Why Social Status Keeps Africans Poor - The Truth About Making Money

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Konnected Minds Podcast — Why Social Status Keeps Africans Poor: The Truth About Making Money
Host: Derrick Abaitey
Guest: Priscilla Atapites (Financial Literacy Educator, 30Seeds)
Date: March 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode tackles a critical question: Why do social status and societal perceptions keep many Africans trapped in poverty? Host Derrick Abaitey sits down with financial educator Priscilla Atapites to unpack mindsets, habits, and misconceptions that affect wealth-building in Africa. The conversation weaves personal stories with actionable advice on saving, investing, and developing the confidence to start a business—no matter your background.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Real-world Profits From “Small” Businesses

• Street businesses like coconut and porridge (coco) selling can be unexpectedly profitable.
  • “Can you believe a coconut seller makes between 300 cedis to 500 cedis a day? Profits.” — Priscilla (05:07)
• Many people overlook these due to social stigma and status concerns.
• University degrees often come with an expectation of office jobs, but entry-level “white collar” salaries can be lower than street business profits.

2. Social Status – The True Barrier

• Social perception stops many from pursuing lucrative yet “unprestigious” hustles.
  • “Your friend sees you selling coconut, the perception they have about you is that you failed in life, but actually, that’s not it. You are making money more than them...” — Priscilla (17:12)
• Packaging and presentation matter—even coconut sellers wear suits to upgrade status and attract more customers. (18:01)
• Social status pressure is especially significant in Ghanaian and African cultures.

3. Mindsets & Childhood Conditioning

• Traditional upbringing doesn’t equip young people to responsibly handle and grow money.
  • Parents control all money; teens rarely manage their own finances.
  • Painful early lessons (like losing school fees lent to friends) shape later caution and discipline.

4. Starting Businesses With Little or No Capital

• Trust, initiative, and creativity matter more than initial capital.
  • Priscilla started by borrowing phone cases from a trusted friend and selling them in university (12:19).
  • “You have to be trusted. Because in this generation, it’s so difficult to entrust your money with someone else.” — Priscilla (12:43)
• Look for thriving, overlooked opportunities in your community, not just high-status jobs.

5. Financial Literacy: The “30Seeds” Method

• Three pillars for young Africans to grow wealth:
  1. Intentional Saving
     • Track tiny daily savings that add up (e.g., the 30Seeds Challenge: save 1 cedi on Jan 1, 2 cedis on Jan 2, and so on).
     • At the end of January, that’s 496 cedis—enough to start a small phone accessories business (22:40).
  2. Invest Wisely
     • Differentiate between shares and treasury bills: shares are riskier but can yield more if the company grows; treasury bills are secure but have fixed returns.
     • Use apps like iCWealth and Black Star to buy shares in MTN, Goyle, and Oil Palm Plantation.
     • “One of the companies appreciated by thousand percent. So if you had saved 10,000 cedis... now you are making 100,000 cedis.” — Priscilla (36:34)
  3. Start a Business
     • Don’t wait for ideal conditions or huge capital—start small and scale up. Sell what’s in demand, leverage tech tools (like Google Business Profile), or provide digital services.

6. Discipline Over Income

• The consistency and discipline of saving matter more than the total amount.
  • “The most important thing is not how much you are saving, but the discipline and the consistency.” — Priscilla (41:09)
• Building new habits is hard due to peer pressure and daily temptations, but even being 5% more disciplined than average is enough to set yourself apart.

7. Examples of Profitable Small Businesses

• Phone cases/accessory resale (22:45)
• Coconut and porridge (coco) selling (51:05)
• Tech and digital services: setting up business Google profiles, designing flyers on Canva, etc. (51:42)
• Many simple ideas only require knowledge, courage, and a willingness to sell.

