Africa Is Not the Future. Africa Is Now | Masterminds Open Floor | Masterminds Podcast EP90

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They keep telling us Africa is the future. That is how they keep pushing us back. Africa is not the future. Africa is now.

This is the final part of the first ever Masterminds Open Floor, recorded live with an audience of about 50 people. In this episode of the Masterminds Podcast, Richie Mensah delivers his most passionate live talk yet on African greatness and the deliberate erasure of African history. He argues that to break a people you first break their minds, and that Africans have been fed stories only from their moments of weakness while their true history of greatness has been hidden in plain sight. From Osei Tutu and the hundred-year Anglo-Ashanti resistance, to Mansa Musa, the Moors, and the ancient University of Timbuktu, to the call for local solutions to local problems, this is a rallying cry to remember who we are and to build from that knowledge. The episode closes with a rich open floor exchange with the room.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why the erasure of African history was intentional, and how breaking a mind breaks a people
• The story of Osei Tutu and why we remember the leader who lost but not the ones who won for a hundred years
• Why children of greatness succeed, and how belief in your lineage shapes your future
• The real history of Mansa Musa, the Moors, and the University of Timbuktu before Oxford existed
• Why African societies have always honoured women, and what that means for the feminism conversation
• Where the term third world actually comes from, and why it never originally meant poverty
• Why the answer is local solutions to local problems, and how global brands all started local
• Why you should never wait to be supported, and how to build yourself from where you are

Chapters

00:00 – Intro
 00:34 – The Biggest Lie: That Africa Is Not Great
 01:46 – To Break a Man, You Break His Mind First
 03:07 – Osei Tutu and the Hundred Year Resistance
 07:01 – Fed Stories Only From When We Were Weak
 08:11 – Mansa Musa, the Moors and Timbuktu
 13:24 – Why Children of Greatness Succeed
 15:23 – Africa Has Always Honoured Its Women
 16:05 – Reclaiming Greatness From a Westernized Mind
 18:21 – Local Solutions to Local Problems
 25:04 – Third World: What the Term Really Means
 27:18 – The Slave Bible and the Taming of a People
 32:00 – Africa Is Now, Not the Future
 35:00 – Open Floor: Homegrown Solutions and Global Reach
 44:24 – A Message to the Youth: Mindset, Finance, Roots
 48:13 – Obra and Building Tools for the Community
 01:01:02 – What If the Platforms Cancel Us Tomorrow
 01:04:06 – Stop Waiting to Be Supported. Build Yourself.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Before we jump into the conversation, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting and deciding to watch this episode. But now I have a favor subscribe to the channel. Subscribing to the channel helps me and the entire mastermind team to continue bringing you wonderful conversations and episodes that bring you closer to being the mastermind you deserve to be. So join the community. One of the things that we're told, Africans did not invent anything. Africans, dear, oh I'm sure we've all heard the expression, hey, Chris Bonnie, they were dreaming. We are consistently made to feel that Africa started in colonization. Most of the time, when you ask anybody about African history, they go back to 300 years ago, 400 years ago. When we are being taught in school, we are taught all the things that Africa has done wrong, the things Africa is not doing right, and made to feel like the West is better than us. I want you guys to know that this is intentional. In the beginning, I spoke to you guys about mindset. The first thing to understand is to break a man, you break his mind first. So Africans are the way we are right now, where we are not achieving as much, where there's a lot of poverty, where people are not doing the great things that we know they should, is because we have been educated wrong. We have been taught that being an African is not great. Most of us, if we hear somebody in the US, somebody in the UK, somebody in Germany is a billionaire. We understand, right? But when you hear Ghanaian, somebody from Uganda is a billionaire, do you understand that one? Oh, fraud boy. Oh, he stole it. Ah oh Juju. Because we've been conditioned to believe that Africans can never be number one. We've been conditioned to believe that we were never number one. But the problem is most of us never actually went to take the time to learn our history, not the history that you were told in school. Let me give you one quick example. How many here know Yasanto? Oh, I want to see hands up, those who know Yasanto. Okay. I don't sorry, know of Yasanto. Come on, guys. Okay. How many of you know of Osei Tutu? Fewer hands. Why do you guys think that is? Do you know the difference between Yasantwa and Osei Tutu? Both of them were great Ashanti leaders, right? But the difference is Osei Tutu defeated the British his entire life. Did you know that? Did you know that the Ashantis defeated the British for a hundred years? A hundred years. The Anglo Ashanti Wars lasted 100 years with the Ashantis winning. From Osey Tutu to Osu Prempe. For a hundred years. But you don't know their names. But you know Yasantowa, the one who lost to the British. You don't think that's funny? I see, is the one in or you small?

