The appearance of Victor Nwokeji, Executive Vice Chairman of Zotmann International Limited and Zotmann Mining Limited, at the London Stock Exchange carries a message that extends beyond mining: Nigerian businesses must raise their ambitions, embrace originality and build enterprises capable of competing globally.
For generations, Nigerian entrepreneurs, particularly within the Igbo trading tradition, have built wealth through buying, selling and distribution. Their courage, commercial instincts and apprenticeship systems have created livelihoods, supported families and transformed towns into thriving commercial centres.
That achievement deserves recognition. But it must also become the foundation for the next stage of growth.
The business model that brought us this far should give us the confidence to advance further.
The world is moving rapidly. Technology is changing markets, customers are demanding more, and younger entrepreneurs are entering business with fresh ideas and new ways of operating. Established business owners cannot afford to remain in the same position simply because it has become comfortable.
Experience gives us an advantage only when we continue to learn and apply it. Yesterday’s success does not guarantee tomorrow’s relevance.
As younger people enter the markets we helped build, our response should be to advance into new opportunities, develop stronger enterprises and create room for the next generation. A trader can become a manufacturer. A manufacturer can become an exporter. A local enterprise can grow into a regional business and, eventually, a global company.
We must keep moving forward. Comfort is useful for rest; it is a dangerous place to build a permanent business strategy.
That progress also requires a stronger culture of originality.
Too often, once an entrepreneur demonstrates that an idea can succeed, others rush to reproduce it without adding anything meaningful. The same product, the same service and the same approach appear everywhere, sometimes with lower standards and unsustainable prices. The result can be a crowded market in which quality suffers, customers lose confidence and the person who invested in developing the idea struggles to recover that investment.
Copying alone is a weak foundation for lasting success. It encourages businesses to fight over existing value while neglecting the opportunity to create more.
There is nothing wrong with learning from another entrepreneur. Businesses everywhere build on existing knowledge. But the responsibility is to make a meaningful contribution: improve the product, solve an overlooked problem, serve a neglected customer, reduce waste, strengthen quality or introduce a better process.
If an idea inspires you, improve it. Give customers a reason to choose you beyond being a cheaper imitation.
The questions should be practical: What can I do better? What need remains unmet? What can I create that others have not considered? How can my business expand the opportunity for everyone involved?
An entrepreneur who develops a promising idea deserves fair competition. Competitors should raise the standard through better execution and fresh thinking, while respecting the work and reputation that others have built.
Nigeria needs more people willing to pioneer, experiment and invest in ideas whose value may take time to prove. We also need partnerships that bring complementary strengths together. One entrepreneur may understand the market, another may have technical expertise, and another may provide capital or distribution. Working together can achieve far more than several businesses copying the same model and weakening one another.
This spirit of innovation must guide our transition from trading to production.
Nigeria and much of Africa possess substantial natural resources. Yet too much of the opportunity associated with those resources is realised elsewhere: raw materials leave the continent, are processed abroad and return as higher-value products.
We must capture more of that value through processing, manufacturing, technology, logistics and export.
Mining illustrates the opportunity clearly. Extracting minerals is the beginning. Processing and refining them, and supplying materials that support manufacturing, can create additional businesses, skilled employment and industrial capacity.
Zotmann’s investment in mining, alongside its plans to expand into processing and manufacturing, reflects this broader ambition: building more of the value chain around Africa’s resources.
The same thinking applies to the local entrepreneur.
An importer can explore local assembly or production. A distributor can develop a manufacturing partnership. An agricultural trader can invest in processing, packaging and branded products. A business supplying minerals can consider opportunities in beneficiation, refining and industrial inputs.
Each step requires careful planning, expertise and investment. But each also creates an opportunity to build a stronger business and retain more economic value locally.
The London Stock Exchange engagement brings another requirement into focus: ambition must be supported by credibility.
Access to international investors and partnerships requires more than a promising idea. Businesses must develop sound governance, reliable accounts, transparent operations, capable management and a clear commercial strategy.
Trust is earned through how a company operates, honours its commitments and accounts for its performance.
A business founded in Aba, Onitsha, Lagos, Kano or any other Nigerian commercial centre should be able to aspire to serve customers across Africa and beyond. Its place of origin should provide identity and strength, while its standards make it competitive wherever it operates.
Our apprenticeship tradition can help drive this transformation. Alongside trading skills, the next generation should learn product development, manufacturing, technology, financial management and international commerce. We should equip them to build on what previous generations achieved and take it further.
Nigeria’s entrepreneurial energy is one of its greatest strengths. The task now is to direct more of that energy towards original ideas, productive investment and businesses built to last.
Our resources should support our industries. Our industries should create skilled jobs. Our ideas should become products, services and brands that can compete across borders.
The challenge is clear: create something worthwhile, improve what already exists, and keep advancing.
The future will reward entrepreneurs who have the courage to leave familiar ground, the discipline to build credible businesses and the imagination to offer the world something better.
Dr Rex Ibegbu
Lagos
