Understanding Context & Trust - Video 4

Summary

The transcript discusses the entrepreneurial journey of Kola Masha and Lola Masha, founders of Babban Gona, a Nigerian agricultural initiative addressing unemployment and violence by creating jobs for young people. The company tackles institutional voids faced by individual farmers, providing seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, and market access, thus enhancing productivity and societal stability. The speaker emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility in solving societal problems and the role of Babban Gona as a model for addressing these challenges.

Takeaways

• 🌏 Nigeria is recognized as the largest economy in Africa, with significant economic rebasing in recent years.
• 🏹 The country faces serious issues such as rampant violence and insurgencies, notably from Boko Haram, which has led to job scarcity and societal instability.
• 🎓 Kola Masha, an MBA graduate with an engineering background, and his wife Lola, with a technical degree from Berkeley, are highlighted as examples of individuals addressing Nigeria's challenges.
• 🛠️ The Mashas' company, Babangida, aims to tackle endemic violence by creating jobs, particularly in agriculture which is a major employer in Nigeria.
• 🌾 Agriculture is identified as a key sector for job creation and economic surplus, with the potential to improve productivity and interest among the young population.
• 🚜 Babangida addresses institutional voids faced by individual Nigerian farmers by providing access to better seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, and market access.
• 💡 The company serves multiple roles, including transaction facilitator, credibility enhancer, information analyzer, aggregator, and adjudicator, making farming easier for the poor farmer.
• 💰 Babangida helps farmers access risk capital, which is crucial for investments in farming but difficult to obtain due to lack of information and high perceived risk.
• 🏆 Entrepreneurship and taking responsibility for solving societal problems are emphasized, with the Mashas being recognized by the World Economic Forum as Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
• 📚 The importance of education and leadership in addressing long-standing societal issues is underscored, with the creation of programs like 'Aspiring' to reach a wider audience.
• 🔄 The script highlights the iterative nature of solving problems, acknowledging that failure is part of the process and that persistence is key to eventual success.

Q & A

What is the significance of Nigeria's economy in Africa?

Nigeria is considered by most measures to be the largest economy in Africa, which was reinforced by a rebasing of GDP a few years ago.

What issue did Kola Masha and his wife Lola aim to address in Nigeria?

Kola Masha and Lola aimed to address the endemic violence in Nigeria, which they believed could be mitigated by creating jobs for the young population.

What is the role of agriculture in Nigeria's economy according to the script?

Agriculture is identified as the sector that employs the most males in Nigeria, making it a key area to focus on for job creation and economic stability.

What is the name of the company founded by Kola Masha and Lola to address the issues in Nigeria's agriculture sector?

The company they founded is called Babangida, which means 'Great Farm' in one of the local languages of Nigeria.

How does Babangida address the institutional voids faced by individual Nigerian farmers?

Babangida addresses the institutional voids by providing farmers with better seeds, fertilizer, irrigation, and market access, as well as dealing with intermediaries that complicate the process.

What are the categories of problems that Babangida aims to solve for farmers?

Babangida addresses problems in the categories of transaction facilitator, credibility enhancer, information analyzer, aggregator, and adjudicator.

Why is it important for young males in developing countries to have jobs or activities to engage in?

It is important for societal stability; young males without jobs or activities can lead to increased violence and instability.

What cognitive bias does the speaker mention that entrepreneurs should avoid?

The speaker mentions the cognitive bias of assuming someone else will solve the problem, which entrepreneurs should avoid by taking responsibility and initiating action.

What is the significance of Babangida being named Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the World Economic Forum?

The recognition signifies that Babangida's efforts to solve intractable problems in Nigeria's agriculture sector have been acknowledged and appreciated on a global scale.

What did the speaker and his team decide to create after discussing the potential for expanding educational programs?

They decided to create 'Aspiring', an initiative aimed at reaching a scale of a million students per year, to address the educational needs of disadvantaged youth.

What is the importance of taking responsibility and initiating action when addressing societal problems?

Taking responsibility and initiating action is crucial because it can trigger a process of problem-solving and innovation, potentially leading to large-scale solutions and positive change.

