I belong to an online discussion group where we talk about Investment opportunities in the capital market among others. One of the common questions that comes up almost at a predictable interval is usually “how can I invest in US stocks from Nigeria?” It’s a big challenge.

After my experience with the NSE (article here), I have inadvertently also developed an appetite for US securities as I believe the market is more efficient and if I do my homework, I can be abundantly rewarded. Hence, I wasn’t left out of the frequent question and continual search for how to invest in US security from Nigeria. Quicker than I had expected, the predictable interval question surfaced again and someone asked the same question except that this time, a member of the group now has a definite and precise answer to give, “check out Trove.”

Little did I nor anyone know that one Oluwatomi Solanke (CEO Trove Technologies) and his friends and many others who are now using Trove have been facing similar issues. Appetite for foreign stock on a micro level with no cure for the cravings.

“Check out Trove” was the answer given by my group member and I chose to take a deep dive at understanding the architecture that enables Trove, the risk involved and opportunity that abound.

Architecture

Trove is the solution to the age-long problem of the typical retail investor. Trove allows you to start your investment journey with as low as N1,000 or $4, which is a low amount if you understand the workings of stockbroking.

Trove completes your KYC check within 48 working hours, after which you can make deposits in your Trove wallet that can then be used for investment in Stocks, ETFs, Bonds and more traded securities.

In Nigeria, Trove partners with Sigma Securities for its stockbroking activities and ARM as the investment manager for managed portfolios.

In the US, Tove is in partnership with DriveWealth, a technology firm providing the trading architecture for second parties who are interested in trading in the US Securities market from anywhere in the world.

DriveWelath CEO Robert Cortright said:

“Making U.S. securities available to investors of any size in countries all around the globe is an essential element of the mission of DriveWealth. We are delighted to work with Sigma Securities and Trove Technologies on this effort to democratize investing in Nigeria by bringing to its retail investors the largest and most liquid, transparent financial market.”

Risk Involved

For the question of “how safe is my money,” Trove has this to say:

We pride ourselves in the quality of strategic partners we work with. Nigerian assets bought on the Trove app are held by Sigma Securities Limited, a company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a dealing member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

US assets are held by Drivewealth, LLC a regulated member of FINRA/SIPC. Drivewealth is a member of SIPC, which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). We also work with Microfinance banks who are regulated by CBN.

Lastly, we use state-of-the-art data encryption when handling your financial information.

All in all, you are rest assured that your money and assets are super safe.

From Trove you can be sure your money is safe. But that’s not the only risk involved. The normal risk that accompanies any investment still lies on you to manage. You will need to perform your analysis and choose which security to buy/sell per time. Trove will not do that for you, at best, Trove is only providing you with a platform to buy securities of your interest.

Remember currency risk as well. While doing your analysis, remember to make room for this. USD/NGN has become a variable for consideration while analysing.

Opportunity that abound

Equity has historically been a way to grow wealth and it will continue to be. The opening up of securities in the US to retail investors in Nigeria presents a new way to grow wealth for the enterprising retail investor.

If you do your homework well, it might open you up to wealth and if not, you know what it means.

Visit Trove website today to know more.

Programming has become ubiquitous and the skill will become a basic need soon. My 11-year-old started our conversation by complaining about how he often forgets Mathematics steps while writing exams and hence end up only getting an average mark in exams. I started by revealing to him the truth about Mathematics that hides in plain sight. Boy, mastering Mathematics has only one secret, practice it and practice it more. I went further to tell him that he might need to solve 1 question up to 10 times to master the process if need be. He nodded and responded, Alright.

As the conversation between us went on, he reminded me of his interest in science and how he’s been doing well in his science subjects. I encouraged him to keep it up. Then I told him of the immense potential that lies behind programming. I told him the VLC (Video playing application on Windows) that he watches his movies with is as a result of programming by someone. His interest sparked immediately. Then I opened a beginners Python training on my laptop for him to follow one step at a time. Before now as well, I have introduced him to the concept of AI, so I told him Python is also used in developing AI. 

He started the video and using Python Shell, he wrote codes… I could see the excitement on his face. For the next 5 hours or thereabout, he was fixed on completing the course. One of the learning points in the training was how to create a .exe file (executable file) that will tell you whether an alphabet entered is Vowel or Consonant (Image above). He created it after running into lots of error and debugging. He has opened the application several times, I can’t tell, he has shown the app to his sister and everyone who cares to see. He will tell them, “enter an alphabet and the app will tell whether it’s Vowel or Consonant.” 

My Take on Educating Children for the Future of Work

We all talk about the future of work and the need to upskill both the workforce of today and that of tomorrow. How we do it and with what intent we do is as important as doing it. Below are the questions my brother asked me that I believe we need to factor in while designing Children’s learning curriculum, especially programming curriculum.