SPEAKER_04 4:55

Araka, because Araka the way we are afraid and then we're intimidated.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Okay, before you continue, I don't know, sit down. I want to ask you this question. Are you trying to tell me that it has been proven that Africa is where mankind started 300,000 years ago? So you are telling me Africa has existed for over 300,000 years, and it is only in 1890 that there was a strong African woman?

unknown 5:25

No.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Are you telling me that you've not heard about the Dagogi warriors in Africa, the women in Africa who fought off the colonizers for hundreds of years? Are you telling me that all the amazing Ashanti Queen mothers before Yasantwa who were conquering all of Africa? Are you telling me that all the great things done in Africa 2,000 years ago, 5,000 years ago by women, all the great things that women have done in Africa? Because just so you guys know, Africa has never been uh what I always get this word wrong. Patrilineal. Patrilineal. Yes, I said it right. Africa has never been patrilineal. We actually always favor women. That is why in a cannon, your inheritance goes to your mother's son. So are you telling me an entire community that has always favored women? It is only 1890. That's the first woman was able to stand tall, and the person who is shouting her praise to you is the person who defeated her.

unknown 6:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

So all boils down to what I mean, you are trying to see yes, yeah. It's happens like they um find a way to, I mean, bring watch art from knowing exactly history and knowing because they know that history is, I mean, exactly our mind. And when you get to know your history, you get to know where you where you come from and then what you can do.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Exactly. So the whole thing is that you see, we have been made to forget how great we are by being fed stories on the time that we were weak. I'm not saying these stories were made up, but I'm trying to tell you that you are fed stories from the time that you were weak. If you never met your father, and I'm telling you about your father, and I start telling you about your father from when he was 70 and he could barely walk and he suffered in life and he needed a nurse to come and take care of him. What's your picture of your father? He was a weak man. But if I tell you about your father in his 20s, when he was doing amazing things and starting companies and building, like you know, building structures and everything, then you feel I descend from a great man. So the biggest lie that Africa has been taught systematically is that we don't descend from greatness. But the truth is, if you go past the 400 years of colonization, if you go past what has been taught to you in school, when they say they are teaching you history and they only teach you 200, 300 years, but when they are teaching you Roman history, they'll teach you about Julius Caesar from over a thousand years ago, they'll teach you about Napoleon, but they won't teach you about Shakazulu, they won't teach you that Mansa Musa, even with Elon Musk's riches, is still being called the richest man to have ever lived. They won't teach you that, and they won't teach you that before Mansa Musa, his brother was the richest man, and his brother actually abdicated the throne to go and find where we now call America. Yes, I know you can research this. He actually abdicated the throne and gave it to Man Samusa because he had heard about a land far away, and that land is what is now called America, and this has been documented. It's been documented when he left on his voyage, and it has been documented that if you go there now, there are African artifacts from hundreds of years ago, from before Christopher Columbus got there. You are told about Christopher Columbus, right? Christopher Columbus is a great man. He found he found America, right? He found America, but when he found it, there were people there already. How did he find it? How do you find something and somebody is there already? You come to my house and I'm eating fish, and then you come and eat the fish with me and go and tell people I found fish. You don't find fish, you came to eat some of my fish. When I was growing up, I don't know, maybe your schools were different. But when I was growing up, the story that was given to me was that Africa was a poor country, we were struggling, we were uncivilized, we were close to the monkeys. Yes, we didn't know anything, and then the white man came and came to give us civilization. Is this the same thing you guys were all taught? Do you believe it as you are still sitting here? How is it that 280, 2008, which is 1900 or 1800 years ago, there was an African Pope in Rome? If Africa was uncivilized 400 years ago, how is it that the Moors, do you guys know about the Moors? How is it that the Moors helped build European civilization? For 700 years, the Moors were helping to build European civilization, yet, hundreds of years later, they brought out civilization. I think everybody here has read the Bible enough to know that the Israelites were where in Egypt. Where is Egypt? But Africa was not civilized. How can you tell me the story? And it's not just Egypt. When you are talking, even they weren't even called Egypt, they were called Kemets at the time. We have powerful civilizations from that have been recorded from 2,000 years ago, 3,000 years ago. The city of Timbuktu had the biggest university before Oxford was created. Before Oxford, which is the oldest university in the West, we had the University of Timbuktu, where people flocked from far and wide to come and learn. The father of medicine came to Africa to learn medicine. How is he the father of medicine if he came to learn it here? Yet right now we take medical advice from the West because the West is the one that brought us civilization. But they got it from here. The best way to break a man is to break his mind. And that greatest trick that they have pulled on all of us is by making us think we don't come from greatness. And because you don't come from greatness, you will never be great. Do you know why a lot of rich people's children succeed? You know, most poor people think rich people's children succeed because they have money, because they started life with money. It's not true. I can give you money right now and you will lose all of it. Most rich people's children succeed because they are born with the responsibility of being great. You've all heard the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo's son is playing football, right? Can you imagine the pressure on him? He's Cristiano Ronaldo's son. He better not be a bad footballer or we will kill him. So there is pressure on him. From the day he was born, from the day he kicked the ball for the first time, he said, I have to be a great footballer like my father. So because he believes he comes from greatness, he is going to achieve greatness. But because we've been convinced we don't come from greatness, we