Outlines

00:00

🌱 Addressing Nigeria's Insurgency and Unemployment Through Agriculture

The first paragraph discusses the challenges faced by Nigeria, including insurgency, rampant violence, and unemployment, particularly the impact of Boko Haram. It introduces Kola Masha and Lola, a couple with educational backgrounds from Harvard Business School and Berkeley, who aim to tackle endemic violence by creating jobs, specifically in agriculture. They founded a company called Babban Gona, which means 'Great Farm' in Hausa, one of Nigeria's local languages. The company addresses institutional voids faced by individual farmers by providing the necessary inputs and support to enhance agricultural productivity, thereby creating surplus and economic opportunities. Babban Gona serves as a multifaceted solution, acting as a transaction facilitator, credibility enhancer, information analyzer, aggregator, and adjudicator, making farming more accessible and productive for the youth, which is key to societal stability.

05:02

🍟 McDonald's in Russia: A Case of Adapting to Local Conditions

The second paragraph uses the example of McDonald's entering the Russian market to illustrate the importance of adapting to local conditions and creating a supply chain from scratch. McDonald's faced the challenge of not having the right type of potatoes for their fries in Russia, leading them to establish a 'potato university' to train farmers and invest in farms to develop the necessary supply chain. The paragraph emphasizes the need for taking initiative and responsibility in solving problems, as exemplified by Babban Gona's founders. It also touches on the idea of creating a roadmap for others to follow in addressing long-standing issues. The speaker reflects on their own experiences and the importance of leadership in driving change, mentioning their involvement in creating a program to educate disadvantaged youth, with the goal of scaling up to help millions of students per year.

Keywords

💡DAV I

DAV I likely refers to a specific individual or entity that has a history of working with Nigeria. Although not explicitly defined in the script, it is implied that this person or organization has significant experience and expertise in the Nigerian context, which is relevant to the discussion about economic and societal issues in the country.

💡Nigeria

Nigeria is a West African country highlighted in the script as having the largest economy in Africa, post-GDP rebasing. It serves as the primary context for the discussion about addressing social and economic challenges such as insurgencies, unemployment, and the development of the agricultural sector.

💡Insurgency

Insurgency refers to a rebellion against an established government, often characterized by organized violence. In the script, it is mentioned in the context of Nigeria, where groups like Boko Haram have been involved in violent activities, including the kidnapping of young girls, contributing to social instability.

💡Kola Masha

Kola Masha is an individual mentioned in the script who has an engineering degree and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He, along with his wife Lola, is highlighted as an example of an entrepreneur addressing Nigeria's endemic violence by creating jobs in the agricultural sector.

💡Agricultural Productivity

Agricultural productivity refers to the efficiency with which agricultural inputs are used to produce outputs. In the script, it is identified as a key area for improving the economic situation in Nigeria, with the idea that increasing productivity can lead to more jobs and economic surplus.

💡Babangida

Babangida, meaning 'Great Farm' in the local Hausa language, is the name of the company founded by Kola Masha and Lola. It is an example of a business addressing institutional voids in the Nigerian agricultural sector by providing farmers with the necessary resources and support to improve their productivity.

💡Institutional Voids

Institutional voids are gaps in the regulatory, cognitive, or organizational structures that affect the functioning of markets. In the context of the script, these voids are the challenges faced by individual Nigerian farmers in accessing the right seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, and market access, which Babangida aims to fill.

💡Transaction Facilitator

A transaction facilitator is an entity that makes transactions easier or more efficient. In the script, Babangida serves as a transaction facilitator by helping farmers access the necessary inputs and services to improve their agricultural productivity.

💡Credibility Enhancer

A credibility enhancer is a factor or entity that improves the trustworthiness or reliability of a product, service, or individual. In the script, Babangida enhances the credibility of farmers by providing them with the support and resources needed to be more productive and successful.

💡Information Analyzer

An information analyzer is someone or something that processes and interprets information to make informed decisions. In the context of the script, Babangida acts as an information analyzer by helping farmers understand which seeds to use and how to manage their crops effectively.

💡Adjudicator

An adjudicator is a person or entity that settles disputes or makes decisions in a formal context. While not explicitly used in the script, the concept could be related to how Babangida helps to resolve issues or make decisions regarding agricultural practices and resource allocation.

