't believe in it.
Then he got a nasty illnesswhich literally decimated the
(18:37):
family's finances and it was,you know.
It ran into millions because itwas a very serious cancer.
He died eventually and justseeing the portfolio decimated
because of that was very sad.
I also saw people withcomplicated family situations
who did not plan and so in theevent of their demise you have
(19:01):
the most horrific family feudand decades.
A lifetime of excellent savingand investing is just broken up
into pieces and children arefighting.
So that made me start to have acolumn.
I think my first column was withGenevieve magazine and then
(19:23):
with Next newspapers and thenfrom then to the Guardian and
this Day and Forbes and so on,where you're just putting out
nuggets out there so that thepublic have a chance to learn.
Unfortunately, most times youfind that money matters is
filled with a lot of jargon, alot of things.
People are not able tounderstand the terms and so on.
(19:44):
They tend to find it as an areawhere you just flip over
because it's boring or it'scomplex and many people just
can't understand what people aresaying.
So I was able to break it downinto simple, relatable nuggets
that people can embrace in theirpersonal lives, and that's
where the column started from.
And for.
(20:05):
The A to Z of personal financeis literally a collection of
some of my favorite articlesfrom my column over 20 years,
but again in bite-sized pieces.
So it's A for asset, b forbudget, c for credit, d for debt
.
So you can just pick thechapter you want and read what
(20:26):
you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Fantastic.
Is the book still incirculation?
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yes, in fact I have to now just update it and do a
second edition because it's hadits fifth set of publication and
publications and printing sorryand a book club just called me
last week that they want to readit and I just don't have enough
copies now.
So I really do need to updateit, and that's some of the stuff
that's keeping me so busy justgetting things on track.
(20:53):
But, it's a timeless book, soyou can pick it up at any age
yeah and just pick the chapterthat are for real estate and
that sort of thing yeah, didthat become a revenue generating
business?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
the money matters with nimi money matters.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Nimi was I was never paid for any of the columns I
wrote, but of course the bookhas done well, so I get income
from the book.
When you're doing something thatyou would do for free, it has
some way of compensating you.
You do what you love and you'readding value.
It'll pay its way.
So a lot of the speakingengagements that I've been
(21:29):
invited for tend to be relatedto financial literacy and
empowering women regarding theirpersonal finances or couples,
and so on.
In a way, it pays for itself,but I do it for free as well.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
You've had a long career in the corporate world
and in entrepreneurship and Ijust wonder, in terms of all
these nuggets you're really bigwith these nuggets For women,
people who are contemplatingmoving into entrepreneurship or
struggling because it's been ahard time post-COVID, for people
generally and for entrepreneurs?
Any nuggets that you can giveto people in that space?
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I now know that entrepreneurship is not for
everyone.
There's this narrative outthere especially when you've
been in a company for a longtime, you're almost made to feel
inadequate that you didn't stepout and set up your own
business.
So many people who are in paidemployment in a corporate
setting almost feel bad thattheir colleagues are jumping out
(22:28):
and setting up their ownbusiness.
Don't do that.
You really have to have areason.
You really have to have afantastic idea, a fantastic
solution for the world beforeyou step out and don't do it
before you're ready, because youhave to look at your own
circumstances.
Sometimes you can't afford togive up that fantastic income.
(22:50):
Some people are in toppositions and they're earning a
lot.
There's the perks.
You need to cost that lifestylebecause you're going to lose a
lot of that when you become anentrepreneur.
I think that's very important,especially for people that have
been in senior management.
You get cars and tickets anddoors open because of that
(23:10):
business card, so you've got todevelop your personal brand
alongside your career.
Who are you without that fancytitle?
Because suddenly doors stopopening, because you're no
longer director or GM of thisfancy company, or MD or senior
manager, whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
So you recently completed a tour as Nigeria's
ambassador to Greece and Iwonder what it was like for you
moving from the corporate worldto the highest, and I enjoyed it
immensely.
I was also shell-shocked a bit,because there's a very big
difference between privatesector in terms of the leading
(24:01):
corporates and public service.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
So there were some areas which I struggled with,
but my banking career and beingan entrepreneur helped me to be
at my best in that role.
So of all the roles I had, Ifound I was most prepared for
the ambassadorship role, justfrom the life I'd led my family,
(24:26):
my parents being a banker, anentrepreneur and then being in
that sort of position but interms of public service.
That had areas that I found abit of a challenge working in.
But overall I thought it was afantastic experience and I would
certainly do something likethat again.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
I think it goes back to your daughter's quote about
connecting the dots, so thatkind of all comes full circle at
the end.
Yes, and.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I had incredible support from the Greek
government, greek businesscommunity, and so we were able
to achieve significantmilestones.
We were highly respected andtreated very well and so just
representing our country andshowing who we actually are,
showcasing the best of Nigeriawithout denying the negative
parts of it, but just showcasingwho we really are in all facets
(25:13):
For me, the most impressivepeople I've ever come across in
every sector have been Nigerian.
I agree and I'm very proud ofthat.
