Bellafricana published in Articles, Uncategorized

Personalized Gifts For Christmas In 2019

It is no longer news that with Christmas comes more food, drinks, and loads of gifts. Gifts from mum, dad, sister, brother, and lots of other loved ones will be flying in the air but the gifts that will definitely stand out are those personalized gifts.

There is something about personalized gifts that makes it so special and close to the heart. I mean, imagine getting a plain shirt versus getting a shirt with your name or picture inscribed on it, which would you never want to lose? Yeah, yeah, you love the two but one calls you more because it is personalized.

Hence, on this post, I will be sharing with you some really cool personalized gift ideas for friends and family this season. You don’t want to miss it, so keep reading to see;

Personalized Throw Pillows;

Did you know you can get a throw pillow with the name or picture of your loved one on it? If you didn’t know, lucky you, now you know. If you knew already, have given this out as a Christmas gift? If you haven’t, this is me telling you that you should consider it and wow friends and family in this season of love.

Customized throw pillow for christmas gift idea

Throw Pillow From Pillow Talk Naija

Call: +2348181890113

Personalized Christmas Card;

Gone are the are the days when you needed to walk up to a store searching for a card with special words or picture for your loved one. Now, you can simply have your card designed and personalized for you. Isn’t that amazing?

Christmas Card as a christmas gift idea

Customized Card From Not Just Pulp

WhatApp: +2348177322184

Personalized Shirt; If you watch football, you must have noticed that behind every jersey of a player, they have their names written behind. For this Christmas, you can have the names of your loved one behind and present to them as a gift. You can bet they would be so excited.  Keep reading to see a picture below;

Personalized gift item from Mmabon

Customized Tshirt From Mmabon

Call: 0803 724 7378

Personalized Tote Bags; Tote bags are slowly becoming a fashion statement and you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to rock this with loved ones. So, get a personalized bag for yourself and a friend this Christmas.

Tote Bag From Mimiremitextiles

Hand Printed Tote Bag From Mimiremi Textiles

Call: 08034898474

I do hope that with this, you have a better understanding of what to get family members for Christmas.

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Bellafricana published in Articles

Jeff Bezos’ Top 10 Rules To Success in 2019

If you don’t know Jeff Bezos, then you have been living under the rock especially if you are an entrepreneur. Jeff Bezos is the founder of  Amazon and Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup company. He was named the “richest man in modern history” after his net worth increased to US$150 billion.

If you didn’t get any other thing, you must have gotten the part that he is the founder of Amazon, a business he has run for years and on this post I bring his top 10 rules for success as complied by Evan Carmichael;

  1. Be Willing To Be Misunderstood; Not everyone is going to understand the choices you make or take as you strive for success and that’s OK because the vision and ideas are yours to nurture and grow.
  2. Don’t Be Afraid To Fail; As you strive for success, have it at the back of your mind that failure will come at a point. But never let that stop you, rather see it as a learning curve and take the lessons and move.
  3. Be Resourceful; You must have the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties in life. Quite waiting for a savior as you are your own hero, find a way to make your dreams a reality.
  4. Earn Trust; Let people know you for your word, let your no be no and your yes be yes, those words will stand for you in place of adversities and obstacles.
  5. Persevere; Continue in whatever dream you have decided on even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success.
  6. Get In Touch With Your Passion; The journey to success is not the smoothest, it would be rough and sometimes frustrating but the moment you align with your passion, it will be easier.
  7. Build Work Life Harmony; You can’t work all your life, you need to learn to take a break and relax and enjoy your hard work too. Create a balance
  8. Find Supportive People; Find a tribe of people who would support and encourage you and do the same for them.
  9. Do What Works For You; Never try to copy the ways of another man, you could fall while trying. Do you!
  10. Have A Bigger Vision; Don’t be scared be dream, dream big as big as the ocean.

Jeff Bezos is full of such wisdom to help everyone navigate success easier, sincerely, we can’t take it all in a day, so for this post we stop here. I hope you learnt something new.

