Question: “On the issue of testing capability, must an entrepreneur know the practical aspect of a trade? does it mean a vision can not be executed until the carrier knows the skills of execution?”
My Response: You do not need to know the practical aspect of a trade before you can build a business in it. What you need to do is to have capital, a factor of production, to acquire any capability you do not have. So, that capital can hire labour (here, someone who understands that trade).
Yet, as we have seen, since the time of Adam Smith economics, knowledge has become extremely important in business. While you may not have a practical knowhow on a trade, it is important you have knowledge about that trade if you want to thrive. The wisdom in a book – The Richest Man in Babylon – comes into play: use experts to run things but you must also have knowledge to know who is an expert!
Aliko Dangote may not understand a refinery technical systems but he has knowledge to hire people who do, using the capital under his disposal. In the Week 1 of our program, I have a detailed video, explaining these five steps.
Robert Kiyosaki made a clear distinction between entrepreneurs and professionals, and I think it makes sense; entrepreneurs are much concerned with breath, they know ‘little’ about many things. Professionals on the other hand, are more about depth, they know so much about little things.
As an entrepreneur, what you need most is the domain knowledge, understand the fundamentals of every piece that makes up the business system; domain technicalities; business analytics; sales and marketing; accounting and finance; human resources; and other necessary parts as regarding the sector of interest. Then hire the best of the best in each subset of the system, those who are better than you, to run the show.
Just know as much as needed to understand the fundamentals and be able to speak their language, and step out of their way, so they can take care of the rest.
That’s business leadership!
Comment #2: Good response. You can be a visionary, manager or expert, you just need to be great at one, not three of them. With that, you bring in the other capabilities, the final outcome is a well run conglomerate.
From all of us at Tekedia Institute, we want to welcome AtYourService Technologies for months-long co-learning on business innovation, operational execution and growth. AtYourService connects organizations to the best African talents who have the right skills they need to achieve their business goals.
It focuses on matching and managing professionals for these organizations, based on their unique needs, thus helping them succeed in the short and long runs. It does all via two broad services: People Recruitment (Full-time, Freelance & Secondment) and Project Management (Outsourcing). The firm is led by Uchenna Okezie
Great companies are sending their team members to Tekedia Mini-MBA, Tekedia Advanced Diploma and Tekedia Corporate programs. I want to welcome yours! BEGIN here.
Jerome Powell, the U.S Fed Reserve Chairman, spoke on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, among others. Here are excerpts. The full video below.
“Since we are the world’s reserve currency, we actually think we need to get this right, and we don’t feel an urge or need to be first,” he said. “We effectively already have a first-mover advantage, because we’re the reserve currency.”
“We’ve been very focused… on potential regulatory answers for global stablecoins, in particular,” said Powell in response to a question about CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies.
“So that’s been a high-level focus, and that will continue to be a high-level focus because they could become systemically important overnight and we don’t begin to have, you know, our arms around the potential risks and how to manage those risks, and the public will expect we do and has every right to expect that… It’s a very high priority.”
One of the best decisions I made while in Diamond Bank (since merged with Access Bank Plc) was asking the Head of IT to allow me to spend time in the bank’s Administration Unit. I had wanted to understand how companies are managed, administratively – tenders, invoices, payment, etc. Luckily, he approved it as I made it a win-win: if you allow me, I will return back to IT to help build software for Admin! A key component of that experience was Procurement Management. How do you execute an efficient procurement regime in your firm? Not an easy call.
Tekedia Institute is proud to announce that Harold Nwariaku FCIPS has joined our Faculty. He is developing a course on Procurement Management. He was formerly the Procurement Portfolio Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc; Senior Manager Procurement, MTN Nigeria; Senior Purchases Manager W/Africa, Procter & Gamble; and today the Lead Consultant at Harold & Co Consulting.
Mr. Nwariaku is a graduate of University of Nigeria Nsukka (BSc Accountancy) and Cranfield University (MSc Logistics & Supply Chain Management).
In markets, it is all about demand and supply, managed through allocation of factors of production. Procurement is a very critical part of that system. This course will help innovators, project champions, CEOs, members, etc run an efficient procurement process within their supply chain systems.