believe nothing good will ever come from us. Because the only female symbol that can be given to a Ghanaian is Yasantua who lost the war and had to be exiled to Seychelles. A woman in Ghana will think, but I've done my best. Because she's not taught about the great women of our past. When they say a queen mother, a queen mother is not a small title. The queen mothers were known to have wisdom. They were known to spearhead the community. The man was more like just a figurehead because in those days the leader needs to fight. So the woman sits behind, pulling the strings for the leader to go and fight. Women have always done great things in Africa, but they have been made to forget all this. One of the funny things that I see people talk about is feminism. When I see Africans talk about feminism, I am so upset. If the West wants to talk about feminism, that's fine. Because they did not prioritize their women. Women have always led in Africa. But because you are not taught this, you forget. I want you guys to understand that the moment you allow anybody to let you not identify with where you are coming from, you allow them to strip you of your greatness. Everybody growing up thinks about being great. And your thoughts on greatness are all westernized. Why? When you think about being great, when you think about a profession, when you think about being big, it is always thinking about something that you saw somebody in Hollywood doing, something that you saw somebody in the UK doing. Because to you, that is success. To you, tiles are success, but a mud house is not success. Do you understand that? How many of us have had amazing parents who did a very what we will call local job? She sold bread. He was a farmer. You know, he did Akle by the roadside. How many of us have had those parents and they sold Akle and use the Akle money to take you to school for you to finish and graduate? And when you graduate, you look down on the Accle business. Am I wrong? Why? Why don't you use what you've learned in school to come and turn her acclear business into a multinational company? Everyone's biggest aim is to build wealth. Now, anyone who knows what they are about will tell you the one true way to build wealth is to have a system that gains that wealth over time. Now, most people are suffering to what system or what tool can they use? How do they get to invest easily? How do they get to invest over time? Small amounts, compound interest, and build their wealth. Well, that tool is achieved by Petra. Download Achieve by Petra now and let's build wealth together. So we've been conditioned for so long that the only solutions available to us are foreign solutions. I want to use Dubai as an example. Isn't Dubai one of the most developed cities in the world? Have they lost their culture in Dubai? So why do we have to lose our culture to develop? You know, when I went to Zanziba, I was amazed they have these doors, and the doors are handcrafted, and the doors have so much detail, and it is cultural and it is beautiful, and those doors are a sign of wealth. The more detail your door has, the richer you are. But in Ghana, the more foreign whatever you have is, the more we think you are rich. We are made to forget everything that is ours. But the truth is, we should be looking for local solutions to our local problems. I have seen that the countries that are able to develop faster are those that find solutions that work for them. How many people in Ghana are using Visa Card? It's a very small number. Yet let me come to the music industry. The ways we make money in the music industry, one of them is streaming. And the platforms that we stream from in Ghana are mainly Spotify and Apple Music. And both Spotify and Apple Music, aside the fact that they are foreign products, they only take Visa card. Can you imagine if there was a streaming platform that every Ghanaian could use that takes Momo payments? Do you think musicians will be complaining of not making money? We have to find local solutions to our local problems. But because we think everything from the West is better, we swerve all our problems here. Because we think something coming from France is better. We believe opening a French fries fast food restaurant is better than your mother's accolade shop. We think ah farming is a dirty job. Ah, doing construction, block work is a dirty job. But those are the jobs that bring you wealth. What job does Dangote do? It's all cement. It's not selling Lamborghinis. It's selling cement. It's a dirty job. We have forgotten that our real wealth is in who we are. Because we've been told that who we are is not special. And I want that to change today. If there's anything you guys are going to walk away from this podcast with, I want you to walk away remembering the fact that you are great. Research the people before you. No, do your own research. Because the amazing thing about this is the information is there. That's the beautiful thing about information. Those who have controlled how we think realize that they don't even need to hide their information. They just need to choose what they are giving to you. And most people will not go and look for more. So become that person that looks for more information. You cannot know where you are going until you know where you are coming from. Go and learn about the fact that Shakazulu had such a beautiful attacking system in war. That right now the West uses his strategies in their wars. Yet when I went to SA the last time, our tour guide knew the name Shakazulu, but he didn't know Shakazulu's story like I did because I done research. Which means in his country he's been forgotten. Go and research and learn about the fact that any time in history, in our recent history, that any African, any African leader has stood up for Africa and tried to put Africa first, that leader has been removed. Learn about the fact that we are great. Because one of the saddest things I hear all the time is Africa is the future. What do you mean Africa is the future? Africa is now. You see, when you say Africa is the future, what you've done is you've comfortably pushed us further again. When I was growing up, I heard that Ghana is 200 years behind the world. It will take us 200 years to catch up with the world. What do you mean by that? What can the world do that I cannot do in Ghana? Africa is now. We have the natural resources, we have the human resources, we have the intelligence. The only thing that is stopping us from becoming great the way we should is because we think we are not great. Like I started from the beginning of this, everything comes from here. So if you convince people that they are weak, if you convince people that they are not powerful, that they are useless, that is what they will become. If I can convince you that you are poor, you will be poor. And that's what's been done to us. Africa is a third world country. Do you guys even understand where the expression third world country comes from? Most people don't know the history behind that. It was when the world was split between a decision. And there was, I can't remember