Thursday, February 28, 2013
How to Know if Your Girlfriend Is Cheating on You
Sometimes, a good relationship can be ruined by mistrusting your girlfriend. But if you suspect she's cheating, the nagging suspicion can be almost impossible to ignore. Here's how to start figuring out if your fears are real.
EditSteps
- 1Take a step back. Before you do anything rash, take a moment to exhale and consider the situation. Ask yourself:
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everystudent.com- What makes you think she's cheating? Do you have hard evidence, or just a hunch?
- How trustworthy do you think your girlfriend is? Do you think she'd be capable of something like this?
- Has your girlfriend lied to you? Can you think of any instances when you haven't been sure she's telling the truth?
- Is she absent or unreachable for long periods of time? Does she bail out on your plans often?
- What makes you think she's cheating? Do you have hard evidence, or just a hunch?
- 2Observe. Watch how your girlfriend acts around you and other people. Do you notice any significant changes in her behavior, such as:
- Does she send you text messages or calls less often? If you start being the one to call or text her first all the time, that's a bad sign.
- Secret phone conversations. Does she leave the room every time she gets a call on her cell? Is she just trying to be polite? If she's trying to guard her conversations on the phone, there may be reason to worry.
- Distinct changes in appearance. If your girlfriend suddenly starts worrying a little more about her appearance, (new clothes, always clean shaven, spending more time in the mirror) she may be trying to look good for someone else. If she gets dressed up for you, that's one thing but if they seem to spend a little more time looking good to go out without you, you might want to look into that.
- Picking fights: Is your girlfriend picking fights and arguing more with you? This could just be an excuse to get out of the house. Picking a fight and then storming out of the house to get away from you is an easy way to go spend time with someone else.
- Lying: Catching her in a lie, no matter how small, is always cause for concern. Try to connect lies with certain time frames and you may have a connection to infidelity.
- Computer time: An increase in computer time may a sign you are being cheated on. There are many adult chat rooms out there that cater to infidelity.
- Friends behavioral change: If your friends seem to feel uncomfortable around you, they may know something that you don't. This is a classic sign that your girlfriend is cheating on you and you are the last to know.
- Accusing you: Another common sign you are being cheated on is that she constantly accuses you of the very same thing she is guilty of — cheating. She may drop hints that you are having an affair because her own guilt is starting to wear on her.
- Does she send you text messages or calls less often? If you start being the one to call or text her first all the time, that's a bad sign.
- 3Express affection and watch how she responds. These are signs that she might be thinking of cheating:
- Tell her you love her. Does she say it back?
- Hold her hand. Does she try to pull it away? Does she look nervous?
- Tell her you love her. Does she say it back?
- 4Look at her past. Like the old saying goes, "Once a cheater, always a cheater". Has she snuck around other boyfriends in the past? If so, then, she might already be comfortable with cheating.
- 5Be up-front with her. Tell her you have something on your mind, and ask if she has time to talk in a private space. Don't accuse her (such as, "I know you're cheating!"), but do express your feelings (like "I feel like you're losing interest in our relationship").
- Notice whether or not she gives you an answer. If she isn't cheating, she has no reason not to be straightforward and reassure you that everything is fine. If she is, she might talk in circles without really saying anything.
- If she becomes defensive or tries to turn the tables on you, this might be her guilt talking.
- Notice whether or not she gives you an answer. If she isn't cheating, she has no reason not to be straightforward and reassure you that everything is fine. If she is, she might talk in circles without really saying anything.
- 6Follow your gut. Sometimes, you just know things without having to second-guess yourself. No amount of crying and denial can rival the feelings you have in the pit of your stomach. After you've taken all the evidence into consideration, it's time to follow your intuition.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Meet The Youngest Billionaire In Africa
31 year old Ashish Thakkar is Africa’s youngest billionaire. Born in Uganda, the young billionaire was just 13 when he and his family had to flee the continent to escape the Rwandan genocide. He started his entrepreneurial journey at age 15 after taking a $6,000 loan to start his first company.
The journey led him to found Mara Group which has become one of the largest information technology companies in Africa.
Wharton Business School recently interviewed the young business man about his foray into the business world and his remarkable success. Check out the interview below. Don’t forget to share it with your friends and associates online.
Knowledge@Wharton: You started making money at the age of 14 by selling your own computer at a profit to a family friend. After you sold it, you didn’t have a computer yourself. Why did you do it?
Ashish Thakkar: That’s how it all began. Basically my parents bought me a computer. My father’s friend came home for dinner that night. He saw it and he said, “How much did you get that for?” I told him the price but added on US$100 more than what we actually bought it for. And he said, “How many do you have?” I said, “I’ve got two.” And he asked, “What are you doing with the second one?” I said, “I’m selling it.”
He said, “OK great, could you deliver it tomorrow?” And I said, “I’ll do it after school.” So while they’re having dinner, I’m cleaning up my computer, deleting all the files, emptying the trash can, packing it up so I can deliver it. Obviously I didn’t have a second one. I delivered it the next day and I made a hundred dollars. I said, “Wow, this is doable.”
Knowledge@Wharton: What did your father say when you gave his friend a price that was a hundred dollars more than what he paid for it?
Thakkar: He was laughing. We didn’t discuss it much. We just kind of left it at that. I was a little scared that he would tell me off so I didn’t really discuss it. I just delivered it the next day and bought another computer. And I managed to sell my second one to the school.
Knowledge@Wharton: So from then on, you got into the IT business?
Thakkar: What happened was then my summer holidays came. I had two months of holidays. I was 15 and I said to my dad I would like to set up a small shop during my summer holidays and then I’ll shut down my shop and then go back to school. I did that. I set up a tiny, little shop with a US$6,000 loan. At that time, floppy disks were the hot thing. I was selling those. And then my summer holidays finished and I didn’t tell my parents immediately. After a week, they figured it out. We sat down and I said, “Look, if you want me to study, I’ll study but I’m going to end up doing this anyway. Why not let me do this now?”
My father is a pretty unconventional person and he said, “OK, fine. Go ahead and do this for a year. Do it on your own. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll have to go back to a year below your class.” I said, “Done.” So I still have that option available.
I didn’t have enough working capital to do cargoes and shipments. I would travel to Dubai every weekend. Fill my suitcase with IT stuff. Pay my taxes on Monday. Sell Tuesday through Friday. Get my cash on Friday. Go back to Dubai on Saturday and Sunday. Pay my taxes on Monday. That was my cycle for six months. And then I was thinking, “There are so many people coming to Dubai to do exactly the same thing. Why don’t I set up a base to help them? We then set up an office in Dubai when I was 15 in 1996 to actually supply IT hardware into African countries. And the rest is history.
Knowledge@Wharton: You had set up an office at 15?
