Entrepreneurship in Africa: Part 2 in a Series
LAGOS, NIGERIA – Fashogbon Abiodun David, 34, is the CEO of Fashi Fizzie, a fashion boutique, and Fizzie Republic, a marketing company, in Ibadan, a small city in southwestern Nigeria.
David says he started his business a decade ago with less than $20 USD.
“Yeah!” he says. “I started with 2,650 naira [NGN ($16.65 USD)]. I ventured into business to conquer poverty.”
David started out in 2001 selling suya, a shish kebab with thinly sliced meat and seasoning, at the University of Ibadan. As his business evolved, he decided to venture into cosmetics while selling suya on the side, before embracing the fashion and marketing sector fully in 2008.
But he says the transition was not easy. One of the challenges he faced was intimidation from established companies, which he calls “sharks” and says almost forced him to fold.
“The sharks are the big existing businesses that frowns at competition,” he says.
Although society has developed since David launched his company, he says the challenges entrepreneurs currently face are similar, including business intimidation, intelligence theft, funding and electricity.
To overcome these challenges, he says he’s careful about where he discusses his ideas and bought a generator to provide electricity for his company. But he says physical abuse from business rivals is out of his control.
“I was beaten up by a fellow businessman because he was afraid I will take up the business,” he says of a 2009 incident. “The trauma was so much I wanted to close my doors.”
But he says he pressed forward and didn’t even report his assailants because he was more concerned about the future and moving forward.
“I was slapped four times, punched in the chest the first time and a repeated attack the next day,” he says. “I was slapped six times again without raising a finger because of where we are going in the future.”
Since 2001, this Nigerian entrepreneur has expanded his enterprise. David now has four employees.
He says he hopes the government will start to provide more assistance to entrepreneurs so that he can continue to grow his business without fear of violence.
“Government can protect small businesses by establishing good judicial system to punish business intimidation,” he says.
He says that the media should also keep the public informed if opportunities for government funding arise.
Like most young entrepreneurs, he believes that the best way to tackle poverty in Nigeria is through entrepreneurship.
“The strength of a nation is the power of individual character,” he says. “America is what it is because of world-class entrepreneurs that are there: Bill Gate[s] of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple and Larry Ellison of Oracle, Diddy of Sean John.”
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