the exact decision, but they were basically two opposing parties. And anyone that did not side with either side was called the third world because they they were not choosing a side. So third world country has actually never even meant poverty. But now it has been transformed to mean poverty, which makes us feel we are poor. As somebody who has traveled a lot, I can tell you for a fact, there is nothing outside of Ghana that is not inside Ghana. There is nothing. All those people who are saying, hey, I can't wait to go to a brocher, there is nothing there that we don't have here. The biggest difference between the West and Africa is the mindset. Whenever I'm working with people from outside of Africa, what amazes me is not their ideas. What amazes me is not their achievements, is the mind with which they come to work. I remember I went to a company called CAA. And I was given a tour of the company by their intern. Their intern had been in the company for one month. And the way the intern gave the tour, that guy deserves to be CEO. Because he moves like a CEO. Because he believes in who he is. He believes he's great. He believes, yeah, I'm an intern now, but come and see me in 10 years. Because they are trained like that. Whereas we are trained to always be under, to always wait for permission. Hey, what would they think about us? Hey, have I said the right thing? Hey, am I going to be okay? We are trained to be meek. How many of you have ever heard about something called the slave Bible? The slave Bible is when colonization was taking place and they realized that the force was taking too long because as they were fighting with the Africans, sometimes we win, sometimes they win. So they said, send missionaries to Africa to tame them because these people are too aggressive. So they actually concentrated on parts of Christianity that will make you humble. Like for a rich man to enter into heaven is like a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, so that you will not want to be rich. So that the meek will inherit the kingdom of heaven so that you will be bro. And then they concentrate on the part of Christianity that empower them. Now, whenever I say these kind of things, I don't want anyone to ever think that I am talking against the West. Not at all. They did what was right for them. Why aren't we doing what is right for us? I have no problem with somebody working hard for themselves. They came here, they saw unlimited resources, they saw strong people that can do amazing work for them, they saw so much that they could benefit from. And they brainstormed and said, How do we take over these people? And they used their minds to take over us. They have done a good job for themselves. It may be horrible for us, but they did a good job for themselves. Think about it. Do you guys know the country with the most gold in the world? Is UK. UK has the most gold in the world. But there's no gold in UK. One of the biggest lessons I've learned in life and in business is that not everything deserves access to you. Your attention is valuable, your focus is valuable. And in this world full of noise and distraction, the ability to control your world is your true power. Lynx Reverb was designed for premium sound, complete silence, and amazing clarity. So head to any Compute Ghana shop or to our website, LinkSelectronics.com, down in the description, and grab yourself a headset now. Lynx Reverb, now that's clarity. Where did they get it from? Where do you think they got it from? So they've done a great job for themselves. The question is, what are you doing for yourself? Are we going to keep sitting here and keep having these conversations and keep on with the narrative that we are suffering, that we are poor, that Africa is this, Africa is that. They'll come and shoot a documentary of Africa. Then when they come, they'll go to some village far away and show some people who haven't eaten in three days. That's fine. They are doing that to sell a picture. Why is it that you two, when you are shooting your music video, you go to that village and shoot the same thing? I once had there was a UN conference happening that my sister was coming to. My sister was in the UK at the time. So she was coming for the UN conference, and she came with a lady from Switzerland or something. The conference was happening as usual in some village. So when they got to Ghana, before going to the village, they came to the house to come and sleep one night. So they came to the house and I was living my normal life. I was eating my conflicts for breakfast. Then eat my jollof rice and all those kind of things. So they experienced this, then they went to the village. Then they came back to the house before going. Can you imagine this Swiss lady told me I'm a hypocrite? I say I'm a hypocrite because I'm not living like an African. Because I can eat conflicts and jolof. It's not her fault. Because the picture that has been painted to her is that we are suffering. So why do we also continue to paint that picture? One thing I love about Nigerians, have you seen how Nigerians change the perception about Nigeria by showing their wealth? Yes, the banks will feature Snoop Dogg, and then he will fly Snoop Dogg to Nigeria. Put him in green and white. He will spray a phantom green and white to show you that, yes, Nigerians, we are wealthy. No, I beg, I beg. You have to have that concept of greatness. Without that, you will not be able to achieve the greatness. But it really starts from you going back to learn your history. Learn about the greatness of Africa before colonization. Learn about the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, the Zulu Empire. Learn about um what's her name? Njenga. Learn about all these great things that have happened in Africa and even outside of Africa by Africans. Solve your local problems wherever it is that you find yourself. Look around you. What are the problems over here? How can I contribute to it? Let me not look at this like a white man approaching things. No, don't go and borrow what somebody has done and think that should work. Because, for instance, I believe we all know in Ghana, we just don't want to accept it. We all know in Ghana that democracy does not work. Am I lying? Democracy does not work here. But we keep doing it because the white man gave it to us. Why is the Asantehine known as the most powerful chief in Ghana? Because even though democracy is in Ghana, the Asantis have decided to keep theirs. When you go to Gomwa, there's a particular forest, there's nobody doing Alamse there. There's nobody cutting down the trees. Do you know why? Because they believe in the area that there are some spirits in the forest. If you like, go and do and see. That one is working. Find local solutions, and you'll be amazed at the way you build wealth. And I want you guys to try something. Go and research the richest men in Africa, the richest men in Ghana. All of them are solving local problems. We keep asking, show me the way, show me the way. That is the way. They are not the ones sitting in suit and tie in some office. No, they are the ones solving problems that affect the normal man on the street. When you think like this, and if we can get 70% of Africa to think like this, then Africa is now. Thank you very much. Any questions or this one there? Hey, already.