Thakkar: In Dubai, you need a local sponsor. I found a local sponsor who was a senior guy in Dubai. We went to the court to register a company. They were speaking in Arabic and I didn’t understand what they were saying. And he goes to me, “There’s a mistake in the document.” And I said, “Why?” He said, “They’ve written your age as 15.” I said, “Well, I am 15.” He said, “You’re kidding. You can’t just set up a company when you’re 15.” And I said, “I am 15 and I want to set up a company.” And he said, “Oh my God. Well, your dad is going to have to fly in and sign as a guardian so he knows what you’re doing.” And I said, “That’s fine. He’ll fly in.” So the company registration got delayed by a week. So that’s how it all began and then we diversified.
Knowledge@Wharton: So now you’re in real estate, tourism, manufacturing, etc. Can you talk a bit more about the businesses you have?
Thakkar: Today, we’re in 24 countries, of which 19 are in African countries. We have about 7,000 employees in Africa. We’re in IT services. It’s the same IT company I started a few years ago and we merged it a few years ago. It’s been labeled as Africa’s largest IT company but I don’t know how true it is. We’ve got an IT company. We’ve got a call center business across Africa. We’ve got a telecom infrastructure company. We’ve got a corrugated packaging business in East and Central Africa. We’re building a paper mill in East Africa. We’ve got an agricultural project. We’re building an Intercontinental hotel, convention center, shopping mall and office park in Uganda. We’re building two hotels, shopping mall, office park and hospital in Tanzania. We’re pretty active on the real estate side. We’re building a glass manufacturing company in Nigeria. For agriculture, we’ve secured a large piece of land, about 26,000 acres in East Africa. We’re looking at potentially going into the power generation industry as well.
We’re a pretty diverse group. We advise some of the heads of state in Africa. We’re pretty active on the African front. I’m on the Global Agenda Council on the World Economic Forum for Africa and quite a few others. We speak and we’re very passionate on the African platform.
Our model is we partner with international companies who want to come to Africa and become their local partners. We typically do 50-50 partnerships. We both put in capital. We both bring different expertise to the table. That’s the idea.
Knowledge@Wharton: What sorts of traits make a good entrepreneur?
Thakkar: You need to have that passion. You need to have that vision. And the most important thing is you need to have a very high moral ground. You need to be very ethical and transparent. I think as long as those three things fit together. Passion meaning loving what you do and really enjoying it, looking forward to waking up the next morning and getting back down to it is really important. That’s what’s going to keep you going. Vision is thinking big and starting small — that’s very important. Being very honest, transparent, open and ethical is very important. Never giving anybody the raw end of the deal is very important. Making US$100 on a margin on a computer is business. That’s fine. Everyone thinks profit in business or the world doesn’t go around. You don’t want to mess people around. It’s always better to under promise and over deliver and I think that’s how relationships should be held. My father always said, “Earn with your partners and not from your partners.” What goes around comes around. It’s important to be very transparent and clean.
Knowledge@Wharton: Africa doesn’t have a reputation as being very transparent. Is that quite hard to keep those ethics while doing business in Africa?
Thakkar: We’ve definitely lost business in the past because of that. We don’t entertain that kind of stuff. Genuinely speaking, a lot of our leaders have the right passion and vision. They’re really about transformation. In that respect, it’s just important to know how to go about it. So when you are put through that bureaucracy and people are trying to frustrate the process. We manage to reach out and scream. We make sure we get the right attention. We’re not just going to start entertaining other types of stuff because that’s just not something we agree with. Principally, it’s just not the right thing to do long term at all. We’re a case study in that sense because we’re absolutely transparent and we’ve succeeded in doing business. It is a generalization.
Forget North Africa but sub-Saharan Africa has 46 countries. Even if 10 or 15 are not great, the others are. Out of the 46, I’m only in 19. Not all 19 are clean either but we have more emphasis on the ones that are.
It is doable. Africa isn’t plug and play. It is a challenging environment but as long as you have the right intentions. We don’t do any sort of business that doesn’t have a social impact on people. We don’t want to go into mining and take out minerals from countries and export them to make a quick buck. We don’t do stuff like that. We want to do things that are sustainable for the continent that will benefit people and create some sort of local beneficiation that really help the communities we work in. In that respect, it’s important to have the right intentions. You’ve got to be a long-term player in Africa. You can’t come in with a short-term mentality.
Knowledge@Wharton: You also have the Mara Foundation that includes an incubator in Uganda for entrepreneurs. What sort of atmosphere will help support entrepreneurs in modern Africa?
Thakkar: After starting off as refugees in Rwanda, we lost everything. That’s when we started off with very little. I started off at the age of 15 with US$6,000. You understand what young entrepreneurs go through.
We have a huge issue in Africa with unemployment. Unfortunately, a lot of our governments think the answer is foreign direct investment. It’s not. That’s when we started a mentoring program a few years ago. We were trying to mentor young entrepreneurs. The first year, we mentored around 120 entrepreneurs but it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. We wanted to make a much bigger impact and that’s when we set up an online mentoring platform that we launched in Silicon Valley about three months ago. Within three months, we’ve actually got 52,000 young entrepreneurs signed up. It’s been amazing. We’re relaunching the entire site to have more content and data and everything else.
At the same time, we’re realized it’s sexy to be working out of your bedroom in the West but in Africa, people just don’t respect you and trust you if you’re working from that kind of thing. In order to give credibility and visibility to businesses, we decided to set up business incubation centers. So now you’re guiding them, handholding them, teaching them, inspiring them and you’re giving them credibility and visibility.
Now the missing link was partners and capital. How do they get access to funding? Then we launched our own venture capital fund that basically invests in these companies. This entire project belongs to the Mara Foundation, which is a nonprofit social enterprise.
So far, we haven’t raised any external money. Everything has been 100 percent subsidized by the group. We’ve launched in Uganda. We’re launching in Tanzania by the end of the year. We’re signing partnership agreements in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. It’s quite an amazing thing and I spend about 30 to 40% of my time on the foundation.
Knowledge@Wharton: You met with a whole bunch of business leaders like Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Y****, on a recent trip to Silicon Valley. Was it difficult to find top business leaders to partner with budding African entrepreneurs?
Thakkar: Everybody loves the idea of it. But it was the method. How do they go about it? Where do they start? That was the big question mark, which is why hopefully the platform answers the question. There was a lot of positive feedback. At that time, we literally had zero entrepreneurs on our network and now have 52,000. We’re launching on mobile now since we’re online. Hopefully we’ll be launching on Nokia and Blackberry apps. That should create a massive scale. When it does, we’ll probably come back to Silicon Valley and relaunch it. Everybody does want to play a role. Everybody wants to help out. Everybody loves the idea of it but doing it in a credible way, hopefully we’ll be one of the conduits for that and support the entrepreneurs.
Knowledge@Wharton: Any other future goals? You’ve accomplished so much at such a young age.
Thakkar: Frankly, I’m very passionate about Africa. I’m fourth-generation African in that sense. My parents and my grandparents were born in Africa. Helping entrepreneurs is one thing but helping entrepreneurs in Africa and slowly but surely, taking it to other emerging markets and other markets generally. We want to make a global platform because there’s nothing stopping them. The content’s the same.
Entrepreneurial advice is entrepreneurial advice. Once you have all that content online, it can be used anywhere. My aim is to impact a few million African entrepreneurs. We want to make the group global. At the same time, I’m very passionate about changing the image and perception of Africa.
