Women From Nigeria

"“Opportunities are like sunrises – if you wait too long, you miss them.”"

"“There isn’t a person anywhere that isn’t capable of doing more than they think they can.”"

"“I pray you to reach a certain level of happiness! The one in which you need no validation. Just casually living your life, knowing tomorrow isn’t promised. ”"

"“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.”"

"“All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.”"

"“You can accomplish virtually anything if you want it badly enough and if you are willing to work long enough and hard enough.”"

"That brings me to your direct question about the perception of the Americans in business. You have to deal with people telling you what they think is good for you because you’re not able to speak for yourself."

"“If you know who you are, you won’t let what anyone says to you affect you.”"

"“If you strive hard, you can be just what you want.”"

"“Things will come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustle.”"

"“For the vision is meant for its appointed time; it speaks of the end, and it does not lie. It may take a while, but wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. ”"

"“Plant those seeds of productivity now and, one day, you’ll thank yourself that you did.”."

"“So never beat yourself up for failing to act or getting delayed on something. Just pick yourself back up and continue to push through. “."

". “Embrace your struggles! We’re all just working to be better. It’s okay to have struggles, it’s a part of life, it will all get better…”"

"“Get your bags ladies and gentlemen! Don’t let procrastination stop you.”"

"She has also once confirm to go into acting and surely she will be a perfect match for Nollywood movies."

"You just need to work for your own, and you have the talent and sky is just the beginning."

"“Hard work is very important, and it will never go in vain. Just be yourself, and the world will listen to you.”"

"Go for it and if it doesn’t work, try something else instead of living in regret."

"Maradona was a hit song when I dropped the video I and my team members knew it was a hit song for me but didn't know it was a master jam."

"I'm glad I can be comfortable as an African and singing my YouTube language when I drop songs, I drop beat songs."

"During secondary school days, I started entertaining my friends during lunchtime...I had a sort of request songs and I would sing."

"“It was one of those moments…I just thought I haven’t gotten to that place I want to get to, so I just thought, do something else,”"

"Marriage is not that important o, joy and happiness, health and well-being. When the time comes we will all dance to the altar but till den let’s thank God for life”"

"I can cry over food. My tolerance level is not the same as yours. So let people express themselves the way they want to."

"“A girl needs a father. A girl needs her father, this girl will always love her father. This girl will dearly miss her father. Rest well daddy, you will always be in our hearts!”"

"“I thought, perhaps, I should leave the industry while the applause is still loud. It was a scary time and I didn’t want to be known as a failed artiste. Fans simply didn’t know what I was doing and that is what we’re trying to repair.”"

"I explained to African Business why in the current crisis, originating transactions is more important than ever."

"At the Africa Investment Forum, we distil the talk into projects."

"So we’re involved throughout the value chain, all year round, providing the tools and instruments and know-how to make a deal bankable and helping it see the light of day. Of course, each deal is different and our role will change depending on the needs."

"With the AIF, which is a flagship initiative of the African Development Bank along with seven other founding partners, we are preparing projects for bankability and helping projects progress through the different steps, the next one being raising capital and once that is done also working to unlock the bottlenecks that can cause some deals to not reach closure."

"So through the AIF platform we’re helping people join us as partners and shifting the discussion to one of investments. And I see that this approach does resonate in the American market and US investors."

"They say, this is what you need because you have not articulated your own needs in a manner that you can present it so that it will be addressed. The continent also has not understood its part in solving its own problems, nobody will do it for you. You’re going to have to rise and do it yourself."

"That’s what we’re doing now with the Africa Investment Forum. Again, building a platform that is multi-transactional, multi-disciplinary and very deal-oriented. We are trying to get away from the endless talk about what needs to be done in Africa to actually doing stuff and we’re doing it one transaction at a time. We distil the talk into projects. We are working with the creative industry, for example, and doing a lot of work and seeing how we can channel funds to where it is needed, not just where people think it is needed."

"And I suppose this is a continuation of a culture that goes back to my days at Pencon. There was a lot of talk on pension reform and many people were saying that it wasn’t possible. It took a few senior people and a very willing President Obasanjo to back us and we pushed through the pension reform and did it in such a way that it remains sustainable"

"We are constantly putting things on the table that weren’t there before and constantly refusing to take no for an answer when it comes to Africa."

"The Lagos to Abidjan corridor highway project has been well documented and it’s fully subscribed – the road, the rail connection. So, now we are working on the next step which is logistics, storage, warehousing along this corridor. That’s what the boardrooms will be focusing on during the AIF. Making transactions happen and getting real investor interest in critical projects that will help drive transformation and development."

"This is something we incredibly proud of and when we talk about women in business, we’re helping make it a reality. We’re helping create scale and impact. This year, mining especially what are termed green minerals. We have many technology projects and also projects around logistics."

"We are helping to channel monies to women-led and businesses with a gender lens. We have a dozen deals on our platform starting from $2m – a sheer butter business – to a multi-billion refinery business. Their stories are amazing when you look at the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, the challenges and sheer tenacity and not just the will but also the mental acumen to pursue the deals to where they are now."

"Before I talk about deals, I would like to talk about something that is paramount to me: women as investment champions. This is something I am most proud of, the launch of the Women as Investment Champions."

"We are helping structure this, and helping channel investments towards this. The same applies to the creatives, and making sure that we are monetising our creations."

"Around sports you have the merchandising, you have the whole ecosystem, the infrastructure and for those watching these sports, the hotels, the shops, the licensing. This is why people are paying billions for sports franchises."

"But we want to look at it more than just an athlete or a singer. We are looking to creating the framework so that we monetise the IP. Others are currently making money from our talent."

"Talent is not the issue on the continent. We have it in abundance. We are naturally blessed in sports and in the creatives."

"The same principles that we discussed earlier still need to be applied to these sectors. Thinking about scale, structuring projects properly, creating awareness around the impact and upside."

"First let me say that risks do exist. It would be naive and totally idealistic for anyone to say that political risk doesn’t exist. But it exists everywhere. The point is that it’s not going to go away. What we need are the tools to manage it so that it doesn’t become a problem. What we do on the AIF side is to ensure that we unlock these bottlenecks and sometimes it’s a political bottleneck, sometimes it’s a policy bottleneck. Sometimes it’s a data or business intelligence bottleneck because you can’t invest if you don’t understand your terrain, if you don’t have reliable numbers."

"They sit in the room with investors, they sit in the room with project sponsors and they hear first-hand how their intentions, their concerns, how policies affect the investments. And investors also get a better understanding of policy. It helps with decision making and we have seen leaders go back to work on policy to help drive greater investments and get deals over the line. That is the unique proposition of the AIF."

"One should understand that when the presidents come to the AIF they don’t come to AIF as the president of such and such a country, they come to AIF as CEOs of their countries."

"It is always incumbent on the project sponsors and the advisors to structure the deals in a manner that you accompany the interests of the country you operate in. That’s what differentiates success and frustration."

"We are uniquely placed to overcome all of these different items. We work with every government on the continent. So we can help smooth out issues around policy through discussions and sensitisation and through reforms. We also have proprietary data through the African Development Bank."