Friday 30 September 2011

11 ways to make money through property


When Monica Norley and her partner began making soap in their Hastings kitchen in 2005, she could only dream that one day she's be supplying Waitrose. Five years on, The Visionary Soap Company now employs six people and saw its sales double last year. She's anticipating that sales will jump again this year, with a deal to sell through the supermarket chain and Ocado in the offing, and Oxfam stores have agreed to add the soap to its range of Fair Trade products.
Norley's story suggests that reports of the death of manufacturing in Britain may be rather premature. Many companies are enjoying a boom in trade with a record number of manufacturers taking on new employees towards the end of 2010, according to the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) and accountancy firm BDO.
Exports are strengthening too, helped by the fall in sterling against other major currencies. The Office for Budget Responsibility projects a 6.9% growth in exports in 2011 and a 7.1% increase in 2012.
But if you are a budding Sir James Dyson, how do you start? There's now an enormous amount of information online, for example the government's Business Link website first for tips on resources you can access and how to put together a business plan.

Saturday 24 September 2011

Susan Mashibe




Born: Kigoma,Tanzania,
Company: TanJet,
Position: Founder & Executive Director,
Industry: Aviation & Aerospace,
Country: Tanzania

Susan Mashibe is the founder and executive director of Tanjet, an international Fixed Base operations service, providing logistical support for corporate, diplomatic, and private jets. TanJet  is the first company of its kind in Tanzania and has transformed the way business aviation operates in East Africa. Tanjet’s clients include Heads of State, monarchs, Fortune 500 executives, celebrities, and military flights. She founded Tanjet in 2003.
Ms. Mashibe is also the owner of Kilimanjaro Aviation Logistic Center, a company that processes landing and overflight clearances for private jets throughout the African continent.
Ms. Mashibe was recently recognized by World Economic Forum as a 2011 Young Global Leader. The honor recognizes up to 200 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.
She was also recognized as a Fortune Most Powerful Women Mentee, Tanzania women of Achievement Award, Women in Aviation Int'l Achievement Award and Archbishop Tutu Fellowship.
She’s a Undergrad, Aviation, Western Michigan University. FAA certified commercial pilot and aircraft maintenance engineer, first female with such qualifications in Tanzania

Friday 23 September 2011

Arnold W. Donald






Company: The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF), Merisant Company
Industry: Research, Manufacturer
Position: President and Chief Executive Officer (JDRF)
Founder, Chairman 2000 - 2005 (Merisant)
Country: United States

On December 21, 2005 The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF), the largest charitable funder of diabetes research in the world, named Mr. Donald as President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Donald was Chairman (2000 -2005) and Chief Executive Officer (2000 - 2003) of Merisant Company, whose products include leading global tabletop sweetener brands Equal andCanderel. Merisant, formed in March 2000, is committed to the growing global need for health, nutritional, and lifestyle products based on science and technology. The company's 600 employees make and market high-value products in more than 130 countries worldwide.
When he was running Monsanto's $4 billion agriculture business, Donald persuaded the company to sell him its Equal division. Merisant, the $400 million company he founded in St. Louis, is now the undisputed leader in the artificial sweetener market. Donald also runs a $350 million VC fund that backs new life-science and biotech companies.
Mr. Donald received a BA degree from Carleton College, a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. In 1997, Mr. Donald was named Executive of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine; in 1998, he received the Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award; in 1999, he received the Eagle Award from the National Eagle Leadership Institute; and in 2000 he received the Black Engineers President's Award. In July 2002, Fortune Magazine named Mr. Donald #17 on their list of "The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America".
Prior to assuming leadership of Merisant, Mr. Donald was a senior executive at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, MO. He joined Monsanto in industrial chemical sales in 1977 and worked in ever more challenging and responsible roles in his 20 plus years with that company. In January 1998, he was appointed Senior Vice-President of the corporation with worldwide responsibility in areas that include the company's growth, globalization, and technology initiatives. Prior to that, Mr. Donald was President of the $4 billion plus agricultural sector, overseeing three years of tremendous growth and marked by the successful introduction and commercialization of Monsanto's first crop protection products resulting from modern plant biotechnology. He was recognized by the agricultural industry as Agri-Marketer of the Year in 1996.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Adenike Ogunlesi




Company: Ruff 'n' Tumble
Position: Founder, CEO
Industry: Apparel
Country: Nigeria


Adenike Ogunlesi is the founder of Ruff 'n' Tumble, a childrens clothing line in Nigeria. From a tiny shop with her and her mother as the main staff, Adenike aka Nike turned Ruff 'n' Tumble into an instantly recognizable brand. She has built a reputation for being one of the best manufacturers of children's clothing in Nigeria.

