By Suleyman A Ndanusa PhD OON
When Nigeria’s First Lady suggested that one does not require enormous capital to start an akara business, social media predictably erupted.
To many, the remark symbolized the inadequacy of our response to unemployment and rising living costs. Memes flew across the internet faster than freshly fried akara disappears on a rainy Lagos morning.
Yet, beneath the humour lies a serious economic question.
Have we become so fascinated by billion dollar start ups that we now underestimate the power of humble enterprises?
History advises caution
Colonel Sanders did not begin with hundreds of restaurants. He began by frying chicken.
McDonald’s did not begin with thousands of outlets. It began with a modest hamburger stand
Starbucks started with a single coffee shop.
Domino’s Pizza started with one small pizza store.
None of these businesses became global giants because fried chicken, hamburgers, coffee or pizza were extraordinary inventions. They succeeded because ordinary products were transformed into extraordinary business systems through branding, standardization, quality control, franchising, technology and disciplined execution.
Perhaps the First Lady’s critics and supporters are asking two entirely different questions.
Her critics are asking whether akara can solve Nigeria’s unemployment crisis.
The answer is obviously no.
Her proposition, however, may have been asking something different: can millions of Nigerians begin creating wealth from businesses that require little capital but possess significant potential for growth
That answer deserves more careful consideration.
After all, Nigeria itself provides compelling examples
The familiar Mai Shayi kiosk has evolved beyond a roadside tea seller into recognizable hospitality concepts in many cities. Suya has moved from informal evening grills to well branded restaurants, catering businesses and premium dining experiences. Zobo, once prepared almost exclusively at home or sold in neighbourhood markets, is increasingly finding its way into supermarkets in professionally branded bottles. Kilishi, garri, kunu, fura, masa and countless indigenous foods have all demonstrated that traditional products can evolve into modern commercial enterprises.
The lesson is simple.
Successful businesses are rarely defined by the sophistication of what they sell.
They are defined by the sophistication with which they sell it.
The real challenge for Nigeria, therefore, is not whether people fry akara.
The real challenge is whether the woman frying akara today can become tomorrow’s owner of twenty branded outlets.
Whether today’s Mai Shayi can become tomorrow’s national café chain.
Whether today’s suya stand can become tomorrow’s regional franchise.
Whether today’s zobo producer can become tomorrow’s beverage exporter under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
That is where public policy becomes indispensable.
Government should never romanticize poverty. No serious nation should aspire to become an economy of roadside stalls. Equally, no serious nation should ignore the enormous entrepreneurial energy already flourishing within its informal economy.
The objective should not be to preserve informality.
The objective should be to industrialize informality.
That requires access to finance, food safety certification, modern packaging, business development services, cooperative purchasing, digital payments, logistics, insurance, market intelligence and franchising opportunities.
The akara seller should not remain an akara seller forever.
She should become an entrepreneur, an employer, a taxpayer, a brand owner and perhaps one day an exporter.
In many respects, this is the very essence of inclusive capitalism.
Every citizen may not invent the next revolutionary technology, but millions can build wealth by improving products their communities already understand.
Perhaps Nigeria has spent too much time searching for the next Silicon Valley while overlooking the enormous economic possibilities hidden inside Sabon Gari, Wuse Market, Ariaria, Bodija, Kurmi, Ogbete and countless local markets across the country.
Maybe our next nationally recognized food franchise will not begin in an air conditioned boardroom.
It may begin beside a charcoal stove.
The greatest lesson of entrepreneurship is that no enterprise begins as a giant.
Every multinational was once somebody’s “small business.”
So perhaps we should smile a little less at the akara seller.
The next Nigerian food empire may already be frying quietly at the street corner.
If that happens, history will remember that the conversation started with akara but it ended with ownership, dignity and prosperity.
Perhaps that is the real Akara Economy. So, let’s build “a nation of owners” a theme of a paper I wrote earlier.
Suleyman A. Ndanusa, PhD, OON, is an economist, lawyer, strategic studies scholar, and public policy thinker and practitioner with extensive experience in financial markets, regulation, governance, national Security and development.