Our young people you found thesame thing.
Yes, in fact, one of the thingsI was doing was getting
scholarships for some youngNigerians in Greece and
different areas, and everysingle time they were the best,
(25:37):
they were extraordinary, theymade the companies want to do
more and for us to send moreNigerians, because they were
just excellent and they were notgoing away to stay, they were
coming back to Nigeria to putinto practice what they'd
learned, and so on.
So that was very exciting.
Representing Nigeria in thatcapacity, you can do so much.
So I loved that and it reallywas an honor.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
That's very inspiring .
So you had quite a lot ofpivots corporate to
entrepreneurship to publicservice.
I'm just wondering if you canjust reflect on how you've
handled all these transitions,if there are any lessons learned
from all these pivots Okay, Ithink one of the main things is
(26:19):
adapting.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It wasn't easy to adapt to the different phases.
When you're in the corporateenvironment, everything is done
for you.
You just have to focus on yourarea of expertise, but you don't
have to worry about HR and youdon't have to worry about
because you've got an excellentHR head who's going to hire and
fire and you do the appraisalsand you put that through, but
you're not the one who has tomake every single decision about
(26:44):
everything.
So an entrepreneur, especiallystarting as a small business,
starting from day one, you'relooking at every single thing,
from payroll to toilet paper tothe office being properly
cleaned and every single thing.
So I found that reallyoverwhelming because I just I
had worked in such leadinginstitutions that had deep
(27:05):
pockets and so everything wasprovided.
You just had to deliver on yourpromise.
So I found that difficult.
But I had incredible supportsystem.
I think every woman, everybodyneeds a support system From my
family, my husband, my children,siblings, mentors, critical
(27:26):
networks.
I consulted widely before Imoved into any role that was
critical for me, so sometimes Iwould drag my feet because I
just wasn't sure people'sopinions, special people's
opinions really mattered to methen for then building that team
, I think in every case, inevery case, it was important to
(27:48):
put training in place.
So don't neglect the fact thatsome people were not equipped at
the time, but you could seethat they had the right attitude
and they could learn, and soyou make sure they had the right
skills.
Developing myself was key inevery stage.
So reading widely and havingsome attending courses and
(28:11):
seminars really helped.
I'm someone that overprepares.
Maybe it's a lack of confidence, or it's a what's the syndrome
that many women have?
The imposter syndrome.
What's that Imposter syndrome?
So it makes you overprepare,prepare.
I'm a perfectionist, so I Iwould bend over backwards to try
(28:35):
to get it right.
I'll still get it wrong, but atleast I've had a good try and
learned along the way.
So the team mentorship um, thebackbone of everything is that
ethical standards and integrity,taking that through in
everything you do.
That is such a power becauseyou know right from wrong.
(28:57):
So that already makes it easyfor you to make some decisions.
So I found that very useful,especially in public service.
And then, of course, continuouslearning and growth, just
always learning, trying to learn, trying to grow.
At the foundation of all that,I put every single thing I'm
(29:17):
doing into prayer.
I have a very strong faith inGod, so I don't I just don't
just walk into things unless Ihave absolute clarity.
That's what I should be doingnext praying about it and
feeling completely comfortableabout it it was, it's also very
helpful and then praying throughit with through every single
(29:39):
challenge, some of the sleeplessnights in every role.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I found that it's a part of my life anyway thank you
so much for sharing, so justwondering what's next for you,
Ambassador Akinkubwe?
What's next?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I'm so keen on not rushing and a lot of things are
coming my way and I'm being verytentative I just I'm just
enjoying this time of beingstill and reflecting and being
able to ensure that whatever Ido next is a total reflection of
what I should be doing, myvalues and everything that I
(30:13):
should be doing right now atthis stage.
So, in a short answer.
I have no definite plan rightnow, but I'm so excited at the
possibilities.
I look forward to supportingsome companies in areas where I
feel well equipped from myexperience and so on what I can
(30:34):
bring to the table.
So I look forward to that.
But right now I'm just enjoyingbeing so.
It's literally all about me andmy two grandsons two grandsons.
I recently got a secondgrandson, so I'm just enjoying
(30:55):
the time nurturing them andhelping my daughter and her
husband out, just being agrandmother.
I'm loving every minute of that.
The first grandson I was busybeing the ambassador, so I
wasn't hands-on.
This time I'm able to be morehands-on and it's all about me
being trying to be healthy,exercising and trying to eat
right, trying to lose weight inbetween the chocolate, brownies
(31:16):
and chicken wings.
Oh, I just started an AI coursetwo days ago.
I just feel it's something thatI need to get under my belt,
because you become a dinosaur ifyou don't quickly get involved
in what is going on in thisworld.
So I'm so excited about that.
The first session I thought Iwouldn't understand anything,
(31:36):
but it was absolutely brilliant.
So that's like a 10-week courseI've started just to be able to
understand this incredible toolthat's going to set to change
the whole world.
I cannot be left behind on that.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
That's great.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
As we wrap up, I like to ask myguests to do two things One is
a reflection and one is advice.