 

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Bellafricana published in Articles

Bellafricana partners with Nest Cooperative to launch a Fund to Scale for Creative MSMEs in Nigeria

What was once a DREAM at Bellafricana to have a financial partner has now become a REALITY. Signed, sealed and partnered.

As reported by the News Agency of Nigeria and Business Day Nigeria; Bellafricana partners with Nest Cooperative to launch a Fund to Scale for Creative MSMEs in Nigeria.

Creative indigenous businesses lack the required skills and support to grow a sustainable business that can compete globally and this is what the Bellafricana platform for creative businesses is providing.

Bellafricana is an organised community which provides the much needed support and creates an enabling environment for the world to connect and trade online with reliable and credible creative Indigenous Businesses, anytime, anywhere.

To further this goal, they have identified the similar interest in MSMEs with the Nest Cooperative and are partnering with them to drive it home via their Investment fund bouquet.

Nest Cooperative through Finn Labs Ltd is a registered Cooperative focused on developing and enabling mostly SMEs to be better business corporations in Nigeria through the facilitation of smarter and improved financial systems to include savings, investments and loans.

NEST Bellafricana

During the signing of the agreement, Bukky Asehinde, CEO of Bellafricana said that “This initiative is a necessity at this point and especially with the African Trade Agreement; as a lot of Micro, Small and Medium Businesses need this support to enable them scale effectively to be able to participate in this global trade opportunity.”

“As we believe that businesses producing quality products Made-in-Nigeria play a key role towards increasing our export income as well as taxable income for the economy. Seeing how the Nest Cooperative have a proven track record of providing financial expertise with a focus towards SMEs in Nigeria; we couldn’t think of any reasons why not to partner with them.”

Through the Bellafricana platform, various business categories have been vetted, trained and guided through the different business management facets and many of them are currently registered and listed with Bellafricana as verified Nigerian businesses. These categories include Food and Beverage, Fashion, Arts & Crafts, Home and living, Health & Beauty to name a few.

Other partners already signed up with the community are the Lagos Chamber of commerce and industry, the Nigeria-American Chamber of commerce, National Export Promotion Council, DHL, Digital Marketing Skill Institute and so many others.

Mr Seyi Olusanya, COO of Nest Bank, said;

“It is quite impressive to see the amount of quality products with attention to details that are being made by members of the Bellafricana community and this becomes a great encouragement to ensure that the support they need to succeed is being provided and that is why NEST has extended their unwavering commitment to supporting SMEs and ensuring their growth through funding and advisory services.

The Made in Nigeria Creative business is set to gain easier access to financial support via new Bellafricana-Nest partnership which should also drive socio-economic factors like unemployment a bit lower than currently is in the Nigerian sphere.

The Alliance of the two business entities provides the opportunity for more creative businesses to leverage the partnership for mutual benefits.

Some of the Nest Cooperative services the Bellafricana community members will benefit from include a financial model analysis where they advise the SME owners on the smarter ways to position their business to generate more revenue through trade and equipment financing as has identified as the crux of their needs.

The management teams of both companies have specialized skills ranging across understanding the best practices to raising funding for production, material sourcing, branding and packaging. All of which are what these SMEs need to be well on their way to being better positioned amongst the first batch of Made in Nigeria goods to be eligible for the AfCTA and trade globalization.

Bellafricana in partnership with Nest Corporatives

Mrs Bukky Asehinde also reiterated the fact that whilst her focus has been on ensuring that the creative businesses she openly promotes via the Bellafricana platform are verified, a number of the unverified businesses are yet to get to this stage because of imminent gaps in their business operations that prevent them from scaling that milestone achievement. She is hopeful that with the new partnership that more of this category can also get verified and scale their businesses via avenues to include partnerships, collaborations and service rendering offers from even within the NEST SME community.

Who knows if the next global brand will emerge from amongst any of these small businesses? Time will tell.

