Young Africans have been encouraged to stop waiting for perfect financial conditions before taking action, with entrepreneur and business leader Ade Olowojoba urging them to start small, create value and build opportunities with the resources already available to them.
Olowojoba gave the advice during a Personal and Professional Development Session organised by The FORGE Project Africa, where he spoke on “How to Start from Scratch with Zero Dollars: Building Regardless of Your Financial Situation.”
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| Ade Olowojoba during the zoom session |
The session addressed one of the most familiar challenges facing young people across Africa: how to build a career, business or meaningful project when money is limited and the pressure to survive is already demanding most of their attention.
Rather than presenting lack of money as an excuse to remain inactive, Olowojoba challenged participants to look again at what they already have.
According to him, people are often not starting with nothing. They may already have time, a smartphone, local knowledge, relationships, curiosity and reliability, all of which can be converted into opportunities when used intentionally.
He explained that time can be invested in learning, practising, volunteering, reaching out to potential clients and building a portfolio.
A smartphone, which is already within the reach of many young people, can become a working tool for communication, research, content creation, customer service and sales.
He also encouraged participants to pay attention to problems around them, particularly those affecting their communities and underserved groups.
For example, someone who notices that small businesses around them struggle with social media could begin by helping one business improve its online presence. Someone interested in catering could begin with small orders rather than waiting to rent a shop. A person interested in fashion could start with reselling or taking pre-orders instead of immediately investing in a physical store.
The point, Olowojoba explained, is not to think small but to test wisely.
He urged participants to take action quickly once they identify a useful idea, introducing what he called the 24-hour rule: take at least one visible action within 24 hours of identifying an opportunity.
Starting small, he said, allows people to learn the basics, test assumptions, make mistakes at a lower cost and understand what works before committing significant resources.
Olowojoba also highlighted two skills he believes young people must deliberately develop: sales and relationship management.
He described sales as the ability to communicate value, solve a problem and convince someone to exchange money for a solution.
Relationship management, he explained, is about creating good experiences, maintaining trust and keeping relationships open for future opportunities.
For young Africans trying to build something from limited resources, he stressed that the ability to sell is not simply about persuading people to buy. It begins with understanding a problem and clearly communicating how one’s skill, product or service can provide a solution.
He also addressed the difficult reality of balancing survival with ambition.
Many young people, particularly in Nigeria and other African countries, cannot afford to spend all their time pursuing a long-term dream because they still need to pay bills, support families and meet everyday needs.
Olowojoba acknowledged this tension and encouraged participants to see honest work as a bridge rather than a destination.
He noted that there should be no shame in taking available work to survive while building towards a larger goal.
Whether it is driving, cleaning, washing cars, providing digital services or doing other honest work, the focus should be on being useful and creating enough value to earn an income.
That income, he explained, can provide the stability needed to learn new skills, build relationships and eventually pursue bigger opportunities.
He urged participants to make trust their first currency.
Showing up, responding to people, meeting deadlines, communicating clearly and delivering on promises, he said, can become powerful assets for someone who may not yet have money, influence or extensive connections.
“Talent may open a conversation; trust keeps the door open,” he said.
Olowojoba further challenged young people to approach networking differently.
Rather than approaching every relationship with a request for help, he encouraged participants to first think about what they can contribute.
He described networking as the process of building mutually useful relationships over time and advised young people to offer something genuine, such as research, volunteer support, a useful introduction or assistance with a task.
This approach, he said, allows relationships to develop around value rather than entitlement.
The speaker also encouraged participants to take volunteering seriously as a possible entry point into professional opportunities, while understanding the importance of eventually placing a value on their skills.
For a young person without experience, volunteering can provide exposure, practical knowledge, relationships, testimonials and evidence of what they can do.
However, the objective should be to learn, build proof and create a pathway towards paid opportunities rather than remaining indefinitely in situations where their work is being taken for granted.
Another major lesson from the session was the importance of personal branding and reputation.
Olowojoba described a person’s digital footprint as part of their portfolio and encouraged participants to document what they are learning, creating, testing and improving.