We've done a lot of reflectionduring this chat, but just a
little more focus.
Maybe.
Everyone talks about howchallenging it is doing business
on the continent, but peopleare building.
People are having enormousimpact and I wonder for you what
(32:12):
has been from the time youspent as an entrepreneur?
What has been the mostimpactful thing that you've done
in building your variousbusinesses in Africa?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I think, financial literacy, because I think most
businesses will just not be ableto survive without the owners
having some knowledge of theirpersonal finances.
So I've loved doing that andseeing that impact.
Wherever I go, people tell meoh my goodness, what you did in
terms of teaching me about moneyhas helped me Most people just
being able to educate peopleregarding their personal
(32:44):
finances, which is a major thingfor businesses, for families,
for individuals so I've loveddoing that.
I think building a strongsupport it's very.
I do think it is a challengedoing business in Nigeria, but
if you believe in yourself, youknow what you're doing.
You've done your homework.
Don't cut corners.
So I started on day one how Iplan to continue.
(33:08):
So everything was in place.
So I had an accountant, I hadHR, I had those were important
pieces to make sure you'restarting properly proper company
bank accounts, you had your taxnumber and were doing things
properly.
So these things don't come backto haunt you down the line come
back to haunt you down the line.
I think that's important, on asmall scale, of course, but if
(33:30):
you put structures in placeproperly, then, above all, it
was the corporate governance.
You do need to have that boardof directors, that, or board of
advisors that will support you,because you can't you don't have
all the ideas, but that wasvery useful, just having the
right people to support and togive advice and make sure you
take those meetings extremelyseriously and take the advice on
(33:52):
board.
Yeah, I think those are the keythings Believing in yourself,
first of all, because if youdon't have that passion and
self-belief, the slightestchallenge because they come
ferociously all the time, it'slike nonstop you would just
you'd walk away.
You'd walk away.
Believe in what you're doingand the solutions you're
(34:15):
providing and the impact it'shaving.
I feel I love what I do, sothat's helped a lot.
So, in spite of the challenges,I felt it's something that I
want to do.
So everything I've been doinghas been related to financial
literacy, the gaming company,apart from the proprietary game
we built, which is a Bible game.
(34:35):
That was a wonderful game tohave out there.
And then, of course, my lastrole was presenting Nigeria in
the way I feel she ought to bepresented to the world.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Thank you so much.
Thank you for your service.
I should say first of all,thank you so much for your
service and thank you for yourtime with us today.
Really appreciate it,ambassador.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And thank you for having me, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you're not alreadysubscribed, please do so on
Apple, spotify or wherever youget your podcast, and don't
forget to leave us a review sowe know how we're doing.
I'm Akego Okoye and you havebeen listening to African
Business Stories.
Hi there and welcome to another episode of African
Business Stories.
Africa is the only region inthe world where more women than
men choose to be entrepreneurs.
What this says to me is thatthe story of business in Africa
is the story of the Africanbusinesswoman.
So we're on a journey ofdiscovery to find these women
(00:23):
and tell their stories.
On the show, we will hear fromfemale innovators and
entrepreneurs building andrunning businesses in Africa.
They will share the highs andlows of their entrepreneurial
journey and lessons learnedalong the way.
Some of these women you mayknow, and many you may not, but
(00:48):
I assure you that all theirstories are inspiring in their
own right.
My hope is that these storieswill inspire you to reach for
your dreams and leave a legacyfor generations to come.
It makes such a big differenceto us if you can rate, review
and share our episodes.
You can do this mainly on ApplePodcasts, and you can find us
on all podcast platforms Ifyou're in Africa.
(01:09):
Spotify is now available, socheck us out there and don't
forget to rate, review and share.
On today's episode, I sit downwith Ambassador Nimi Akinkowe,
founder of Best Men Games and,the immediate past ambassador of
Nigeria to Greece.
She connects the dots of hercareer from being raised in a
(01:32):
diplomatic home to becoming adiplomat herself, and the 20
plus years in banking and yearsas an entrepreneur in between.
She created the first AfricaCity edition of the famous
Monopoly games and reflects onlife as an entrepreneur, the
importance of financial literacyand if she would have done
(01:54):
anything differently.
It was an honor to spend timewith her.
Let's get into it.
Good morning, ambassadorKinkubwe.
Welcome to African BusinessStories.
Good morning, very nice to behere.
So good to finally get theopportunity to speak to you.
I know I was trying to do thistwo or three years ago and I'm
glad that we are finally able tosit down and have this
(02:16):
conversation.
Thank you again.
Thank you, thank you forinviting me.
So you had quite thePan-African childhood, born in
Nigeria and raised across EastAfrica, and I wonder what that
experience was like for you.
I think we had a really idyllicchildhood.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Left Nigeria when I was seven.
So I was at Corona School,ikoyi.
So that was nice because Ifound reconnected with some
friends and classmates of minethat were in school at that time
.
But in East Africa, just beingin an international school with
up to 50 nationalities thatearly just makes you adapt to
people from different cultures,backgrounds.