Unfortunately right now, when people think about Africa, they think about a child with a bowl in his hands. That’s absolute rubbish because plenty in our continent has evolved. We’re really progressive. I think the right story needs to be told. We need to stop generalizing about a billion people in 54 different countries. It needs to stop.
I think changing the perception and hence my whole space trip is creating a positive buzz about the region, and making people realize that people in Africa have the vision and ability as well.
So I think focusing on young entrepreneurs, which is the immediate thing. Scaling it up in Africa and making it global one day. Also, next year, we’re launching something called Mara Women, which is focused on women entrepreneurs through the Mara Foundation. All our incubation centers and venture capital funds and mentoring will have an allocation fixed for women entrepreneurs. So young women entrepreneurs, going global and changing the perception of Africa are what we’re focused on.
Knowledge@Wharton: You have an interesting family background since you said your grandparents were born in Africa but you’ve also lived in the U.K.
Thakkar: Sure, in the 1890s, my father’s family left from India and went to Uganda. In 1920, my mother’s family left from India to go to Tanzania. After they got married, they lived in Kenya and moved to Uganda. And then in 1972, the Idi Amin saga took place and everybody was expelled. My parents left, lost everything and went to England. My parents worked in factories, built some capital, started up a business, built more capital and bought a home. In 1993, they decided they wanted to go back to Africa so they sold off the home, sold their business and took everything they had to Rwanda in Central Africa.
Nine months later, unfortunately, my parents, my sister and I were taken from our home and we were refugees for three weeks. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Hotel Rwanda. I was in that hotel. We were evacuated. Fortunately, we came out alive but unfortunately everything they built from 1972 to 1993, they lost in 1994.
So we literally started from scratch. My father took a US$11,000 loan and set up a business. And I took a US$6,000 loan and set up a business in 1996. And here we are today.
Knowledge@Wharton: That must’ve been terrifying as a refugee because you were so young at the time?
Thakkar: I was 13. It was crazy because you remember everything. It was extremely terrifying. You think back to my father, having my sister, my mother and me with us. He was still playing games and acting all chirpy acting as if everything was fine. When you think back, you think, “Wow, he’s something else.”
Knowledge@Wharton: You have been quoted as remembering U.N. convoys running over bodies to make sure everybody was dead.
Thakkar: What happened was we were in a truck being taken from the hotel and I was curious. I stuck my head out and saw that bodies were being loaded in trucks. I asked the U.N. guy. Basically, whichever army or rebels or whoever, are taking all the bodies and putting them in a truck and taking them to a place and blowing it up to make sure everybody was dead.
When you go through all that, it makes you think, “Wow.” This is the reason it gives you a completely, completely different perspective on life.
I’m 31 and have so many people around me, saying “Why are you spending 40% of your time on the foundation? There’s so much more in business.” Literally we have the ability to access anyone we want to, a whole specter. We can do some crazy stuff in the entrepreneurial space.
But I think God has been amazingly kind and given us so much. It’s given us a second or third chance. Why not give back and impact other people’s lives? We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to make things happen but so many others haven’t. Why not help them and give them a second or third chance. It’s important to give back and genuinely that’s how I believe wealth should be measured.
Knowledge@Wharton: It sounds like the Rwandan genocide has really impacted the career you’ve taken on?
Thakkar: It has. Another major factor that has played a key role in my life is my spiritual leader Morari Bapu at moraribapu.org. He really is an amazing, amazing individual. He has three core teachings, which are truth, love and compassion. He has these nine-day functions every so often. I try to attend at least one or two a year.
Listening to him keeps me really grounded. Just listening to him makes you really realize there’s so much more to this world than just earning money. Since I was a child, I’ve been following him. That’s my one little secret. It freaks me out even thinking what I would do without him. He has been an amazing inspiration. He really teaches you truth, how to be honest, how to be a better person. Love – how to love everyone around you, regardless of religion and color and race, this, that and another, regardless of their position in society and all that rubbish. He teaches compassion, like how to give back, with no hidden agenda and no particular intention.
That’s why I hate the word “CSR.” [Corporate Social Responsibility] It’s such a useless word. Someone doing it for the sake of doing it so they’ll look good in society.
You have to go about creating social enterprises. That’s the way forward. You have to make sustainable wealth in a straightforward and simple manner. I set up my manufacturing plant ten years ago. At that time, I was producing 30 tons a month. Today I’m producing 30,000 tons a month. Why? Because there was a demand so I created this plant.
My foundation helped 120 entrepreneurs three years ago. Why can it not help a million entrepreneurs? There’s a demand. Why not create the platform?
I did it in packaging. I did it in all my other businesses. Why not do it in this? I looked at it as a real business. That’s where I think we need to switch our mindset. I’m hoping this will create a huge impact, and I’m hoping this will inspire the public sector to do more to support these young entrepreneurs. And also the private sector to do more. It’s not about the size of the check. It’s about the impact that you create.
When you’re putting up a business, your simple bottom line is what’s your IRR? How much are you making at the end of the day? It’s not a matter of what kind of investment you make, it’s the return you’re focused on. People need to look at this very differently. It’s time we changed that mindset.
Knowledge@Wharton: I want to talk about you being an astronaut. You talked about changing the image of East Africans and you’re the first East African to become an astronaut. You’ve signed up to be an astronaut on Virgin’s private space flight. What made you decide to sign up?
Thakkar: A few years ago, I was in China watching the news. And I saw the news and I thought, “Wow, that looks pretty funky, a bit crazy.” It pumped up my adrenaline and I was at the airport lounge. And I just logged onto their site and I just signed up. I didn’t take it that seriously. I hadn’t even watched Star Wars so it wasn’t like I was jumping up and down. I just kind of did this. When I was a child, I always thought about being an astronaut or a pilot. I didn’t take it that seriously and I didn’t take it that seriously when I signed up.
But then I got a phone call from Virgin. I was offered a Founder’s Position from Africa to represent the continent to become Africa’s second astronaut and East Africa’s first astronaut.
I just thought it can create an amazing political impact. So the heads of state officially handed over their flags to me and I officially represent the region. So it’s feeding that buzz that we have the vision in East Africa.
I did training in Philadelphia’s NASTAR Center when they put us through the centrifuge. They’re pushing you down 3.5-Gs [as in G-force] so it’s really intensive. You walk in thinking, “Oh yeah, I’m going into space” and then you walk out, thinking, “Oh no, I’m going into space.” It’s really cool though and very exciting. Virgin Galactic has been an awesome company to be associated with. The whole journey has been really fun. I met some amazing individuals.
Knowledge@Wharton: You’re based in Dubai now.
Thakkar: Our home office is in Dubai. It’s the perfect hub for Africa. It’s more centrally located than London or South Africa. We feel passionately about Dubai as a hub for Africa.
There have been a lot of historical routes between this region and Africa. I think more and more, there’s an active role being played and it’s increasing further and further. Obviously, India and China have invested in Africa pretty aggressively. Europe has inroads from the colonial times. I think the Middle East is getting to grips with it now. They’ve done so much in Africa. But I can see the momentum is increasing. I don’t think the U.S. understands its story as well but I think that will slowly change. You can see the transformation taking place in people’s mindset. Still, there’s a huge lack of understanding.