💡Social Entrepreneur

A social entrepreneur is someone who applies entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Kola Masha is named as a social entrepreneur by the World Economic Forum, indicating recognition for his efforts in addressing social issues in Nigeria through his business, Babangida.

Highlights

Nigeria is considered the largest economy in Africa after a GDP rebasing.

Insurgency and violence, such as Boko Haram, have been major issues in Nigeria.

Kola Masha and Lola Masha, founders of Babban Gona, aim to address endemic violence in Nigeria through job creation.

Babban Gona focuses on making agriculture more productive to generate economic surplus and create jobs for young people.

Agriculture is identified as the sector employing the most males in Nigeria.

Babban Gona addresses institutional voids faced by individual Nigerian farmers.

The company provides farmers with better seeds, fertilizer, irrigation, and market access.

Babban Gona serves as a transaction facilitator, credibility enhancer, information analyzer, aggregator, and adjudicator.

Kola Masha has an engineering degree and an HBS MBA, while Lola has a technical degree from Berkeley.

The Mashas did not initially intend to become bankers to farmers but aimed to increase agricultural productivity.

Babban Gona helps farmers access risk capital and appropriately price the risks involved in farming.

The company's approach to solving the 'lemons problem' in the market by providing information and reducing information asymmetry.

Entrepreneurs should take responsibility for solving problems rather than waiting for someone else to act.

The importance of creating a roadmap for addressing societal and economic issues.

The story of McDonald's establishing a potato supply chain in Russia as an example of addressing institutional voids.

The recognition of Babban Gona's efforts by the World Economic Forum naming Kola Masha as Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

The idea of taking on responsibility for large-scale initiatives, such as educating millions of students annually.

The necessity of persistence and learning from failures in entrepreneurship and social initiatives.

