The Babatope Falade-Onikoyi Blog

 The Luck Paradox Many of us don't like to be told that our success is a result of luck. And many don't say it for fear of offending anyone. This is why it was such a relief to hear Tony Elumelu of the UBA fame and Chairman of Heirs Holdings talk about how lucky he was. Don't get me wrong, hardwork, talent and other positives definitely contribute towards success.  But certain successes are outlier successes. According to a 2022 Credit Suisse report, just 1.2% of the global population control the wealth of 48% of global households, which comes to about $227trillion. Now that is some outlier success. It is not success you come by in a linear fashion or through equal chance. This point is best illustrated thus.  At the time when Tony Elumelu started Standard Trust Bank, the entry into banking was relatively lower and ageism was not an issue. The founders of GTBank started so young, same with Access Bank. In Nigeria of today, you can only start a Fintech at that age. Luck of...

 In November 2016, the Indian government carried out a  demonetization policy which saw the banning if 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. The goals of this policy was to: curb black markets and set India on the path of being a cashless economy.   The immediate results were encouraging, as digital payments increased between November 2016 and December 2016. However, this success was shortlived as digital payments dropped by 20% in February 2017. And a report by the Reserve Bank of India indicated that 99.3% of demonetized notes have returned to circulation in the India Economy. The factors that led to this are largely cultural/behavioural and  infrastructural. The factors are also present in Nigeria, where we are attempting the same policy.  Literacy levels, established payment behaviours and informal nature of the greater part of our economy will dictate that cash is king and will remain king.  The incessant failure of digital payment channels will prove that w...