My Fourth of July

On July 4th, while the vast majority of Americans relish their barbecue and fireworks experience, I was having the unique opportunity of seating next to Shola, an amazing Nigerian entrepreneur on a flight from Lagos to Dubai. We were having a mentally stimulating conversation over a stretch of hours as Shola was heading to Guangzhou China and I to New York, NY.

As a female entrepreneur in a male dominated business environment, Shola is truly awesome, who despite her limited formal educational background has managed to build a thriving publishing business that caters for fashion design needs of Nigerians through a fashion magazine and posters. With humble beginnings in Shomolu Lagos, she grew this business to the point of hitting marketing leadership in the major cities of the country. And as a visionary entrepreneur she was already taking expansion steps hence the trip to China. Shola was hoping this trip to China will be a game changer to the business and potentially the Nigerian fashion (print) industry.   

This conversation was somewhat serendipitous because part of the reasons for my trip was for the Africa Fashion Star; an apprenticeship program for rising African fashion entrepreneurs in New York. So I was sternly watching out for parallels with Shola's story. And because I couldn’t hold back this curiosity and excitement, I decided to ask her about business model and vision for scale.  

“We do have an army of photographers that gatecrash major parties in the city, taking pictures of stylishly dressed people. We then publish these designs targeting local tailors and hair salons as our end-user. Brother, you will be surprised how many people are thrilled to be featured on our magazine. We also have a few tailors and hair stylists in our network that allow us publish their work. Business is good I must say”. This was her response to my question on how the business works.

As awesome as this sounds, I couldn’t help noticing a few untapped opportunities for scale, and sadly why this business might forever remain a small business. This conversation did not just confirmed my conviction that what is holding back African entrepreneurs really is not lack of a high hustle quotient, creativity or street savvy. For these entrepreneurs to take their game to the next level and possibly hand it over to the next generation, global knowledge and competencies are absolute nonnegotiables.

Then I responded. “First off, I understand that my ideas may be far from the realities on the ground so apologies in advance. I understand these guys are eager to get on your magazine but I’d get to them to sign a release waiver form that authorizes me use their work. I might even incentivize with the perk of a potential for a modeling deal afterwards. Then I will push for an exclusive publishing deal with these tailors and hair stylists. And finally, I will consider launching a new product line of a modeling business from this enterprise”.

Initially she laughed off my idea saying “I can see you’ve lived in America for such a long time, this is Nigeria”. But gladly, after making her see some possibilities from this new business model, it dawned on her that in fact she could push a similar exclusive regional deal with her Chinese technical partners.

It was African entrepreneurs like Shola that inspired me to start LDI Africa. Entrepreneurs who in spite of the everyday challenges in Africa have managed to create their own opportunities but couldn’t still play on the global stage. This is why I am proud and very excited about the Africa Fashion Star. This platform will make it possible for rising African fashion entrepreneurs to work on Broadway and Madison Avenue New York, interacting with world’s best fashion brands. A few years upon returning home being retooled to not only launch one of the best African fashion brands but increasing the rating of African designs on the world’s fashion map.

At LDI Africa, we connect African professionals and organizations to the global marketplace!  

Africa Open for the Business of Service

Africa Open for the Business of Service
March 25, 2013 Franklin D. Reeves Center of Municipal Affairs, Washington, DC
By Gbenga Ogunjimi, CEO LDI Africa

I want to start by thanking everyone for honoring our invitation today. I appreciate our outstanding partners for making this meeting possible; A big thank you to Atlas Corps, the DC Mayor’s Office on African Affairs, Shifting Patterns Consulting, Ethiopian Airlines and all of our supporters here today. It is because of your support that we have been able to grow from an idea to a full-fledged a living entity operating five African countries. I especially want to recognize Scott Beale, the visionary of Atlas Corps, who has changed the definition of international service here in the US, and around the world. It is because of this vision that I stand here today.

For those who may not know, I would like to talk briefly about my story, and the inspiration behind LDI Africa. I am a young Nigerian with once limited opportunities to realize my dream as a global professional. As a rising social enterprise leader, I recall many obstacles that I had to overcome in my search for a world greater than the one I had known. I yearned for something bigger than myself; a larger platform to not just realize my professional goals but to create similar opportunities for young and aspiring professionals like myself who believe in a new Africa.