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Thank you very much. Um, whenever this topic comes up, I also become very passionate and I like to rightly divide the differences. Otherwise, when we are consumed in the pursuit of only discovering ourselves or more or less reinventing ourselves because we believe that the best part of ourselves has been taken away. We in most cases tend to forget where creativity enters. So the question is where do you strike a balance with innovation? Because this morning I made the statement that Moses, in his time, could have flew a plane, but he couldn't connect the dots. It means that gravity was there already, the sky was there. So you could do anything that you are doing today in that age. But innovation with time took place, and we're able to discover that these things can be done. Now, the question is not about who discovers it, it's rather is there a need for it? Is there a need for us to keep growing? So there's a need for us to keep growing. So I don't really care about who discovered it, I care about that need that needs to be solved, the innovation that needs to come in. So there's an issue of faith, there's issue of who I am, and then there's the issue of reality where we all need something from each other. Human beings are not on an island, we are all coexisting. So I need something from you, you need something from me. At every given time, you bring the value, we exchange in in exchange. So then we all benefit from the deal. So what I have realized also, like in the I'm all for the homegrown solutions because recently I found out the hard way. Because I've been somebody doing business, I made my first million when I was 29 and I lost it all by the time I was 32. Oh, I'll come back for the end of the day, what I realized was that even though I had made that money, I was in even in the wrong business. So I probably got my education from different sources of the world, and that was a problem. So I was able to identify partly as why that business failed, as that um from a foreign and all those things. I'm not focusing on Ghana or Africa. So I get it, and I am for the idea of getting your homegrown solutions. But one of the paths that I'm struggling to embrace is the fact that um things have evolved with time. It is nobody's fault that you are not thinking in the direction you're supposed to think. It is on you. That's the hard truth. It's on you. So, what is the best life that you want to live? Are you able to set that bar for yourself? So, if you're able to do so, then you can create some things out of what you have conceived. So the problem is when you go to our streets, somebody makes an argument: bring the um Americans to Ghana and send the Ghanaians to America, and in two weeks' time, Ghana will be America, America will be Ghana. Why? Because of the mindset of how the people live. So in our own circles, we haven't actually been able to define what is actually humane for us to actually deal. So the standards are very down, the quality, mindset, quality quality of mindset is off. So if we can start fixing these things, knowing how to love yourself by having a good life, what does it mean to have a good life to be able to afford the bands to be able to afford everything you need? Because the world is traveling, it's running every day. The new technology is seeming to outdate the old one or the one yesterday. So, how am I able to build myself in that moment where I understand that it's a journey, it's progressive, it's not static. Even though it was once Africa, today it has switched. Even America has is probably losing to China. People are making all sorts of arguments. So it's not about who it is, it's about where the value lies, it's about how I can position myself in mindset to understand that I don't need anybody's validation to go at the best things in life. Because I realize that people like to actually get validation from people and not understanding the proper education which you spoke about. In this room, we are all here. At the end of the day, some people might even quint and not even talk to other people. So if you come to this room and you are able to speak to other people, for all you know, the problem solution to the problem you're having is with me or it's with somebody else. But if you don't do these things, if you don't train yourself on the actual things that you have to focus on, the African conversation is there, the greatness of Africa is there, but you still are likely going to be fighting an ego ego fight more than a fight that is going to resolve your actual issues. So, yes, I agree on the homegrown solution, and please take it very seriously because the homegrown solution is the way forward, then you can globalize it with time.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Exactly. That's right. That's what I was going to add to that. I was going to say that what we forget is most of the things that are global did not start global. That's right. When Kennel Sanders was creating KFC, he did not plan on creating a company that was going to serve chicken all over the world. He was creating KFC in his community. It was a homegrown solution. It was local. But then he did it so well. It expanded. So for instance, when I say Ghana should take palm wine global, I don't mean that take palm wine and go and open a business in France. Then go, no, no, no. In Ghana here, somebody should package palm wine so nice that every restaurant, every club, every place that every mart that you go to, every market is selling a very nicely packaged palm wine. And when it does so well in Ghana, it will expand to Togo, then to Abidjan. Then next thing you see, it has reached Nigeria, then Switzerland, then it goes global. So, and and one thing, like what he's trying to say is we should not also think that that means you should be an island. Because part of what we've done to make ourselves feel small is we are comparing ourselves against the entire world, though. Do you know that's a funny thing? Like, you know, sometimes we think US is superior, but most of the things that are done in the US are made in China. All these cameras that we are using, most of them are bought from the US, but they are made in Japan. So it's not that, like, all uh what do you call it, videography people know that the best cameras are made in Japan. That is their thing. So let's find our thing, and then we add other people's things. So maybe the best thing that we are going to do is counter ball. We make our counters ball and we video it with the cameras from Japan and we post it on the social media in what do you call it in the US. And maybe the sticker we put on the counter's ball was printed in China, and you know, the person who's speaking for us is speaking English from the UK. It doesn't matter, but you've used the global elements to find your local solution. You get me?

