ALU Podcast

Our guest this week is Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, founder of LEAP Africa, Co-Founder of AACE Food Processing & Distribution, an indigenous Agro-processing company and the managing partner at Sahel Consulting which is focused on the agribusiness and nutrition landscapes in Africa. 

Ndidi shares how Africans can get involved in solving African problems like solving the food crisis on the continent.

Ndidi has served on numerous boards including the Rockefeller Foundation, AGRA, Nigerian Breweries Plc, the African Philanthropy Forum, AACE Foods, LEAP Africa. She is currently a fellow at the MRCBG Harvard Kennedy School where she is working on a new book - "Entrepreneurs Nourishing Africa's 2.4 Billion: Leveraging Innovation & Technology to Leapfrog."

Michael Abtar, founder and CEO of IG-SMART dives into the inner workings of Data Privacy and Protection and why it matters to every entrepreneur. Michael has offered privacy & security consultancy to leading brands. With most African coutries having data protection laws and many others in the process of doing so, support is readily available for businesses.

Michael shares more on how entrepreneurs can prepare to adapt to an ever evolving business environment and how to build a business that establishes trust in your customers and gives your business a competitive edge.

Tune in and learn how our guest this week, Aishetu Fatima Dozie turned her passion into purpose and established a full time business in cosmetics.  Aishetu Fatima Dozie is the Founder and CEO of Bossy Beauty, a women Cosmetics company. She is also the founder of Women HERstory Inc-  a series dedicated to showcasing successful African women.

We do not make our products differently, says Aishetu, rather it is how we approach women's beauty process that is different.

"With our products, we speak to women about the intersection of beauty and work. Yes,we do sell women beauty products clearly, but more than that, what we are selling is women empowerment."

A member of the Forbes Business Council, Aishetu has previously worked for Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank, Rand Merchant Bank. She holds a BA from Cornell University and a MBA from the Harvard Business School and participated in the Leaders in Development Program at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Michael Abtar, founder and CEO of IG-SMART dives into the inner workings of Data Privacy and Protection and why it matters to every entrepreneur. Michael has offered privacy & security consultancy to leading brands. With most African coutries having data protection laws and many others in the process of doing so, support is readily available for businesses. 

Michael shares more on how entrepreneurs can prepare to adapt to an ever evolving business environment and how to build a business that establishes trust in your customers and gives your business a competitive edge.

Sales is a leadership position and not a manipulation position. In this episode, our guest David Bonney, founder of HireToFit and BonneyPerformance, further explains the topic of sales using the pain-pleasure principal, where people take action to avoid pain or seek pleasure. He shares 4 things that help a prospect create clarity/outcomes in their lives that they would not have normally been able to achieve. Thus creating clarity in a cluttered mind. Sales is a conversation of helping people create a clarity that they need to choose to take action that will create the change that they want in their lives.

This week, we welcomed Ramatoulaye Diallo,  an award-winning leader with 22+ years of experience building up people and teams as an intrapreneur, an entrepreneur and an investor. As CEO at Orange Finances Mobiles Senegal coupled with industry experience in fintech, telecommunications, technology investment and e-commerce, she shares her incredible experience and insights about the future of cash, mobile money and the challenges of scaling in Africa given the fragmented financial infrastructure.

In this episode, our guest Dr. Gaidi Faraj the Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs at ALU and holds a PhD in African Diaspora Studies from University of California talks about the key role academic institutions play in nurturing entrepreneurs in Africa. He shares how ALU has the right systems in place to increase the students' capacity and knowledge skills and also give them mindsets and skill sets to build confidence and competence so that they leave as problem solvers and leaders.

Marketing is something every business needs to get customers but very often it is used as an after thought. In this episode, our guest Justin MacDonald Chief Marketing Officer at ALU and an established entrepreneur talks about how Marketing is actually Leadership. It involves thinking about humans, their emotions, and the outcomes we want to create. It’s a powerful tool to get your customers to know what they need to know to believe what they need to believe to do what they need to do. It influences behavior.

So if Marketing is Influence and Influence is Leadership. Then, Marketing is Leadership.

Have you ever wondered who are behind bringing you this juicy content each week? Well, tune in as we introduce the team behind the ALU Podcast and share our journey.