People still need to understand sub-Saharan Africa or take even East Africa. Each of these countries is an independent case study. You can’t copy and paste anything. You have to localize it. The culture is different. The vision is different. The leadership is different. The jurisdiction and laws are different. Policy is different. The mindset is different. You have to plug into each country being very local. And that’s very important. Unfortunately right now, we really generalize the continent and that’s very wrong.
Knowledge@Wharton: So because of these generalizations, people in the U.S. and the Middle East have been hesitant about investing in Africa?
Thakkar: I think it’s more than hesitancy. It’s a lack of understanding. You can see the eagerness and there are historical ties. There’s a lot of warmth here for Africa but translating into more trade between the two regions. It’s been happening but I think it’s been increasing. But with the U.S., I’m not sure. I still haven’t seen any huge movements in that respect. In the past, the U.S. has been a little bit more conservative and moved a little slower but I’m sure in time, the U.S. will come into play quite a bit more, which is a good thing.
Knowledge@Wharton: So where in the Middle East have people been more interested in investing in Africa?
Thakkar: The United Arab Emirates [UAE] has been more active. The UAE is the one I understand the most. I haven’t seen too many Qatari groups come in. I haven’t seen any Bahraini groups come in. I haven’t seen too many Saudi groups come in. The UAE seems the most active in that respect. But you can see everyone else bubbling up as well. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot more now.
The journey led him to found Mara Group which has become one of the largest information technology companies in Africa.
Wharton Business School recently interviewed the young business man about his foray into the business world and his remarkable success. Check out the interview below. Don’t forget to share it with your friends and associates online.
Knowledge@Wharton: You started making money at the age of 14 by selling your own computer at a profit to a family friend. After you sold it, you didn’t have a computer yourself. Why did you do it?
Ashish Thakkar: That’s how it all began. Basically my parents bought me a computer. My father’s friend came home for dinner that night. He saw it and he said, “How much did you get that for?” I told him the price but added on US$100 more than what we actually bought it for. And he said, “How many do you have?” I said, “I’ve got two.” And he asked, “What are you doing with the second one?” I said, “I’m selling it.”
He said, “OK great, could you deliver it tomorrow?” And I said, “I’ll do it after school.” So while they’re having dinner, I’m cleaning up my computer, deleting all the files, emptying the trash can, packing it up so I can deliver it. Obviously I didn’t have a second one. I delivered it the next day and I made a hundred dollars. I said, “Wow, this is doable.”
Knowledge@Wharton: What did your father say when you gave his friend a price that was a hundred dollars more than what he paid for it?
Thakkar: He was laughing. We didn’t discuss it much. We just kind of left it at that. I was a little scared that he would tell me off so I didn’t really discuss it. I just delivered it the next day and bought another computer. And I managed to sell my second one to the school.
Knowledge@Wharton: So from then on, you got into the IT business?
Thakkar: What happened was then my summer holidays came. I had two months of holidays. I was 15 and I said to my dad I would like to set up a small shop during my summer holidays and then I’ll shut down my shop and then go back to school. I did that. I set up a tiny, little shop with a US$6,000 loan. At that time, floppy disks were the hot thing. I was selling those. And then my summer holidays finished and I didn’t tell my parents immediately. After a week, they figured it out. We sat down and I said, “Look, if you want me to study, I’ll study but I’m going to end up doing this anyway. Why not let me do this now?”
My father is a pretty unconventional person and he said, “OK, fine. Go ahead and do this for a year. Do it on your own. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll have to go back to a year below your class.” I said, “Done.” So I still have that option available.
I didn’t have enough working capital to do cargoes and shipments. I would travel to Dubai every weekend. Fill my suitcase with IT stuff. Pay my taxes on Monday. Sell Tuesday through Friday. Get my cash on Friday. Go back to Dubai on Saturday and Sunday. Pay my taxes on Monday. That was my cycle for six months. And then I was thinking, “There are so many people coming to Dubai to do exactly the same thing. Why don’t I set up a base to help them? We then set up an office in Dubai when I was 15 in 1996 to actually supply IT hardware into African countries. And the rest is history.
Knowledge@Wharton: You had set up an office at 15?
Thakkar: In Dubai, you need a local sponsor. I found a local sponsor who was a senior guy in Dubai. We went to the court to register a company. They were speaking in Arabic and I didn’t understand what they were saying. And he goes to me, “There’s a mistake in the document.” And I said, “Why?” He said, “They’ve written your age as 15.” I said, “Well, I am 15.” He said, “You’re kidding. You can’t just set up a company when you’re 15.” And I said, “I am 15 and I want to set up a company.” And he said, “Oh my God. Well, your dad is going to have to fly in and sign as a guardian so he knows what you’re doing.” And I said, “That’s fine. He’ll fly in.” So the company registration got delayed by a week. So that’s how it all began and then we diversified.
Knowledge@Wharton: So now you’re in real estate, tourism, manufacturing, etc. Can you talk a bit more about the businesses you have?
Thakkar: Today, we’re in 24 countries, of which 19 are in African countries. We have about 7,000 employees in Africa. We’re in IT services. It’s the same IT company I started a few years ago and we merged it a few years ago. It’s been labeled as Africa’s largest IT company but I don’t know how true it is. We’ve got an IT company. We’ve got a call center business across Africa. We’ve got a telecom infrastructure company. We’ve got a corrugated packaging business in East and Central Africa. We’re building a paper mill in East Africa. We’ve got an agricultural project. We’re building an Intercontinental hotel, convention center, shopping mall and office park in Uganda. We’re building two hotels, shopping mall, office park and hospital in Tanzania. We’re pretty active on the real estate side. We’re building a glass manufacturing company in Nigeria. For agriculture, we’ve secured a large piece of land, about 26,000 acres in East Africa. We’re looking at potentially going into the power generation industry as well.
We’re a pretty diverse group. We advise some of the heads of state in Africa. We’re pretty active on the African front. I’m on the Global Agenda Council on the World Economic Forum for Africa and quite a few others. We speak and we’re very passionate on the African platform.
Our model is we partner with international companies who want to come to Africa and become their local partners. We typically do 50-50 partnerships. We both put in capital. We both bring different expertise to the table. That’s the idea.
Knowledge@Wharton: What sorts of traits make a good entrepreneur?
Thakkar: You need to have that passion. You need to have that vision. And the most important thing is you need to have a very high moral ground. You need to be very ethical and transparent. I think as long as those three things fit together. Passion meaning loving what you do and really enjoying it, looking forward to waking up the next morning and getting back down to it is really important. That’s what’s going to keep you going. Vision is thinking big and starting small — that’s very important. Being very honest, transparent, open and ethical is very important. Never giving anybody the raw end of the deal is very important. Making US$100 on a margin on a computer is business. That’s fine. Everyone thinks profit in business or the world doesn’t go around. You don’t want to mess people around. It’s always better to under promise and over deliver and I think that’s how relationships should be held. My father always said, “Earn with your partners and not from your partners.” What goes around comes around. It’s important to be very transparent and clean.