(02:57):
It's quite extraordinary whatthat does for you in terms of
exposure and many some of thefriends I made at that time.
I've kept the friendships going, even though they all went all
over the world to differentplaces and so on.
So I found that has been reallyimportant, especially today
when we talk about diversity andaccepting other people for who
they are.
(03:17):
I had friends from literallyall over the world at that time.
It was an incredible experienceIn terms of the childhood
experiences.
Sometimes I look at my children,what they had and what my
grandchildren are having.
It's so different.
We had huge gardens and outdoorplay and climbing trees.
That was such a different typeof thing.
(03:40):
Whereas my grandson now wantsto have a nursery rhyme played
and he just tells Siri or Alexato say to sing to him.
And I'm just like what on earthis this?
He just says Alexa sing, maryhad a little lamb, and then she
sings.
So I'm just getting used tothis whole new space age kids
(04:00):
type thing.
Yeah, my daughter was telling merecently about joining the dots
.
In fact she reminded me of avery interesting quote.
I think it's.
Yes, it was Steve Jobs.
He said you can't connect thedots looking forward, you can
only connect them lookingbackward.
So you have to trust that thedots will somehow connect in
(04:21):
your future.
She was describing that with mein mind, that literally
everything has come full circle.
So I grew up in a diplomaticenvironment as a child of a
diplomat, so I learned thatexperience firsthand of what it
felt like being in thediplomatic circle.
And we grew up playing boardgames so chess and Monopoly and
(04:46):
Scrabble and Racing Demon, allthose games and then that was an
obsession as a child.
It really was.
Also, my father brought hiswork home, so dinner table
conversations were totally aboutinternational relations.
What she was saying was when Ijoined the diplomatic service,
it was just like coming fullcircle and having a board game
(05:07):
company.
The dots just all come together.
So that was just an interestingthing that she just happened to
mention.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, talking about intention.
So I noted that you came backto Nigeria to go to high school
and do O-levels.
Was that an intentional move byyour parents or had your family
moved back to Nigeria at thetime?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
My father was going to Cambridge to do some research
works.
My mother joined him and theysent us back home intentionally
so that we would have some fit,because I've noticed that with a
lot of diplomats' children theydon't fit in.
They've gone away for such along time all over the place and
they come back and there arehuge gaps because those
(05:49):
friendships that you make it wasjust I was back for just two
years, but those are my bestfriends that I made at the
international school in Ibadan,so it's really it made a huge
difference.
You need that network.
Those friends that you make inyour teens count for a lot.
So people should be a bitcareful sending their children
(06:10):
away for too long and not havinga chance to come back.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That's interesting.
So you then go on to LSE.
What did you study at LSE?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Economics and international relations and
nothing to do with having avision of what my future would
look like.
I loved economics, had afantastic economics teacher, so
it was just like a natural Agrade to do that for university.
But because of my father'sdiplomatic career and even
family prayers we're praying forIndira Gandhi and praying for
(06:43):
Uthant I just had a passion forthat.
So at LSE I was able to do acombined degree of economics and
international relations.
That's why I did that, neverknowing that that would be an
interesting thing to have doneas an ambassador down many years
later.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So how did you end up in banking?
Because you were in banking for23 years.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I think the economics degree got me very interested
in anything in that space.
So I came back and my youthcore was with a stockbroking
firm.
In fact one of the things.
You're not supposed to regretthings.
But I really wish I hadfollowed that through and also
got a stockbroking license.
But that's.
You can't have done everything.
And so I was raising a youngfamily and that was the time
(07:24):
when all these wonderful newinitiatives were starting, these
fantastic new banks in 1989.
So there were so many of themand were these young, dynamic
leaders setting up banks?
So that was when IBT fee wasstarting.
So that was when IBT-C wasstarting, and so I approached
(07:45):
them and said I would like towork for them.
At first they didn't seemterribly sure because I was a
young nursing mother and I askedif I could work part-time and
to my amazement they agreed yes.
(08:07):
For the first year at IBT-C Iwas closing at one o'clock so I
could go home to my babies.
But my parents were alsoextremely intentional about
spotting your interests andtalent early.
So I started piano lessons atfour years old, and it wasn't
just about playing the piano.
If my parents found you coulddo something very well, they
expected you to take it to thehighest level.
So while I was doing my degreeat LSE, I was also studying for
(08:29):
my piano teaching diploma at theRoyal College of Music.
Wow.
So while I was workingpart-time at IBTC, I got home at
one o'clock, picked my kidshome from school and then from
four to six I had some lovelychildren coming home to have
piano lessons.
Oh, that's nice I was able tosupplement my because I was
getting half pay in the night,so I got.
(08:50):
I earned a bit more by byworking part-time on my side
hustle.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
So did you know when you were doing the diploma that
you were going to use it in thatway?
They?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
wanted us all to have something that you could fall
back on.
My mother always said shewanted to know that wanted every
one of her daughter to be ableto earn a living from home.
She was very intentional aboutthat.