He advised young people not to use social media only to showcase achievements but also to demonstrate their thinking, skills and practical work.
At the same time, he warned against exaggeration, plagiarism and promises that cannot be fulfilled.
According to him, reputation takes time to build but can be damaged quickly.
He also challenged participants to focus on solving problems that people genuinely care about.
Using the difference between a “vitamin” and a “painkiller,” he explained that some ideas are simply nice to have, while others address problems that are painful, urgent and costly to ignore.
Before building too much, he encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to ask four questions: Is the problem painful? Is it urgent? Is there a buyer? And can I reach that buyer?
He advised participants to speak to potential customers before spending heavily on an idea, noting that conversations with even a small number of people can reveal whether a perceived problem is actually one people are willing to pay to solve.
Olowojoba also shared part of his personal journey, recalling a period when he had less than $100 after losing his income and having to squat with a friend.
Rather than allowing the situation to define his future, he said he was forced to ask what he could do with what remained.
That period became part of a longer journey from starting small to building a team and eventually growing an ecosystem.
His experience reinforced his argument that starting from a difficult position does not necessarily determine where a person will end up.
He urged participants to treat rejection as information rather than a judgment on their ability.
A rejected proposal, unsuccessful business idea or unanswered message, he explained, may simply indicate that the timing, offer or target audience needs to change.
He encouraged young people to ask what each setback is teaching them and to develop routines that continue even when motivation is low.
As a practical roadmap, Olowojoba challenged participants to dedicate the next 30 days to moving from observation to action.
The first week should focus on identifying recurring problems, speaking with people affected by them and understanding immediate survival needs.
The second week should involve practising daily, creating a first sample project and protecting time for a long-term ambition.
The third week should be used to create a clear offer and reach out to potential customers to test whether the problem is genuinely urgent.
By the fourth week, participants should attend relevant events, volunteer their skills, seek testimonials and establish another 30-day target.
His message was ultimately about movement.
Earn what you need. Learn what you can. Become useful. Build trust. Test your ideas. Document your work. Then use each small opportunity as a foundation for the next one.
The practical approach also reflects the wider philosophy of The FORGE Project Africa, which seeks to develop young Africans who are prepared to take responsibility, contribute to their communities and become effective leaders.
The initiative was founded by Comr. Bolu Michael-Biyi and Dr. Ikechukwu Agbo after the two connected during the Mandela Washington Fellowship at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA. As the only two Nigerians in their Texas-hosted cohort, their initial connection developed into continued conversations about leadership, governance and Africa’s development.
Their discussions eventually focused on a gap they had observed in the development and leadership space: significant attention is often directed towards national and state-level politics, while local government and community-level leadership receive considerably less attention.
Yet, this is where many Africans experience government most directly.
It is the state of the local health centre, the condition of the community road, access to basic services, the effectiveness of a ward representative, the management of local resources and whether residents can actually engage the people responsible for decisions affecting their communities.
For Bolu Michael-Biyi and Dr. Agbo, strengthening leadership at this level is therefore critical to creating meaningful and lasting change.
The FORGE Project was created around that conviction, with the goal of identifying, developing and connecting young Africans who are willing to move beyond conversations about leadership and take responsibility for problems within their communities.
The initiative currently operates through four major components: the FORGE Fellowship, which develops young leaders through structured learning and practical community challenges; the FORGE Report, which examines local governance across Africa; FORGE 40 Under 40, which recognises promising young civic leaders; and the Grand Leadership Summit, which brings together young leaders, policymakers and practitioners.
The Personal and Professional Development Session with Olowojoba forms part of that broader effort to equip members with practical knowledge that can be applied to their careers, businesses, communities and personal development.
For the young Africans who participated, the central lesson was not simply how to make money without money.
It was how to recognise value in what is already available, identify problems worth solving, develop useful skills, earn trust and take consistent steps towards a larger vision.
In a continent where many young people are waiting for funding, connections or the perfect opportunity before beginning, Olowojoba’s message offered a practical alternative.
Start with what you have.
Start small.
Be useful.
Build trust.
And keep building.
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