On December 31, 2010, I found an outlet; an opportunity to act on my professional ambitions, when I was accepted into the prestigious Atlas Corps Fellowship, and handed unchartered leadership possibilities to lead a management training program for nonprofit leaders from around the world. During my service with Atlas Corp here in Washington DC, I experienced the inner-workings of a true entrepreneurial social enterprise flattening the world’s nonprofit sector. From this service experience came the vision of LDI Africa.

By virtue of its visionary and transformational role, the US Peace Corps, over the last 50 years, has repeatedly sent American volunteers to countries in Africa. This has resulted in improved relations between U.S. and Africa; changing how the host communities see the United States, and even inspired programs like Atlas Corps, MBAs Without Borders and Global Health Corps to enter the international service arena. A few countries in Africa have also followed in this example, most notably, Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps and the National Service Scheme of Ghana.

LDI Africa is proud to come to this space, with the goal of connecting African professionals and organizations to the global marketplace through volunteer-service. With the launch of our Emerging Institutions Fellowship Program, we believe an innovation has come to volunteer-service space of the continent. This program recruits the world’s best young business professionals to collaborate with Africa’s leading financial institutions; these include – venture capital, private equity and impact investing firms to enable their portfolio businesses to scale and, in-turn, create replicable economic opportunities in Africa. .

Who do we look for in this program?
 – Young professionals who believe in the economic future of the continent and want to apply and grow their business acumen to better serve Africa’s emerging businesses.
– Africans in the diaspora who have realized that in addition to the remittance dollars they send home, of equal impact is their time and overseas experience in serving Africa.
– Africans and non-Africans who believe that what Africa needs most now are strong institutions.

 I am very proud and excited that in the short time since LDI Africa’s operations launched, our pilot program efforts have been successful. We have recruited our very first class of Fellows from around the world to serve emerging business in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa. Unlike the typical summer intern found in trending international volunteer service programs; LDI Africa Fellows are similar to Peace Corps Volunteers, they are young professionals that have signed up for to up a year-long service commitment to position African businesses to attain measureable sustainable growth. The majority of our fellows are young Africans in the diaspora, the rest come from all over the world – including Ghana, France, China and of course Washington, DC.

We are excited with the outcomes that we expect. During the course the fellowship years, LDI Africa Fellows will co-create transformational opportunities for Africa through the projects they will be working on. In West-Africa they will work to realize the very first modern metro system, bringing the city of Lagos into the league of mega-cities with a functional railway system. In East Africa, our fellows will help to facilitate financial inclusion for marginalized entrepreneurs without access to bank loans to start businesses. In other parts of the continent, they will be helping local farmers take their products to the global market.

In the words of Scott Beale – “Ideas and talents are evenly distributed around the world but opportunities are not.” As we all know, Africa used to be to be one of the spots of the world with limited opportunities, but this has changed. A change well captured by the Economist that described the continent as “Hopeless Africa” in 2000, to “Rising Africa” a decade after, and just as recent as March 2013 referring to the continent as the “Hopeful Continent.” Africa today is one of vast economic opportunities; with the unprecedented flow of foreign direct investments, diaspora remittances and development aid, the continent has successfully opened a new chapter, and has become “the world’s fast growing continent.”

But in order to reach its full economic potential, Africa needs more than money – it needs innovations. For the continent to translate its new wealth into enduring economic prosperity, this will require more than financial resources, it will require the specialized skills coming from within and outside of its borders. And this is the contribution LDI Africa brings to the arena of international service in Africa. LDI Africa is excited about these crystal-clear rays of hope the Economist talked about, but also recognizes the crucial role volunteer-service that is business driven can play in the development of the continent.

As I close, LDI Africa believes that nothing of consequence was achieved by working alone, we need a strong support system in order to succeed. As a result I am pleased to invite you today to be a part of our efforts. Once again, thank you very much for coming. I look forward to your questions and comments during the Q and A session.

2012: Opening the Borders of Africa

Today is Boxing Day, and as I join people around the world to celebrate, I probably also share in the mix feeling of apprehension and excitement that approaching the end of the year is famous for. Apprehension for ticking of the clock for goals we couldn’t hit in the year, and excitement for the possibilities in the coming year. As these thoughts flux in and out of me, I can’t also help thinking of Africa, and the auspicious moment its in. An era where its prolonged birth pangs is about to bring in a fresh start, and a new generation bracing for business, social and ultimately political leadership.