Let me congratulate the Big Boss for his successive wins over the last few months. Nations rise when pioneering entrepreneurs emerge. This week, Mr. Tony Elumelu, Transcorp Plc, and Heirs Holdings added new gbozas:
Acquires 45% of OML 17 from Shell, Total and ENI
Existing Production Capacity of 27,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day Estimated 2P Reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent
Estimated Additional 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent of further exploration potential
More than a decade ago, I put small money I got on a scholarship into the IPO of Transcorp Plc when then President Obasanjo seeded it. Hopefully, this new deal will become a major inflection point for the Nigeria’s largest publicly listed conglomerate.
Why not, if Transcorp becomes bigger than Tesla, I can then qualify for a chieftaincy title in the village! I like this title “Gburugburu 1 of Africa” [the roundness of Africa #1]. Sure, my Scripture Union secondary school leader may not like that – and that may kill the deal after Transcorp overtakes Tesla!
Congrats builders – that is how we will fix this continent when local firms begin to buy assets from Shell, ENI, and Total.
Mr. Tony Elumelu
Full Press Release below
Heirs Holdings (“HH”) (www.HeirsHoldings.com), the leading African strategic investor, in partnership with affiliated company Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (“Transcorp”) (https://TranscorpNigeria.com), Nigeria’s largest publicly listed conglomerate, announced today the unconditional acquisition of a 45% participating interest in Nigerian oil licence OML 17 and related assets, through TNOG Oil and Gas Limited (a related company of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp) (http://TNOG.HeirsHoldings.com), from the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited and ENI. In addition, TNOG Oil and Gas Limited will have sole operatorship of the asset.
The transaction is one of the largest oil and gas financings in Africa in more than a decade, with a financing component of US$1.1 billion, provided by a consortium of global and regional banks and investors. OML 17 has a current production capacity of 27,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and, according to our estimates, 2P reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with an additional 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources of further exploration potential.
The investment demonstrates a further important advance in the execution of Heirs Holdings’ integrated energy strategy and the Group’s commitment to Africa’s development, through long term investments that create economic prosperity and social wealth. Heirs Holdings’ heritage and approach to business fundamentally underscores its commitment to inclusive development and shared prosperity with its host communities. Heirs Holdings is fully invested in the development of the Niger Delta region.
Heirs Holdings’ strategy of creating the leading integrated energy business in Africa is executed through a series of strategic portfolio holdings. Transcorp is one of the largest power producers in Nigeria, with 2,000 MW of installed capacity, through ownership of Transcorp Power Plant (https://TranscorpPower.com) and the recent acquisition of Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited. Transcorp closed the US$300 million Afam acquisitions in November 2020. Transcorp supplies electricity to the Republic of Benin, as part of an emphasis on promoting regional integration and delivering robust power supply to catalyse development in Africa. Transcorp also operates OPL281, under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (“NNPC”). Similarly, Heirs Holdings’ subsidiary, Tenoil is the operator of OPL 2008, under a production sharing contract with NNPC. Tenoil also owns the Ata Marginal Field, which will commence production in Q2, 2021, with 3,500 barrels of oil per day.
Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu stated: “We have a very clear vision: creating Africa’s first integrated energy multinational, a global quality business, uniquely focused on Africa and Africa’s energy needs. The acquisition of such a high-quality asset, with significant potential for further growth, is a strong statement of our confidence in Nigeria, the Nigerian oil and gas sector and a tribute to the extremely high-quality management team that we have assembled. As a Nigerian, and more particularly an indigene of the Niger Delta region, I understand well our responsibilities that come with stewardship of the asset, our engagement with communities and the strategic importance of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. We see significant benefits from integrating our production, with our ability to power Nigeria, through Transcorp, and deliver value across the energy value chain.”
Speaking further, he said “I would like to thank Shell, Total and ENI, for the professionalism of the process, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and the NNPC for the confidence they have placed in us.”
Speaking on the investment, the President/GCEO of Transcorp, Owen Omogiafo, said “This deal further demonstrates Transcorp’s integrated energy strategy and our determination to power Africa.”
Heirs Holdings was advised by Standard Chartered Plc, as Global Coordinator, and United Capital Plc (https://www.UnitedCapitalplcGroup.com), with a syndicate of lending institutions including Afreximbank, ABSA, Africa Finance Corporation, Union Bank of Nigeria, Hybrid Capital, and global asset management firm Amundi. The deal also involves Schlumberger as a technical partner, as well as the trading arm of Shell as an offtaker.
Heirs Holdings has created one of Africa’s largest, indigenous owned, oil and gas businesses, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and led by a board and management team with significant regional and global experience in production, exploration, and value creation in the resources sector. The HH Group is committed to the highest standards of safety, health, and community relations, together with best practice in governance and accountability.
