Konnected Minds Podcast with Derrick Abaitey

What if the biggest difference between people who build wealth in Africa and those who spend their lives searching for jobs after graduation isn't how many degrees they collect or how well they speak English, but understanding that the entire education system was designed to produce employees not entrepreneurs, that the young lady on a flight to China holding $200,000 without a professor's credentials discovered something universities will never teach you, and that the graduate who spends 20 years in school only to chase monthly salaries while mechanics contractors and shoemakers who never sat in a classroom create value and control money has been programmed to worship certificates while missing the brutal truth that there is a shortage of employment in Africa but no shortage of products and services to build businesses around?
In this raw and unfiltered conversation on Konnected Minds, we sit down with Coach Eckwashon and Engineer Kwabena Obeng Darkwa who reveal why it's necessary for Africans to develop business mindsets because there is shortage of employment in Africa and that's not bad there are no shortages of products and services, why when you go to secondary schools we don't have something like entrepreneurship they don't teach it but we have general science visual arts general arts, why it's better that the younger ones those who are coming should have that kind of mindset to see if I complete university and I don't get somebody to employ me I can start my own thing, and why wearing suit and tie doesn't work anymore in Africa it doesn't work.
They break down why people are not comfortable with that lifestyle when you cannot pay your children's school fees when you've taken bank loans three or four and you can't buy a plot of land unless you take a bank loan, why you can't build a house buy a car unless you take a loan and how many teachers with all due respect or police officers can buy a plane ticket and take their family to Paris or Dubai, why if you go to some countries one company can employ a thousand people at a time but how many companies in our country can employ even 200 people at a time, why we are grooming people from our secondary schools from our universities to come and somebody should pay them and of course that's the design of the school, and why the whole concept of this modern education came because some people came here to colonize us and before they came we had our own way of educating our people and it was not sit down be trained write CV after school and then somebody will pay you monthly salary.
But they also confront the brutal reality of what education actually produces. Why our leaders should keep on giving us these statistics on unemployment rate when we only have to tell our people there are problems that you solve and once you solve them and you can monetize them you can live your life without somebody giving you a monthly salary, why when we were children 30 years ago we had graduate unemployment and at this stage in life we're still hearing the same thing which means not much has changed, why if every year you are bringing out 250,000 to 300,000 tertiary graduates and you look at the number of jobs that you are creating you are not creating jobs you are creating frustration, and why if you continue to tell them that when they come out somebody should give them a job and you are not creating jobs that's why our minds are on traveling.
They reveal why the design of education was to produce employees because somebody had to be a business person open a factory and you would need so called experts or professionals to work with them, why they didn't design school so that you go through it and become successful because if that were true look at the people who control the world's economy and where do their children go to school and what do they teach them, why there's this wholesale information they give us to make you feel that you've been given an education to face life when really it's just like somebody going to learn trade, why if you go to the websites of a lot of universities and see who they are training and where they are training them to it's to go and look for a job, and why when schools are having anniversaries the people they hail are those who have been employed in multinational positions and government positions more than somebody who has a provision shop somewhere.
But they also expose the truth about what education really means. Why education doesn't mean you need to sit in the classroom because that mechanic who has been fixing your car is not a graduate but when you have a problem you go to the mechanic for him to fix your car and he's educated, why the contractor is educated even though he may not have a degree, why we need to let people who are going through that system understand that they are not necessarily going to get a job after and that they should look at business as an alternative or maybe even the main thing, why this system has been...

What if the biggest difference between people who build wealth in Africa and those who spend their lives chasing visas and foreign opportunities isn't how much money they can raise or how many connections they have, but understanding that we have been programmed to think that what we have is nothing when there is so much money here in Africa, that the person going to China with $10,000 will succeed more than the person going to America with the same amount if they do things right, and that the young person who completes university but cannot see that buying plantain and yam from villages to supply in Accra is a legitimate business has been conditioned to worship foreign validation while the richest black man on earth made his money right here in Africa not in America?
In this raw and unfiltered conversation on Konnected Minds, we sit down with someone who reveals why we have been programmed to think that what we have we don't have money when there is money so much money here in Africa but we are not thinking right, why somebody going to China with $10,000 in one year if the person is serious and does things right will succeed more than the person going to America, why when he went to his hometown Portland two weeks ago and saw people selling plantain and palm oil on the roadside common wisdom should tell you that you can buy plantain go to villages bring plantain yam to Accra and supply because now we are all growing and want to eat organic food, and why we have been programmed to think the things that we have are not good so we've accepted it and think we don't have anything here in Africa.
He breaks down why to say that Ghana is not good so you want to go to America means you are not smart, why apart from footballers the richest man in Africa is in Africa in Nigeria and the richest black man on earth is not in America but here in Africa where he made his money, why we've been programmed to know that everybody who is doing well in Africa is a scammer or fraud when the truth is we can succeed here, why the best place to succeed in this world is Africa because here is easy to start anything but our people are not thinking, and why social acceptance is key and where are we accepted it's here where you don't have to go through gatekeepers and protocols.
But he also confronts the brutal reality of what education fails to teach. Why our major problem is the information because if you have $10,000 and you are very much educated financially you will never use that to get to America to go and work for hours, why if you go to China now at 25 years after completing university and bring some product learn something and move around the world will be different, why when he was in school traveling he never thought of China when they should have gone to see the factories the products the distribution systems not to go and look for work and be paid some dollar, and why if you want to create worth it's here and that's why you go to Makola and see women who started from the tabletop now major traders who control money.
He reveals why if you put hundred people together in those economies and ask them to give you a million dollars it will be those who are doing business, why if you ask our so called brothers and sisters in America how many of them have ten thousand dollars sitting in their bank account right now the answer will shock you, why this whole thing about I want to travel doesn't make sense to him, why the programming has made us accept that if you don't go to America you haven't made it, and why he remembers when they were growing up there was this man who was so successful as a businessman who left everything and moved to America and even as a young boy he said that this man has made a big mistake and after so many years this man came back hustling.
But he also exposes why the focus on money is not materialistic but necessary. Why when people ask why do you guys just keep talking about money your focus is just so much on money he says this is about money because you are talking about business and people doing well, why you can't solve poverty with ignorance and you can't solve poverty with financial ignorance, why it's not about money but solving a particular problem which is people having money and not making intelligent decisions even with them, why some people have money and still don't make intelligent decisions like a young man who worked his first hundred thousand and used it to buy a plot while his business collapsed instead of using the capital to build, and why what they are doing is critical because it's dedicated to financial education business education people trying to do something with their lives and it shouldn't be sponsored in entertainment and religion.
He explains why he doesn't have big company sponsorship when people on social media who are not doing anything and not adding any value have big big sponsorship which tells you something, why if we want to develop we need to control...