On Christmas Day 2011 Africans still groan in these birth pangs;
Terrorist attacks on churches during Christmas celebration in Nigeria.
Egypt still in volatility of post revolution riots.
Congo pre election violence still erupts, and many more across the continent.

Now with the vantage point of viewing the continent from the eye of a Diaspora, I realize how easy it is to see the continent from the position of weakness and not of strength, and not seeing its challenges as merely the inevitable birth pangs for a fresh start. Moving forward into 2012, and thinking about my role, and a quick audit of 2011; In 2010 my goal was to go beyond borders and thankfully in 2011 I was able to do business, work, live and even impact beyond the borders.

Counting some of my many blessings in 2011:
· Leading across borders; managing Atlas Corps Nonprofit Management Series with participation from 30 countries and a worldwide alumni network is truly a cross border experience.
· Inspiring audiences across borders; from my small social media boot camps in Lagos Nigeria to speaking at George Washington University on LinkedIn for nonprofits.
· Working with governments across borders; interfacing with United States Governments; the US Pentagon and DC state government. Attending the White House Nonprofit leadership Conference, and even a high level session with Ban Ki-moon the United Nations Secretary-General.
· Doing business across borders; my business plan on written regular papers with ink (without a laptop) in Lagos Nigeria was pitched to impact investors on Wall Street. Held Atlas Corps’ fundraising training inside American Express HQ in New York which for me was stepping into Corporate America.
· Found a church across the border; finding a spiritual home with the culture of that of your naitive country could be a challenging search. But thanks to God for leading me to Alpha course family of Jesus House DC, and the New Saints St Paul Baptist church.

These blessings could appear ordinary for some, but for me they are grandiose. I am thankful for the fruition of dreams now within my grasp and now in 2012, my one big goal and mission statement for the year is to Open the Borders of Africa for a free flow of service, work, business and innovation. Like the previous ones, I recognize this is audacious and the prognosis bleak but much more I recognize there is no stopping of an idea inspired for its time.

Afrobeat Culture

“Human behavior is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment” – Malcolm Gladwell

Living in another country truly can be transformative in many ways, and this is true for me as a Lagos man now living in Washington DC. In this blog post, I want to write about my social transformation to what I call an “Americanized African Culture” – Afrobeat Culture.

Afrobeat according to Wikipedia “is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals fused with percussion and vocal styles popularized in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to revolutionise musical structure as well as the political context in his native Nigeria. It was Kuti who coined the term "afrobeat" upon his return from a U.S. tour with his group Nigeria '70 (formerly Koola Lobitos). Afrobeat features chants, call-and-response vocals, and complex, interacting rhythms.”

Fela anonymous life in the US I think could have being the seeds for what will now emerge as a global culture of music and dance. By living in the US, Fela was able to probably experience an internal transformation, and a whole new appreciation and awareness of his native Nigeria and unique voice. Similar to many during this time, Fela left Nigeria only for Nigeria to find him, and Afrobeat to discover him in a foreign environment.

As I continue to experience living in the United States, I have also found a new appreciation and awareness for certain facets of Me, my native Nigeria, and particularly Afrobeat.

The Fela Shrine in Lagos is arguably the world’s number one source for authentic Afrobeat, though I was born and lived most of my life in Lagos, you will never catch me there!
Whenever I host international volunteers in Lagos, one of their desperate desires is the chance to see The Fela Shrine and dance Afrobeat, not even this take me there!
In fact, not only would you not catch me at The Shrine, you wouldn’t also find any piece of Afrobeat music on my playlist. This was me in Lagos Nigeria, having no association with anything Afrobeat.

Even as the FELA Show continues its nationwide tour in the US, and now world tour, giving every Nigerian a reason to be Proudly Nigerian, and Lagosian an incredible opportunity to brag, unfortunately, Afrobeat is not just my style, nor the Shrine a habitat I could fit in.