8. Changing Cultural Perceptions

• Old habits and “poverty mindsets" (like only saving for food and rent) must be challenged to prioritize generational wealth, investments, and self-actualization.
• The Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs framework: most people never move beyond saving for basic needs and emergencies.
  • “The reason why a lot of people are poor is because they focus on only this (basic needs).” — Priscilla (27:31)

9. Personal Reflections & Advice

• Both Derrick and Priscilla share stories of missed opportunities, childhood poverty, and small but pivotal habits they learned (or wish they had).
  • “I never saved any money...But she was paying me £18 an hour...By the time I get my money, there’s Air Max 90s I want to buy.” — Derrick (39:53)
• Priscilla’s best advice:
  • “No money is enough. Because, at every stage, there are needs.” (09:59)
  • Mindset, ongoing learning, and honest hustle can break poverty cycles.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Status & Shame:

  • “Social status...it’s simply what they think people will say about them...Very common. I have a university degree, I’m a master’s holder...the perception is you failed in life.” — Priscilla (16:52–17:12)

• On Business Starting Capital:

  • “I did start with one cedi.” — Priscilla (12:20)
  • “If a coconut seller can tell us he’s bought shares—like, what are you saying? You can do it.” (54:24)

• On Saving and Discipline:

  • “It’s never about the money, it’s the discipline...If you continuously do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit.” — Priscilla (41:09)
  • “The way people become wealthy is by being disciplined only 5% more than the average person.” — Derrick (43:37)

• On Opportunity:

  • “You do not necessarily need 100,000 dollars to start a business... Where you find yourself, there’s a service you can provide.” — Priscilla (44:25)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Coconut Seller Profits & Social Status: 00:00–00:12, 05:07, 17:12–18:01
• Business Startup Without Money: 11:19–15:14
• Why Social Status Keeps Africans Poor: 16:52–17:08, 27:31–32:22
• Intentional Savings: Practical Methods & Challenges: 19:35–24:27, 41:08–43:14
• Investing in Shares & Practical Apps: 32:44–36:52
• Habits, Discipline, and Financial Culture: 39:13–43:56, 47:10–49:42, 54:08–55:48
• Examples of Hustles for Young People: 51:01–52:24

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Actionable Takeaways

• Be open to “low status” but highly profitable businesses.
• Start saving daily, even in small amounts—habits matter more than sums.
• Invest in shares using reputable digital platforms.
• Challenge and change your own poverty mindset—status doesn’t pay the bills, but discipline and initiative do.
• Begin now; use your immediate resources and community connections.
• Learn to market yourself and your business, package and present what you sell for maximum appeal.

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Closing Thoughts

This episode is a must-listen for anyone tired of poverty cycles and cultural pressure. The discussion breaks down complex financial growth into practical, culturally-appropriate steps. Priscilla and Derrick bring warmth, humor, and directness—no jargon, just hard-won advice and encouragement to start wherever you are, with whatever you have.

Final words:
“You can do it. Just do it in a genuine way and in a legal way. That’s all we need in the society.” — Priscilla (54:24)

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Transcript

[Priscilla Atapites]

We went on the street recently to interview coconut sellers, cocoa sellers. And can you believe a coconut seller makes between 300 cities to 500 cities a day? Profits.

[Derek Abayte]

You genuinely believe that people can start businesses without money?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

How did you start your business?

[Priscilla Atapites]

So I have a friend of mine at Casa who sells phone accessories. So after shs, I started this, I go to his shop, I take phone cases. The guy really trusted me. I go to school, the university sold them, I made my profit and I gave him back the money.

[Derek Abayte]

What are some of the painful memories of your past when it comes to money?

[Priscilla Atapites]

So I gave money to a friend of mine, I lent money to a friend of mine and he used that for better.

[Derek Abayte]

Really?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. It was my school fees. I was trying to be compassionate and the money just got lost. Very painful.

[Derek Abayte]

Give me the top three shares that young people can invest in today.

[Priscilla Atapites]

One of the companies appreciated by thousand percent. So if you had saved 10,000 cedis after last year, now you are making 100,000 cedis.

