 You know what? Before I continue, I want you to take me around some of the properties that you think I need to see which is close by. Sure. And then, yeah, we take you from there. Great story. Let's do it, let's do it, man. So this is one of your projects? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. How many people have you employed so far? We have around 400 people in the company. But on this particular site, we have like 30 people. You know what? It used to be employed. Yes. And now we are employing so many people. Now I'm the employer. Ah, that makes you feel. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel good. But what in life, the biggest achievement for me is the freedom. It's the freedom. I don't know how people rate that, but to me, it's the freedom. It's waking up having to do what I want and I do it the way I want. That's the main thing. It's the freedom. Now I'm here, come on. The guys are working for me. I used to be a security guard and I used to be behind and you see the boss and you just go like this. And the racism as well. I guess now you also have security guards? Yes, I do. I do, but I try to make them my friends. I know how it feels. I know how working 12 hours is. You know what I used to go to work, but when it came to around three, I was doing like 12 hours. You know, it starts six to six or seven to seven. When it comes to around three, I know what it feels. Your brain is in auto. Even a thief can go past you without seeing them. You're already tired. You overthink and you're just tired. So I respect the security guard every time I meet them. Will you say investing in real estate in Africa is worth it? A hundred percent. A hundred percent. You see, this is still a virgin area. The ideas are still possible. It is very much possible. Doing it here is far much easier than doing it anywhere else. In Europe and what I've been, it's way better to do it here because come on here. You can always do it in phases. You're not going to do that in Europe. What are you gonna do? You start one phase and you stop there another two years. Which council is going to allow you to do that in the U.K., in the U.S.? Which council is going to allow you to do that? But in Africa, the small you have, you can do, leave it there, go get some, you bring it, add it on. It's your thing. You do it at your own pace. In Africa, it's doable. It's doable and it's profitable because you need to stop undermining Africa. How profitable? That's what I want to know. A hundred percent profitable. You put in 10, you get 20. That is it. It's doable and profitable. That's what I'm telling people. There are no much restrictions compared to other countries. So it is too doable. The restrictions are very, very slim. Would you go back to the U.K.? Never in a million years. Never. You know, when you go back to Ghana. Yeah. And you hear a big fight that there was a guy who was fighting. Just if it is a real, real battle, ask them who was it? Was it Hajwa Kaluwa? If it was Hajwa Kaluwa, then they were trying to take him back to London. No way. And this is the message I'm sending to every African who went up there. If you were born here, just know that your mind, your background is all set here. If you went there and you can speak like a white man, then just know that maybe you were born there. But if you've been there 10, 20 years and your accent is still the same like mine, still heavy. Just know that your factory setting is in Africa. You can be there, enjoy 10, 20 years. But when you come to your old age, it will kitchen that you will want to be back home. This is what you understand. This is what your mind will understand. For me, taking me back to Europe, come on, don't even, let us even change the topic. Your wife and family, they came with you now or are they here with you or they are still in the UK? They're here with me. They're here with me. Finally, you told your wife that you're here? Actually, I don't even need to tell her because herself, she's here. She followed you? She followed me. She was not mad because he never told her that you're coming back to Africa forever and you've resigned. You see, it is so easy to tell someone when you have succeeded. You see, when things are working, there's nothing like, I told you, I told you, you shouldn't have done this. When things are doing well, everyone will follow you. No one will listen to your story until it is a success. My kids came here. They were a bit hesitant. They didn't like it in the beginning, but yeah, but the way we had that friendship, the way they were brought up, they were kind of African set. They were kind of obedient to me. I was the father. I was the head of the family. They just followed, but eventually they told me that, listen dad, we didn't want to be here. But boy, boy, boy, boy, boy, after some time, they saw that actually in Africa, it's not what they see on TV. It's not about suffering. It's not those kids who are crying for water. They don't have food. It's not all about that. They came in here. They saw that actually the class of people in Africa you are exposed to is what you see. There are people here who are living a life. And if you are into that chain, you will be amazed how Africa is. There are rich people here. So eventually, it's what they like they were living. You know, in Europe, they used to take a pass. Here they have a driver who takes them to school. They eat the food we just wished we were eating. So what's there? Come on. Life is good. When you hear that in Africa, what comes into your mind? Home. Home. This is home. It doesn't matter. It's like someone saying what comes to your mind when you hear the word mother. It doesn't matter whether your mother as a human being, she's ugly. She's poor. It's your mother. It's the love