The Green investment club was established in the wake of the economic recession in 2016 in Nigeria. At the time, the members were focused on getting financially educated in a community and gradually building investment in impact-driven investment opportunities. The current uncertain economic situation seems to be opening up a lot more investment opportunities for the members of the biggest investment club in Nigeria.

In the words of the founder, Tomie Balogun, ‘’I co-founded an investment club with four friends and this led me on an investment journey filled with lessons. Three years into operating our private investment club, we started to receive requests to join our investment club. We were not so keen on accepting new members. That’s why I decided to build a framework to teach how to start an investment club. To deepen my understanding more, I decided to implement the 3 models of investment clubs I developed. The green investment club is an example of a community model and we launched it as an experiment to see if anyone will be interested’’

Today, that experiment boasts of 1,100 members who have invested over N2bn ($5m) in multiple small businesses in Nigeria. The direct impact of investing in small and medium enterprises in sectors such as agriculture and micro-credit lending has contributed to economic growth and created jobs for over 2,000 people in Nigeria.

According to the founder, Tomie Balogun, ‘’The investment club’s focus was to teach young millennials like herself how to invest confidently. I had no clue how to invest confidently when I started so I made a lot of mistakes on my journey.’’

Things changed when she started an investment club and started to read books and seek out experts to learn practical investment tips from. This boosted her confidence in making investment decisions over time.

Her investment journey mirrors the challenges many young people face today in Nigeria. Most millennials who earn good income do not understand how to invest confidently. Their short-time financial needs make them drop long term goals. As a result, they end up spending all they earn or investing in bad investment schemes which promise money doubling returns.

Through the investment club’s financial literacy courses, resources, and curated investment opportunities, they help their members achieve sustainable income growth through investments at a rate higher than the average. Members of the Green Investment Club earn an additional stream of income from investing in credible investment opportunities. Being impact-driven as a community, they invest actively in small and medium businesses in key sectors of the economy in a bid to increase employment and encourage economic growth.

The investment club is also focused on reducing the inequality in the investment sector as more women are inspired to invest. 65% of the members of the Green Investment Club are women. It is confidence-boosting for women to be in a group with other women who are working towards financial independence. They get a clear picture of their finances and make better financial decisions

The Green Investment club has a thriving community of professionals and entrepreneurs who are mostly Nigerian but live in different countries. The community communicates strictly via email and a support group. To protect the privacy of its members, they do not have WhatsApp or Telegram groups. So if you see a WhatsApp or Telegram group in the name of the Green Investment Club or Tomie Balogun, it is a scam and they encourage everyone to report the group immediately.

As an investment club and community, the members of the Green Investment club are all connected by one goal; to get better with their personal finances and make an impact by investing in small businesses contributing to economic growth in Nigeria.

Leading Pan-African investment banking and financial services group, United Capital Plc, today released its economic outlook report for the second half of the year. The bi-annual report analyzes the status of the Nigerian economy and outlines future projections informed by domestic and global events.

Based on extensive research, “Up in the Air”, as the report is titled, encapsulates the uncertainty triggered by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus; a pandemic that threw a curveball at the trend of previous economic variables and policy forecasts for the year. Transcending evaluations of the Nigerian economy, the outlook report examines the volatility of the pandemic on global financial markets, evaluates the risk of a recession in fragile economies, and prognosticates the basis for a turnaround in global trade value.

Speaking on the report, Group Chief Executive Officer, of United Capital Plc, Mr. Peter Ashade, said, “United Capital is committed to equipping our clients, seasoned investors, and the investing community at large with valuable insights to inform their decision-making processes in the second half of the year.  With the advent of the pandemic, COVID-19, which proceeded to destabilize even the strongest economies worldwide, our research team has made use of their knowledge, expertise and understanding of the situation, and the economy to predict possible actions in the future and we believe this would be beneficial to investors.”

The 2020 Half-year economic outlook report by United Capital Plc is a strategic initiative by the organization that reflects its dedication to being the financial and investment role model across Africa; empowering its clients, through innovative methods, with a robust suite of investment solutions to achieve their financial goals.

The full report can be downloaded here www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com/Research

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About United Capital Plc

United Capital is a leading African investment banking, asset management, trusteeship and securities trading Group, providing a bouquet of diverse financial services to individuals, corporates, and governments, enabling growth at all levels.

Since it was founded over 50 years ago, United Capital Plc has cultivated and sustained a heritage of excellence in the finance space in Africa. Its track record of transaction execution, industry leadership and client focus are still unmatched. It has achieved this by providing top-of-the-line financial services, consistently demonstrating a commitment to execution, excellent service delivery and client satisfaction.

Through the years, the Group has innovated with each season, and found smart ways to provide even more value to its clients by showing a spectacular ability to adapt to change.

United Capital’s Pan African expansion drive is borne out of the need to replicate its numerous successes in the Nigerian market to the broader African space. This enables it to contribute to transforming the African continent by providing investment banking solutions to governments, companies, and individuals. It is poised to be the financial and investment role model across Africa, deploying innovation, technology, and specialist skills to exceed client expectations, whilst creating superior value for all stakeholders.

Looking ahead, with strategic financial partnerships, and a commitment to economic growth and prosperity on the continent, United Capital Plc will leverage its market leadership and strong relationships with financial market participants, Development Finance Institutions, multilateral agencies, as well financiers within and outside the continent to drive innovative solutions to funding challenges in Africa.

To survive the harsh economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian businesses have been tasked to embrace digital resources and innovation that will help them thrive in the realities of the new normal.

A leading Lagos-based software innovation company, Crown Interactive led by UK-trained IT Expert, Wumi Oghoetuoma made this known why introducing its digital resources known as CICOD Suite.

This opportunity comes at a time when the CBN recently introduced a N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have been affected by the pandemic.

According to Crown Interactive, “with the CICOD product, businesses will be more efficient, digital-friendly, and thus, resilient to some of the economic shocks we’re living through today. Currently, CICOD suite of tools is running a free 30day trial period so that for businesses at no cost at www.cicod.com”

“The CICOD suite of tools comes with all that businesses need to manage digitally, allowing them to run the shop remotely and enable other people to sell on their behalf, but still leaving them in charge of a centralized hub. Decentralizing by introducing new sales channels – like selling via agents, social media, call-to-shop – makes it more convenient for customers to shop with businesses and effectively, more convenient for them to increase revenues.”

Crown Interactive noted, “For some micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), reopening means business owners may first have to get rid of the old stock that they have been sitting on during lockdown to make way for the new. With CICOD, businesses can run promotions, apply discounts directly, and track and monitor leftover stock in the inventory, all from the comfort of your home.”

“With CICOD Suite, businesses can manage a whole database of customers and easily text them, send them invoices, and even monitor buying patterns so that they can more suitably fulfill the needs of their clientele. They can even take this further and run a loyalty scheme, to make sure they keep the regulars coming back.”

The organization added, “as the shops open up and customers begin to stroll back in, they need to see that there’s been an upgrade by allowing CICOD bring their businesses into the now. It is not enough for businesses to survive in this period, we want them to thrive in it too. We can equip them with the digital tools that they need to thrive in this period and move to the next level.”