Thread by @tayooye

#2020Vision - Frugality/minimalism.

Last year at the Cannes festival:

Night 1.
Went out with a group of GLOBAL CEOs. Average bill €50.

Night 2.
Went out with a group of AFRICAN CEOs (similar restaurant). Average bill €150.

African big man = 3X the burn rate vs global peers.

The average African feels that he needs to buy expensive things to show that he is successful.

The show (in showbusiness) is probably more important than the business.

My good friend @feyiolubodun has a book, The Villager, that discusses this phenomenon in detail.

This conspicuous consumption lifestyle holds us back. It steals the capital we could use to grow our asset base and transfers it to the coffers of luxury brand makers.

We are giving our futures to Gucci and Moet while the continent languishes in penury.

We all need to do better

How to do better:

1. Meet your needs and the needs of the people you're responsible for.

2. Save and invest the balance.

3. Use your investment proceeds to make a difference in your community.

Stop enriching Gucci.

Instead, make Ojuelegba, Alexandria, and Kibera great again.

I don't know Dangote. But I am close to one of his friends and he told me that the richest black man in the world drives a Corolla around Lagos on most days.

He is comfortable in his own skin and doesn't need a Bentley for validation.

You're not the brand you wear or drive.