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I posted this particular interview in November, 2006 during my early days as a blogger and working with Globacom. I remember aspiring and dreaming of what it will be like to leave paid employment to live like Ade – our prodigious investor – whose words still inspire me despite a radical change in circumstances. As you read through the interview, I will advise you to focus on the spirit of the his words rather than the letter:

1. How old are you?

Ans: I know you might think I am young but I started quite early. I am 27yrs Old

2. Where do you currently reside?

Ans: Surrey, United Kingdom

3. Can you let us into your background (your school, career and experience)?

Ans: I went to a Federal Government College in Ogun State and came to UK to study HND in Business and Finance and B.A (HONS) Marketing but I have worked and trained as an Accountant even without the formal education to back up my Accounting experience. The good thing about UK is that you can be what ever you want to be by acquiring the right experiences. I am constantly educating myself. I am currently working towards a BSC degree in Financial Services with Institute of Bankers in UK, the purpose of that is to help my Finance business which I hope to develop in future. I am also a trained Mortgage adviser and currently working on getting a UK license and I will be able to recommend finance for any property transaction. My personal investing experience is a slow and steady one. I have acquired knowledge by reading lots of books on investing and actually going out there are doing what investors do. My particular favorite reads are autobiography of successful entrepreneurs.

4. What made you decide on being a full time investor instead of career personnel?

Ans: I am one of the lucky people that know what they wish to become when they grow up. By knowing what you want in life you have already achieved half of it. At the age of 19 I decided on what I want and that is to be a Mega Investor.

5. If you were to start your career again, would you have done anything different?

Ans: I am a young man and my career is still well opened for any changed. If I were to go back I would have done everything the same way. I will not change anything mainly because every obstacle or difficulty I meet on the way is a lesson. I am also very happy that I have gone through some difficult lessons at such an early age.

6. An average guy comes to you and says “Ade, I have got 100k in my savings, where do I begin my investment from?”

Ans: 100,000? Naira or Pound. Just joking I know you mean Naira. It’s very simple, visit a Stock Broker and Invest in shares I use a few but www.crossworldsec.biz is my best broker at the moment. NSE (Nigerian Stock Exchange) is one of the most profitable exchanges in the world according to top business analyst around the world and according to my experiences. Leaving your money in the bank can be a good investment for someone already into investing and wish to diversify. A good bank savings will be the GTMAX account. But if you have just N100, 000 then shares is definitely the way forward, it’s an absolute waste to put that amount sitting in your bank account. You will only make the banks richer. If you have N225, 000 to invest or N450, 000 then I will advice you to put your fears aside and invest some time in investigating Nospetco then invest in them.

7. There are so many guyz working in Nigeria and need where to invest; from your experience in investment, can you enumerate best sectors, avenues and platforms to invest in?

Ans: There are lots of good sectors for investing in Nigeria. It’s a matter of getting at the right place at the right time. A few of my favorites are Properties, Farming, Petroleum, Pharmaceutical, and Finance. At the moment the Finance industry and Farming are thriving its worth looking at and the property business is always a thriving sector also should not be ignored. At the moment most shares I buy are divided into two categories; long term investment or short term. Long term investment are shares or investment I wish to leave for a minimum of five years and the short term investment are those I want to cash in the moment I make a significant amount of return. I use this principle in all my business decisions weather its shares, property, equity trading, venture capital etc.

8. You seem to be versed in investment opportunities outside Nigerian, can you let us into some of the opportunities available to Nigerians.

Ans: There are lots of opportunities available to Nigerians all around the world. If I were to start I will write a whole book on it. The first advice to any prospective investor is to become a very competent investor in Nigerian before venturing out. Investing outside Nigeria is a Dog eat Dog world. You can get buried in a day if you don’t know what you are doing or you could be very successful very quickly if you have the “know how”. The two main types of investment to a budding Investor outside Nigeria are shares (UK – FTSE 100), USA shares (Dow Jones index or NYSE) and Property (you will need a minimum 30% equity and the remaining will be bank financed). To deal in UK share you will have to join a broker, there are two main services offered by UK or USA brokers. I) executing only which means you tell the broker what you want to buy and he gets it for you without any questions asked. II) Advice and Execution the broker advices you on the best shares to buy, they also advice you on when they think you should sell. There are a few good UK brokers out there but I use Barclay’s stock brokers for both my UK and US transactions. If you are too scared of investing in shares then look into UNIT TRUST, its investing in lots of shares under one umbrella. I especially invest in up and coming businesses in the London stock exchange or the USA Dow Jones index. They are very volatile shares which could be wipe out in a day or doubled within few days or months. I am still hoping to hit a jackpot in shares something like Microsoft, Dell, Amazon, British Petroleum etc. Hitting a jackpot in share is investing in a small company that will eventually grow to be a big company e.g. Microsoft. In 1985 someone that invests £1,000 in Microsoft will have grown the £1,000 to £250,000 by 1999 that is what I call a shares jackpot. Another example is Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) parents invested $300,000 in their sons business in 1995 and by 1999 when Amazon went public they became billionaires. They are both worth in the region of $3 billion dollars each. Imagine if you had invested $300 it will be worth something like $300,000 by now.

9. You are currently a NOSPETCO proponent, can you let those who are high risk takers to understand the best strategy to getting the best out of it.