that comes out of it. Me waking up knowing that I can see my uncle, if my cousin passes away, I can be able to attend the funeral. If I'm bored, I can easily go and meet someone and we have a chat. I don't have to wake up on the alarm clock. Those are the things people need to look out if they want to come back here. Come on, home is home. Home is home. It doesn't matter how rich you are, how you think you've made it. The weather, come on. Look at it. It may be muddy, but it's home. Come on, you came in from Ghana, but I wasn't even ashamed taking you through the corners. Exactly. Knowing that you know this is home. This is Africa. You get it? This is home. I want you to give an advice to a young African out there who is looking forward to invest in real estate. Real estate, you need to make up your mind. What many people call me when they want to construct and they're telling me that they are going to ask someone to help them make a decision. And not those are not my clients. In real estate, you need to make up your mind a hundred percent because it is hard. It is hard. That's why not everyone is making it. It is hard. Okay. And another thing which you should bear at the back of your mind. Anywhere from today, 20 years, not everyone is going to be able to construct. It's been there for years. So if you can bear that hardness, just be assured that you are going to gain a hundred percent because not many people are going to be able to construct. What you need is to make up the decision. Not exactly what you want and be able to be persistent. The consistency because in real estate, you need to know that you're not going to make it in one or two years. Unless you're going to steal. People who are doing it, they have to understand that it's going to take a lot of time. The gesturing system, you know, the period has to be longer. Okay. And I will tell you that it will take you like 10 years. I did this for many years, but because the beginning is so hard, it doesn't show the results. I was there, but people didn't see me. After you have accumulated the capital, people will only see one project, which will be beautiful. But the way you have managed to get it to get to that point is what people miss out. As you start off in life, I think it should be about humbleness. Okay. People, young people coming from university, they have friends. They get jobs and they're paid, let me say, five hundred dollars. And in their mind, they think this is little money. Why? Because they have been told that this is expensive to put up. Now, they don't understand that they need to work out a formula. One plus one, two plus one. Before you know it, you count it to a hundred. So it's a process. You don't say it's going to be a hundred from the word go, even the longest journey starts with one footstep. It doesn't matter how speedy you are. No, it doesn't. It's a matter of knowing what you need. Now, if you have the display from the word go, you will understand that I don't need to buy an expensive car. I don't need to have all these loans to congest my bank account, to have all the direct debits. Actually, this is what I've been teaching on my Facebook. I tell people, like, don't try to impress. We are living in a society where everyone is showing. Listen, I have this. Listen, I've done this. I have the photos from Dubai. I have the Instagram, the TikTok. Everyone is trying to keep up. If you try to keep up, you keep yourself down. You don't need to do that. You have seen they come driving right now. It's not one of the most expensive here. You have seen people make it. But if we are to go and look into our bank accounts. I know from the word go what I need. I know the difference between assets and liability. You see, in life, it's up to you whether you want to be rich or you want to act rich. And to me, I want to be rich, not act rich. I would add my own to it. The goal is to create wealth, not to look rich. That is it! You hit mine right in the head. If you have a message to Africans living in Africa, what would that message be? It's possible. It's possible everywhere. It's possible. The possibility is in the head. It's in the mind. You have done things, you have made a lot of people. But the way you are thinking right now, it's not the way you thought 10 years ago. Facts. But you know that you have read a lot of books. The way you do interviews, the way you are looking at me, the way you take poses, the way you know when to ask another question, you did not wake up one day and know that. You worked on yourself. Get a goal, believe in yourself, read about it, believe in yourself once again, and you do it. It's out there. You don't need to go to Europe to make it because the money I've made, here, in the last 2 years, is more than the money I made in the last 10 years in Europe. So who tells you that you cannot make it in Africa? The money is here, but only that the people you find here put you off. People are crying every day. We don't have jobs. When someone from the UK, US, Dubai sends you money, you know, let us do business. The first thing that goes into an African mind, how can I steal this? All right, they are not going to take me to prison? Okay, we didn't make an agreement. It's how can I take? Not knowing that if you work on your personality and people know you and you can deliver. It's okay. Listen, these guys you see them, I know people who work Monday to Sunday. I give them projects. I know someone who's going to work today. Tomorrow is going to tell me that their child is sick. They lost someone. You know that they have this contract, but they're fighting to go somewhere. They leave all the jobs incomplete. I have the brain. I can work out and I know this guy is not good. This one is good. What is it? It's personality. Your personality