What does it really take to build a successful business? Is intelligence enough, or do strategy, execution and access to cash matter more?
On this episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, Derrick Abaitey sits down with Folusho Ogunmola, founder of iFitness, to explore the realities of entrepreneurship, raising capital and building a business that can survive difficult times.
In this conversation, Folusho reveals:
• Why being smart can sometimes hold entrepreneurs back
• How he started Yes Mobile without having enough money
• Why two colleagues took loans to support his business
• How he approached more than 40 potential sources of funding
Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction & Podcast Welcome
00:03:24 Early Entrepreneurial Journey: From Recharge Cards to Mobile Phones
00:05:25 Family Background & The Drive to Succeed
00:09:01 Breaking Into Corporate: Banking Career & Intensive Training
00:12:42 Launching Yes Mobile: Bootstrap Funding & Taking Risks
00:29:02 The Importance of Character & Responsibility in Fundraising
00:30:53 Four Pillars of Scaling a Business
00:38:04 Exiting Yes Mobile: Lessons from a Painful Deal
00:44:37 The Birth of iFitness: Finding Purpose in Fitness
00:48:07 Building Fitness Culture in Nigeria & Future Expansion
00:53:00 Scaling iFitness: Strategic Expansion & Proof of Concept
00:57:03 Negotiation Masterclass: The Chinese Landlord Story
01:01:07 Book Recommendations & Final Thoughts

Subscribe to Konnected Minds Podcast for conversations about entrepreneurship, wealth creation, business strategy and personal growth from an African perspective.
Guest: Foluso Ogunwale
Join our FREE Community - https://konnectedminds.com/communities
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🎙️ ABOUT THE HOST
Derrick Abaitey is a Ghanaian entrepreneur, podcast host, and personal development advocate.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/derrick.abaitey
Web: https://www.abaitey.com/
#Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #KonnectedMinds