"My kids ran out of pajamas. And I used to make clothing for women. So I decided that I'd just make some pajamas for my kids. "

In her second year as an undergraduate law student at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Adenike opted out of school unsure of what to do with her life. She then reluctantly accepted her mother's invitation to work in her womens tailor shop. That experience helped her to discover who she was and what she wanted to do.

"I started in 1996, I was selling from the back of my car, I was selling at bazaars. Everywhere, there was a bazaar, I was there, my table and my suit case, my children and sometimes even my husband. So it all started then."

Today Ruff 'N' Tumble is a thriving business with 50 employees and distribution along the West African coast.

"We don't export now. Export to the West African coast, yes, all along the West African coast, yes, but to say, America or to England, I'm not interested in it at all. If 40 percent of the 120 million people in Nigeria are children, I have the potential of a huge market here."

Adenike was featured in the Africa Open for Business documentary and was recognized as the FATE Foundation Model Entrepreneur in 2005
.

Monday 19 September 2011

Ursula M. Burns


Born: New York, New York, September 20, 1958
Company: Xerox Corporation
Position: Chairman and CEO
Industry: Printing and Imaging Equipment
Country: United States


Ursula Burns, former president of Xerox Corporation, was named by the board to succeed Anne Mulcahy as chief executive officer effect July 1, 2009 and assumed the role of chairman of the company on May 20, 2010.
She is the first black woman to head a Fortune 500 company. According to Xerox, this is also the first time a female chief executive has replaced another female chief executive at a Fortune 500 company.
Burns was ranked 27th on FORTUNE magazine's ninth annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.
Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer intern. She subsequently held several positions in engineering, including product development and planning. In June 1991 she became the executive assistant to Paul A. Allaire, then Xerox chairman and chief executive officer.
From 1992 through 2000, Burns led several business teams, including the office color and fax business, office network copying business and the departmental business unit.
In May 2000, she was named senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Services, and was named president of Xerox Business Group Operations in 2002. She was appointed an officer of the company in 1997 and named a corporate senior vice president in 2000.
In April 2007, Burns was named president of Xerox, expanding her leadership to also include the company's IT organization, corporate strategy, human resources, corporate marketing and global accounts. At that time, she was also elected a member of the company's Board of Directors. 

Burns received a bachelor of science degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York in 1980 and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in 1981.

She serves on professional and community boards, including American Express, Boston Scientific Corp., CASA - Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, National Association of Manufacturers, University of Rochester, and the Rochester Business Alliance.

Saturday 17 September 2011

blackentrepreneurs: Angela Samuels

blackentrepreneurs: Angela Samuels: Company: Voluptuous Clothing Position: Founder/CEO Industry: Fashion, Retail Country: Canada Angela Samuels is the Fo...

Angela Samuels


Company: Voluptuous Clothing
Position: Founder/CEO
Industry: Fashion, Retail
Country: Canada

Angela Samuels is the Founder and CEO of the Toronto based retail chain Voluptuous Clothing, a store that caters to women sizes 14 to 24. The first Voluptuous was opened at North York Sheridan Mall in May 2001, followed by Dufferin Mall in May 2002, Scarborough Town Centre in June 2003 and the Vaughan Mills was launched on November 4, 2004.
Growing up as a minority and one of six children in the rough Toronto neighbourhood of Jane and Finch, Samuels felt acutely unsure about her chances of succeeding in life. But as a young woman, the drive to survive which had served her growing up kicked in. She would eventually use what she learned from her childhood challenges to improve both her life and the lives of many others.
Angela work as a plus-sized model for three years doing runway shows for designers such as Brian Bailey as well as catalogue and flyer work for stores such as Sears, Wal-Mart and Zellers.She then pursued her studies in the Child and Youth Care Worker program first at Centennial College and then George Brown College. Working with young offenders, Angela observed how, with women, much of their low self-esteem was tied to their appearance. If they couldn’t find ways to look good, she reasoned, then how could they feel better about themselves?
"I saw a lot of younger girls who were bigger and I realized that they grow up thinking they're different than everyone else, that they’re not a part of society because they're not a size three," Samuels says. "I thought that if I could empower them with the self-esteem they need, maybe they would look at life differently and have a better chance to become successful."
She said she chose the name Voluptuous for her company because, "I wanted something that said "positive," and something that said "sexy." And I figured, okay, there's a word for small, which is "petite." And it sounds proper. It sounds nice. And I thought, there has got to be some other word for "full-figured," "big." There’s got to be some other word. And I searched, and we came up with "voluptuous." It said all the things we wanted to say; furthermore, it implied that we are sexy. And that was important to me. And that became the name.
Voluptuous had sales of over $5 millions in 2004 and plans to expand across Canada over the next few years. Voluptuous will open a new store in a trendy upscale Mississauga shopping mall with an expected spring 2005 grand opening. Plans are also in the works for a location in Montreal later this year and the West Edmonton Mall in 2006.