So my sister is an extremelygifted interior designer.
She's a lawyer but she's aninterior designer and she also
(09:19):
sews.
So for many years she wouldsupplement her income making the
most wonderful clothes.
And my other sister is the bestbaker I've ever come across.
So cakes and Christmas andEaster.
She's a medical doctor but shecould even till today.
If she makes a cake, you'll beamazed.
So mine was.
Everybody's a pianist in thefamily, but I took it to the
(09:41):
highest.
Okay, now our children havetaken it to another level.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I remember going to one of your Ajumagobia concerts
at the Mousson one Christmas Ican't remember many years ago,
and your family just reminded meof the Von Trapp family.
That was all of you on stage.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
People keep calling us and saying that nothing has
replaced that concert.
We did it for 10 years and thenwe just all got too busy.
But even this year someone hassaid they'll sponsor can we just
come back and do this?
And we just thought, my God, wecan hardly cope with what we
have on our plates right now todo that.
But hopefully the next gen thatwill bring that back.
But it was an incredibleinitiative for scholarships for
(10:21):
science students in my father'smemory.
Wow, so scholarships forscience students in my father's
memory.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah, so you're working part time, raising your
kids and teaching piano parttime.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I got promoted.
So that just it was just apowerful method that when you
let a woman have that show thatyou care for her family, when
you show that you care for herfamily and you give her that
space, she gives you more thanyou ever imagined.
Even though I was working parttime, I was working at full pelt
and I got promoted in that yearAfter a while.
(10:52):
Of course, after a year it wastime to go full time if I
definitely wanted to have acareer in that firm.
So I did that.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
What was your role at that point in the bank?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Initially I was almost like an operations person
, part time doing the returns tothe central bank and so on.
And then, after when I waspermanent then I moved on to the
treasury, which I loved, andforeign exchange dealing and
then after some years it becamenecessary to set up a private
banking department and I wasgiven that opportunity with my
(11:27):
team to set that up and that wasone of the most amazing
opportunities I ever had becausewe set up a really superb
private bank and I enjoyed thatimmensely.
And that was where I got bittenby the financial literacy bug,
because I saw what can happen topeople who don't have financial
(11:48):
knowledge.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
At what point did you start considering
entrepreneurship full-time?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Full-time after I left my first job and I moved on
.
That was at Stanbeck IBTC.
But I moved on to Barclays Bankas regional director for wealth
and investment management whenI saw what could happen to
families when they did noteducate their children about
money.
And these were wealthy clientsin the private bank and you know
(12:14):
, know, historically you've seen, one generation makes the money
, one generation spends it andthe other has nothing left.
So we wanted to make sure thatour clients children were
educated about money.
So we used to have next genseminars, bring in our clients
children and teach them aboutmoney.
(12:35):
And when the bank was mergedwith Standard Bank of South
Africa, I know that South Africahas gone a lot further in terms
of the financial literacy play.
So I contacted them and said doyou have any tools that would
help us teach these children?
Because we were doing seminarsand so on.
(12:56):
But gaming is such a fantastictool for learning.
And they sent a game, a boardgame called Winning Teams and it
was a great game.
But it was all in Rand and thatwas the first time when I
thought, oh, I need to have myown board game in.
Nigeria a financial money gamehere, and that was the first
(13:22):
time I thought about it, but Iwas still so busy with my job I
didn't take it much further.
And then I moved to Barclays,wealth.
And incredible, just being inthe right place at the right
time, and how opportunityfavours you when you are just in
that space.
I was at my son's school in theUK and they launched the
(13:44):
Monopoly board game.
I was astonished because I'dnever.
I grew up on the Mayfair ParkLane, old Kent Road.
In fact, recently in London Isaw a bus going to Old Kent Road
.
I almost chased after itbecause I've never known where
that place is Anyway.
So that was so I just saw thisschool board game, monopoly.
(14:04):
So I went to the school officeand asked where was this from?
And they led me to a companywho has the franchise from
Hasbro.
Hasbro owns Monopoly and theyhad handed the franchise to
another company for Europe,middle East and Africa.
So I went to them and said I'mthe best person in the world to
do a Lagos edition.
(14:25):
So it took about two years.
I wasn't ready to leave bankingbecause I felt I just I still
was exploring this, but I, so Igot a consulting firm to do a
business plan.
We worked together and twoyears later I got the
distribution rights to docustomized editions of the
(14:45):
Monopoly board game for Africa.
So Lagos was the first evercity edition, right, yes?
And then I thought, oh, thisseems like something I would
like to do permanently.
So that's when, after two and ahalf years, I left Barclays to
Bessman Games full time.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Wow, and what was that transition like?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Total out of my comfort zone.
But then when you're passionateabout something, this was like
so exciting the thought of beingable to have Nigerian children
playing our own Monopoly gamewith Agege and Ikeja and Third
Mainland Bridge and the taxoffice it was just amazing.
(15:27):
So, even though I was nervous,it was a no-brainer for me.
It was just a no-brainer, andthat's what happens when you're
an entrepreneur and you'repassionate about something.