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Bellafricana published in Articles

Opray Winfrey’s 10 Rules For Success

As we prepare to round off the year, let’s learn from an entrepreneur, philanthropist and talk show host, Oprah Winfrey on her 10 top rules for success as complied by Evans Carmichael;

  1. Set Boundaries; Learn that you can have the power to decide what you do  and what not to do. No one should ever make you feel guilty for the choices you make which is against their request. Set your boundaries, you get to make that decision for your life.
  2. Create The Live The Want; You have the power to create the life you want. Through your thoughts, in your everyday life, in your words, intentionally create the life you want and watch it manifest.
  3. Turn Your Wounds Into Wisdom; Know this, you will be wounded many times and while some call them failure, they are experiences that will shape you into what God has planned for you.
  4.  Live Your Life To The Fullest; No matter where you are in life, there is always the next step till your last breathe. So keep striving until you can say you lived your best an fullest life possible.
  5.  Demand Respect; It does not matter what any one thinks or says about who you are or what you do, you deserve respect. So if they don’t give you voluntarily, demand it.
  6. You Become What You Believe; If you lose everything, don’t lose faith, don’t give up. For as long as your believe and can visualize where you are going to, you can achieve it.
  7. Touch Lives Everyday; Never be weary of doing good. Not because of anyone but for yourself. Knowing that you are you are touching lives in every area.
  8. Own Your Life; Live your life! Take charge of your life, your mistakes and be present in the decisions of your life.
  9. Live A Truthful Live; Live a truthful life, be real! Let your no be no and your yes be yes.
  10. Say Thank You; Always say thank you! Be grateful.
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Bellafricana published in Articles

Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Awards Entrepreneurs In Nigeria

LAGOS STATE EMPLOYMENT TRUST FUND (LSEFT) PARTNERS WITH NIGERIA ENTREPRENEURS AWARD TO HONOUR & CELEBRATE ENTREPRENEURS IN NIGERIA

As part of its commitment to building and supporting economic growth and development in the country, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund is partnering with the Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award to celebrate the immense contributions of outstanding entrepreneurs and organizations driving the economic growth and development in the country.

The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSEFT) was established by the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Law 2016 to provide financial support to residents of Lagos State to tackle unemployment through job and wealth creation.

Lagos State Employment Trust Fund

The Executive Director of the Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award, Mr Uwabor Joshua, stated that despite the enormous challenges confronting Nigerian entrepreneurs, their contributions in economic growth and development, especially in the MSME space is undeniable. Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award is very passionate about celebrating & honouring these operators in the economy, noting that this partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund will go a long way in promoting entrepreneurial growth in Nigeria.

Lagos State Employment Trust Fund

According to him, this year’s Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award will celebrate the innovative passion of some outstanding entrepreneurs and organizations for their significant contributions to the economic growth, making the economy more attractive to international and local investors. We are aware that entrepreneurs drive the economy, especially at the MSME level. What we are doing with Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award is not just only to celebrate them, but, also, to galvanise them to do more and accelerate economic recovery and stability.

Since the inception of the award in 2014, we have maintained the vision, increased the pace and consistently grew the Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award to become the number one platform in Nigeria that celebrates entrepreneurs and organizations for their vital and significant contributions to the growth of the Nigeria economy with over five thousand (5000) persons in attendance so far and over eighty individuals and organization receiving the award. We have done this ceaselessly and tirelessly because we believe entrepreneurs are the moving force behind our economy.

Some of those who have received this prestigious award includes: Aiteo Group, Mr. Nnamdi Ezeigbo, Chief Cosmos Maduka, MTN Communications Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Dana Air, Ecobank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Ltd, NPF Pensions Ltd, Nedcomoaks, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Fidelity Bank Plc, Pirotti Projects Ltd, Keystone Bank, Genesis Energy Group, Gesi Asamaowei, Dr Kennedy Okonkwo amongst many others.