http://www.voluptuousclothing.com/


Thursday 15 September 2011

Dr. Mike Adenuga


Born: March 29, 1953, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State
Company: Globacom Limited,
Position: Chairman, CEO,
Industry: Telecommunications Services,
Country: Nigeria

Dr. Michael Adeniyi Isola Adenuga (net worth $2 billion calculated March 2011), is the billionaire chairman and chief executive officer of Globacom Limited (GLO), a privately owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
He is Nigeria's second richest person, 5th richest black person and the 595th richest person in the world according to Forbes' Worlds Billionaires 2011 ranking.
Dr. Adenuga has grown Globacom into Nigeria’s second largest national telecom operator, with an estimated 25 million plus subscribers and it's fastest growing mobile service provider.
Globacom Limited is privately owned by the Mike Adenuga Group which also consists of Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), Conoil PLC, a petroleum marketing company, and Conoil Producing, a crude exploration company and Equitorial Trust Bank, in addition to stakes and interests in construction and real estate firms.
He was honoured by the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the National Awards of the Officer of the Order of the Niger and later with the award of Commander of the Order of the Niger.
Dr. Adenuga studied Business Administration at Northwestern State University, Alva, Oklahoma and also earned a Masters degree at Pace University, New York, majoring in Business Administration with emphasis on Marketing.

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Mohammed Al Amoud


Born: 1946, Dessie, Ethiopia
Company: Corral Petroleum Holdings, MIDROC Ethiopia
Position: Chairman
Industry: Petroleum
Country: Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia

Mohammed Al Amoudi, is Ethiopia's richest man and the richest black person in the world, with a net worth of $9 billion.
Mr. Al Amoudi owns a broad portfolio of businesses in oil, mining, agriculture, hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance.
He owns Swedish refinery Preem as well as Svenska Petroleum, which made big plays in Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Angola in 2008.
Mr. Al Amoudi has invested more than $1 billion in Ethiopia. He controls his vast business conglomerate through two holding and operating companies, Corral Petroleum Holdings and MIDROC. His companies employs over 40,000 people through these companies.
Mr. Al Amoudi holds an honorary doctorate in Philosophy from Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Femi Otedola


Femi Otedola (born 1967 in EpeLagos State) is a Nigerian businessman. He is the CEO of African Petroleum Plc, and appeared as one of only two Nigerians (alongside Aliko Dangote) to appear on the 2009Forbes list of 793 dollar-denominated billionaires in the world, with an estimated net worth of over USD$1.2 billion. Femi Otedola is the Nigerian President Chief Executive officer of Zenon Petroleum and Gas limited.
Femi Otedola is the billionaire owner of multi-billion naira indigenous oil giant Zenon. Zenon, which is directly ran by Otedola is the dominant force in diesel business among oil marketing concerns. It supplies this all important fuel used to power the generating sets of most Nigerian industries to nearly all the major manufacturing firms in the country. These include Dangote Group, Cadbury, Coca Cola, Nigerian Breweries, MTN, Unilever, Nestle, Guinness among others.[1]
Otedola is the son of former Lagos State governor, Sir. Michael Otedola. Otedola owns one of the largest oil storage facility which he purchased for N2.8 billion. He bought hundred brand new trucks purchased for N1.3 billion to strengthen the distributive arm of his business and acquired a massive flat bottom bunker vessel with a storage capacity of 16, 000 metric tonnes of diesel for 6.8 million dollars. Zenon owns four cargo ships. He owns Atlas Shipping Agency, Swift Insurance, FO Properties Limited, FO Transport.
He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Zenon Petroleum and Gas, the company that is currently sitting at the commanding heights of the nation's diesel and kerosene business.
Otedola started Zenon few years ago and within a short time seized control of the market. Today he has become the pacesetter in the downstream sector while expanding the frontiers of competition. NNPC Group Managing Director, Engr. Funso Kupoloku acknowledged this much when he said Zenon was now the company to beat in the downstream sector.
From nowhere, Zenon is today rated among the top five companies in the country, with a huge turnover . But how did he do it many have asked? In an interview some years ago he attributed his phenomenal leap to “hard-work and staying focused on what you want and going all out to get it."
He exhibited patriotic sentiments in the same interview when he said: "We are investing our money here, to create job opportunities for people. Nobody is going to take the money outside the country."
His company appeared to have fully prepared itself for the deregulation of the petroleum sector as evidenced in its purchases. Buying three cargo ships in quick succession to bring its total number of ships to four. All named after his parents and wife. MT Sir Michael (his father), MT Lady Doja (his mother), MT Nana (his wife). His latest, he named Zenon Conquest. Energy experts say Zenon's expansion is to consolidate its competitive edge in the market.
Apart from being the biggest diesel and kerosene marketer in Nigeria today, he is said to be the biggest ship owner in the country. Which partly explains his nomination as President of Nigeria Chambers of Shipping, a powerful and highly influential body in the maritime sector. The oil baron and shipping magnate also bought 100 brand new DAF trucks from Netherlands to strengthen his distribution arm. Zenon now boasts of a total storage capacity of more than 147,000 metric tonnes total holding of diesel making it the biggest depot owner with the largest single storage capacity in the country.
He is also the owner of Atlas Shipping Agency, Swift Insurance, FO Properties Limited, FO Transport and Seaforce Shipping Company Ltd. His appointment last year into the board of Nigeria Investment and Promotion Council, NIPC, observers believe, is the President’s vote of confidence on the young man's business abilities. It is for this that he was also nominated by the President on the team of top Nigerian businessmen to go on an investment drive to South Africa They are essentially to meet and interact with the South African business community and the South African President, President Thabo Mbeki.
On his part, Otedola contributed well over N100 million to the President’s re-election expenses. And under the aegis of friends of Obasanjo and Atiku, he contributed N25 towards the rehabilitation of the National Mosque in Abuja. He was one of the co-launcher of Obasanjo Presidential Library, where donated N200 million. He is said to have direct access to the President.
Femi Oteola is happily married to Nana, with 3 daughters and one son. They all reside in London.