We did a formidable businessplan so we had thought of a lot.
Of course, now, in hindsight, alot of things in that plan
didn't work, but at the time Ihad some savings.
(15:48):
So another great thing is ifyou've been working for a long
time and you've been verytentative Sorry, another lesson
my father was very tentativeabout financial literacy as
children, so he would borrowmoney from us and pay us back
with interest.
I was saving as a child andlearnt about money just from
(16:09):
that experience and so I'dalways been saving.
And then working for a banklike mine and being taught about
money and teaching clientsabout money, you begin to pick
up quite a bit about investingin the stock market and property
and investments and so on.
So I was able to have put someskin in the game myself, which
is very useful for entrepreneurs.
(16:30):
If you have a bit of your ownmoney to put in, that makes it
easier for others to support you.
Unfortunately, I'm a bit riskaverse when it comes to debt, so
I would probably have done alot better if I had just closed
my eyes and borrowed and justgone in full scale, but I'm
still not able to do that.
So it was very tentative growthyeah.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
So what kind of challenges did you face in those
initial startup days?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I think one of the main things would have been
funding not being able to dosome of the things that would
have been clearly important todo at that time, for example,
hiring.
I had some extremely goodpeople, but maybe I should also
have had some much more seniorstaff who could assist me, so it
didn't all end with me, sort ofthing.
(17:17):
I really wish I had a partnerwho had a stake in the business
as well, so I wasn't taking allthe risk myself.
I think that would have beenvery important.
I wish I'd been much morecircumspect about some of the
support that we had in terms oftax consulting or accounting,
(17:39):
that sort of thing.
That would have been veryhelpful as well.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
You're saying that if you could do things differently
, if you could do it all overagain, you will still be
tentative with regards toraising money.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I could have done much, much bigger things at the
time if I had just gone all out.
Some people are very daring.
They just go out there and setup this incredible thing with
office space and people and soon.
I was much more tentative and Iprobably would still do the
same thing.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
So what then inspired you to start Money Matters with
Nimi?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
The same thing.
My journey has all been relatedto that whole piece.
Just seeing families like.
I remember I had a client oncewho had done very well but he
was just completely averse toinsurance.
He just wouldn't, no matter howmuch we advised him.
He just didn't believe in it.
Then he got a nasty illnesswhich literally decimated the
(18:37):
family's finances and it was,you know.
It ran into millions because itwas a very serious cancer.
He died eventually and justseeing the portfolio decimated
because of that was very sad.
I also saw people withcomplicated family situations
who did not plan and so in theevent of their demise you have
(19:01):
the most horrific family feudand decades.
A lifetime of excellent savingand investing is just broken up
into pieces and children arefighting.
So that made me start to have acolumn.
I think my first column was withGenevieve magazine and then
(19:23):
with Next newspapers and thenfrom then to the Guardian and
this Day and Forbes and so on,where you're just putting out
nuggets out there so that thepublic have a chance to learn.
Unfortunately, most times youfind that money matters is
filled with a lot of jargon, alot of things.
People are not able tounderstand the terms and so on.
(19:44):
They tend to find it as an areawhere you just flip over
because it's boring or it'scomplex and many people just
can't understand what people aresaying.
So I was able to break it downinto simple, relatable nuggets
that people can embrace in theirpersonal lives, and that's
where the column started from.
And for.
(20:05):
The A to Z of personal financeis literally a collection of
some of my favorite articlesfrom my column over 20 years,
but again in bite-sized pieces.
So it's A for asset, b forbudget, c for credit, d for debt
.
So you can just pick thechapter you want and read what
(20:26):
you're looking for.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Fantastic.
Is the book still incirculation?
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yes, in fact I have to now just update it and do a
second edition because it's hadits fifth set of publication and
publications and printing sorryand a book club just called me
last week that they want to readit and I just don't have enough
copies now.
So I really do need to updateit, and that's some of the stuff
that's keeping me so busy justgetting things on track.
(20:53):
But, it's a timeless book, soyou can pick it up at any age
yeah and just pick the chapterthat are for real estate and
that sort of thing yeah, didthat become a revenue generating
business?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
the money matters with nimi money matters.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Nimi was I was never paid for any of the columns I
wrote, but of course the bookhas done well, so I get income
from the book.
When you're doing something thatyou would do for free, it has
some way of compensating you.
You do what you love and you'readding value.
It'll pay its way.
So a lot of the speakingengagements that I've been
(21:29):
invited for tend to be relatedto financial literacy and
empowering women regarding theirpersonal finances or couples,
and so on.
In a way, it pays for itself,but I do it for free as well.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
You've had a long career in the corporate world
and in entrepreneurship and Ijust wonder, in terms of all
these nuggets you're really bigwith these nuggets For women,
people who are contemplatingmoving into entrepreneurship or
struggling because it's been ahard time post-COVID, for people
generally and for entrepreneurs?
Any nuggets that you can giveto people in that space?
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I now know that entrepreneurship is not for
everyone.