A statement from the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, affirms that the partnership with Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award will celebrate the contributions and passion of entrepreneurs who help in bringing ideas to life, drive economic growth and contribute significantly to expanding the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Nigeria.

This year’s edition of the Award which is the 6th in a roll, promises to be a world-class event that will leave all those who attend with a lasting impression and business relationships that will change their businesses for the best. After the 5th edition of the award which recorded a sharp rise in attendance, entrepreneurs and heads of organizations will once again be gathering in Lagos for this year’s edition of the award dinner, scheduled to hold on the 1st of December, 2019 at the Ball Room, Oriental Hotel Lekki Lagos, with the theme: Building a Prosperous Nation; MSME as an Economic Force.

Aside from the Award, there will also be exhibition opportunities for entrepreneurs and organization who will like to take advantage to position their products and services for others to see.

The Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award is an initiative of Emagez Solutions, and Supported the Global Entrepreneurship Network-Nigeria, Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), African Entrepreneurs Foundation and Bloc Haus Ltd, endorsed by SMEDAN

 

 

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Bellafricana published in Articles

Steve Jobs 10 Rules For Success

You have probably heard that experience is the best teacher, and like many, you hope for experiences that would lead to greatness.

The good thing is, you can learn from those who have walked the part to greatness. This, in turn, saves you from the hard lessons of life.

Today, let’s learn from one of those considered successful in every sphere, Steve Jobs, C.E.O and Co-founder of Apple.

In a study compiled by Evan Carmichael, here are 10 rules to success by Steve Jobs;

  1. Don’t live a limited life; There is a life the society, culture has designed as the ideal life for everyone but it is limited. Limited to ideas of those that created them, don.t fall into the trap of following the rules, create yours instead.
  2. Have Passion; You need to have passion for what you do. No matter how much you love what you do, there will be hard days. In those days, what gets you moving is your passion.
  3. Design For Yourself; Before you try to sell your idea to someone else, try using it yourself. If it can work for you, then there is someone out there who needs it too, if not, you might one to reconsider.
  4. Don’t sell crap; No matter how tempted you are to sell low-quality products to others, don’t. do it, Rather, focus on what you do best and make more of it.
  5. Build a great team; Professionals are good, but not necessarily the best to grow your business. Instead of professionals, look for those who have the same goals and vision as yours, build with them.
  6.  Don’t do it for the money; Money is good, but it should never be the goal. Don’t focus on the money, rather focus on the value and long term goals.
  7. Be proud of your products;  Don’t do what you are not proud of. Ask yourself, if this goes out, will it make me proud? if not, don’t do it.
  8. Build around your customers; Start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology. You can’t put your customers last.
  9. Marketing is about value; What do you want to be known for? What makes you different? That is how you market yourself, it should remain constant.
  10. Stay Hungry, stay foolish; Regardless of how far you get in life, keep striving, don’t get too comfortable.

Those are few tips from Steve Jobs, I hope you found them useful and can implement them in your life too.

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Bellafricana published in Articles, Beauty, Health & Beauty

6 Ways To Care For Your Natural Hair

Let’s talk natural hair and how to care for them. It’s no secret that when the hair is not well maintained or taken care of, it leads to breakage and with a natural hair, there is need to pay extra attention. To help make this easy for you, I have shared 6 tips below on how to care for your natural hair.

Keep reading to see some amazing natural hair tips;

1. Always Clarify Your Hair:

The first step to caring for natural hair is to keep it moisturized. This begins with your shampoo. Don’t make the mistake of only using “moisturizing shampoo” when you’re experiencing dryness. You need to clarify (or remove) all of the old products from your hair to allow any future products to effectively work. The Serwaa Clay shampoo from Organic Life Plus is perfect for clarifying your hair. Click here to buy!

2. Increase Your Water Intake:

Every day you should be drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of water per day, minimum. Your body needs that much water to properly lubricant your organs, muscles, and hair because you’re made of 60% water!

