I do not know what they do in Amsterdam except that they have a good airport. But last I checked, I am not aware of anything pioneering Amsterdam has given the world in the last 50 years except helping companies to hide taxes! So, when that region said it would not accept “African bachelor’s degree” for its yeye master’s degree, I laughed. Let me tell Amsterdam Business School, the world has moved on. 

The School of Business in Amsterdam University, Netherlands, has come under criticism for “devaluing” bachelor degrees from Africa, apart from South Africa and Ghana.

The school recently said a Bachelor’s degree from an African country “is not enough to secure admissions for its Master’s degree programme”.

For eligibility, applicants with an African bachelor’s degree (except for South-Africa and Ghana) will need a bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in the field of economics and business, an information on its web page read.

“Information for students with an African bachelor’s degree. An African bachelor’s degree is generally the equivalent of 2 years of academic education in the Netherlands.”

One of my four PhD thesis co-advisors in Johns Hopkins University, Prof Jim West (happy 90th birthday Prof), did not finish any college. Yes, he has no degree but without him, there may not be a smartphone because he invented the core element used in the microphone of modern smartphones. There are many like him in top US universities; they have no degrees but they graduate PhDs!

ABS – the world has moved beyond papers; find a better way to evaluate students. Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, etc admit dozens of Nigerian students yearly, and to think those students are not qualified to attend your school simply means you have lost your mission.

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

“I would be hesitant to comment on the individual strategy of a particular university. “ – unfortunately, it has no strategy. It wants to admit a continent instead of a student. This age is about evaluating people, and not a continent. ABS is not evaluating the students but the continent from a myopic angle. To tell a University of Ibadan First Class grad who typically will have Oxford scholarship that he cannot apply to ABS is pure lack of awareness for ABS. There are international tests, use them and select the best.

Updated: the school has updated the website

We serve as mechanics of business systems (yes, we work on businesses), helping people and organizations make sense of business. We have more than 140 eminent faculty members from some of the finest local and global institutions. We transform the minds of men and women, and accelerate business leadership ascent. We do this by co-learning and co-sharing with our members.

I invite you to register for the next edition of Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA which begins on June 7 to end Sept 1. It is online, self-paced, and costs $140 (or N50,000 naira). Thrice weekly (Tue, Thur and Sat), we will be together on Zoom co-learning; all sessions recorded.

Grow with Tekedia Mini-MBA; see full curriculum here and register

It is now the Business Execution Phase at Tekedia Mini-MBA as we move closer to the end of this edition. Yes, we want to master how to sell things. We want to become growth makers and rainmakers! And for the Tekedia Live, we are bringing the Dean of Sales.

He knows sales in Africa. He knows the mechanics and pillars of sales excellence. He has written about them and taught them in leading companies in Africa, and beyond. Banks know him, MNCs always have him, and startups follow his philosophy: build quality contacts, connect, and sell at scale. He wrote the book –  The Critical Pillars of Sales Excellence: How to Prospect, Sell and Win Customers.

Ferdinand Ibezim, a Tekedia Institute Faculty, will anchor Tekedia Live on Thursday.

• Thur, April 29 | 7pm – 8pm WAT  | The Art of Sales Excellence – Ferdinand Ibezim, CEO, Selling Skills Support Services  | Zoom Link

Innovators and growth champions, you need to attend to master the physics of sales; you would be sold to start selling! When salesmen deliver sales classes, markets move.

Registration for the next edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA which begins June 7 continues here.

Mr. President, this is your moment for leadership. Step forward and save your nation from ruins. From the east to the west, north to south, and beyond, fractures are emerging. Kaduna is more than a city – it is the political capital of our nation’s northern part. If you allow Kaduna to fade, an irreversible chain reaction will follow.

I have a recommendation for you – call an Option A4 Sovereign National Conference where from ward to local government to state to geopolitical zone, Nigerians will come together to talk. Wards send leaders to LGAs, and LGAs send to states, etc until we get to the national level.

When everyone is a victim, solutions could come by getting them together to talk. Get the country together – and I suggest you hold a press conference and speak by yourself.

Talk to Owerri, talk to Ekiti, talk to Kaduna, talk to Jos…now is the moment for the chronicles of history! I will always wish you good luck for the good of the nation. This is the 1am call which only presidents answer. Nigeria has called – please answer.

#GodBlessThePresident. #GodBlessNigeria

The social audio app Clubhouse is rumored to have raised a Series C funding round, valuing the company at about $4 billion. The startup which began life in 2020 is rocking the social media world, and now boasts of 10 million weekly active users. Yet, as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and others circle the voice social media ecosystem with clones, the question becomes: does Clubhouse have a future? Unlike Tiktok which created a huge niche within an existing order, souped and moated by the world’s best short video discovery algorithm, the moat in Clubhouse may not be very evident.

Audio-chat app Clubhouse closed a new Series C round of financing, the company said during its weekly town hall on Sunday, without disclosing the amount raised.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that the new financing would value the company at $4 billion.

The social media app said the new round of financing was led by Andrew Chen of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz with major investors like DST Global, Tiger Global and Elad Gil.

The biggest innovation in Clubhouse is that it has the first mover advantage. Yes, it began first on the audio social platform category. But I am not sure it has any top industry-shaping algorithm which new players with more auxiliary data cannot eclipse. 

So, at the end, Clubhouse may end up selling. If LinkedIn needed Microsoft to exist, you see the high order required to thrive in this age. LinkedIn does not need to be as good as Clubhouse on what Clubhouse offers. Most will just manage with it provided it keeps most things together in one place, saving us from having many apps installed! If that is the case, Clubhouse hits a growth ceiling quicker, and selling becomes inevitable. 

Yet, that sale may not happen as those who can afford to buy this company may be worried about how the US Congress will react after the challenging experiences with Facebook. Many today believe that Facebook acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram ought to have been blocked. So, under that climate, Clubhouse will have to go all the way, alone.

And with the high voltage searchlights the new Congress and US Presidency have on social media companies, potential buyers of Clubhouse may not be bold to close any deal. So, unless General Motors and Boeing (you get the idea) have interests, this firm may have to go it alone since the typicals (FB, Google, etc) will not like to annoy Congress with acquisition of a fledgling competitor.

This company has battles to fight: the clones are gathering daily. It must win those battles.