takes you miles. You see, you came in here. You asked who you should talk to. Yeah. I did not call you. Yeah. You called me. Exactly. People are rooting for you because they know you as a person. You don't have to play a character. You have to be. You get it. You have to be. You give the services. Now, what I'm doing right now, not many people can do it. Actually, in my field, constructing for people working in diaspora, no one is competing with me. Why? The idea here is not who can construct. No, no, no. Many people can construct the whole idea who is who you can trust. If I construct, if I contract this for like, let us say 200 million and I fall short, I don't go back to the client. I make sure who or crew I have to deliver because I have a reputation because it's the reputation. It's the character which is bringing in the people and we have got guys here from university. They're just putting on their nice shoes. They don't even know how to talk to people. They're just being driven by ego. They don't know. They don't work on themselves. They don't read. They're just like, oh, Africa is so hard to make it man here. I wish I can get a job. They don't know jobs here. Try to create them. Try to make yourself a person of value in whatever you want to do. You want to go in media. How can I be better than others? You read trust me. I've never met you before today, but I know for sure that you have seen lots of interviews. You have seen how people carry themselves in terms of body language, how they talk in terms of the volume. You put it down. You put it long. How do you communicate? What time do you have to post? So that means you worked on yourself in that particular field. Exactly. Am I right or wrong? You're right. That is it. You're right. People wake up and work on to you yourself. Exactly. The opportunities are not going to come packaged. You need to come out of the box for you to read the labels outside the box. You cannot read when you're still inside the box. Get out. It's out there and it's for everyone. The world has got no favorites and it doesn't give you what you want. It gives you what you deserve. Be out there and be deserving, same as that. Everyone comes in this world with the same set of brains. If you were born in China, you would be speaking Chinese. My kids are born in England, they're Ugandans, but they speak like a white man. So all our brains come out standard. It's what you feed into them. When you wake up and you say from today, it's never too late. I'm going to change my brain. I'm going to change my thinking. I'm going to change my connection from today. It's me, it's about making myself better. It works out. The world does not play favorites. It doesn't give you what you want. It doesn't give you what you need. It gives you what you deserve. Since you've lived in the diaspora, you're missing to the diasporas. How do you feel about the cold? How do you feel when you sit in that chair and someone stands up because you're black? How do you feel about that? In the morning, I used to go to work. Before sunrise, someone sees you walking on this side and you see them change direction. They go to the other side because you're black. How do you feel about that? Someone finds you on the reception. You are two people seated there and you can see that they can easily strike a conversation with someone seated next to you. And they're saying nothing to you. How does it make you feel? You look at all the community, the people, the gangs, the big tattoos of your own race and others are getting opportunities. You go, you apply for a job. Someone who doesn't even know how to write is your supervisor and you have a degree. How do you feel about that? Just make that sing into your brain. How do you feel about that? That should be a reminder that that's not home. It may be giving you the opportunities, but how does it make you feel? If you have two pair of jeans and you're wearing them every day, they have now holes in the middle. How do you feel about that? That's a sign that no one knows about you when you're there. Do you want to live your life like that? Working, going back home, paying bills, sleeping, going back. Is that your life? Home is home. Plan your life. It's never too late. Work, that is a place you've got more opportunity compared to back here, money wise. But in terms of life, listen, home is home. Come back home. You have your money, invest back home. Don't worry about politics. Politics have been here since the 60s, since independence, 70s, 80s, 90s. Everyone who comes in power is telling you things are going to be better when I come in. Come on, in Africa, when they come in to power, what happens? It's the same. Come back home, don't, you know, the world will give you all the reasons not to do it. It's up to you to come up with the reason as to why you want to make it. In Africa, it's doable. What is doable? You made it. It's doable. Where are you? Where are you? Are you in Europe? No, I'm in Africa. You're going everywhere. I've seen your pictures here. How many people have you met here? I've seen you even with the minister. Come on. A boy from Ghana. A village boy. Come on, a village boy. How many of us were here? We have never met the minister. Come on. In this field, you know nothing about, but in yours, you made yourself an expert. That's what makes you different. You worked on yourself. You followed your passion. It's doable. Come on. What do you think about the bodice that we have on the continent? We need to have them. We need to have them man to control. Sanity is needed. Africans are crazy. We need to have them. I know you wanted me to say, oh, it should be taken down. We need to interrogate like brothers. Africans are crazy. Everyone should stay where they belong. They should stay