What’s your take on Nigeria’s recent exchange rates policy?
As far as I’m concerned, the naira goes up or down. A stable exchange rate is good for planning purposes. It’s good to be able to know what the rate will be in the next six months or so. When it fluctuates so much, it’s not that good because you buy something now at high price and in the next six months, the exchange rate slashes and then you just can’t make that profit again. So, to stabilize the naira will be very good for all businesses.
How can you describe the Nigeria’s export process?
Well, I’ve had a lot of experience in that and in the beginning, it was kind of easy but as time goes on, they started adding all kinds of things to it and then the price of shipping not from the shipper but other costs associated to shipping, like logistics, kept going up. Everything kept going up and then they have all kinds of fees coming in, all types of challenges started coming up. That I think It is not good for export because export should be something that is easy to conduct. It’s a business, if you cannot conduct business easily, you lose the ability to do that business. I can’t lose that because I’ve been in the business for a while so I have to accept all the challenges that come. But, for some people, they will just give up. Especially when they’re just starting. It should be made easier to export than it is now.
How do you think the government can move the economy forward?
The government needs to increase agriculture exports, especially the products that have been helping us in the past before the discovery of oil. That’s what I’ll suggest, especially cocoa and rubber and many products like cotton and groundnut. All those products were making money for the country, we should increase their export and that will help farmers and it will help the economy as well.
What are the pros and cons of Nigerians running businesses in diaspora?
Nigerians are well endowed and most of us are very serious about our businesses. Most people I know are well dedicated, they are very serious about their business and it’s really good because it gives satisfaction to them as well. Most Nigerians who do business stay with their business and grow their business. I’ve seen others grow just like I grow my business.
How have you been able to cope with running a business in diaspora?
Everything has its ups and downs, sometimes it’s positive sometimes it’s not but we don’t look at the negative, we look at the positive side and we keep going. Being an African, we do have challenges all the time but there’s nowhere you won’t have challenges so we have to cope.
What advice will you give to upcoming entrepreneurs?
They should not expect too much initially, and even they are doing good, they should reinvest whatever they make back into the business. That is the easiest way to stay in business. When you reinvest your profit and keep investing in the business, that guarantees you the business will stay on. But when you take money out of the business, you’re killing the business.
What motivated you to venture into such business?
One thing is my background, educational background. I studied agriculture for my undergraduate programme in Kentucky, Murray State University. And we have a large community in Houston and one thing that is hard to change in people is eating habits. We still want to eat the same way. People want this, that’s how we got into this and it’s been good.
We provide African foods to the African community in Houston Texas and other parts of the United States. Some of these we bring in ourselves and some of these we receive from other importers. Most of our products are from Nigeria, we get other products from other African countries such as Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and sometimes from Congo. So, it’s actually all African foods that are available to African communities in Houston Texas.
What’s your favourite part of the business?
It’s having my customers come by and most customers are very friendly. Occasionally you have some that are not but most are very friendly and I derive joy from them. I derive joy mostly from their satisfaction. I’ve heard comments that make me so happy that I’m in this business. Some people will tell you that you have made their day, you have helped their family just having this available for them. So, all those comments, those are the things that really make me love the business.
Where do you see your business in the next ten years?
Well, I hope it stays in the right direction as it is going now. I don’t plan on expansion and I don’t plan on opening another store but you never know. If in a few years I feel like I should do expansion, then I will but right now, I don’t plan to.
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