I had first written this article over a month ago and then I shelved it right after. I’ve known from experience that the best time for me to write is right after the flash of inspiration hits me. But on this particular day, when the idea came to me, I was lying in the arms of my beloved while she stroked my hair. I told myself she was going to be leaving in a few hours anyway and I could always write then.
Boy, was I wrong. She stayed more than a few hours; and when she left I realised that not only was she stroking my hair, she was also stroking my sense away.
By the time I sat down to write, all the words and phrases that had formed in my head hitherto weren’t there. I wrote something that didn’t reflect what I wanted to really say. So I shelved it.
The death of Pa’a Kadji Defosso brought some fresh perspective and this article should have been published already were it not for the series I was doing on African queens.
And so here we are.
Tyler Perry said something on the Daily Show when he was being interviewed by Trevor Noah. He said, “ownership is the key to generational wealth.” For those who know the song ‘The Story of O.J’ by Jay Z, the same thematic is approached. These are basically wealth management advice where we are told to invest in things that appreciate and gain value over time and pass these on to our children. Things like land, buildings, artwork… you name it.
I like to think even intangibles like knowledge, good reputation, and social currency can constitute generational wealth.
In Africa, they say when an old man dies he takes library along. I like to see that particular library as being intrinsically a form of generational wealth too. Sure, the world around us has changed a whole lot and the realities of the world as it were in the 1950s is quite tangential to what the world is today. But I like to think that despite all of this, we as humans have not changed. Our basic instincts and social interactions have not changed much.
Fact: Did you know that people, when they get defensive, usually cross their arms? It’s an ancient instinct we formed and kept throughout evolution from Australopithecus to Homo Sapiens, the belly being the most vulnerable part of every animal. It’s also why your stomach tightens when you are gripped by fear. Like I said, we haven’t changed much.
And so I like to think that when it comes to doing business, our basic instincts are still the same. For example, you could tell if someone was bulls****ing you about a product in 1940 just as much as you can tell today.
Now, it may seem like I am rambling, but I am getting to my point. Bear with me.
One of the things I can’t stand with Cameroonians is the idiocy behind how we jealously guard knowledge. I’ve never understood why Cameroonians treat knowledge as if it were the Coca-cola formula.
Let me give you one real example.
I was watching one of those bogus presidential debates on TV a few weeks ago between Cabril Libii and one of the CPDM minions. My apologies to his children if they read this and feel offended. I couldn’t come up with a better word. Now Cabral Libii makes an argument and gives a figure/statistic. It was administrative language and so my French doesn’t stretch that far.
The CPDM man denies these figures and says they are not correct. Cabral Libii then asks Mr. Parti Du Flambeau to give the right figure and the minion replies “je ne donne pas.”
Now, although this may seem like a puerile response given by someone caught in the ropes of an argument with no way out, it captures perfectly the way we treat information and to a greater extent, knowledge in Cameroon. Try going to a ministry or some public office and ask for information, even the one that is of the public domain, and the guarded response you will get is “Vous voulez faire quoi avec?”
But let me get to the main subject; the one in the title. Our billionaires.
One of the things that have always intrigued me about many of our billionaires is how they came into wealth. If you count the footballers out, most of what we know about them are rumours. There may be some truth in it, there may be not, but how do we know which is which?
It is something which has always led me to think that quite a number of those whom we have hailed as astute businessmen and who have generational wealth today perhaps didn’t always come into it by building it up brick by brick. I tend to think that there must have been a thrust somewhere. Why, you ask?
BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW THEIR STORIES!
And by 'story' I mean what have they passed on to us. Yes, their families will keep the houses and estates and the businesses and the fat bank accounts but where do the rest of us stand? What do we get from what falls off from their tables? I am simply talking about inspiration.
I like to tell people that we live in a skills economy. It has never been this easy to acquire skills and knowledge. And this has brought onto us a wave of entrepreneurs. The internet has been the greatest revolution of the last 50 years. And as more people acquire skills, so is there a need for the people who can guide them and help them get on the right path; either by providing good advice or by providing financial capital. So, my question is…
Where are our billionaires?
Why aren’t they talking to us? Why aren’t they holding our hands? Why aren’t they telling us that this wave of entrepreneurship is also a big lie because as seductive being your own boss may sound, entrepreneurship really isn’t for everyone?
Why aren’t they inspiring us?
If there is one I admire about American billionaires and even millionaires, it is that they like to go out there and share their experiences with the public. How often have we seen them at TED talks and at university campuses, doing Q&As with students and talking about their businesses and giving out tips to the next generation of leaders?
How many times have you read an article about a new Startup that is doing so well and then the owner(s) would talk about how they met so-and-so billionaire during so-and-so conference and they got inspired?
Did you know one of LinkedIn’s founders, Reid Hoffman, runs a well-produced podcast called “Masters Of Scale” where he features other billionaires and businessmen to talk about their secrets of success in various topics of business ranging from ‘How To Price Your Products to Scale’ to How To Kill Your Bad Business Idea.’? And all that content is free!
I won’t lie to you guys, if Fotso Victor walked past me today, I wouldn’t know it were him. I honestly do not know what the man looks like. Who is he? Where did he come from? What’s his story? How did he start? When did he have his first break? How did he balance family and work? How did his thriving business affect his personal relationships? Who were his partners? How did they contribute to his success? What is his advice for investment? What is his view for the future?
Again, here we are faced with the coca-cola paradox.
I personally do not think that it’s enough that these men and women build factories and open football schools. Employing people and paying them salaries can only go so far. Which one of their life lessons can they share with these to help them build wealth just like you they have done and passed on to their children as well, or at the very least can help these people make better investments, even if it means opening a fruit stand as a second hustle.
Kadji Defosso is gone. And with him a whole library of business knowledge. He lived longer than Warren Buffet. Go to google and type “Warren Buffet quotes.” Now, insert Kadji’s name and tell me what comes up.
My people have a saying. They say “money is like a bird on a tree. If you make too much noise, it might fly away.”
I want to think the opposite. You can still have the formula for Coca-Cola and inspire someone else to open a brewery that co-exists alongside coke.
We need more sharers and fewer minions.
- Wandji Wilfred.