I want to be excited about this post but don't know how.
I used to be in love with GTBank and backed it up with a love letter but I kinda feel like there's nothing new in this origin story - you know, friends, schoolmates etc cofound businesses all the time. What I'm miffed about is the institutional barriers young people face in this country. These barriers ensure that mobility remains stagnant or at the mercy of your parents and their connections. Networks are good, but Mark didn't need his parents, Jobs didn't, Elizabeth Holmes certainly didn't.
I find it tiring that young people in Nigeria can't do anything ‘noteworthy’ outside their parents’ narrow network. Talents don't matter. Your talent is what your parents can afford you because opportunities are few and far in between. The creative industry clearly shows what could happen if talent is free to pursue opportunity without institutional barriers. Parental guidance is important but if you need your parents to nanny you for things you should be able to do on your own tells me you're not ready as a country and it's nothing worth celebrating.
Oct 15, 2023·edited Oct 15, 2023Liked by Feyi Fawehinmi
Though other commenters seem to see no big deal in this, I do.
Let us assume anyone connected could have started a bank in 1990 (they did). This is 33 years later, GTBank are not only existing, but thriving (albeit with wretched services).
How have they been able to do it? There is a big story to be told.
PS: Agbaje is also a Greg's Boy. So is Shola of Paystack.
I think it does happen that friends start something that eventually goes big in Nigeria. My concern is that is too far apart. We need to see more of businesses started up by people with no generational wealth or family name. Bottom line is still corruption takes all and leaves nothing to individuals who are willing and able to venture out. Until corruption is tackled to its root in Nigeria,where you can apply for a licenece to start a business and not pay an eye and a limb,when you dont have to pay monies for a business you are losing money on and where there are communal facilities you can make use of while trying to stand on your feet. Opportunities will always be wanting for people to start something big.
Exactly that. There are too few stories like this. That's the really big problem and it does not help that we tend to close down opportunities faster than we create them
I want to be excited about this post but don't know how.
I used to be in love with GTBank and backed it up with a love letter but I kinda feel like there's nothing new in this origin story - you know, friends, schoolmates etc cofound businesses all the time. What I'm miffed about is the institutional barriers young people face in this country. These barriers ensure that mobility remains stagnant or at the mercy of your parents and their connections. Networks are good, but Mark didn't need his parents, Jobs didn't, Elizabeth Holmes certainly didn't.
I find it tiring that young people in Nigeria can't do anything ‘noteworthy’ outside their parents’ narrow network. Talents don't matter. Your talent is what your parents can afford you because opportunities are few and far in between. The creative industry clearly shows what could happen if talent is free to pursue opportunity without institutional barriers. Parental guidance is important but if you need your parents to nanny you for things you should be able to do on your own tells me you're not ready as a country and it's nothing worth celebrating.
Though other commenters seem to see no big deal in this, I do.
Let us assume anyone connected could have started a bank in 1990 (they did). This is 33 years later, GTBank are not only existing, but thriving (albeit with wretched services).
How have they been able to do it? There is a big story to be told.
PS: Agbaje is also a Greg's Boy. So is Shola of Paystack.
The rest of the paper tries to get into that from the point of how they set up the bank for the long term. It’s not the whole story though
I think it does happen that friends start something that eventually goes big in Nigeria. My concern is that is too far apart. We need to see more of businesses started up by people with no generational wealth or family name. Bottom line is still corruption takes all and leaves nothing to individuals who are willing and able to venture out. Until corruption is tackled to its root in Nigeria,where you can apply for a licenece to start a business and not pay an eye and a limb,when you dont have to pay monies for a business you are losing money on and where there are communal facilities you can make use of while trying to stand on your feet. Opportunities will always be wanting for people to start something big.
Exactly that. There are too few stories like this. That's the really big problem and it does not help that we tend to close down opportunities faster than we create them