Knowledge@Wharton: Africa doesn’t have a reputation as being very transparent. Is that quite hard to keep those ethics while doing business in Africa?
Thakkar: We’ve definitely lost business in the past because of that. We don’t entertain that kind of stuff. Genuinely speaking, a lot of our leaders have the right passion and vision. They’re really about transformation. In that respect, it’s just important to know how to go about it. So when you are put through that bureaucracy and people are trying to frustrate the process. We manage to reach out and scream. We make sure we get the right attention. We’re not just going to start entertaining other types of stuff because that’s just not something we agree with. Principally, it’s just not the right thing to do long term at all. We’re a case study in that sense because we’re absolutely transparent and we’ve succeeded in doing business. It is a generalization.
Forget North Africa but sub-Saharan Africa has 46 countries. Even if 10 or 15 are not great, the others are. Out of the 46, I’m only in 19. Not all 19 are clean either but we have more emphasis on the ones that are.
It is doable. Africa isn’t plug and play. It is a challenging environment but as long as you have the right intentions. We don’t do any sort of business that doesn’t have a social impact on people. We don’t want to go into mining and take out minerals from countries and export them to make a quick buck. We don’t do stuff like that. We want to do things that are sustainable for the continent that will benefit people and create some sort of local beneficiation that really help the communities we work in. In that respect, it’s important to have the right intentions. You’ve got to be a long-term player in Africa. You can’t come in with a short-term mentality.
Knowledge@Wharton: You also have the Mara Foundation that includes an incubator in Uganda for entrepreneurs. What sort of atmosphere will help support entrepreneurs in modern Africa?
Thakkar: After starting off as refugees in Rwanda, we lost everything. That’s when we started off with very little. I started off at the age of 15 with US$6,000. You understand what young entrepreneurs go through.
We have a huge issue in Africa with unemployment. Unfortunately, a lot of our governments think the answer is foreign direct investment. It’s not. That’s when we started a mentoring program a few years ago. We were trying to mentor young entrepreneurs. The first year, we mentored around 120 entrepreneurs but it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. We wanted to make a much bigger impact and that’s when we set up an online mentoring platform that we launched in Silicon Valley about three months ago. Within three months, we’ve actually got 52,000 young entrepreneurs signed up. It’s been amazing. We’re relaunching the entire site to have more content and data and everything else.
At the same time, we’re realized it’s sexy to be working out of your bedroom in the West but in Africa, people just don’t respect you and trust you if you’re working from that kind of thing. In order to give credibility and visibility to businesses, we decided to set up business incubation centers. So now you’re guiding them, handholding them, teaching them, inspiring them and you’re giving them credibility and visibility.
Now the missing link was partners and capital. How do they get access to funding? Then we launched our own venture capital fund that basically invests in these companies. This entire project belongs to the Mara Foundation, which is a nonprofit social enterprise.
So far, we haven’t raised any external money. Everything has been 100 percent subsidized by the group. We’ve launched in Uganda. We’re launching in Tanzania by the end of the year. We’re signing partnership agreements in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. It’s quite an amazing thing and I spend about 30 to 40% of my time on the foundation.
Knowledge@Wharton: You met with a whole bunch of business leaders like Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Y****, on a recent trip to Silicon Valley. Was it difficult to find top business leaders to partner with budding African entrepreneurs?
Thakkar: Everybody loves the idea of it. But it was the method. How do they go about it? Where do they start? That was the big question mark, which is why hopefully the platform answers the question. There was a lot of positive feedback. At that time, we literally had zero entrepreneurs on our network and now have 52,000. We’re launching on mobile now since we’re online. Hopefully we’ll be launching on Nokia and Blackberry apps. That should create a massive scale. When it does, we’ll probably come back to Silicon Valley and relaunch it. Everybody does want to play a role. Everybody wants to help out. Everybody loves the idea of it but doing it in a credible way, hopefully we’ll be one of the conduits for that and support the entrepreneurs.
Knowledge@Wharton: Any other future goals? You’ve accomplished so much at such a young age.
Thakkar: Frankly, I’m very passionate about Africa. I’m fourth-generation African in that sense. My parents and my grandparents were born in Africa. Helping entrepreneurs is one thing but helping entrepreneurs in Africa and slowly but surely, taking it to other emerging markets and other markets generally. We want to make a global platform because there’s nothing stopping them. The content’s the same.
Entrepreneurial advice is entrepreneurial advice. Once you have all that content online, it can be used anywhere. My aim is to impact a few million African entrepreneurs. We want to make the group global. At the same time, I’m very passionate about changing the image and perception of Africa.
Unfortunately right now, when people think about Africa, they think about a child with a bowl in his hands. That’s absolute rubbish because plenty in our continent has evolved. We’re really progressive. I think the right story needs to be told. We need to stop generalizing about a billion people in 54 different countries. It needs to stop.
I think changing the perception and hence my whole space trip is creating a positive buzz about the region, and making people realize that people in Africa have the vision and ability as well.
So I think focusing on young entrepreneurs, which is the immediate thing. Scaling it up in Africa and making it global one day. Also, next year, we’re launching something called Mara Women, which is focused on women entrepreneurs through the Mara Foundation. All our incubation centers and venture capital funds and mentoring will have an allocation fixed for women entrepreneurs. So young women entrepreneurs, going global and changing the perception of Africa are what we’re focused on.
Knowledge@Wharton: You have an interesting family background since you said your grandparents were born in Africa but you’ve also lived in the U.K.
Thakkar: Sure, in the 1890s, my father’s family left from India and went to Uganda. In 1920, my mother’s family left from India to go to Tanzania. After they got married, they lived in Kenya and moved to Uganda. And then in 1972, the Idi Amin saga took place and everybody was expelled. My parents left, lost everything and went to England. My parents worked in factories, built some capital, started up a business, built more capital and bought a home. In 1993, they decided they wanted to go back to Africa so they sold off the home, sold their business and took everything they had to Rwanda in Central Africa.
Nine months later, unfortunately, my parents, my sister and I were taken from our home and we were refugees for three weeks. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Hotel Rwanda. I was in that hotel. We were evacuated. Fortunately, we came out alive but unfortunately everything they built from 1972 to 1993, they lost in 1994.
So we literally started from scratch. My father took a US$11,000 loan and set up a business. And I took a US$6,000 loan and set up a business in 1996. And here we are today.
Knowledge@Wharton: That must’ve been terrifying as a refugee because you were so young at the time?
Thakkar: I was 13. It was crazy because you remember everything. It was extremely terrifying. You think back to my father, having my sister, my mother and me with us. He was still playing games and acting all chirpy acting as if everything was fine. When you think back, you think, “Wow, he’s something else.”
Knowledge@Wharton: You have been quoted as remembering U.N. convoys running over bodies to make sure everybody was dead.