There's this narrative outthere especially when you've
been in a company for a longtime, you're almost made to feel
inadequate that you didn't stepout and set up your own
business.
So many people who are in paidemployment in a corporate
setting almost feel bad thattheir colleagues are jumping out
(22:28):
and setting up their ownbusiness.
Don't do that.
You really have to have areason.
You really have to have afantastic idea, a fantastic
solution for the world beforeyou step out and don't do it
before you're ready, because youhave to look at your own
circumstances.
Sometimes you can't afford togive up that fantastic income.
(22:50):
Some people are in toppositions and they're earning a
lot.
There's the perks.
You need to cost that lifestylebecause you're going to lose a
lot of that when you become anentrepreneur.
I think that's very important,especially for people that have
been in senior management.
You get cars and tickets anddoors open because of that
(23:10):
business card, so you've got todevelop your personal brand
alongside your career.
Who are you without that fancytitle?
Because suddenly doors stopopening, because you're no
longer director or GM of thisfancy company, or MD or senior
manager, whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
So you recently completed a tour as Nigeria's
ambassador to Greece and Iwonder what it was like for you
moving from the corporate worldto the highest, and I enjoyed it
immensely.
I was also shell-shocked a bit,because there's a very big
difference between privatesector in terms of the leading
(24:01):
corporates and public service.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
So there were some areas which I struggled with,
but my banking career and beingan entrepreneur helped me to be
at my best in that role.
So of all the roles I had, Ifound I was most prepared for
the ambassadorship role, justfrom the life I'd led my family,
(24:26):
my parents being a banker, anentrepreneur and then being in
that sort of position but interms of public service.
That had areas that I found abit of a challenge working in.
But overall I thought it was afantastic experience and I would
certainly do something likethat again.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
I think it goes back to your daughter's quote about
connecting the dots, so thatkind of all comes full circle at
the end.
Yes, and.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I had incredible support from the Greek
government, greek businesscommunity, and so we were able
to achieve significantmilestones.
We were highly respected andtreated very well and so just
representing our country andshowing who we actually are,
showcasing the best of Nigeriawithout denying the negative
parts of it, but just showcasingwho we really are in all facets
(25:13):
For me, the most impressivepeople I've ever come across in
every sector have been Nigerian.
I agree and I'm very proud ofthat.
Our young people you found thesame thing.
Yes, in fact, one of the thingsI was doing was getting
scholarships for some youngNigerians in Greece and
different areas, and everysingle time they were the best,
(25:37):
they were extraordinary, theymade the companies want to do
more and for us to send moreNigerians, because they were
just excellent and they were notgoing away to stay, they were
coming back to Nigeria to putinto practice what they'd
learned, and so on.
So that was very exciting.
Representing Nigeria in thatcapacity, you can do so much.
So I loved that and it reallywas an honor.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
That's very inspiring .
So you had quite a lot ofpivots corporate to
entrepreneurship to publicservice.
I'm just wondering if you canjust reflect on how you've
handled all these transitions,if there are any lessons learned
from all these pivots Okay, Ithink one of the main things is
(26:19):
adapting.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It wasn't easy to adapt to the different phases.
When you're in the corporateenvironment, everything is done
for you.
You just have to focus on yourarea of expertise, but you don't
have to worry about HR and youdon't have to worry about
because you've got an excellentHR head who's going to hire and
fire and you do the appraisalsand you put that through, but
you're not the one who has tomake every single decision about
(26:44):
everything.
So an entrepreneur, especiallystarting as a small business,
starting from day one, you'relooking at every single thing,
from payroll to toilet paper tothe office being properly
cleaned and every single thing.
So I found that reallyoverwhelming because I just I
had worked in such leadinginstitutions that had deep
(27:05):
pockets and so everything wasprovided.
You just had to deliver on yourpromise.
So I found that difficult.
But I had incredible supportsystem.
I think every woman, everybodyneeds a support system From my
family, my husband, my children,siblings, mentors, critical
(27:26):
networks.
I consulted widely before Imoved into any role that was
critical for me, so sometimes Iwould drag my feet because I
just wasn't sure people'sopinions, special people's
opinions really mattered to methen for then building that team
, I think in every case, inevery case, it was important to
(27:48):
put training in place.
So don't neglect the fact thatsome people were not equipped at
the time, but you could seethat they had the right attitude
and they could learn, and soyou make sure they had the right
skills.
Developing myself was key inevery stage.
So reading widely and havingsome attending courses and
(28:11):
seminars really helped.
I'm someone that overprepares.
Maybe it's a lack of confidence, or it's a what's the syndrome
that many women have?
The imposter syndrome.
What's that Imposter syndrome?
So it makes you overprepare,prepare.
I'm a perfectionist, so I Iwould bend over backwards to try
(28:35):
to get it right.
I'll still get it wrong, but atleast I've had a good try and
learned along the way.
So the team mentorship um, thebackbone of everything is that
ethical standards and integrity,taking that through in
everything you do.
That is such a power becauseyou know right from wrong.
(28:57):
So that already makes it easyfor you to make some decisions.