SPEAKER_02 42:34

And I have a follow-up on the issue of um faith, where we have Christians, we have Muslims, we have all sorts of um gods, and in when you look at it in general, what I would say is no matter the denomination you belong to, again, like you said, I also don't really care about that. But at the end of the day, you have to find something that works for you, and you also have to seek the truth beyond the truth with yourself. You have um um uh something inside you. First, you need to love yourself. This is a very basic law for humanity, and you need to love yourselves. So you love yourself, you love the community you are you are in, and that's one problem I also find in Africa. So I would also admonish that Africans pay attention to their environment. When you love the environment, you want to keep it safe, you want to keep your brother safe, yeah, then we can grow. So I think that love is also one of the greatest um uh love the religion. Yes, love is the problem, it's part of the problems that we have. So once we love ourselves, we know why we have to live a good life. So thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_06 43:51

Thank you so much for the insight. Lisa, I would like to ask one more question. So if If you had to go back to the music industry that is making music, what would you preach to the youth that you think is hidden from the youth?

SPEAKER_00 44:12

The youth.

SPEAKER_06 44:13

Yes. Or the citizens. Or Africans.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

That's a tough question. I'm not a preacher. I just like to share my knowledge. And I think that's what I've always done. Even from the days that I was doing music, I'll try as much as possible to share the knowledge that I have. And I don't think that any one person can ever think you are special enough to change the world. But all you can do is affect the people close to you so that they can affect the next group and the next group, and the cascading effect will eventually change the world. So my message would stay the same as the things that I'm shouting out all these days. You know, mindset, learn your finance, remember where you come from, and remember where you want to go.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

I'm Kejo Adolfo from the genesis of the presentation. And thanks for the initiative too. Thank you too. My my the question from mindset down today was the African greatness. I had questions, but along the line, most questions that have been asked have answered it, but I don't want to add on. But the only thing that I also like to I normally have this inscription taking mindset to the whole URC. So how can we also support you? Like where we can get maybe some of your apparels, or I know of Lynx Reverb. You normally since of we're getting it at Compute Ghana. What other staffs do you also have that we can equally support you? Thank you. That's very journey that you uh because it's not every program that sometimes you go, you get this stars for free, even the space you've rented, giving us water drinks. I've attended to certain if you don't you don't even get one-on-one, sometimes online you pay in, but to have this intimate, and some of us we've way way back followed your journey and we are being inspired. One way, so I just want to maybe have even if you have some around that maybe we can get a signature from you, like it's not just about maybe just taking pictures and stuff, but where we can just have a feel of yes, clap for him, clap for him.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

But yes, thank you very much. I do appreciate the support, and I should say it's quite difficult to get people to support you. I'm somebody who never actually looks for support. What I believe in is let me do the work to warrant people believing in what I'm doing, which is why I keep pushing more and more. For the products, right now we have the headphones, and this week we'll also be launching a speaker, which is coming very soon. So the speaker the headphone is 1499. We have some here. Anybody who wants to buy, we have Kaiser who's standing over there. She she likes to collect money. But if you guys also want to try it out and also check it out later, they can let you test it and all. And you mentioned one thing about renting the venue. I want to mention that ALX actually didn't charge me for this. I want to really give them shout-outs because it's very difficult for people to enable you to do these kinds of things. So they're doing a very good job. I've seen them do this with other people, and I think we should give them the the big ups to continue. And um, I think that if more people think like you, we'll have a lot of people doing well in Ghana. Because if we all try and lend a hand to the person next to us, we'll all grow. So please clap for him. Hey, yeah, so please buy my book. Yes, it's your fault, and also I should let you guys know about I've um released an app called Obra. So, Obra is for designing your life. All the things that I have been able to do for a number of years to get myself to be the level-headed person I am right now who's very well organized. I was able to put it into an app because I realized that I'm sharing all this information, but I'm not giving you a tool to use that information properly. So we designed an app called Oprah. It's on the Play Store, it's on the App Store. You can get it, it's free to download, and you can, you know, start using it to organize your life the way that you want it to.

SPEAKER_07 49:03

So thank you once again.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Thank you too.

SPEAKER_07 49:09

Solving local problems with local solutions is something that I just want to touch on a little bit. We grew up seeing our ground periods, we grew up to hundred years. Sorry. That is close. Sixty fifty. I want to ask a question. Does anybody here know the reason why we die so early updated?

SPEAKER_00 49:47

I want to say something, but they will attack me, they'll flag this video. If you ask me, I would say it's a research.

SPEAKER_07 49:57

The average Ghanaian now lives 15, 55, yes. And it's all because of what we eat, what we consume. So, like you were saying, they bring us their inferior food processed, some being chemicalized to some extent. We eat, and within five, ten years we have the effect. If you realize we have so many or so much uh, what do you call it? Kidney failures, liver issues within the youth, and we die quite early. So what I sat down and thought about it. If the reason we are dying quite early this time is because of the food we eat, why don't we eat our local food?

