Chukwuka Monye is the Director General, Delta State Economic Summit Group (DESG) a think tank committed to the socio-economic development of the state as well as Principal Consultant, Ciuci Consulting, one of the leading consulting firms in sub-Sahara Africa. In this interview with Omolara Akintoye he speaks on concerted efforts to develop businesses using innovative approaches, management style amongst others. Excerpts:
As the Director General for Delta State Economic Summit Group (DESG) can you bring us to speed on some of the achievements made so far?
The key thing is that we have been able to show that it is easy for both private and public sector to partner together. And we have done quite a number of things together; it wasn’t so in the past. Now we have a governor that has a good relationship with all and sundry. And we have taken giant strides together. So for us, the idea that we are organised private sector makes it exciting and easier for Delta State government to collaborate with us.
Delta beyond oil, how achievable is this?
I believe it is achievable. The state also has the potential for agriculture, tourism and commerce in addition to human resources. Even harnessing her intellectual capital alone is huge, so Delta beyond oil is achievable.
How real is the Nigerian economic recession? What are the possible solutions?
The recession is real as every part of the society is feeling it. It is affecting people to the point that we hear of people committing suicide, but I think a coordinated effort by different parts of the society not just the public sector single handedly coming up with an economic recovery plan is important. Finding out the role the private sector has to play, as well as entrepreneurs and small businesses. Everybody needs to come on board and with a concerted effort by all stakeholders draw up a plan of coming out of the recession.
Setting up shop as a consultant
Setting up Ciuci Consulting was not easy. It’s not easy to start a good thing. For us it was more about understanding that we are offering a service and not a product and trying to determine potential customers for that service. It was very difficult for us to start up a business that is service oriented because people are demanding for your expertise and your experience .It is very unfortunate that in this part of the world you still find people patronising foreign companies. All it took for me is to bring in few white partners and it was easier for us to get clients afterwards. Since then things have been relatively good for us and we were able to secure projects ever since. The challenges are there like any other business especially for service oriented businesses. Banks for instance don’t understand anything about service so securing loans from banks was not easy; they don’t understand what they don’t see. So the environment is sort of hostile and you have to do things that will enable you become self-sustaining and independent. I am passionate about Africa and its potential and this led me to establish Ciuci (pronounced see-you-see) Consulting with two objectives – to provide advice to businesses in Africa and to develop locally based human capacity amidst a challenging educational and economic environment. My passion for positive change within the continent, also led me to establish iQube- an organisation designed to engage the youth and foster knowledge sharing, collaboration and out of the box thinking. It is founded on three ‘I’s – Innovation, Inspiration and Insight. iQube is addressing specific socioeconomic development needs in Africa through different programs. I am currently the Director General of Delta Economic Summit Group, a private sector led think tank focused on influencing and delivering positive and strategic change most especially economic development in Delta State. Currently, I’m working with the strong membership to promote socioeconomic development, as I strongly believe that the great future of the state is hinged on successful collaboration between the private and public sectors. I am developing innovative programmes to make small businesses bankable.
Futuristic goal of Ciuci Consulting
We are excited and we are probably one of the largest small business advisory firms in Nigeria. Our passion and the heart of what we do is social enterprising, small businesses, massive market, retails, we like to see positive impacts of the lower aspect of the social economic ladder. People that understand the mass market have the future and we’ve been doing that for 10 years, now people come to us for advice.
How are you coping with recession as a company?
At Ciuci Consulting, this is our best time, our business thrives in recession. People come to us for assistance, I don’t pray for recession to last long, but we are having a good time now. In fact we are turning down opportunities because the demand is high. The only issue is because we cater for small businesses, we don’t make huge profit, we are passion driven, we take care of small businesses, though big organisation will pay more but it’s not exciting for me I prefer taking care of small businesses.
What is the reason for CCM Concourse?
I love to make positive impact, see entrepreneurs contributing to nation building as well as see people taking their destiny into their hands. My area of specialty is innovation. One of the problems in this country is that we have an economic situation that hampers on people’s innovation but you can think outside the box. Mentoring is a huge aspect of nation building and we don’t focus on that in Nigeria. It is this area that Ciuci is focusing on i.e. promoting the young entrepreneurs. This is where the CCM Concourse comes in.
The CCM concourse is a gathering where I am able to impact the youth, especially as it concerns leadership, mentorship and entrepreneurship. I want to contribute and impact lives through this forum by using my experience to advice the youth with regards to things they are considering in their lives, businesses and careers.
This is important, as I believe that positive mentorship is one of the things we lack in Nigeria and as a result many of the youth do not have direction. We have a lot of experts and experienced people that do not have time for mentorship, this has created a gap and I want to contribute to closing it. This is the main reason why I do what I do, it comes down to the core of my essence, which is to impact lives the best way I can. It is targeted at the youth
Is it relevant to the present Nigerian situation?
If you look at the Nigerian demographics the youth are the majority and therefore the concourse is crucial. There needs to be several platforms, not just the CCM concourse as there is clearly a deficit when it comes to platforms and opportunities where the youth are mentored.
What are the key things that the Nigerian youths lack?
One of the major challenges faced by businesses is that each time they engage with the youth, the latter are not patient. Majority of them have a very short-term mindset when it comes to achieving results. I think the idea of preserving and being patient is fast eroding and it is something they need to think about differently for a sustainable future for our country. On a micro scale, I think that the youth should explore very strategic entrepreneurial opportunities to also keep them going, because there will always be demand in certain parts of the economy and they could explore and exploit that.
Future for SMES in Nigeria
Government is not paying enough attention to Small scale businesses and it’s sad. There is a huge deficit in terms of the attention that small business receives. Government should try and partner with organisations that already interface with them. That kind of collaboration with entities that interface with small businesses is crucial. Government has the money but they need to support those businesses in so many ways, we know what they need and know how to manage such businesses.
What is your management style?
I have an interesting, liberal and relaxed management style. I relate with everybody from top to the least, which is who I am. I believe in empowering people, a company is good when it is people oriented. I believe in investing in people, in human capital. I’m a long term investor.
How do you relax?
I play basketball, dance salsa and I play with my kids.
How do you combine your role as CEO and parent?
I use my days well, I try to do a lot of my work during the day, once I’m done, I go home and hand out with my family, once they’ve slept I do extra work. My wife is fantastic, the mother of my children. She is also a partner in Ciuci Consulting, she is very strong operationally and technically we do different things. In the office, I’m her boss, but at home the role changes.
How would the Nigerian economic terrain look like in the next 10 years?
There are so many variables to consider while trying to make prediction. If I take an optimistic view, I think it is going to be an extremely powerful terrain. I say an optimistic outlook because I don’t know what is going to happen within the next year or two with regards to our leadership structure, but assuming that all things go well and continue to go well from the political perspective, I think that the youth are ready including those in the diaspora.