1. How can I create a game app?

While the question may be seen as one that deserves a response like… “You like games too much, focus on what you are learning first.” We need to understand the innate creative desire in these kids. Yes, what he wants is to create a game app, but have you thought about how this desire will be achieved? Have you considered the process he will have to go through to achieve it? Have you considered the lessons he will learn on the way of fulfilling this? When you think about it enough, you will realize that in the end, if he created an app your goal to train him on programming would be achieved and his desire to create an app would not have suffered for it either.

2. Have you created something with Python?

This is another interesting question that struck me. You will see in him the habit of effective learners – keeping the end in mind – average kids have this in them. He wanted to see something that someone else has done with Python, so he will be able to put an image to what he’s working towards. Kids are easy to motivate because to them everything they can imagine is possible. If you can create a thing from their imagination and give them the task of working towards creating something similar, giving them a step-by-step guide, I know they will learn better and remain open-minded.

3. I tried the same thing as that of the tutorial and mine is not working, please help!

From the request, it’s obvious he ran into error already from day 1. This is not unusual in the life of a programmer. I started by telling him even the best of the best still run into an error while performing tasks like this, his nerves cooled down. I investigated the error and we fixed it together. Children seek help when environments are designed to be such that does not criticize but accommodates failure. When designing our curriculum to help them, let’s make sure we have this kind of environment. Most importantly, let there be ready help for them during this period. 

During one of his sessions, I fell asleep, when I woke up I noticed he’s asleep as well. I picked the laptop to see how far he’s gone, guess what I saw on the laptop screen – you guessed right, ERRORS. Because there was no one to help out on this, he had to relax on it as well. Let’s make help available to them when they do complex things like programming.

Children are open to learning anything they consider interesting I know. The beauty of ‘something interesting’ is that, if we can paint it well enough for them, they tend to see something interesting about lots of things. It’s how you paint it and the support system you provide them that matters. I hope that he will take up my Mathematics challenge of solving 1 question 10 times if need be and that he will launch his first game app by his next holiday, seeing that is the first thing that seems to interest him about programming.

Go and educate your kids, brother, and sister as well.

Just last night, I made the same mistake I have been teaching people to avoid because I was in a hurry to make money.

I needed to raise some amount of money to get an accommodation for my startup as well as some other things, so I decided to hold a masterclass to raise money. Then all of a sudden, I expected everyone to subscribe to the fee without offering any value in the first place.

I only realized that only those who knew me were ready to make the payment to be part of the class. Others who did not know me didn’t see a reason to make any payment because they have never received any value from me. So, it was hard convincing them to join the masterclass. Now, I have decided to give some value before charging any fees.

Here’s the point, there are people who are in a hurry to get clients and customers. I mean in a big hurry to get good deals and make money. Yet, there’s one big way to ruin your business or your company, and that is by totally skipping the value part.

In a business model, the value proposition is just so important that there’s no way you can generate revenue without having a value proposition. The value proposition is the bridge that helps consumers, clients to cross over to your product or business and make payment.

When trying to found a company or start an idea, it is wiser to focus on the value the idea will bring to your target audience more than how urgent you want to make a profit.

I made this same mistake early last year. I had an awesome idea and I was in a hurry to convert the idea to money but I had nothing in my value proposition, I just had a few tricks on how to force the money out of my customers pocket. I was going to fail on day 2 if I used that model.

Is it possible to make money without offering any value? Yes! Very possible. I mean it’s possible. However, that’s how you can set up our company to fail on day 2. Value is just like a bridge in which your customers cross; it is what they see. It is the channel they pass to cross over to you, it is what convinces them.

Once you don’t have any bridge, there’s practically no way more potential customers will be able to come over even if the early adopters can jump over the bridge. The early adopters can afford to jump over; they don’t mind. But others will find it so stressful and would rather go for a safer and more convenient option.

The number of bridges you build will determine the number of people that can pass through. The wider the bridge, the more the people that can pass through, the more the bridges the more the number of people as well.

The more attractive the bridge is, the more the people that will come around; and the durable the bridge is, the easier it is for any potential customer to trust you, and also eventually return to pay for your product or service a second time.

Don’t be in a haste to draw up revenue without first working on the value offer. The more the value channels, the lesser the risk of your business or company folding up.

Pay more attention to your value proposition and come up with ways that you can generate profit from them, but never make the mistake of making profit without value; you’d fail.

How Do You Come Up With A Good Value Proposition

1. Make researches on the problems your target customers are facing and how your product or service can meet them: In this scenario, the more you pay attention to how you can solve their problems, you begin to get more options on different ways to generate profit. However, if you focus on getting profit alone, you might as well not be able to come up with different ways to make profit.
2. Make a table of preference to show which ranks most in solving their immediate needs which they will pay for. That should be your priority.
3. Make proper research on the channels available to reach your target customers; if those channels are not available or do not exist, create one. However, if those channels are saturated or not penetrable, then you need to rank it lower than the channels through which will reach your target customers.
4. Know which value brings more paying customers; rank it top. Will 100 people purchase your sunglasses to protect themselves from the sun or 500 get it for fashion?

The value proposition to customers varies. It could be to offer a semi-free product for them to test. You are totally to figure it out yourself.