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Bob Johnson


Robert L. Johnson (born April 8, 1946) is an American business magnate best known for being the founder of television network Black Entertainment Television (BET) , and is also its former chairman and chief executive officer. Johnson is currently chairman and founder of RLJ Development and former majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats,National Basketball Association franchise along with rapper Nelly and NBA legend and current majority owner Michael Jordan. In 2001 Johnson became the first African American billionaire, and the first black person to be listed on any of Forbes world's rich list [2] (excluding black Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin who first appeared on the list the same year, who is of mixed black and Chinese ancestry).


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Tuesday 6 September 2011

OPRAH WINFREY


Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist, best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century,[3] the greatest black philanthropist in American history,and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.[8][9]
Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.
Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue, which a Yale study claims broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s, she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas, and an emotion-centered approach[16] she is often praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. From 2006 to 2008, her support of Barack Obama, by one estimate, delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race.


Monday 5 September 2011

Jay Z

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969) better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapperrecord producerbusinessman, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010. He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving thirteen Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations.[4][5]
Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, is part-owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets and is also the creator of the clothing line Rocawear He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200.[8] Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist.
He married American R&B superstar BeyoncĂ© Knowles on April 4, 2008. On December 11, 2009, Jay-Z was ranked as the 10th most successful artist of the 2000–2009 decade by Billboard Magazine and ranking as the 5th top solo male artist and as the 4th top rapper behind EminemNelly, and 50 Cent.


Sunday 4 September 2011

South African Billionaire


Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962 in Johannesburg is a South African mining magnate. His company, African Rainbow Minerals, has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum.
He is married to Dr. Precious Makgosi Moloi and they have three sons.
Patrice Motsepe won South Africa's Best Entrepreneur Award in 2002.[1] In 2004 he was voted 39th in the Top 100 Great South Africans. This accolade was, however granted by the government funded state broadcaster. In 2008 he was 503-rd richest person in the world, by the Forbes World Billionaires List. In that same issue of Forbes magazine, it was noted that the source of his wealth was not through any entrepreneurial zeal but through his association with the ruling political party the African National Congress (ANC).



The richest black man is Alhaji Aliko Dangote











Alhaji Aliko Dangote (born April 10, 1957) is a businessman based in Nigeria. He is the owner of the Dangote Group, which has operations in Nigeria and several other countries in Africa, including BeninCameroonGhanaSouth Africa and Zambia. A wealthy supporter of erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo and the rulingPeople's Democratic Party (PDP), Dangote controls much of Nigeria's commodities trade through his corporate and political connections. With an estimated current net worth of around US$ 13.8 billion, he was ranked by Forbes as one of the richest Nigerian citizens and richest person of African descent in the world topplingMohammed Al Amoudi ($12.3 billion) and Oprah Winfrey ($2.7 billion.)


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