Dr Ola Brown Profile picture
Mar 8 20 tweets 3 min read
I have no advice this #IWD.

I am not going to tell you to "ask more" or to "carry yourself better" or to "learn how to negotiate" or to "network more" or to "learn more about investment" or "stop being so emotional" or my favourite bit of nonsense "stop fighting other women".
It's boring. It's repetitive and most importantly it enforces stereotypes that are NOT true.
The same Nigerian women abroad excel in politics.

If things don't change there will be a higher percentage of women of Nigerian heritage in British politics than even in Nigerian politics.
Because it seems to be that Nigerian women are finding it easier to grapple with racism abroad than sexism at home.
Women get so few political appointments. But their competence translates internationally. NOI; a Harvard grad, on the board of Twitter, then Head of WTO after being a leader at the world bank.
Aunty Obi, on the board of Nextford, started her own school of governance. After being Minister.
Mobola Johnson left government to become partner of the Africa's largest venture capital firms.
Arumna Oteh left SEC to become academic faculty at Oxford University
The bar is typically (not always) so much higher for them. Nigeria has one of the highest percentages of female entrepreneurs in the entire world.

So today, I am proud of the amazing Nigerian women. Don't let anyone gaslight you and let you that the problem is you. Its them.
The only thing I will plead with you that when you see laws or guidelines that want to introduce quotas for women in leadership vote for them as that's the fastest way to get women into leadership positions.
The only think I will plead with you is that when you see laws or guidelines setting quotas for women for access to finance, public sector positions or private sector leadership. Support the quotas.
Quotas are the fastest way to get women into leadership. Men know this!! That's why my state Ekiti even though it makes up less than 1% of the Nigerian population MUST have a ministerial post and elected representatives in Abuja.

Otherwise our interests maybe overlooked.
Worried about tokenism? Don't be. Look outside. Obviously the men that have been leading us since that are "not tokens" haven't gotten us very far.
Plus this entire economy is based around tokenism. Quotas are embedded in our constitution. All quotas for female leaders will do will make the leadership of Nigeria represent the demographics of the country better.
Rwanda has the highest number of female political appointees and parliamentarians in Africa. It also is one of the best performing countries on nearly every single developmental metric in Africa.

THIS IS NOT A CO-INCIDENCE
President Kagame is someone that actually genuinely from his heart wants his country to move forward and has delivered tangible results.

He is also extremely strategic and focused. Nothing is by accident.

Why do you think he appointed so many women?
I know Rwandan women. I actually call Rwanda my second country because we have so much in common.
They are hardworking, focused, well educated, assertive, skilled & opinionated.

What they have that we lack is access and opportunity.
"Power is not served a la carte"

For here?
Power is taken? For here?

No. Power, access and opportunity are continually served al la cart

Given to people, usually men, who don't have the level of competence/work ethic required to get us to the next level.
Quotas will not only move women forward. But more the economy and the country forward.

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More from @NaijaFlyingDr

Jan 30
I know people would rather look at the "violence". But OO is making a point about things that have actually happened in the ecosystem.

I don't believe Jason was endorsing that behaviour at all. But these things have happened.
Not at all common. The vast majority of founders are honest and straightforward , but what OO is talking about isn't hearsay.
There are actually three main variations of this behaviour.

1. Free rider problem. This is mainly due to the flood of inexperienced investors/small angels. Actually more the fault of the investors than the founders.
Read 19 tweets
Jan 29
I actually had a long conversation on whatsapp after Jason published that thread because Jason is someone I know. And I can vouch for his integrity anywhere....even Antarctica.

So I reached out to understand exactly what he meant. My interpretation is as follows. #Thread
1. On Focus
Many of the start ups that have grown exponentially in America would have not done so if targeted solely for the African Market because of the limited amount of disposable income.
Therefore I understood the "focus" point to mean that one may have to convince American investors around a strategy of "wide" as well as deep.
Read 22 tweets
Jan 3
Basically set up the space to talk about the three main categories of advice I see asked about in my dms....which I can never really reply because the answers would really depend on the person's circumstances
But before I started addressing them I decided to talk about my own career journey especially recently when I started interviewing high net worth entrepreneurs ($100m+) in Nigeria and abroad
I was kind of disappointed by what I learned. Because I wanted a blueprint and what I heard where really stories that highlighted luck, trends & coincidences rather than skill.

Of course there was hardwork involved , in most, only a few more hrs than a regular person puts it.
Read 22 tweets
Jan 1
Why cooking is actually a microeconomic issue according this new article by the @TheEconomist

#Thread.
Households’ choices about whether to make their own food or to buy it premade are shaped not only by the upfront cost of those things.

They also depend on what economists call “shadow costs”.
The true cost of an at-home meal involves not just the outlay for the ingredients, but the time spent on shopping and preparation. In an era of low female labour-force participation, shadow costs were low.
Read 6 tweets
Dec 26, 2021
The media is designed to tell the public what to think about world issues and stories that affect a significant portion of society.
From newspapers to magazines to TV shows and movies; an image of what the world should supposedly be like is implanted into the subconscious mind of the viewer.
Over 90% of the stories we hear, are told by men. No wonder the world is so unequal.
Read 4 tweets
Dec 26, 2021
Finance is actually as diverse as medicine in terms of specialities. Just like a physician is unlikely to be able to do a surgeons job. Your account officer in UBA is unlikely to be able to run a private equity fund.
Some specialise in VC, some PE, some sovereign debt, some project finance, some banking operations, others banking supervision, some trade finance.
Even not all PE people can understand VC transactions.

So asking someone that does microlending to lead a billion dollar, loan syndication with multiple institutions cannot work.
Read 4 tweets

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