The Apprentice Nigeria -Episode Two

To dub the show that is currently airing on Africa Tv as "The Apprentice Africa" is a misnomer.Majority of the contestants are Nigerian,the production team is nearly wholly Nigerian, the adverts are predominantly Nigerian ,the tasks are Nigerian.....and i can continue and the Judging reeks of African paternalistic ,chauvinistic mentality.There is no Egyptian,Libyan or Arab in the show despite this areas being bastions of power and economic power horses in the region.What crass exclusion!

Episode two had the 23 year old Michelle Ikeandor,banker and team leader of Matrix Corp from Imo state Nigeria fired!Unfortunately the task both teams were given were to come up with a sales product that would pitch Bank PHB sales but the experienced banker faltered in the assignment.But i stand to differ with the executives of Bank PHB and Biodin Shobanjo.For one the ladies were well prepared, while their idea was not novel but it mirrored the passions and angle that businesses should take.Giving subscribers more value for less.You only have to look at mobile phones and the I.T industry to understand what im getting at.According to Shobanjo the more the products, the more the customer is confused.That is such shallow thinking.I want my phone with all the features that can ever be and at lesser cost and trust me most customers would go for that!The bouquet package that matrix corp came up with was genius it incorporated the latest in I.T and maximum user ability.One has just to look up at one of the worlds biggest and growing company Google inc of Larry Page and Sergei Brin (who founded the company at age 28)their fuel for growth and dream is to accumulate and make available all sources of information in one place ,that is not confusing Mr Biodin Shobanjo,Please wake up its the 21st Century. The invigilators just mirrored male bias and chauvinism.

Finally the presentation of Matrix corp was marvelous,captivating complete with a powerpoint presentation.Zulu Corp on the other hand were ill prepared,did a shoddy job with their presentation,were too wordy showing lack of preparation and more than anything else lacked confidence but put up a brave front.Their strong point is that they exposed an untapped market for banking products with their futuristic education savings account!Everyone could see that matrix corp were better in their task,put more effort and had collective input but not the CEO.A sad affair for enterprising young African women !The male sharks in the business world are not bulging!

Hope the third episode will be much better, and can we have the contestants exposed to the real African Business scenario.It would be better if they would be shuttled in between countries from Cairo to Nairobi to Windhoek,to Jo,burg and Capetown and not forgetting Lusaka and other business hubs within the continent so as to see them exuberate dynamism .Only then can we truly talk of apprentice Africa!

Well who are the Kenyans in the Mansion,lemme display their photos (courtesy of The Apprentice Africa Website)so that you can look out for them!for a link to their profiles see my earlier post herethe official website link is www.theapprenticeafrica.com