But every other day in DC is revealing a new me with a strange appreciation for Afrobeat music. Though you wouldn’t catch me in the Fela Shine Ikeja Lagos, you are sure to catch me almost every last Thursday at Bossa, Adams Morgan in DC dripping sweats from dancing to the hits of DJ Underdog. When not rocking to DJ Underdog’s version of Afrobeat at Bossa, its very likely you catch trying to recruit my converts to the next edition. Interestingly, at the just past Thanksgiving edition, I was able to take about 5 coverts with me to Bossa. What a transformation!

My attraction to Bossa is not just the music and dance though, it pretty deeper. It’s rather the fruition of seeds of an African idea that was incubated in the United States in the 70s and now in 2011 that has become a global phenomenon, even a budding fabric of the many American cultures. At Bossa, I am always in awe seeing American blacks, African blacks, Caribbean blacks and even Latino blacks reaching out of the confines of a known culture to what they consider as the authentically unifying black music and dance culture- the Afrobeat culture!

Navy Yard

Navy Yard Southwest Washington DC according to Wikipedia “currently serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the U.S. Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Historical Center, the Department of Naval History, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, Naval Reactors, Marine Corps Institute, the United States Navy Band, and numerous other naval commands”.

But to me, Navy Yard connotes a whole different meaning:

For five years I pursued an internship with the Naval Historical Center department of Navy Yard from Nigeria, and couldn’t get in. Not because the center was unwilling to offer me a placement or I wasn’t qualified enough, rather it was because of certain adversaries that resolutely contended with my stretch over an already flattened wall.

This professional opportunity at this time was the biggest thing that could happened to my career, as an undergraduate of history and international relations this was an excellent fit and the next logical step in taking my career global but adversaries would not let me cross beyond borders. My school wouldn’t, the embassy didn’t and my resources couldn’t. At the height of this contentions the vision to help people like me fenced out of basics (international internships) of academic/professional experience birthed the social enterprise I now lead – Landmark Development Initiative.

In an intriguing interview the visa consular said “you mentioned you are a social entrepreneur so why an internship at the Navy Yard?” without much thought I responded “everyone needs an entry into their global career….and this is mine”. She looked at me with an agreeing posture, and it seems for a second she was going to open the border but did not.

My inhibition to cross to Navy Yard at that time despite relentless leaps wouldn’t appeal to the social entrepreneur in me, rather I invited Navy Yard to Lagos Nigeria to speak to my university. Without a platform of my own, I began making rounds to every international organization that I know operate in Nigeria. While pitching for funding at the South African Embassy for the project, I was inspired to have a platform of my own since the school wasn’t keen to host Nary Yard.

As I stand today at the Navy Yard, every piece of it reminds me of how the pursuit for an internship in this every place would create the building blocks for my path in social entrepreneurship, and the priceless joy of creating this very same experience for the young and aspiring around the world. Today I come to the Navy Yard, Washington DC not as an Intern seemingly at the zenith of his professional goal, but as an Atlas Corps Fellow just getting ready for the global stage, breaking down transnational boundaries for those whose careers hinge on it.

This is what I see that stands Atlas Corps out from other programs; its multilateral, multinational, free flow of service. This is what I can see as my major contribution toward African Renaissance, and the very next big thing to the global development practice. As people cross borders through this fellowship in an ‘open-source’ fashion, the technology that holds back the remaining 2/3 portion of the world from being flattened is freely licensed to them. Like me, we realize that Navy Yard is not just exclusive to the United States; it is reproducible in every single part of the world even in Lagos Nigeria.

This is what Navy Yard means to me.

A Whole New Civilization

On April 1, 2011 shortly after concluding my very first training as the Atlas Corps Fellow serving in Atlas Corps as the training manager, I quickly headed to One Lounge DuPont Circle where I became engrossed in an interesting conversation with some African Americans on my American experience. This conversation was probably triggered by my conspicuous dressing (meant for the training), I had a proudly African attire on in a happy hour bar on a Friday evening. Just a mere looking around confirms I wasn’t appropriately dressed for that location.

“....and where are you from?” someone asked, “Nigeria I answered”, this response started a thrilling 3 hours stint chat on what my American experience has been, and ultimately the million dollar question “so what is your plan after the Fellowship?” “I will go back home” I said. These guys were probably stunned with the confidence wrapped around those words, and out of a disturbing curiosity they asked, “Why do you want to go back to Africa?”, “Why shouldn’t I” I answered. To further buttress my response, I stressed, “Isn’t the Unites State is just 1 country of out of about 200” why should I die in 1!

