In Genesis 23, the Bible teaches how to negotiate business contracts to buy an asset
Abraham's wife Sarah has died in a foreign land, and Abraham decides to bury her there; thus, he needs land. As a foreigner, Abraham had no claim to any land; he decided to buy
In Genesis 23:3, Abraham goes to the elders at the gate where contracts are made & offers to buy land; he is counter-offered to take any grave for free.
Abraham insists on paying for land (not a grave) & eventually is given land for free. Abraham persists in paying & does
1. Do your due diligence.
Abraham asked for land, not a grave; he wanted more than a tomb.
JP Morgan wanted to get into the student loan with $1.6t in loan volume, So it bought a website but actually wanted the website's list of customers.
Customers' numbers were false.
2. Know what you are buying
Abraham, in Gen 23:7, knew exactly where the piece of land he wanted was (with a cave at the end of a field). He knew the owner.
It's not enough to want to buy a house, but what location? Who were the previous owners? What improvements were made etc
3. Make offers via legal channels.
Abraham went openly to the elders at the place of legal contracts to ask them to make a representation on his behalf to the owner. Gen 23:7
When making a big-ticket transaction, use professional advisers or agents to "intercede" with owners.
4. The owner offered Abraham the land and grave for free, but Abraham insisted on paying. Why? Well, legal contracts must have consideration.
Abraham wanted no issues; he negotiated in the open with the elders and paid in "cash", thus securing an uncontestable legal deed.
5. Have your financing in place. Do not offer to buy without first securing funding.
Abraham mentions "full price" in verse 9; he was ready to pay.
Don't bid like Investment International London Limited (IILL) for NITEL without financing locked up.
To summarize
1. Do your due diligence, check titles etc. 2. Know exactly what you want to buy 3. Use professional agents, especially for large transactions. 4. Transact openly and legally. 5. Pay consideration. 6. Secure funding.
I remember being in Abuja when a President allowed corruption to reign because they wanted to "get" someone.
It was open stealing.
An MDA got their budget allocation; the entire Capital and Recurrent budget allocation was divided as cash and shared according to rank.
I was not yet in Abuja when the Military decided to have Military men as Senators. Yes, The Army, Navy and Airforce would nominate serving officers as Senators.
The office, cash, and cars were shared according to rank when that crumbled. Its Government money
I have seen budgetary allocations for a Minisrty with pencil earmarks i.e. "This project for xxx, that project for xxx.
The Nigerian budgets are designed to share cash to the elite.
Aides doctor Senator's appropriations and add theirs; if it passes, aides get cash.
In Genesis 41:1, the pharaoh had two strange dreams, he knew they were important, but no one could explain the meaning of the dreams, not even his highly-paid advisers. Finally, the Pharoah was advised about your man in jail who could help.
In Gen 41:25, Joseph was able to interpret the dream of the Pharoah, and through that integration and recommendations to the pharaoh he became the Prime Minister of Egypt....from Jail
The Bible does not tell us the name of the Pharoah whilst Joseph was there, but historians say Joseph was bought to Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos, this week I want to talk about that Pharoah, and what lessons we can learn from his actions and relations with Joseph.
So how did Solomon get so rich? Did God give him the gold? Well, not exactly; let's explore how
1. Sales Taxes, Customs Duties and Assessments; Solomon got the gold from taxing his distant income-earning subsidiaries. This is passive income. 1 King 10.15
2. Consultancy; Solomon monetized his knowledge and got paid to give advice, just like the Boston Consulting Group. Solomon got paid in gold and Silver, amongst others. 1 Kings 10.20
Queen of Sheba paid him 4 tonnes of gold, about $233m for his knowledge.
98% of Nigerian women were left out of the formal credit market, unable to secure loans from formal financial institutions like banks. Women's lack of borrowing power was largely attributed to low education and limited decision-making power.
Young women aged between 18 & 25 performed better than their male counterparts on various indicators, including account activity and borrowing. In 2021, the percentage of Nigerian women with a financial account in any formal institution rose to 35%, the highest in 10 years.
Generationally, the younger Nigerian females are more assertive and in control of their finances.
For instance, the MTN Nigeria Public offer subscription was led overwhelmingly by young Nigerian women.