So I found that very useful,especially in public service.
And then, of course, continuouslearning and growth, just
always learning, trying to learn, trying to grow.
At the foundation of all that,I put every single thing I'm
(29:17):
doing into prayer.
I have a very strong faith inGod, so I don't I just don't
just walk into things unless Ihave absolute clarity.
That's what I should be doingnext praying about it and
feeling completely comfortableabout it it was, it's also very
helpful and then praying throughit with through every single
(29:39):
challenge, some of the sleeplessnights in every role.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I found that it's a part of my life anyway thank you
so much for sharing, so justwondering what's next for you,
Ambassador Akinkubwe?
What's next?
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I'm so keen on not rushing and a lot of things are
coming my way and I'm being verytentative I just I'm just
enjoying this time of beingstill and reflecting and being
able to ensure that whatever Ido next is a total reflection of
what I should be doing, myvalues and everything that I
(30:13):
should be doing right now atthis stage.
So, in a short answer.
I have no definite plan rightnow, but I'm so excited at the
possibilities.
I look forward to supportingsome companies in areas where I
feel well equipped from myexperience and so on what I can
(30:34):
bring to the table.
So I look forward to that.
But right now I'm just enjoyingbeing so.
It's literally all about me andmy two grandsons two grandsons.
I recently got a secondgrandson, so I'm just enjoying
(30:55):
the time nurturing them andhelping my daughter and her
husband out, just being agrandmother.
I'm loving every minute of that.
The first grandson I was busybeing the ambassador, so I
wasn't hands-on.
This time I'm able to be morehands-on and it's all about me
being trying to be healthy,exercising and trying to eat
right, trying to lose weight inbetween the chocolate, brownies
(31:16):
and chicken wings.
Oh, I just started an AI coursetwo days ago.
I just feel it's something thatI need to get under my belt,
because you become a dinosaur ifyou don't quickly get involved
in what is going on in thisworld.
So I'm so excited about that.
The first session I thought Iwouldn't understand anything,
(31:36):
but it was absolutely brilliant.
So that's like a 10-week courseI've started just to be able to
understand this incredible toolthat's going to set to change
the whole world.
I cannot be left behind on that.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
That's great.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
As we wrap up, I like to ask myguests to do two things One is
a reflection and one is advice.
We've done a lot of reflectionduring this chat, but just a
little more focus.
Maybe.
Everyone talks about howchallenging it is doing business
on the continent, but peopleare building.
People are having enormousimpact and I wonder for you what
(32:12):
has been from the time youspent as an entrepreneur?
What has been the mostimpactful thing that you've done
in building your variousbusinesses in Africa?
Speaker 2 (32:24):
I think, financial literacy, because I think most
businesses will just not be ableto survive without the owners
having some knowledge of theirpersonal finances.
So I've loved doing that andseeing that impact.
Wherever I go, people tell meoh my goodness, what you did in
terms of teaching me about moneyhas helped me Most people just
being able to educate peopleregarding their personal
(32:44):
finances, which is a major thingfor businesses, for families,
for individuals so I've loveddoing that.
I think building a strongsupport it's very.
I do think it is a challengedoing business in Nigeria, but
if you believe in yourself, youknow what you're doing.
You've done your homework.
Don't cut corners.
So I started on day one how Iplan to continue.
(33:08):
So everything was in place.
So I had an accountant, I hadHR, I had those were important
pieces to make sure you'restarting properly proper company
bank accounts, you had your taxnumber and were doing things
properly.
So these things don't come backto haunt you down the line come
back to haunt you down the line.
I think that's important, on asmall scale, of course, but if
(33:30):
you put structures in placeproperly, then, above all, it
was the corporate governance.
You do need to have that boardof directors, that, or board of
advisors that will support you,because you can't you don't have
all the ideas, but that wasvery useful, just having the
right people to support and togive advice and make sure you
take those meetings extremelyseriously and take the advice on
(33:52):
board.
Yeah, I think those are the keythings Believing in yourself,
first of all, because if youdon't have that passion and
self-belief, the slightestchallenge because they come
ferociously all the time, it'slike nonstop you would just
you'd walk away.
You'd walk away.
Believe in what you're doingand the solutions you're
(34:15):
providing and the impact it'shaving.
I feel I love what I do, sothat's helped a lot.
So, in spite of the challenges,I felt it's something that I
want to do.
So everything I've been doinghas been related to financial
literacy, the gaming company,apart from the proprietary game
we built, which is a Bible game.
(34:35):
That was a wonderful game tohave out there.
And then, of course, my lastrole was presenting Nigeria in
the way I feel she ought to bepresented to the world.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Thank you so much.
Thank you for your service.
I should say first of all,thank you so much for your
service and thank you for yourtime with us today.
Really appreciate it,ambassador.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And thank you for having me, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you're not alreadysubscribed, please do so on
Apple, spotify or wherever youget your podcast, and don't
forget to leave us a review sowe know how we're doing.
I'm Akego Okoye and you havebeen listening to African
Business Stories.
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