3. Wear a Scarf (preferably silk):

Did you know cotton pillowcases and sheets are one of the biggest culprits for dryness and lint? To avoid these issues, it is best to always wear a satin scarf and/or sleep on a satin pillowcase. Also, use a silk scarf or shawl to cover your hair in the day to protect it from damaging sunshine and dirty. Check out some shawls/scarves from Asologe and Adire Lounge. Click the links to buy now!

4. Take More Fruits:

It is proved that high intake of fruits containing vitamin C and other essential minerals help to increase hair growth and improve the look of the hair. In essences, you should include fruits to your daily diet. Dry fruits from SacFruits would make this easier for you to practice. Click here to buy now!

Sacfruits
Dried Fruit From Sacfruits

5. Use Hair Oils:

Two key things every natural hair relies on to stay shinning and healthy are water and oil. Using good oil for your hair is like giving your hair good food to eat, that is, oil nourishes your natural hair. Oils like coconut oil, olive oil, lavender oil and more. You should check Organic Life Plus for your hair oils. Click here to buy now!

6. Get Regular Salon Hydration Treatments.
Steaming is one of the best moisturizing treatments for your hair. You should visit your hair care professional at least once every 3 months for a Hydration Treatment. It works wonders. For more details about your hair, contact Organic Life Plus, here.

Don’t forget to thank me soon after doing all 6 steps and seeing great results.

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Bellafricana published in Articles, Uncategorized

6 Gift Ideas For Your Boss

Gift ideas for your boss can be tasking and sometimes very tiring. You don’t want to be too informal and get a gift that would be considered inappropriate. Neither will you want to get a gift that is considered too cheap and not fit for a boss.

That’s not even all, you still have to make sure whatever you choose or decide to gift your boss is within your budget because no one is trying to get broke all in the name of gifting a boss. Thankfully, that is why I am here today.

Having done some proper research, I have come up with 6 gift ideas for your boss, keep reading to see them.

1. CUSTOMIZED PILLOW;

First, when its customized, you know it is special and giving this to a boss, tell me how he/she would not appreciate it or smile everything they see the pillow from you.

Gifts for your boss

2. CUSTOMIZED CARD;

Ever thought of giving your boss a card? No! It is not too small, especially when you have it customized and with a personalized message. I bet you, he would be so happy. You should contact us to hook you up.Gifts for your boss

3. Footwear;

I don’t for a moment think your boss would not be glad if you got them a unique footwear as a gift. The word is ‘unique’, you don’t want to get him or her something that doesn’t depict elegance. Don’t be scared, it doesn’t have to be expensive, you can contact us to get you started. Shoe from Pere Lei

Footwear from Kaspen

4. Scented Candles;

When thinking of gift ideas for your boss, you should also think about what they need. That helps you to make better gift choices.  Now, have you thought of some scented candles? This would go well in their office space or at home. And every time the sweet smell from this candles are commented on, they remember you. Contact us now to get them.Scented candles and diffuser from Tiwi FragranceScented candles and diffuser from Tiwi Fragrance

5. Laptop Bag;

In a world where almost everyone has a laptop, your boss would be so happy to get a laptop bag as a gift from you. Hold on, not just any laptop bag but one with a difference, get him an Aso-oke lap top bag, keep scrolling to see a picture below.

Laptop bag from Tyty design as gift for your boss

6. T-Shirts;

Contrary to popular believe that clothes are too expensive for a gift, there are amazing and affordable outfits you can get for your boss and still not break a bank. Check out some ideas below;

Gift idea for your boss

Gift idea for your boss from Mmabon

What was your issue again? With items on this list, you can’t go wrong with gift ideas for your boss. To get any of these mentioned above, click here to contact us and place your order now.