Transcripts

so this one I have less visceral uh

understanding of because with DAV I

worked 20 years with Nigeria I work much

less uh but Nigeria big important

country uh I think by most measures the

largest economy in Africa in Africa uh

there was a rebasing of GDP a few years

ago and the South Africans got angry but

Nigeria uh so in the map you can see

that um uh places where there's

Insurgency rampant violence you saw boo

Haram a few years ago on CNN and BBC and

on where people were kidnapping young

girls in particular and locking them up

um insurgencies so no jobs

anywhere job spiraling yeah so we had a

MBA grad here who I was lucky enough to

meet and get to know Kola Masha um uh

who had some kind of engineering degree

from before I think and an HBS MBA and

his wife Lola who has a a technical

degree from Berkeley uh so Cola and Lola

uh decided that they wanted to address

um endemic violence in Nigeria and their

their thought process and I'm mimicking

it because obviously I wasn't there at

the time was that the key is to develop

jobs for young people it's a young

population like in many developing

countries and the last thing you want

for societal uh uh the thing you don't

want for societal stability um but you

want societal stability you don't want

young males wandering around with

nothing to do yes that's bad news

yes next step in the logic was

agriculture is the thing that employs

the most males so how do we make

agriculturally more productive and more

interesting and more economically

Surplus generated so that's how their

company babang gona which means Great

Farm in housea the local language one of

the local languages was

born um and I think babang Guna is

another great example of essentially

addressing the institutional voids that

the individual Nigerian farmer uh has to

deal with to produce um better crops

with the right seeds the right

fertilizer the light right irrigation

take it to Market deal with all the

intermediaries that are mucking things

up which you see again in every single

developing country in the world uh and

so at the end of the day address the

problem so that the Farmer's Life is

easier and if you go back to the

taxonomy we spoke about pretty much

every one of those categories

transaction facilitator credibility

enhancer information analyzer uh

aggregator adjudicator are being

addressed by babang not in a onetoone

basis but in a sense what cola and Lola

and their teams have figured out is that

all these problems have to be made easy

so that the poor farmer who left to his

or her own devices typically his devices

is not figuring out which seed do I use

they don't have the technological

wherewithal yes the Nigerian research

Enterprise Government research

Enterprise is not particularly investing

in seed banks yes so how do you access

the knowledge and then the actual seeds

so babang can help um I know that I need

to do uh this

irrigation uh for this particular kind

of crop in this uh field that requires

Capital yes where am I going to get the

risk Capital who's going to bet on me

yes um if you have an inter met like

baban gona who comes in and says we

understand your circumstances we

understand the risk that this investment

entails you can appropriately price the

risk yes somebody coming from the

outside who doesn't know is going to

price it in a aggregate way and there's

a very famous uh Nobel prize for the

given for the lemons problem right when

you don't have information it the market

collapses to the lemons um so these guys

would not have gotten Capital at

reasonable rates and ban ACC as a

financial intermed to do it now Cola and

Lola didn't set out to be Bankers to to

Farmers to Farmers uh but to get the

farmer more productive they've got an

initiate this process and so one of the

things I would say is that you you what

I've learned by watching interesting

entrepreneurs or building my own

Enterprises is that you you have to get

away from the cognitive bias that

someone else is going to do it yeah you

have to take responsibility you got to

start it you don't have you don't have

to do it but you have to trigger it

right maybe somebody else come in and

join you and great then you say okay

fine you do it that's great win-win you

guys do it you make a back off it you're

providing a productive service contract

with us and we're good to go or I do it

for a little while like DTI did his

insurance company for a little while and

he'll never agree with me but I never

thought it was viable right uh and

eventually I think it's sort of atrophy

but it doesn't matter because other

people are doing at scale Insurance

provided insurance that they need so the

problem is solved you look at McDonald's

going into Russia or something it was a

very famous uh case on this they uh you

know you eat those fries uh which I

don't mind eating ones I love those

fries bad for our cardiac health you dip

them in bad ketchup and you eat it it's

I like it in chili sauce so but those

fries have a lot of technology in there

they have to have the right potato the

right moisture content the right

consistency because it has to be just so

it has to boil in the right kind of oil

for the right amount of minutes the

right temperature and McDonald's went

into Russia and said they don't have

these potatoes here anywhere so you had

they had to create like a as I remember

a university for

potato potato

University train the farmers invest in

farms create the whole supply chain

right in Russia in Russia and then

eventually I think they sold it off yeah

so that's what you see babang gona uh

kind of going uh going through and you

know you know what I love about these

examples is that is that is that this

this is giving a road mapap to people

right to saying you you have to find the

problem that interests you and it comes

from your experience experience right uh

and then in all these circumstances they

didn't wait for somebody else cuz these

props have been allarm for a long time

but it requires the leader to show up

right and go I'm going to go I'm going

to take responsibility for fixing the

problem I'm going to M to do something

about it and make it happen I think

that's and I think the framework you

give it's like here are the things you

think about when you're going to go out

and solve these problems well it's when

you and I were sitting in my office in

2017 yes and saying you know we

literally we were looking out the same

window that Krishna I looked out of to

create institutional voids and I

remember you saying we have this amazing

program HBS has been running for 25

years for young kids from disadvantaged

high school backgrounds to come through

and you know a few tens of them come 50

hundred of them come and they go through

200 per year 200 per year great program

wonderful we've been doing one of my

favorite programs to teacher why don't

we have 20,000 come through right why

don't we have 2 million come through in

different places because our parts of

the world or Nigeria or Brazil or any

place

Indonesia have hundreds hundreds of

millions of people that need this so

that's how we decided to create what is

now aspiring so will we succeed we lucky

enough to have you know a team led by

the famous Mina son who's building this

um but the point is that we want to walk

the talk so we're saying we're going to

take responsibility for this and try to

do something and get to a scale in the

immediate term of a million uh students

per year participants per year uh and my

friends in Bangalore say that's cute

that's cute you should try to get to 10

million a year at least at which point

you know we're so much yes uh bigger

than anybody else and hopefully creating

a movement to so you're you're right

somebody to S responsibility the of

success are always low what I haven't

said with both these examples is it is

littered with failure yes littered with

failure right but you have to try

everything fails the first8 10 times you

to learn and then go from there so uh

but it's inspiring to see these uh see

these Cola just was named for Bona yeah

for babangon was named uh social

entrepreneur of the year of the world

economic Forum so it's nice when when

you know good people good good efforts

get recognized for solving attempting to

solve intractable problems