where they belong. They should be where they are. But we have to do business together. We have to do business. And that is the bodice that I'm talking about. Okay. Yeah, you know that is acceptable. But I was like in terms of living together. Now listen, we are affected by the people around us, by the environment. The way Ghanians are crazy is not the way Ugandans are. All right. So we need someone who knows us. A Ugandan president knows the craziness of Ugandans. The Ghanian president knows the craziness of Ghanians. So stay in your lane. I'll stay in mind. But in terms of business, Africans need to unite. We need to take our thinking away from the lower side of where we are. Because there was something I was telling about people. Something which is stopping us as Africans. Many people abuse me when it comes to that topic. It is so sensitive. First of all, religion is part of the reason as to why Africans are controlled. Culture is one of the things why we are controlled. You know, if you are still controlled by religion, culture, what you are told by your father, your mother or your friends, then your education is useless to you. If you cannot open your mind to new ideas, you are done. If you still want to do things the way your dad did things, you are not ready. I've seen many people who have got education, but they are too equipped to deal with the future of yesterday. They don't know what's happening. You know, they are just closed off. They think that they are dealing. You know, this life we are dealing with needs self-education on a daily. And you need to be streetwise. Do you get it? So, in Africa, things we deal with are much more like our barriers are way more than other countries. When you were born in the UK, you were a white person. You were a white person. And that is it. You are English. That is it. But in Africa, first of all, you were in Uganda. You were in Uganda. You were a Muslim. So, there's belonging. I mean, this sector. We are doing this. We are doing this. And every sector has got its own restrictions, which you have to obey. Now, you cannot do this. When you are trading, religion is saying this. And when you are doing this, culture is saying this. So, to fight all of that, and it's going to take a lot of time. People don't know that such things are limiting them. When you talk about religion, you tell people, listen, you can pray all you want, but pray, go work. Try to balance. No! How dare you talk about... It's only in Africa you don't get to talk about that. No, how dare you... I went to church. So, what's wrong with going to church? It's this and that. Someone went and prayed the whole night. They went back home and slept. You try to reason with them logically. But listen. So, you prayed the whole night, and the world back slept the whole day. Well, right? Okay. So, what do you think? Like, what do you think is going to happen to your account? Like, all of a sudden something is going to be there. Let us get realistic. We can be religious. I'm a religious person. But I follow with my brain. Okay. I know how to deal... I'm a Muslim. I use my common sense. I know how to deal with a non-Muslim. I'm not the kind of... I'm not talking to you. Come on! If you had a chance to change one thing in Africa, what would it be? It's the education. You've been to China. Yeah. How many subjects are they doing in class? Not too many. From the word go, someone knows what they're doing. They don't congest their brains. You're going to be a doctor. You'll be into sciences. You're going to do business. You'll be in business classes. Inventing, you'll be in event rush. They will just be teaching you to master that. But in Africa, you know history. You know geography. It's like they are congesting your brain at an early stage. You learn about things which you're not going to use in your life. And actually, people, you go back and ask your own child, why do you go to school? And I can tell you, everyone is going to fail that question. We should be going to school to learn how to think. How to think. People think that going to school, memorizing what they have been told, they are going to make it in life. That's the idea of being sold to. We just need to change education. That's the thing. Not to waste time. If someone is going to be a builder, tell them how to be creative. When it comes to construction, they do it for many years. As they come out, they're already experts. It's as simple as that. Just change the brains. The reason why we are lagging behind is the mind. We are dealing with too much. You deal with an MVS family member. You deal with the religious leaders. You deal with the cultural leaders. You deal with the ogars on the village. You are having this one. It's too much clutter going on into our brains. And that's Africa. The biggest challenge you face in Africa? The biggest challenge is... This whole business. Actually, it's the people I'm dealing with. It's the people I'm dealing with. They're exhausting me. Many people don't want to do construction. Why? This sector is full of what I call illiterate guys. Okay? Illiterate guys. And how you're dealing with them, you don't know. You tell them something. They lack organization. You tell someone to do this. You find them another day doing the other thing. It's... And... I don't know how to say this, but... safety. And construction is on another level. Even construction? Even... It's crazy. No, no, we are taking number one. Don't even say even. We are taking number one. Number one. You can employ ten people, but four or five of them, every time they're here, they're just looking at what they're going with at home. It is a pity. Come on. This is Africa. If you want to make it, think an African way, and at the same time, think as an advanced minded person.