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Michelle Obama’s 10 Rules For Success

[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] As you go through your journey to fulfilling greatness or shall I say success, it is very important to know and surround yourself with people that inspire you. One of the key people that inspire me are the Obamas, in this case they don’t surround me, however, I follow them very closely from a distance.
I was very glad to have stumbled on this top 10 Rules for success stated by Michelle Obama collated by Evan Carmichael. In the spirit of entrepreneurship, I thought to share these top 10 rules given by Michelle Obama. [/dropcap]
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Bellafricana published in Articles, Exclusive Interviews, Furnitures, Home & Living, Meet The Founders,

Meet The Founder Of Ile Ila #Exclusive Interview

Hey there!

It’s been a minute. I just checked the date of my last published article and I myself was wowed! But hey! Let’s leave the past in the past shall we?

I was opportune to have an exclusive interview with the founder of an amazingly awesome furniture design brand called Ilé Ilà. The fist time I came across the brand was during the Bellafricana ACE Awards 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria, and I can remember just standing and staring at these sets of beautiful furniture made with Aso Oke. They were so colorful, looked very comfortable and all I could say to myself was, ”Oh wow, this is art!”

This interview gave me more insight to what this brands stands for, why they do what they do, and some of the challenges they face as a business. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you, Tosin Oshinowo, Founder and Creative Director of Ile Ila.

Please introduce yourself and your background

My name is Tosin Oshinowo. I am an Architect and run a design practice in Lagos, Nigeria called cmDesign Atelier. I am also a product designer and run a lifestyle furniture line called Ile Ila.

Tell us about your work. How did Ile Ila start?

Ile Ila, is a lifestyle furniture line designed and hand-made in Lagos, Nigeria. The brand design period-conscious furniture with a contemporary African content.

How did you come about the name and what does it mean?

Ilé-Ilà, means House of Lines in Yoruba,

What is your niche and how did you know it was a market to get into?

Our business is focused on accent chairs and ottomans. we really focused on the celebration and capsulation of Culture.

Where do you get the inspiration for your products?

We get our inspiration from everything around us. In particular we have a thing for color and textures and there is so much variety with Aso Oke.

Can you remember one of the first products you made? What makes it memorable?

One of the first chairs I made is still in my home. It’s an assortment of purple and lilac Aso Oke. It is really is one of the reasons who I got into the idea of color combination.

What are some of the challenges you face in your business?

Biggest challenge has been scaling up of production due to capital costs of the carpentry machinery. Currently, production is slow due to the machinery available, if we can scale up we can reduce time and reduce production cost and pass this saving on the our customers.

Do you have any regrets venturing into this line of business?

Not at all. Because I have stayed in the realm of design and creativity both businesses feed off each other.

What is your most popular product?

It’s interesting but difficult to answer. different demographics like different things. All the chairs have done well but i can almost guess peoples preference if I know their background or gender. In terms of sales the Alaafia did exceptionally well.

Alaafia Rocker

 

To what extent do you draw upon your Nigerian (African) heritage for your work?

We are all products of our experiences and exposures and it is this combination that is reflected in my work.

What are some of your short term and long term goals, both in your business and life in general?

We really want to push international sales. right now it’s expensive to export and this pushes up the price. short term we want to add more furniture lines to the brand.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

I don’t know how to tie gele….. and I hardly wear Aso Oke.

What profession would you be in if you weren’t in the Furniture Design industry?

I probably would have been a visual artist.

If you could give one piece of advice to anyone who wants to start their own business in your industry, what would it be?

Make sure you get your business properly registered and engage the services of an accountant from the start and make sure you pay your tax.

And finally, Here are some more images of pieces by Ilé-Ilà

Alaafia

ORUN-3

ORUN-2

Aparo

Connect with Tosin on Instagram @ile.ila or send an email to [email protected] or you can call, 08023789728.

Follow us on Instagram @bell_africana for more amazing creative indigenous brands, and to fine out more about the beauty of Africa.

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We believe that every creative entrepreneur has a potential to grow sustainable global businesses. Bellafricana understands the challenges and is honored to be a part of the Creatives’ dream. Their dream is our dream

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