SPEAKER_00 50:50

100% right.

SPEAKER_07 50:51

So solving our local problems with a local solution, I took it upon myself that you are a Ghanaian and you must eat, you must eat local.

SPEAKER_00 51:06

You're 100% right. Please clap for him. Of course, I'm sure he's not saying never eat anything that was not made in Ghana. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 51:17

But the whole concept of the whole concept. Yes, the reason why I'm I'm advocating for you to eat local is because of these diseases, these sicknesses that we are going through, and we are dying quite early.

SPEAKER_00 51:32

And let me say something that they may come at me for, but it is what it is. Have you guys ever wondered why the same company is the one that oversees food and oversees medicine? The same company, food and drug, when most of the silk most of the illnesses that we get that we need to take medicine for is caused by food. The same company is telling you what to eat, then it's telling you what medicine to take for it. And what we don't understand is that the FDA instructions are not given from Ghana. What I mean by that is the research with which the FDA uses to determine if food is good, if medicine is good, is not done in Ghana. Exactly. So when somebody is telling you that Kenke will give you cancer, the person who did that research, no, they are sitting in Cambridge. When somebody is telling you that um this food fortified with irons, that this milk which is fortified with irons is good for your child's growth. And what they mean by that is they've made small shavings of iron and put in the milk for your child to drink. The person who decided that did not decide it in Ghana. So how is it that fortified? I mean, I'm saying things that I shouldn't be, but how is it that fortified with iron suddenly became a thing just a few decades ago and we are living shorter lives? When our grandfathers and great-grandfathers never drank milk fortified with iron and lived to 120. They had stronger bones than us, but now that we have iron in our bones. I think most of you didn't know. Please, when they say food is fortified with iron, they mean the metal iron. There's no other iron. I know most people think there's the metal iron, and then there's the ingredient iron. No, no, no. Ion, iron, the same ion in second is the same one that is shaved into tiny, tiny pieces and put in food to give you iron so that your body is stronger.

SPEAKER_07 54:02

I took it upon myself that I would make sure that we eat healthy food. How? So at Tizio Locals, what we do is what's it called?

SPEAKER_00 54:16

Tizayo. Tizayo Locals. Please, everyone, we have to go and check out Tisayo Locals.

SPEAKER_07 54:21

What we do is the local food you have, being the Banku and Okru, being the T-Z, being the Apo Pransa, being the whatever local food you can think of.

SPEAKER_08 54:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 54:35

We make sure we prepare it in a way that it's healthy for everybody to consume. And this is locally. So what we are doing to make it international is we are willing to maybe next this coming December, we are willing to do a food fair, which is going to be free. So all of us, everybody here is invited.

SPEAKER_00 55:07

Clap for him, clap for him.

SPEAKER_07 55:10

The reason why we are doing a local food fair is because we want to go global. And going global means that the restaurants come in, all they know is food, and but we have quite a whole lot of local delicacies that we can introduce to them, which is we are trying to solve the local problem with local solution at the same time. So solving local problems with local solutions. This is a little I'm also doing to well done, well done.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

You're doing very well. Even if we are small. What they are doing works for them. You know, one thing I learned when I was growing up that I was shocked about is see me, eh? I love meat, beef, chicken. I like meat. And people always told me, oh, Richie, eat too much meat, it's not good for you. Richie, eat too much meat, it's not good for you. I should try and eat more fish. Try and eat more. Like they mentioned different, different things. And then I started doing some research on diet for blood group and learned that people who are O-positive like me actually process meat better. So part of the reason I like meat is because it's good for me. It may not be good for somebody who's A B negative. O-positive people like myself are mostly lactose intolerant. Somebody who is A B negative or A B positive processes milk well. So when you come and tell me that drink my fortified, my uh iron fortified milk for strong bones, when I can get like the natural iron elements from eating meat and the milk will make me run. You're making a mistake. You are giving me somebody else's solution. The reason why when you travel to Europe or to US, if you taste their food, it is bland. Their food has no taste. And that is because in Africa, we actually have more sense, I've forgotten the technical term, but we have more taste buds, thank you. So we need something which is spicy to enjoy the food. If you go and take our paper and you go and give it to somebody in Denmark right now, it is too spicy for them. So when you are watching a YouTube tutorial and they are showing you how to make your medium steak, you know, your medium rare steak and a dash of salt. If you like, do dash of salt in Ghana and see. You have to realize that there are things that work for Kojo and there are things that work for Amma. Don't force Kojo to take what works for Amma. And most people who are coming to tell you something are telling you what worked for them. So ask yourself do I have anything in similar with this person? You know, if I remember an advice that a rich man gave me the time I was up and coming, I almost insulted him here. When I had bought my first secondhand car, the rich man told me that buying a secondhand car is a very bad financial decision because the car will keep giving you problems and it will cost you more. The best thing you should do is buy a brand new car. Is his advice wrong? His advice is right. But what do you mean? You think if I could buy a brand new car, I would have bought the second hand. His advice is correct too for him, because he can afford to buy any type of car. But me, if I look at my finances, brand new car is not in my portion. So I look at him and I look at the car that after giving me the advice, the car he sits in and drives off in. And I look at the car that I am going in and realize that he is wise for himself. So that's one thing I always say that I'm careful with giving people advice because just because something worked for me does not mean it will work for you. So the local solution is not even just Ghana, even maybe your city where you are, Crample, maybe in your family, there's a solution in there. People ask me, how did I make it in music? Our first songs, we didn't have money. So when the songs leaked on campus, we helped the song to leak. We didn't start the leak, but when it leaked, we helped it to leak. So now we'll copy for people on Pen Drive, sent to people on Bluetooth. Are you hearing the things I'm saying? Pen Drive and Bluetooth. What does that mean to a current musician? The current musician wants to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. So if he comes to ask me, Richie, what do I do to succeed? And I say, Oh, copy your music on Pen Drive and take it to university. The fact that it worked for me doesn't mean it will work for you. So always streamline for what solution will work for the situation around you. Okay?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:03

