Group Managing Director of TTL Group, Dr. Onuaha Nnachi, has urged business leaders, founders, and innovators gathered at this year’s LIMBSimple Strategy Growth Convention to explore the realities of building sustainable enterprises in Nigeria’s evolving economic climate. Onuaha delivered one of the most compelling and hard-hitting perspectives of the day, offering an unfiltered look at entrepreneurship through the lens of an investor who has built wealth across continents.
“It’s quite intense to be in this room,” he began, setting the stage for a message grounded in experience, grit, and strategic clarity. “There’s always a solution to everything, it’s about how well you think and position yourself.” He illustrated this with an encounter in India, where he engaged the leadership of the World Solar Alliance during the India Energy Week. After his presentation, he was informed that a funding pool of $500 billion had been set aside for participating countries. Nigeria, though a signatory, was not a partner and therefore could not access the funds. Other countries like Togo, and even individuals within the ECOWAS bloc, could. “So I said, ‘Well, I am a member of ECOWAS.’” The audience laughed, but the lesson was unmistakable: opportunity responds to intelligence, positioning, and strategic creativity.
YOU CAN ALSO READ: ‘No More Small Thinking’: Solesi Challenges Entrepreneurs as LIMBSimple 2025 Kicks Off
His entrepreneurial journey spans decades and continents. He recounted how in the 1980s, with absolutely nothing in his hands, he grew zero naira into 35,000 naira, equivalent to roughly 350 million naira today. In the 1990s, he received 1,000 naira and multiplied it into 500,000. During his NYSC year, he arrived with only 210 naira and built it into a business that still exists. When he landed in the United States, he had just $300. Less than ten years later, he was able to write a cheque of $1.5 million. “What I do is making money. That is my job,” he emphasized. “Shortage of money feels like shortage of blood, you become sick.”
These results, he said, come from sacrifice. For the past 20 years, he has never slept more than four hours a day. He explained that the first quadrant of life, ages 0 to 20, is dependent on others and full of rest. The final quadrant, ages 75 and above, will again be full of rest. “So why should I waste my second and third quadrants sleeping? If you’re still sleeping eight hours during those phases, you’re negotiating with poverty.”
His message also examined the structural disadvantages Nigerian entrepreneurs face. Many people his age, he noted, were born without birth certificates. Some studied Computer Science but did not see a computer until their twenties. Family obligations, cultural expectations, and limited early-life opportunities often pull young entrepreneurs behind before they even begin. Yet, he insisted that these disadvantages must be acknowledged and overcome. “You must reinvent and recreate yourself.”
Even after undergoing major spinal surgery earlier this year, Dr. Nnachi stood throughout the session, leaning occasionally on the table as he spoke, his physical presence reinforcing the message of resilience and endurance. “The best does not always excel, but the bold wins. Only boldness conquers the market.”
He then shifted to what he described as the most important foundation for entrepreneurial success, something he calls the three C’s, beginning with the first: Convincing Power. According to him, this is non-negotiable. “You cannot call yourself an entrepreneur if your ability to convince is weak.” He recalled a moment during Nigeria’s power privatization era when his company won a $627 million power plant project. His partner did not have the $50 million equity needed, so he went searching for it. He approached a Nigerian investor and told him plainly, “Sir, I need $400 million.” When the man asked where he expected him to get such an amount, Dr. Nnachi responded, “That’s not my business. I’m only telling you what I need.” When asked what the investor’s concern should be, he told him, “Your business is that this $400 million will give you $20 million profit in one year.” Two weeks later, the investor called back and agreed. “That is convincing power,” he declared.
YOU CAN ALSO READ: Adesina and Oramah: Two Nigerian Titans Elevated AfDB and Afreximbank into Global Powerhouses
He stressed that this power is not only for raising funds but also for leading people. “No matter your vision, if you cannot transfer that vision into the people around you, it dies with you.” Many entrepreneurs, he noted, never ask their team members about their personal visions. Someone planning to retire at 40 cannot share the same long-term vision as a founder planning a 20-year strategy. “Your convincing power must align people with your vision.”
His message intertwined business logic, biblical references, and personal stories that demonstrated how strategic thinking secures generational impact. With his characteristic firmness, he paused on a final, subtle point: “Someone once said you don’t apologise for being late…” He let the sentence hang, an intentional silence that invited the audience to reflect.