Ans: I stumbled into Nospetco about 2 years ago and it has overtaking all my investment in Nigeria as the most successful in term for turn around in breakeven. There is no best way in approaching Nospetco other than do your homework and invest the amount you are comfortable with. The way I have approached my Nospetco investment is a bit risky and different to a lot of people. I started out with one after a month; I increased it to two. I started getting comfortable with it and then injected capital and increased it to 20 and I slowing increased it to 25 with the returns I got back from Nospetco. After a while I decided I wanted my capital out ASAP, in other to do that I needed to invest more. I increased my holding to 50 slots and the moment I got back my Capital of 25 slots I liquidated 25 slots and returned to 25 holdings. I will not recommend this method to anyone, if things had gone wrong I would still have been ok but that will not be the same for a lot of people.

10. Give us a brief detail of the normal life of an investor? I always thought investors sit around watching TV and drinking while their monies are making more money.

Ans: lololol ha ha ha ha ha that is very funny. There are different types of investors and success levels. When I retire perhaps I will sit in front of the TV and play Golf all day but at the moment I am still a young man trying to achieve my goals. I am no where near where I want to be. For me a typical day will be going through my sources looking for new opportunities, meeting prospective business partners and viewing properties. Property is a big part of my daily activities, liaising with my banks, estate agents, solicitors, tenants etc. Like I said there are different types of investors and I like the hands on approach. But eventually my goal will be to sit and watch intelligent business men and women invest my money in their businesses and give me my return. It can be a very boring life if you don’t keep yourself busy especially for a young man. Money will not be a problem but there will be too much time on your hands and you know what they say about an idle mind.

11. From an investor perspective, what is the best way to combat unemployment?

Ans: In terms of Nigerian. I will advise people to invest in up and coming businesses this will give companies the required revenue they need to grow which in turn will create employment for our much needed graduates. Also someone with a N100, 000 and no job can easily become a self employed investor by carefully buying and selling shares from the NSE. I will also advise existing businesses to consolidate and join forces with rivals to create a stronger entity. I see lots of Nigerian businesses failing simply because the owners what to do everything themselves. This will slow down the development of the company and reduce employment. Let’s support our banks by being their customers, in turn they will invest in local businesses which will help create jobs for our brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, mum and dad and neighbors.

12. Do you believe schemes like NOSPETCO can eradicate unemployment?

Ans: This is a hard question because I don’t know how long Nospetco will be here for or when there investment capacity will be full. Let’s assume Nospetco is here for the long hol then I will say yes Nospetco can be a good vehicle in eradicating unemployment to an extent. An average man putting together N450, 000 to collect N40, 000 a month is not bad barely in mind there are lots of people out there earning far less than N40, 000 a month. The extra time this person will have can be used to creating other opportunities or spent helping out people less fortunate e.g. working for a charitable organization for free.

13. If you were to advise an upcoming young investor, what would it be?

Ans: I think I have answered this in few of the questions above. I will advise them to have a dream and don’t lose your dream. Write down your goals and steps you want to make to achieve them. Give yourself a deadline for each of your goals and do something everyday towards your dream. It could be something as small as calling a broker for more information about their services. Never wait till you have lots of money before investing. I started with peanuts investing £100 or £200 in UK shares and I built it from there. It’s never too early and it’s never too late to start. Having a good and supportive partner (wife or husband) helps a great deal in becoming successful. Communicate with your partner set your goals together. The investing part is the easy part, the hard part is having the right frame of mind and setting your goals and the hardest part of it all is making the FIRST STEP. The universal rule for new investors is never to invest what you are not ready to lose e.g. don’t borrow money to invest if you are inexperience and just starting out. Also when you become a competent investor or business man you will need money from other to become VERY RICH (e.g. BANKS or INVESTORS) its hard to become extremely successful with your money alone (maybe I am talking in terms of the UK).

14. Do you regard yourself as a success?

Ans: The answer to that is absolutely NO. I have not achieved a quarter of my goals I still have a long way to go and I thank God I have started. I pray God continue to guide me through the right part and give me wisdom during the difficult times. Success is measured by each individuals dream and definition. I am a young man and I learn every day. All my investment deals and technique have not been taught to me by anyone I learnt everything I know on my own. I don’t have a mentor or a rich father to start me out. All I have is the ambition, determination and dream to succeed.

15. Can you give us a scenario where you lost a lot of money, and you used this loss as a foundation for greater profit?

Ans: This is also a difficult question. As an investor you are bound to lose money now and again and sometime the only lesson learned is that the investment is not for you. The good thing about investment is the maximum amount you can lose is the capital you put into the business and your profit level is infinite. For example if you invest in Nospetco for N450,000 and they go burst the most you will lose is N450,000 but in they continue to thrive then your profit level is infinite N40,000 a month until whenever. Every lose I have made in any business or investment I have not regretted because I take my time in investigating the business before piling my money into it. To be honest I don’t know how best to answer this question so I will leave it as it is. If I were to write down all the loses I have made in business we’ll spend the whole day here. As an investor my profit is defined not by individual investment but by the profit I made in successful investments or business minus the loses I made will equal my profit. To be honest I don’t like focusing on loses especially when I am talking to prospective investors at the same time I want them to be aware of the risk involved in investing.

That’s it folks I got work to do. Cheers