Determined to close the knowledge gap in financial market, a brokerage firm that offers Forex, TigerWit Africa, has trained over 840 Nigerians in a two-week workshop in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The two weeks training, facilitated by the Head of Education, TigerWit Africa, Mr. Davies Babalola and his team through the TigerWit Academy, was on the mission to save Nigerians from losing income in this time of bleeding economy and global pandemic.
In an interview with newsmen, Babalola noted that TigerWit Academy has been passionate about helping people after it noticed a knowledge gap in the industry.
“A lot of people lose money blindly which is unnecessary. If we can help them trade longer, we can be guaranteed a sustained client base in the long run, a win-win situation,” he said.
According to him, one good thing is in times like this, COVID-19 has taught “Us that you cant depend on one source of income; you need a source of income that is not dependent on the economy of your nation”.
The forex expert also lamented how naira is degrading while conceding that we are in a very tough situation. That naira is degrading doesnt mean the whole world is also.
“So can we take advantage of technology？ COVID-19 taught us that what if the whole world is on lockdown everybody cant go out how do you make money and feed”？
During the heat of the chaotic lockdown, Babalola confirmed that Forex trading had the largest Google search keywords. “Search like Forex trading online business, home trading, digital marketing. That was what everybody was doing.”
He, however, listed some advantages of the forex business. “You dont have any overhead. The only thing you need is to set up an account with your broker, then put in 100 or 200 dollars.”
To begin the business, the expert said one needs a laptop, mobile phone you use for WhatsApp, and must be above 18.
“We have been able to channel them to alternate way of making income with no risk of entry, no barrier, no unnecessary overhead, no staff payment,” hinting that some of them are even doing much better than what banks can give them in a year.
In his views, it is known that the interest rates on fixed deposits from banks are not enticing enough. “That is not so in Forex; you become profitable from the start.”
“However, we dissuaded beginners from going for big profits. Two, three or five per cent on a monthly basis is okay for you, not going for 20 or 30 per cent. Let it compound for six months or one year, you will see a whole game change.”
With half of the total participants as female, the head of education described women as very enterprising. Others included retirees, pensioners, and students.
TigerWit Academy did not only equip the beneficiaries and packed up, it went ahead to establish a social media account as a follow-up mechanism.
In his words: We have been doing webinars for them; we have an online academy fully set up so we give them login access that they can plug in to and continue to study at their convenience.
Babalola, however, inspired confidence in beginners that when they try it themselves, they can grow. “You will fall and rise up but with the knowledge you have gained.”
The firm also gave out 1,750 dollars to three attendees to encourage them to start out trading. While the first runner up got 1,000 dollars, the second and third received 500 and 250 dollars respectively.
“They won a raffle draw. This is a clear indication that tigerwit is intentionally committed to seeing Nigerians succeed”, he expressed.
According to Babalola, TigerWit Academy had eyes on Port-Harcourt following a recent Ponzi scheme fallout. “A lot of people have lost tons of money, people are in pain and yet they believe they can still do this business.”
The Academy, therefore, empowered participants with knowledge of trading by themselves rather than hand their money over to people who defrauded them. “That is the paradigm shift we gave them.”
With two weeks of knowledge sharing, Babalola affirmed that they stayed back. We continued training people morning and evening, holding two sessions daily; morning time for the non-working class, evening was for those working.
While acknowledging that the programme was impactful, Babalola is excited about taking it across the country. “We have set up a system that will make it sort of auto run. That is why we set up the online academy, which we are leveraging on to go round.”
Having empowered residents of Port-Harcourt, TigerWit Academy replicate the same in Abuja, then Uyo the Akwa-Ibom state capital.
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