Thakkar: What happened was we were in a truck being taken from the hotel and I was curious. I stuck my head out and saw that bodies were being loaded in trucks. I asked the U.N. guy. Basically, whichever army or rebels or whoever, are taking all the bodies and putting them in a truck and taking them to a place and blowing it up to make sure everybody was dead.
When you go through all that, it makes you think, “Wow.” This is the reason it gives you a completely, completely different perspective on life.
I’m 31 and have so many people around me, saying “Why are you spending 40% of your time on the foundation? There’s so much more in business.” Literally we have the ability to access anyone we want to, a whole specter. We can do some crazy stuff in the entrepreneurial space.
But I think God has been amazingly kind and given us so much. It’s given us a second or third chance. Why not give back and impact other people’s lives? We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to make things happen but so many others haven’t. Why not help them and give them a second or third chance. It’s important to give back and genuinely that’s how I believe wealth should be measured.
Knowledge@Wharton: It sounds like the Rwandan genocide has really impacted the career you’ve taken on?
Thakkar: It has. Another major factor that has played a key role in my life is my spiritual leader Morari Bapu at moraribapu.org. He really is an amazing, amazing individual. He has three core teachings, which are truth, love and compassion. He has these nine-day functions every so often. I try to attend at least one or two a year.
Listening to him keeps me really grounded. Just listening to him makes you really realize there’s so much more to this world than just earning money. Since I was a child, I’ve been following him. That’s my one little secret. It freaks me out even thinking what I would do without him. He has been an amazing inspiration. He really teaches you truth, how to be honest, how to be a better person. Love – how to love everyone around you, regardless of religion and color and race, this, that and another, regardless of their position in society and all that rubbish. He teaches compassion, like how to give back, with no hidden agenda and no particular intention.
That’s why I hate the word “CSR.” [Corporate Social Responsibility] It’s such a useless word. Someone doing it for the sake of doing it so they’ll look good in society.
You have to go about creating social enterprises. That’s the way forward. You have to make sustainable wealth in a straightforward and simple manner. I set up my manufacturing plant ten years ago. At that time, I was producing 30 tons a month. Today I’m producing 30,000 tons a month. Why? Because there was a demand so I created this plant.
My foundation helped 120 entrepreneurs three years ago. Why can it not help a million entrepreneurs? There’s a demand. Why not create the platform?
I did it in packaging. I did it in all my other businesses. Why not do it in this? I looked at it as a real business. That’s where I think we need to switch our mindset. I’m hoping this will create a huge impact, and I’m hoping this will inspire the public sector to do more to support these young entrepreneurs. And also the private sector to do more. It’s not about the size of the check. It’s about the impact that you create.
When you’re putting up a business, your simple bottom line is what’s your IRR? How much are you making at the end of the day? It’s not a matter of what kind of investment you make, it’s the return you’re focused on. People need to look at this very differently. It’s time we changed that mindset.
Knowledge@Wharton: I want to talk about you being an astronaut. You talked about changing the image of East Africans and you’re the first East African to become an astronaut. You’ve signed up to be an astronaut on Virgin’s private space flight. What made you decide to sign up?
Thakkar: A few years ago, I was in China watching the news. And I saw the news and I thought, “Wow, that looks pretty funky, a bit crazy.” It pumped up my adrenaline and I was at the airport lounge. And I just logged onto their site and I just signed up. I didn’t take it that seriously. I hadn’t even watched Star Wars so it wasn’t like I was jumping up and down. I just kind of did this. When I was a child, I always thought about being an astronaut or a pilot. I didn’t take it that seriously and I didn’t take it that seriously when I signed up.
But then I got a phone call from Virgin. I was offered a Founder’s Position from Africa to represent the continent to become Africa’s second astronaut and East Africa’s first astronaut.
I just thought it can create an amazing political impact. So the heads of state officially handed over their flags to me and I officially represent the region. So it’s feeding that buzz that we have the vision in East Africa.
I did training in Philadelphia’s NASTAR Center when they put us through the centrifuge. They’re pushing you down 3.5-Gs [as in G-force] so it’s really intensive. You walk in thinking, “Oh yeah, I’m going into space” and then you walk out, thinking, “Oh no, I’m going into space.” It’s really cool though and very exciting. Virgin Galactic has been an awesome company to be associated with. The whole journey has been really fun. I met some amazing individuals.
Knowledge@Wharton: You’re based in Dubai now.
Thakkar: Our home office is in Dubai. It’s the perfect hub for Africa. It’s more centrally located than London or South Africa. We feel passionately about Dubai as a hub for Africa.
There have been a lot of historical routes between this region and Africa. I think more and more, there’s an active role being played and it’s increasing further and further. Obviously, India and China have invested in Africa pretty aggressively. Europe has inroads from the colonial times. I think the Middle East is getting to grips with it now. They’ve done so much in Africa. But I can see the momentum is increasing. I don’t think the U.S. understands its story as well but I think that will slowly change. You can see the transformation taking place in people’s mindset. Still, there’s a huge lack of understanding.
People still need to understand sub-Saharan Africa or take even East Africa. Each of these countries is an independent case study. You can’t copy and paste anything. You have to localize it. The culture is different. The vision is different. The leadership is different. The jurisdiction and laws are different. Policy is different. The mindset is different. You have to plug into each country being very local. And that’s very important. Unfortunately right now, we really generalize the continent and that’s very wrong.
Knowledge@Wharton: So because of these generalizations, people in the U.S. and the Middle East have been hesitant about investing in Africa?
Thakkar: I think it’s more than hesitancy. It’s a lack of understanding. You can see the eagerness and there are historical ties. There’s a lot of warmth here for Africa but translating into more trade between the two regions. It’s been happening but I think it’s been increasing. But with the U.S., I’m not sure. I still haven’t seen any huge movements in that respect. In the past, the U.S. has been a little bit more conservative and moved a little slower but I’m sure in time, the U.S. will come into play quite a bit more, which is a good thing.
Knowledge@Wharton: So where in the Middle East have people been more interested in investing in Africa?
Thakkar: The United Arab Emirates [UAE] has been more active. The UAE is the one I understand the most. I haven’t seen too many Qatari groups come in. I haven’t seen any Bahraini groups come in. I haven’t seen too many Saudi groups come in. The UAE seems the most active in that respect. But you can see everyone else bubbling up as well. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot more now.
4 Signs You Have A Pórn Addiction
While there are a lot of things much worse to find yourself addicted to than pórn, pórn addiction is real. Most guys would probably readily admit an addiction to pórn—jokingly, of course. But apparently, pórn can become a vice similar to alcohol or drug use.
Wow. Who would've thought that a few thousand X-rated movies stored on your hard drive would be an indicator of a pórn addiction?
That stack of dirty magazines dating from the mid-1980s may be an indicator as well. All joking aside, here are four signs you have a legitimate pórn addiction.
Pórn hoarding. Apparently that mountain of dirty magazines is a sign of a pórn addiction. There is no real reason to have pórn magazines in 2011. You can have all the pórn you want if you have a laptop and an Internet connection. Hoarding can still occur in the virtual world, however. If you find yourself spending hours upon hours using search engines to download and store porn on your laptop, you may have a problem. Hoarding can also show itself in the form of subscription after subscription to pórn for pay sites.