And for every other day I live here in the US, the Great Society speech by Lyndon B. Johnson, re-echoes:

“We have the power to shape the civilization that we want. But we need your will, your labour, your hearts, if we are to build that kind of society. Those who came to this land sought to build more than just a new country. They sought a new world.”

In these words I have found faith and fortitude to match forward towards that civilization I seek. Like the infamous Death Strip of the Berlin Wall, many have encountered their deaths at this very boundary I now see behind me. And now that I’ve gone beyond the border, what do I do?

I am taking with me new building blocks;
I am igniting ripples of hope for the aspiring;
I am realizing the prophesies of many; shaping out the civilization deeply lodged in their hearts.

This is what my description of the Atlas Corps Fellowship is – “a cross border experience where civilizations are hatched”. Through this experience I have come to uncover the genius of every great civilization:

The United States of America isn’t what we necessarily think of it as outside of its borders, Americans for centuries have been successfully aligning their vision for the country with global reality. Americans have been shaping the civilizations they want.

Even the Atlas Corps Fellowship isn’t different, for the past 5 years, the program has been conforming the world’s experience to its intended vision; Atlas Corps has been reshaping the conventional practice of international service; creating a new a whole new civilization within the development sphere.

Now that I am in this great country and a member of the incredible Atlas Corps team – I now have the power to shape a whole new civilization.

Let’s Stretch Our Hands across the World

I was in Nairobi Kenya when Zain changed to Airtel, I didn’t know whether curse or bless. Few hours prior to this, I was showering praises on their One Network service. An interesting rooming service that allows me use my Nigerian Zain line in Kenya without having to incur to the high tariff associated with rooming services. With the One Nework, I get to make calls in Kenya at local rates without charges on incoming calls.

This change of name was abrupt: ends an all night party at 11pm; it cuts short my feeling of excitement on the network. But not too long to this change, I stumble on yet another blessing from the network- a television advert featuring 2Face (Nigeria), Ali Kiba (Tanzania), Amani (Kenya), Navio (Uganda), JK (Zambia), Movaizhaleine (Gabon), Fally Ipupa (DRC), 4x4 (Ghana). These guys are Africa’s finest music artistes, and with R Kelly as a group they chorus – “stretch your hands across the world”. This instantly became an inspiration, building an upsurge of faith to once again take my enterprise vision global.

The timing couldn’t be more apt; in two weeks time I am off to Washington DC for the Atlas Corps Fellowship flying through London Heathrow Airport. As I fly into Washington Dulles, Ify Ogo, the newly appointed consultant for my enterprise operations will be flying into Nigeria from the very same London Heathrow. She will be coming back from an incredible interface with UK organizations on providing work opportunities for African’s young and aspiring development leaders, and in the coming weeks ahead, she will be repeating this process in Southern and East Africa. Ify will be stretching our shared vision of Landmark Internship International across the world.

As Ify stretches her hands wide, mine wouldn’t be hindered; I will be doing the same across in the East Coast on the United States and in subsequent months will stretch to Southeast Asia. And like the One8 team of Airtel network, Ify and I will be stretching our hands, the network of Landmark across the world.

This year crescendos my very many attempts of stretching my hands globally: back in the in day, there were no physical hands to stretch, like a baby in the womb, my hands were inward, and all I could was stretch my imagination. I worked with one of the world’s biggest travel agency for students, wistfully I oversee travel tickets sales to very part of the world – students resuming to schools abroad, youth going for exchange programs, and international volunteers coming into the country. This was not the only ordeal I put up with; I also had the uneasy task of pitching international travel products to potential clients of all categories and never evidence my inexperience to international travels. Yet, I’d always stretch my inward hands across the world.

From once infantile to now fully grown, I stretch my hands not just to the world but towards a Higher hand; the hands that stretch the heavens and the earth into being. With this partnership, I am confident the entire world is now within reach, I am confident my reach will exceed my grasps and I am confident many more aspiring hands will stretch across the world.

If you would, let’s stretch our hands across the world.