Posts Tagged ‘Nigeria’

Can Your Family Business Outlive You?

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Pass The Baton

Pass The Baton

A business research expert told me that the average lifespan of a family-owned business is 24 years, and 60 percent of family-owned businesses do not have a clear succession plan. That got me thinking. As a Nigerian, I am well aware that several indigenous businesses in Nigeria are family business. Most of the successful Nigerian Entrepreneurs that are making waves in the economy built up their businesses as family-owned businesses. Just a minute, what really is a family business?

What is a family business?
For the purpose of this discussion, I will define a family business as a corporation that is majorly owned by the members of a single family. In other words, a family business is a business in which members of a family have significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being. They hold the controlling shares and dictate what happens. Naija brothers and sisters will quickly understand this. NaijaEcash & Sons Company sure sounds familiar (even though it has not been documented with Corporate Affairs Commission). (more…)

Forex Trading In Nigeria: Who Is Making The Money?

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Online Forex Trading In Nigeria

The rush to join the online millionaire club is as high as ever in Nigeria. No thanks to the present economic hardship being faced by the populace. Nigerians are tired of waiting endlessly for the promised Dividends of Democracy. Too many are complaining that the only evidence of democracy they have so far is their empty pockets. Therefore, any magic formula to solve the problem overnight is highly welcomed. So, Online Forex Trading in Nigeria to the rescue!

David Ajao did an unbiased post about Online Forex Trading about a year ago. The post Forex Trading In Nigeria: Your link to Fabulous Wealth? addressed some issues which any wise Nigerian investor will need to thoroughly consider before committing fund into Forex Trading. Unfortunately, not so many have learned anything from that post. A look at the recent comments on the post reveals that too many are still IGNORANT of the issues surrounding FOREX trading.

If I did not learn anything from my little romance with Online Forex Trading, at least I learned the following:

Success in Forex Trading is possible when you take time to learn the business (it does not come overnight, it is HARDWORK!). Forget about the Magic Automated Forex Trading Softwares, they will only make a fool of you. Hey, buddy, put on your thinking cap, if those software are real, why will anyone tell you about them?

Just as it is possible to make fabulous wealth from Forex Trading after getting the required skill (which does not come cheap) so you can also loose so much and become bankrupt in a matter of seconds (So, many half-baked forex traders have paid dearly for their ignorance). Have you bothered to ask,  Why all the hype about the fantastic amount you can make daily, and nobody is talking about the loss you can incur in seconds? You want real testimonies from people who have lost good money, I have some. Ok, enough of the ramblings, lets answer the question.

Who Is Making The Money Trading Forex in Nigeria?

First, the educated forex traders who have acquired the necessary knowledge on how the Online Forex Market works. Note, they are not many, and they do not boast about their success. One of such trader testified that he spent 3years learning the rudiments and playing with demo accounts before using real cash. Do you have such patience? Are you prepared to pay the sacrifice of learning the Trade? You must learn the trade before the tricks, else you will only get tricked by scammers.

The second set of earners are the scammers who are making a lot of money by tricking ignorant Nigerians. There are thousands of self-certified Online Forex Trading Professors in Nigeria. They offer short courses on how to become a millionaire by trading forex. Their charges ranges between $40 to a whooping $1,200. As far as they can see, the only prerequisite to making money via forex trading is the ability to move a computer mouse! What a promise! Yet the newspapers and how-to-make-money magazines are filled with their advertisements.

I promised you a real testimony, here it is. About a year ago, two close friends of mine paid One Hundred and fifty Thousand Naira each (about $1,282) each for a one week training on Online Forex Trading. My friends and I were sincere and genuine in our quest for knoweldge, and the promised education looked real enough. I was meant to participate in the training, but I failed to raise the course fee before the deadline.  After the training, my friends recounted how it was a huge success and they wished I was there. Well, poor me, I tried to “parasite” from the knoweldge they acquired by reading the materials given to them and practicing online with the demo softwares provided.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the so called teachers were economical with the truth. We were not informed that it is not possible to start trading and earning good return after a one week crash course in Forex Trading! It did not take a long time for us to discover first hand that the training was actually a scam because it was just an introduction to a business that requires detailed and consistent learning, non-stop! If they had told us the truth, we will not be willing to buy the course even at a discount of 90%! All the material and software they gave are actually available for free online. We were just scammed (never mind that I didn’t take the course, if the cash was available, I would have paid, so I was gullible just like my friends, no need pretending that I was smarter).

It pains my heart that one year after that close call I had, I still see a lot of Nigerians falling prey for this cheap scam. To start with, the infastructural facilities on ground makes it very difficult for an average Nigerian to participate in live online fx trading. Too many are using dial-up internet connections that are epileptic. The few that are using VSAT still suffer poor connection whenever the weather becomes cloudy especially in rainy seasons.

That factor alone is enough to make an average Nigerian think twice before committing so much money in Forex Trading. I decided to discountinue the venture because of the high risk due to the epileptic internet connection. I can easily recount how on several occassions I had loose some minutes work online due to electricity failure or epileptic internet connection.

This post is not meant to discourage you from going into Forex Trading. Neither am I classifying Online Forex Trading as a no go area for Nigerians. Rather it is just a personal testimony of my sincere observations. Belief it or not, only two sets of people are making money from Forex Trading in Nigeria. The few educated and skilled forex traders make money from Forex Trading while the fake forex trainers make money from greedy and ignorant wannabe forex millionaires! Unfortunately, the scammers are more in number.

If you have a different opinion, place your facts and figures in the comment section for everyone to verfiy. I welcome constructive criticisms. Please, note that unverifiable claims that is meant to further lead people astray will be pointed out as such or better still deleted, SCAMMERS BEWARE! For free future updates to this post Forex Trading In Nigeria: Who is making the Money, subscribe to my RSS.