“Abia State governor, Alex Otti, thrilled audience at the recently concluded Invest Lagos 3.0 Business Seminar, where he made it clear, Abia under his watch has already significantly sorted the challenge of infrastructures like roads, transportation and power with an Airport under construction, additional seaport underway and a disciplined administrative workforce for an entrepreneurial population
Njoku SaintJerry A (ED) / Emenike Emmanuel C.
Before Otti told investors that he needs them in the area of healthcare, he made them understand that roads, transportation and power have been significantly sorted and the Abia Airport is under construction.
The Lagos State Government led by His Excellency Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently invited the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti to be a part of his investment summit, Invest Lagos 3.0.
Invest Lagos 3.0 is a major investment summit hosted by the Lagos State Government in partnership with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC).
The primary goal of the investment summit is to position Lagos as Africa’s premier commercial hub and gateway to global trade by connecting international investors directly with government policymakers.
Otti was invited to introduce the new Abia under his leadership to a team of American, European, Asian and African investors at the event, and his response reminded once again that Abia indeed has got a leader that is committed and purposeful in rebuilding the once dysfunctional south east commercial hub.
Here’s a breakdown of what he said and the lessons you can learn from them as a business owner and a resourceful politicians:
Governor Alex Otti presented Abia’s 25-year development plan and explained how his administration is focusing on power, transportation, and road infrastructure to make business activities easier and more efficient.
In less than eight minutes, he sold the Abia vision to investors and openly invited them to key sectors such as healthcare and the industrial zones already taking shape across the state.
He also stated that Abia plans to eventually disconnect from the national grid, with local governments developing their own independent power sources.
1 — Otti marketed Abia to the right audience while acknowledging the privilege of the invitation extended to him by his host first.
As an individual business person, Never de-market your host while marketing yourself
Right there on the stage, he reassured His Excellency, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Governor that he won’t de-market his State while marketing Abia.
This is something we all must learn.
Know who your competitors are. Everybody is not your competitor. Some of you are competing with your helper. You want to compete with someone you should be grateful to and possibly partner with.
The program is captioned, Invest Lagos 3.0, meaning, it was strictly designed for Lagos and Lagos alone but in the magnanimity of Mr Sanwo-Olu, he extended the opportunity to Governor Alex Otti to come and market his own State.
Abia State is NOT a rival State to Lagos State and Lagos is NOT a rival State to Abia.
2 — Learn to market yourself
Dr Alex Otti was given only 4 minutes to speak. Even though it was a short time to fully sell the Abia brand to the world, to my greatest surprise, he did justice to that within the allotted time.
He mentioned the key areas where Abia State needs foreign and local investments.
He emphasized what his administration has done so far to make the state investment-friendly.
He mentioned the mind-blowing impact his administration has made in roads, healthcare, transportation and power.
As an adult and especially as a business owner, you must have your pitch ready at all times.
If you bump into an investor in the elevator and he demands that you make your pitch in a minute or two for a grant of $1M, are you sure you will know what to say? Are you sure? Or you will ask him to give you time to prepare and get back to him?
Every day, you are selling yourself (your brand) knowingly or knowingly.
3 — Tell people what will benefit them
Dr Alex Otti understands sales and marketing to the core.
In business, your sales message is crap if you can’t show people how your product will benefit them.
He began his pitch by telling investors that Abia State has the two most important things every big investor looks at before investing in a particular location:
— Population and
— Market
He added that this population isn’t just a random kind of population but an entrepreneurial population.
What does that signal to investors?
“If I invest in this State, I can find a lot of entrepreneurs who can work with me.”
Period!
An intrapreneur is an employee within an established company who adopts an entrepreneurial mindset.
If you are lucky to have intrapreneurs as 70% of your employees, the speed at which your company will grow will be astronomical. When you get them, never lose them.
Such employees take the business as their own. They take full ownership of the company and its assets. They take initiative.
Dr Alex Otti made them understand the opportunities waiting for them in Abia State. Abia is not a civil service State. In Abia, even civil servants are also business owners.
4 — Be proud of what you’ve done
Some of you still think that blowing your trumpet makes you an arrogant person.
No, that’s not true.
What you’ve done is your scorecard with which your investors will judge you.
Even David in the Bible presented his credentials to King Saul when he had the privilege to meet him.
Before Dr Alex Otti finally told investors that he needs them in the area of healthcare, he made them understand that roads, transportation and power have been significantly sorted out and the Abia Airport is under construction.
In the history of Nigeria today, no State comes close to Abia in these 3 things. The overwhelming population of Lagos State is making it extremely difficult for the effort of the government to be significantly seen in these 3 areas (roads, transportation and power).
Don’t go to an investor empty-handed. If you need $10 million from investors, you should be able to show them how you’ve been able to bootstrap.
Investors love bootstrappers.
Who wouldn’t love someone who put in his own money, time and energy to prove that he believes in the brand and the vision? Who?
If you have to sell your car, lands, smartTV, and houses to prove that you believe in your vision, do it.
By allocating 15% of the State’s budgets in the last 3 years to healthcare, Dr Alex Otti proved to the world that indeed he truly needs investors in that sector and would maximize every dime he receives from them.
A man who acquired 200 hectares of land for the development of a Medical City in Abia State and went an extra mile to clear it and build the road so he will end foreign medical tourism in Nigeria is definitely not joking. If given the $1.3 billion he’s asking for from investors, I’m 100% sure he will complete it before leaving office in 2031.
There’s a whole lot to learn as a business owner from that 4 minutes pitch but let me stop here.
When a man who owns his template is talking, the best you can do is to listen beyond what he’s saying and pick up business lessons for yourself. I just did and felt like sharing them with you.
Original story by — Emenike Emmanuel C.with additional excerpt from Njoku Jerry A