What if the biggest difference between people who build wealth and those who spend their lives praying for financial breakthroughs isn't how much faith they have or how many midnight prayers they attend, but understanding that social media is the most powerful tool for change in this era where even Elon Musk is tweeting, that the person with valuable products and services doesn't need to fast for money because money exists where value is exchanged not in heaven, and that the young person who thinks successful people teaching online means they have nothing else to do has been programmed to worship conspicuous consumption while missing the fact that some of these people they think are rich are trapped in debt with bank loans and gathered money they don't personally own?
In this raw and unfiltered conversation on Konnected Minds, we sit down with someone who reveals why we've built big businesses big investment big assets with no support from politics or even banks from ourselves, why we built families and have houses that are not a mortgage and we are free, why if you think we were not free we wouldn't be here spending two hours, and why if you ask that question it means that you are not intelligent because the force is in the words that we speak.
He breaks down why you think that any ignorant person who has never done anything will come here and speak this and it is changing people's lives and his life is not changing, why this is a person full of football and entertainment because they are not learning, why those who are learning will never ask such questions because they see and it takes one to see one, and why people think that if you have time to share some things it means that you're not busy but a lot of these guys that you think are busy have time to meet their friends and are on social media.
But he also confronts the brutal reality of what people mistake for success. Why some of them have two three friends and they meet them every time which means they are occupied but you have priorities, why what we didn't have when we were growing up we are giving to the people now we have to make them available so that people will not make the same mistakes that we made, why this does not mean that we are useless and we sit on social media talking nonsense, and why for him social media is a tool for change.
He reveals why the skill to be able to put the frameworks that has worked for you and then teach people and the skill to just make money is two different things, why there are some people who are popular and have the money as you know it but they don't have the ability to teach for people to understand, why it's not because they're busy because they have time to watch football move around chase girls but because they don't think this is critical, and why some of them will even think that they are worthier than us when some of them is just people's money that they have gathered together and some of them is just bank expensive loans.
But he also exposes the truth about wealth versus appearance. Why some of them if you ask them even a million themselves they may not even have, why some of them are not cash at all they are not liquid trapped in debt, why because of conspicuous consumption when you see cars and houses you think someone is rich, why somebody will come on the channel and say where is it and somebody said if you are successful why are you teaching people, and why those people are not smart.
He explains why in this era even Elon Musk is on Twitter tweeting, why if he's on social media teaching people and they think he doesn't have anything to do that's why he's on social media then they are not smart and don't know what they are talking about, why social media is his TV station with thousands of people across the world watching, why at first you have to go to TV and pay money and beg but today with your smartphone you can say whatever you want to say, and why there is no censorship.
But he also confronts the tragedy of what media prioritizes. Why when he went to Kumasi for an event there was no segment for business and mindset, why they had to put him on sports or entertainment and slot him in while they are discussing Kotoko for five minutes, why that was the point he came out and told his team there is a big problem in this country where there is no business and mindset segment on these radio stations, why the closest is religion which is itself manipulative and enslaving more than liberating, and why if you look at the results you will see that the people are not free because if you put a visa there and all your members will move you have not taught them.
He reveals why some of them are even praying for the members to get visas which means they are deceiving the people because what the people want is success, why majority of the people who are praying every midnight don't have any valuable product or service to exchange for money, why those who are praying for money saying open financial...

What if the biggest difference between people who build wealth in Africa and those who spend their lives complaining about the system isn't how much education they have or how many degrees they collect, but understanding that the entire society operates on mental programming that keeps you trapped like a baby elephant tied to concrete, that the same politicians who mismanage millions while the dollar climbs from 16 cedis to crisis levels are using young people as raw materials for demonstrations while their own children never show up, and that the young person who complains there are no opportunities in Ghana while you can literally wake up tomorrow and sell watermelon bananas or start a container business with 200 cedis has been conditioned to see obstacles where smart people see the easiest place on earth to make money?
In this raw and unfiltered conversation on Konnected Minds, we sit down with someone who reveals why we have people who claim they have PhD speak good English blah blah blah but they are not competent to look at Accra when Accra is very dirty, why there are people who are supposed to clean it they've been paid there are people in charge of that but the system must work, why when they travel to London Dubai everywhere every week have you seen the white man construct roads the way they construct gutters in Jacob they don't do that, and why if they are smart some of our leadership not all some of them are not smart and don't have the competence to copy what the white man is doing and bring it here.
He breaks down why we spend so much money on Black Stars millions of dollars with qualification bonus winning bonus but the last time they won the African Cup was about 30 something years ago, why we need to collapse GFA because if the GFA president owned it as his own business would he run it the way he's running it, why you will see somebody who has built a school outside this continent and that person will be a deputy minister while somebody who has zero knowledge about education will be a minister, and why when the dollar was 16 cedis we have so called professor the economic messiah whatever and now what are they coming to do when they cannot even do the simple thing of copying what works.
But he also confronts the brutal reality of how the education system created this dysfunction. Why the system is there but go back to the beginning of the kind of education we have now it was religious it was for religion it was not for proper school, why some school was celebrating 185 something and who brought that school their intention was to convert us to a particular religion and culture not to develop the minds of people so they can solve problems, why the same people at the top have gone through the same system, and why the education the skill development the execution the supporting institutions and the intentionality is an ecosystem and when you go to any place that is organized it's not just one of them it's everything.
He reveals why young people complain about the system saying we're ready to start business but the system is not conducive but where is the system conducive enough for the African, why something was hung on us and we have to change it and if you think the system is not right here therefore you move somewhere then when is it going to change because we are the ones to change them, why don't expect that some politician some government somewhere will make things right so you come because they are thinking of their life and their profile more than you, and why if you're a young man thinking somebody's thinking how you become successful go ahead and think like that but he doesn't think that way.
But he also exposes how politicians manipulate the innocent. Why they rally the young ones the innocent young ones behind them and now they start getting themselves into trouble because those guys are not smart, why you see Yuko inviting former ministers and these same people crying there are no jobs no money why is that we are poor Africa when somebody has taken 50 something million Ghana cedis and you are complaining there are no jobs, why you think Ghana is not a good place and you go to Yuko to demonstrate free so and so it means we are not serious, and why politicians are using people as raw materials because they realize they are not serious and have you seen their children be part of the demonstrations.
He explains why we as parents have responsibility to teach our children, why some of his videos said if your parents are poor don't take financial advice from your parents unless they have financial knowledge, why he is teaching his children master you don't need to get a job, why his grandmother in the 80s said Ghana is hard and his mom growing up said Ghana is hard so this Ghana is hard started from way back, and why he told himself Ghana is not hard Ghana is the best place to make money if you are smart.
But he also confronts why so many people miss the opportunities right in...