So my name is Gogo. Like I'm a dance movement artist, and my question is an imagination.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:13

I like it already.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:15

Yeah. In a sense that let's imagine right now, we we being in the creative economy, the white people take their TikTok, their Instagram, and takes all the app. How can we the creative still build our career or still make wealth with with with our clap for him?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:42

Do you guys know the story of Huawei and US? So Huawei was using Android. Android is made by Google. Google is a US company. And then the US government decided after some back and forth that no US company should work with Huawei anymore. So overnight, Huawei could no longer use Android, which is their operating software. Do you understand how dangerous that is? But do you know why Huawei did not collapse as a company? Because you know Chinese people, they built their own software and just kept going. The question he's asking is so valid. If right now, as people are watching this on YouTube, tomorrow Trump says no Ghanaian account is going to be allowed on YouTube. Do I have somewhere else to post masterminds? Where? Right there. So we have to start building these types of solutions. So that is actually even part of the reason for creating Obra. Because one of the questions I asked myself as the masterminds community is growing is that oh, a lot of people seem to be enjoying these conversations. A lot of people are joining the masterminds community, but they are on somebody else's platform. So what happens the day that the platform says they won't show me again? How will they find me? Most of you don't have access to me, you don't have email address, you don't have number, there's no way to reach me. So the day the platform says we have canceled your channel, that's it. So it's a very, very valid question. And we have to be thinking like this so that we can grow our own platforms instead of always looking at like TikTok has made the Chinese so powerful on social media. If they just kept waiting for Instagram and Facebook and Twitter, they wouldn't have had the dominance that they have now.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:00

Hey Richie, thank you so much. Um I'd just like to ask a very serious question right now. So with regards to African supporting Africans, I'd like to know. I know that you're no longer in music, but if you find a very um creative African artist today, who would you challenge the person to be in front of so that they can support him? Who would I challenge them to be in front of him? The artist to go to so that or refer them to go to so that they can support them.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:28

You're not going to like my response.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:32

I say it. One problem with my former industry. More per support cra too much. Why is it that every person in the music industry is looking for who's going to support me, who's going to build me, who's why can't you make yourself? Who made me? Bandrive. Like I realized I had a talent. I realized other people around me were also talented. I built a record label. I uh what do you call it? Proved myself to my mom. She got a loan for me and I did a small studio. It was very crappy at first. When money kept coming, I improved the studio. Do you get me? And in those days, it was even harder because those days there was a lot of gatekeeping. To get into the industry was very difficult. The way I got my music played on radio the first time was a man called Kwamefache. I went to Kwamefache, and Kwamefache liked my music, and he called five big DJs and said, there's some small boy coming to you. When he comes, don't charge him, play his music for free. That's how come my music got there. But you see, it's not that's there's there's no support. Kwame Fache did not do that because he was sitting there looking for someone to support. He did it because I had worked for four years, built myself, and when I played the music to him, he realized this music is radio ready. So instead of asking, see, that's why I wrote the book, Yes is your fault. Instead of us always asking, who's going to help me? How can someone do something for me? How can somebody spoon feed me? Ask what I can do for myself. In these days where everybody has a mobile phone, everybody has TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter. You can't video yourself and put yourself out there, get feedback from people. If they don't like your music, tweak what you don't like about it. You can't go on Chat GPT and ask Chat GPT how do I distribute my music so they can put your music out there, learn how to do flyers, like develop yourself. And the thing is, there's a very wise saying in our local language of do your fruit and your piano. So with that, I want to thank everybody. Thank you so much for coming. Um, one thing I always say is that it's one thing to be pushing things out there, but it feels good to know that other people are actually receiving it. My dream is to share knowledge, but if people are not receptive of the knowledge that I'm sharing, then there's no point. So I want to thank you guys for your dedication, for listening, for your insights. I've actually learned a lot from most of you. If you are watching my next episodes and I give some of your points, please do not please rise in there. I learned from you today. Thank you for watching this episode. Now, the mastermind dream is about building a community of people who have the right mindset and are ready to take their success into their own hands. So do me this wonderful favor, subscribe and share with anybody out there who you believe you want to see have the right mindset to succeed so that together we can all become the masterminds we deserve to be.