The Next Episode
At this moment I am jamming hard to my favourite tunes because despite traveling over 24 hours so far. Within me is a deep sense of unexplainable joy. I feel as though I am truly aligned with my Being as a deep sense of satisfaction calms my soul. You might be thinking, really Dolapo, why you so cheesy?
So let me lay down all the layers of the cheese from the last week. Although I had mentioned that I was traveling for an economic summit and business meetings, I made the details of my location discrete for safety reasons. But the secret's out now. I revisited Nigeria, my motherland, after 10 years! I made sure to take videos my whole time there and I will be releasing it in a couple weeks.
In the words of Dr. Olayele, there are two types of African Diasporia. Firstly, there are those that only see the negative parts of the continent and on the other hand, there are those, despite the challenges, that are willing to take the risk to contribute in anyway to improve the social and economic conditions. This week, I was so humbled to meet a number of domestic and foreign stakeholders that are working towards socially improving Nigeria and diversifying its economy.
Most importantly was, I was blown away by the incredible number of opportunities that existed across multiple sectors and the social impact that could be actualized. The market alone is a population of 180 million people and on the trajectory to be one of the five most populous in about 25 years. There are definitely a number of challenges, however, it is not impossible to do business in the country. I had discussions with stakeholders such as: The Canadian Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, The Chief Economist of PwC Nigeria, and CEO of Economic Associates, The Director of Cobalt Partners to gain insight on the market.
In addition, there were also a number of locals that started a wide range of ventures with the aim of high social impact for their communities. Despite a number of challenges such as access to capital, there was a great zeal and restless effort to continue the work they do for their communities. I would like to take this time to encourage the Africans in The Diaspora to positively impact the continent in a whichever way they seem fit. The countries that are currently economically strong with adequate living standards were built by PEOPLE over several years. African countries are not an exception with continuous efforts and although we might not see immediate change in our lifetimes, we could build intelligent and sustainable communities for future generations.
In the next few weeks, I will be reporting to the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and other partners with a list of opportunities that exist in the region, credible regional partners, as well as the nature of doing business in Nigeria. My goal is to work with stakeholders in Saskatchewan to make the business community aware of investment opportunities in Nigeria.
Somewhere along the line I will catch up with school as well (don't worry mom and dad). To all my young professionals: your dream are valid, enjoy the crazy journey, you're not alone and you're fully capable.