Pórn, pórn everywhere. If you can't get away from pórn, even just for a little while, you have a pórn addiction. If you have pórn on your laptop, pórn on your smartphone and you still have the need to carry around magazines in your briefcase, seek help. Another sign is when pórn begins to take up more and more of your day. Ask yourself this: What's your relationship with pórn. If you spend time, only on the weekends, watching pórn, you're probably OK. If, however, you've seen the time spent on pórn increase over a period of time, you're addicted.
Getting in the way. If you find yourself replacing your normal activities with porn, you have a problem. You used to hang out with friends, but now you're hanging with your laptop. Pórn addiction is like any other addiction. You replace aspects of your previous life with this addiction and, gradually, there's nothing but the addiction left. Coming to work late because of pórn, not being able to even start your day without pórn or sneaking to watch pórn on your smartphone in the bathroom are all signs of an addiction.
Really serious. If, by chance, you lose something serious like a job or a relationship over pórn and you continue to seek that pórn for refuge, you're definitely addicted. Any other addict will do the same thing with their addiction. The very thing that has destroyed their lives is the very thing they continue to run back to. Replace your pórn addiction with heroin, crack, alcohol and you'll see very similar results. Hopefully your addiction to pórn never gets this severe. Ask yourself right now: As you read this, do you have two or three other windows open for pórn viewing? Maybe you should cut back.
4 Tips On How To Make Her Your Girlfriend
So… you like her. Actually, you like her a lot. You want to take that step from simply dating the young lady, to being in a relationship with her. Bridging the gap should be simple right?
You spend all your free time with her. You act like a complete gentleman. You’re ready to jump at her every beckoning. Naturally, she should choose you to be her man, right? Not necessarily. But there is hope.You can take proactive measures to greatly increase the chances that she’ll start an exclusive relationship with you.
These 4 tips on how to make her your girlfriend will prove quite useful.
“Be different”. If you’re dating a stunner, which all of you are no doubt, she’s going to be used to boat loads of potential suitors. You have to manage to separate yourself from the pack of wolves scratching at her door. How do you do this? Simply be different. Most guys make the mistake of shelling out tons of rather dated and superficial compliments because they think that’s what women want to hear. She knows she’s attractive. Spend more time acknowledging the deeper things about her, like, say her brain or even her political ideology. Show her you view her as an entire person and not just a gorgeous accessory. She’ll be thinking “girlfriend” even before you do. Oh, and don’t forget to let her know you think she’s hot too.
“Play by her rules”. You want this chick to be your girlfriend, then don’t make the classic male mistake of pressuring her to do so. She’s feeling you out, so stay frosty. Trying to “convince” her to do anything is just going to backfire. Continue to be your awesome self. Continue to give her reasons to want to be around you… without making them look like reasons. Get it. Just go with her flow. Relationships very rarely develop by force. It’s all natural baby, so be natural.
“Remember the little things”. If favorite flower is a purple tulip, why would you buy her roses? If she loves double chocolate cookies, don’t forget to grab her some. This shows that you pay attention to her. Even in conversation, bring up some minute detail about her that she wouldn’t think you’d notice. It’s ok to take her to grand dinners and expensive outings, but real women want to know that you’re paying attention to them. They want to know that they’re important to you. What better way to show your lady she’s important then by pointing out things her own parents may not know?
“Be less accessible”. Yes, less accessible? Up to this point, you’ve been given tips that’ll separate you from the dogs. But, this particular tip should be considered the mortar you spread to hold the rest of the bricks together. Everything told to you before can lead you down one of two paths. You can either end up the boyfriend,or end up just a friend. Think about it. Her close friends will have her back. They’ll know small details as well. Yes, they’ll even compliment her on her brains, and style, and political understanding. What they won’t do, however, is give her distance.
That’s what friends are for, to always be there. In order to separate yourself from the friends, get her to miss you. Be your awesome self when you’re around her, but give that “awesomeness” time to marinate in her brain. She’ll begin to love having you near, and miss you when you’re away. And that gentleman, is how you get her to look at you in a “boyfriend” kind of way.
Monday, February 25, 2013
an open letter to a lover
Tonight it's very clear
As we're both lying in different part
There's so many things I wanna say
I will always love you
I will never leave you alone
Sometimes I just forget, say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying
I don't wanna lose you
I could never make it alone
I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love
You keep me standing tall
You'll help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
I have always needed you
I could never make it alone
I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love
Just like a knight in shining armor
From a long time ago
Just in time I'll save the day
Take you to my castle far away
I am the man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love
you have to be strong for yourself. You have to know that you're a good person and a good friend. What's meant to be will end up good and what's not, won't. Love is worth fighting for but sometimes you can't be the only one fighting.
As we're both lying in different part
There's so many things I wanna say
I will always love you
I will never leave you alone
Sometimes I just forget, say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying
I don't wanna lose you
I could never make it alone
I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love
You keep me standing tall
You'll help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
I have always needed you
I could never make it alone
I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love
Just like a knight in shining armor
From a long time ago
Just in time I'll save the day
Take you to my castle far away
I am the man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love
you have to be strong for yourself. You have to know that you're a good person and a good friend. What's meant to be will end up good and what's not, won't. Love is worth fighting for but sometimes you can't be the only one fighting.
3 Qualities Men Can Not Just Ignore In Women
A Woman Who Smiles (more powerful than you might realize)
A woman who smiles makes it easier for a man to approach her by conveying an attitude of confidence, warmth and playfulness. Since many women are fearful of giving men the wrong impression, they frequently guard their smiles. If the only knew that smiling is one of the things men can’t resist. While this approach is safer, it inadvertently sends the wrong message that she is someone who is overly cautious because she has been hurt. In addition, smiling is a sign of acceptance. Men often need some signal that it is safe to approach a woman before they’re willing to risk introducing themselves (unless they are intoxicated).
A Woman Who Listens (instead of dominating the conversation)
Women are generally perceived as rarely really listening to men, at least not beyond a few minutes. Most of the time, a few minutes is all men really need. But since most men hate to be rejected, it is easier for them to keep conversations superficial. Men expect most women to want to talk, rather than be willing to listen. If they happen to meet a woman who listens with her eyes (looks at him while he’s talking) as well as her ears, they are intrigued. If she continues to listen and not take over the conversation, she’s the kind of woman that men can’t resist and want to spend more time getting to know her better. If fact, this is one of the best things you can do on a first date.
A Woman Who Dresses Feminine (men are really visual)
Everyone knows that men are visual. However, women often forget just how helpless men are to what they see. The right visual stimulation can hypnotize any man. Unfortunately, women hear this and often become fearful. They mistakenly believe that men only notice perfect women. Forget perfect! In spite of what you read about in magazines, men don’t expect a woman to be perfect. If you really want to be noticed by men, think colors, dresses which highlight your curves. Men basically like any woman who has that adorable quality that men can’t resist. It isn’t that men don’t find women attractive in pants or when they are dressed comfortably – they just don’t notice them as easily. It doesn’t catch their eye like sparkly earrings, pretty colors or flowing dresses and long hair does. Conversely, a powerfully dressed woman (think lots of red) makes most men think of s*x, or not notice her at all. She may have a soft side, but if men can’t see it, they often don’t know it exists. The more feminine (softer) a woman dresses, the more men she will attract.
