Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed Falalu, 27 years old, a graduate in MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management with Distinction from Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS China) in 2014 has been recently selected in Forbes Africa 30 under 30, 2018. Sadiq established FaLGates Rice Mill in 2012 and officially started operation in 2016. Sadiq’s company has provided jobs for over 180 people in Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi so far and the company’s turnover has achieved $ 450,000 in 2017.

Experience  in China

“I first came to China in 2011, even though I had learnt a lot about this great country, I was still shocked after landing.” Sadiq said that China and Nigeria are similar in some ways, such as the population. “China is the most populous country in Asia as Nigeria is to Africa and mobilizing them as far as possible will greatly promote social development.” Sadiq was aware of this opportunity and determine to develop his own business to provide more jobs for Nigerian. “China is undoubtedly a rising superpower. Its industries such as technology and construction are booming. I have seen lots of amazing projects like Alibaba and WeChat at that time and instantly wanted to return to my country and do something. This coincided with the introduction of an agricultural development incentive policy by the Nigerian government, therefore I set up FaLGates in that year. However, it didn’t officially operate until 2016, after all, as the Chinese saying goes, ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ Thus, I decided to study in China in 2013 after gaining my bachelor’s degree in Australia. I chose a Master’s Programme Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management at NUBS China which suited me perfectly. During my stay in China, I bought some machines from China and shipped it back to Nigeria and gradually established my company.”

Experience at NUBS China

"The theoretical perspectives of business I have learnt at NUBS China has laid a solid foundation for my current venture. For example, how to extract effective information from a marketing plan or relevant data report and how to provide investors with different investment portfolios, many things were exactly I have practiced at NUBS China.”

In addition, the professors at NUBS China also left deep impressions on Sadiq. “My supervisor was Dr. Maris Farquharson (Note: Dr. Farquharson has retired now.). A word she often said to me was ‘You can do better!’, which constantly inspired me to make progress and finally graduated with honors. Moreover, she taught me to develop methodical study habits by setting a lot of deadlines for me and urged me to follow them. Now I use this method to manage my staff, for example, I called my supervisor to remind him to complete his work at 5 o'clock this morning. Furthermore, she is a very forward-looking teacher, under her guidance, I began to prepare my dissertation nearly two months earlier than other students, which enabled me to prepare thoroughly.”

"Also, I love the diversity in the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). My classmates came from more than 10 countries, China, Germany, Russia, Nigeria, Britain, Poland, Thailand, Indonesia… they brought different cultures, attitude and experiences. Communicating with them rapidly broadened my horizons. The fusion of diversity is wonderful. I remembered a group project we conducted about Ingenuity at that time, in which our group scored the highest scores in the class, which was attributed to the blending of our different cultures and experiences. For example, my Polish classmate has had experience in shipping things from abroad,  therefore, he was experienced in shipment, while another British classmate had been working for the British government for more than 15 years so he had insight into government policy and environmental impact. These rich cultures and experiences all contributed to our outstanding work.”

Start the Business

Sadiq mentioned that he enjoyed interacting with people from an early age, which may be inherited from his mother. “I grew up watching my mother doing business, interacting with people,” “I remembered in my childhood, I often sold the snacks my Mum gave me to my classmates during the lunchtime. After going to college, I still made such transactions with my schoolmates to earn a living. It has always been my interest to create value in communicating with others.”

It was when graduating from university and seeking a job in labor markets Sadiq was aware of Nigeria’s tight employment situation, “Even people like me who have proper certificates could not find a job easily, let alone those who do not have. That’s when I was determined to devote to provide jobs for other people. A friend of mine once said, ‘it’s a crime to be employed if you can employ.’

In the meantime, Falalu also saw an opportunity to make money when he realized Nigeria consumes about 7 million metric tonnes of rice and only produces 2.7 million metric tonnes, forcing the country to spend more than $2 billion in imports. “I always had an interest in farming, I remember writing in our high school’s yearbook under future ambition that I wanted to be a farmer,” he says.

Now, my personnel are realizing their dreams with the income our company provided, some of them build their own houses in their hometown, some of them got married and gave birth to babies. This is my primary goal rather than creating more capital.” What’s more, I am happy that I am contributing to my country as well.

To be an entrepreneur is never easy, the way of Sadiq to confront difficulties is continuously learning lessons from mistakes and moving on. “The biggest challenge in our early stages is raising money. Persuading others to trust you and your career is not easy, also to find out and hire talent, even to find more economic ways to transport machines. Everything needs to be constant learnt and reflected.” “The biggest mistake is that we neglected the importance of process legalization at the beginning. For instance, we did not sign formal contracts with our partners and did not employ lawyers, which caused that some of our partners unilaterally terminated cooperation without any reason and resulted in our losses.” “Difficulties and mistakes are the only way, therefore it is crucial to make up your mind before starting a business, to first determine what you want to do and then you will get a steady stream of power to go through.” As for how to be a good manager, Sadiq considers open-mindness the most significant. “Actively listen to recommendations. For example, although I am the company’s boss, some of my subordinates such as some electrical and mechanical engineers are often more experienced and insightful on certain projects. Listening to their suggestions and delegating some authorities to them are essential.”

Prospects

“I am honored to receive this award, and also feel glad that what we are doing is being recognized and known by more people. We have got a lot of phone calls shortly after the release of this list and some of the callers have intentions to cooperate. Hope our company could continuously develops and benefits more people in the future.”