The 5 Most Beautiful Nigerian-American Models In The USA
They may be born and raised in the USA, but these models are Nigerian and proud of it. Here are the top 5 beautiful Nigerian-American models in the USA.
1. YaYa Alafia
2. IB Oyerinde
3. Adaora Akubilo
4. Ronke Shonibare
5. Aminat Ayinde
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N7 Billion Naira Fraud: FBI Captures Nigerian/American Scammer On Most Wanted List
A notorious US born Nigerian fraudster who was placed on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ‘Most Wanted list’ has been captured after eluding authorities for over four years.
Mr. Tobechukwu Enyinna Onwuhara, 33, described as ‘a criminal mind’ by the FBI for stealing $44 million dollars from US banks using sophisticated methods, including stealing bank customers' personal information, Home Equity Lines of Credit details and account numbers, was nabbed in far away Australia.
THEWILL had previously reported how the conman escaped arrest in the state of Florida and went underground afterwards.
The FBI did not say how and when Onwuhara was captured but a mug shot of the scammer on its website http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber/image/onwuhara-captured/view listed him as ‘captured.’
FBI agents say Onwuhara was born in Houston and sent to live with his wealthy Nigerian father, Prince Doris Onwuhara who the Bureau say is a 'well-known con man who made a fortune from the notorious Nigerian 419 scheme' before returning to the United States when he reached his teenage years in 1999.
Having settled in the southern state of Texas, he got a job with US lender, Capital One Financial Corporation where authorities believe he gained insider knowledge on how to work the US financial system.
His first brush with the law happened in April 2002 when he was arrested by Lewisville city police in Lewisville, Texas after police got a tipoff that he may be using stolen identification to steal money from credit card accounts. When police raided his apartment, they found stolen credit card account numbers, fake driver's licenses and materials used to forge identification.
Same year in December in the western state of Seattle, FBI said 'Onwuhara walked into a local bank and tried to max out the cash withdrawal limit on a stolen credit card' but fled the bank when he sensed trouble. He was said to have jumped into a waiting car driven by a friend of his, Abel Nnabue and they led Seattle police on a high-speed chase but were eventually caught when they tried to flee on foot.
Both men were charged, convicted and sentenced to two years in a Seattle prison but spent only eight months of their sentence for good behaviour.
After their release, they relocated to Texas and went low for a while until sometime in 2005 when the real estate market was at an all time high and Home Equity Lines Of Credit loans became available. Though it was harder to steal from Home Equity Lines of Credit, Onwuhara and his co-conspirators found a way around it.
FBI say Onwuhara painstakingly researched home owners credit reports to see if they opened home lines of credit accounts and how much they had available. At this time in the real estate market, it was very common to find homeowners with $300, 000 - $ 400, 000 in home equity.
Onwuhara impersonated such homeowners after learning their passwords and home phone numbers through extensive research.
The Nigerian acquired multiple prepaid phone lines and wireless internet cards to prevent anyone from successfully tracing their numbers. He then also signed up to a spoofing service which allowed a home owner's number appear on the bank representative's caller ID when he called a bank to request a wire transfer from the account to a home owner's regular checking account before the funds are eventually wired to accounts in Asia and then the monies would go to a Hawala in Africa.
'Hawalas' are funds transfer systems that are not regulated instead, they operate on trust. 'Brokers or Hawalanders would take a cut and then transfer the money to an African Bank, eventually returning to a US bank,' according to America's Most Wanted.
Most of the funds returning to the United States came through accounts belonging to Precious Matthews or one of the other conspirators.
Investigators say Onwuhara made most of the calls himself but when an account belonged to a female, he would get his girlfriend, Precious Matthews to make the call while other co-conspirators would be delegated other duties including finding new home owners with equity in their homes.
According to FBI records, Onwuhara and his crew had stolen more than $20 million dollars before the bureau were notified of the scam and by the time the FBI penetrated their well-organized syndicate and learned their identity, they had stolen an additional $20 million dollars.
To learn their identity, the FBI contacted Verizon Wireless, a prepaid wireless company after it learned they were using prepaid internet services provided by the company to log into bank accounts and were able to obtain surveillance videos of three men paying for the service at one of the provider's stores.
In the spring of 2008, the FBI got a break when they also found out that Onwuhara was using a spoofing service and they contacted the provider who made more than 1500 audio recordings available to them. As expected, most of the recordings were conversations between Onwuhara and various bank representatives, but unfortunately for Onwuhara someone from his crew had also used the phone to call a pharmacy pretending to be a doctor and ordered a prescription for Tobechi Onwuhara. This was a huge lead for the FBI. When they ran Onwuhara's name, there was a match in their database where they found out he had been arrested before for bank fraud.
When they matched his photo with the surveillance videos obtained from the telecommunications company, they believed they had their man.
Gradually, they started their investigations and tried to learn the identity of his co-conspirators. This was when they discovered that Onwuhara had left Miami for Nigeria with a brief stopover in New York.
The FBI waited for Onwuhara and his travelling companions to return to the country and decided to stop him at the airport after he had rerouted his ticket several times.
The Bureau said they wanted him to believe he was being questioned as a possible terrorist and he fell for it by giving them information that eventually linked him to the fraud.
Before August 1, 2008, FBI agents already knew Onwuhara and his girlfriend, Matthews lived in their $5000 a month mansion near Miami in Florida. As they were making their way to a Florida casino with their crew on that day, agents and local police decided they had enough evidence to take them in. While they were effecting their arrest, agents realized that Onwuhara had entered the casino and believed Matthews sent a text message to him that they were being arrested and he managed to get away.
FBI said before they took the gang down, Onwuhara would spend about $50, 000 a night in a strip club up to three times in a week and usually stayed at various five star hotels whenever he made his frequent travels.
Onwuhara according to the Bureau has stashed cash abroad and also shipped many luxury cars to Nigeria- all paid for in cash.
They believe he is hiding in either Canada; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; or New Jersey.
His co-conspirators have since been sentenced to various jail terms:
Henry 'Uche' Obilo, 30, Miami: Sentenced to 88 months in prison.
Abel Nnabule, 34, Dallas: Sentenced to 54 months on Jan. 30, 2009.
Precious Matthews (Onwuhara's girlfriend): Sentenced to 51 months on Feb. 13, 2009.
Brandy Anderson, 31, Dallas, Sentenced to two years of supervised probation and 40 days of community confinement on Feb. 20, 2009.
Ezenwa Onyedebelu, 21, Dallas, Sentenced to 37 months on Feb. 27, 2009.
Daniel Orjinta, 43, Nigeria: Sentenced to 42 months on March 06, 2009.
Paula Gipson, 34, Dallas, Sentenced to 15 months on September 04, 2009.
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