[Derek Abayte]

You walk out, you get a taxi or you get an Uber, or you get Trotter or whatever it is. And while you are sitting in there, especially the Trotter is worse. The woman that is selling chewing gum comes around. The one that is selling polo comes around somebody selling plantain. It's almost as if they are trying to push it down your nose to buy. Saving money is hard. The level of discipline required for a teenager to save money, we don't speak about it enough.

[Priscilla Atapites]

A lot of people spend a lot of money on the wrong things. The most important thing is not how much you are saving, but the discipline and the consistency. If you do not want to be poor, you have to watch this conversation to the end.

[Derek Abayte]

You're welcome to Connected Minds podcast and you know, I always, always bring you the best conversations on financial literacy, business and mindset. And every now and then, you know, I throw in other things that I think you can benefit from. Today's guest is Priscilla Atapites. Now we're talking about financial literacy and she educates people on how to save your money, the best place to invest your money, and how to grow your wealth over time. She's a financial literacy expert and she's part of one of West Africa's leading digital platforms on financial literacy and youth empowerment. 30 seeds. Priscilla is going to break it down. She has a board behind where she's going to go on there to explain exactly where to go from not being able to save to saving a lot of money to invest. This conversation is split into Four parts. And she's gonna take us through exactly how you can grow your wealth. Listen, because this is packed with a lot of knowledge. I'm excited. And if you make it to the end, I really want to know in the comments. And by the way, if you didn't know that you can listen to Connected Minds podcast on Apple or Spotify podcast, then take your phone right now. You can go on there and search Connected Minds. You can listen while you're playing golf, because I like to play golf. You can listen while you're driving to work and when you're cooking. Anytime you choose to do that. Stay with me. You're welcome to my studio. Priscilla, how are you doing?

[Priscilla Atapites]

I'm good. Thank you so much for this privilege. I actually love the studio.

[Derek Abayte]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. So my first question is why should anyone watch this conversation to the end?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. If you do not want to be poor, you have to watch this conversation to the end. That's it.

[Derek Abayte]

Priscilla, they are not going to forgive you on this one.

[Priscilla Atapites]

I know. I'm away.

[Derek Abayte]

Now. What is your view on poverty in Africa?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Well, I think we usually center our needs on the physiological needs from the masculine theory of needs. So from the master's theory of needs, right. The last need or the basic need is the physiological needs. For that is food, shelter, clothing. So most of us are just stuck on that side immediately. We have money for food, we have money for clothing, have money for shelter. We are done.

[Derek Abayte]

But can people break out of being poor?

[Priscilla Atapites]

People can break out.

[Derek Abayte]

How?

[Priscilla Atapites]

From being poor by venturing into a lot of businesses. Okay. There are no businesses that are better than another business. It would interest you to know that we went on the street recently to interview coconut sellers, coco sellers, and it blew our minds. Honestly, these people are making money. But you might think, I have a certificate. What am I doing there? You are missing out.

[Derek Abayte]

What are some of the things you saw?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Can you believe a coconut seller makes between 300 cities to 500 cities a day? Profits. Profits. Multiply this three. Let's just take 300 cities as the basis multiplied by five days, multiply it by one month. You are in the office space, you are doing a white collar job. You might not even get that money.

[Derek Abayte]

Is this some, some sort of a lie that we have been told when it comes to the way we should make money?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes, because our minds are centered to different types of businesses. There are businesses that immediately you mentioned people think you are doing well. There are other businesses that when you mentioned they do not Even have time to probe further cost to them. Oh, these people are on the streets. You are joking.

[Derek Abayte]

Wow. Priscilla, I need to ask you a question so that my audience can know you better. Okay, before we really get deep into the conversation, how did you start this journey of empowering people on financial literacy?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. I have always been a money person, right? Not in a bad way, but I love money. Every person loves money. Because money makes a lot of things possible. I wouldn't have been here if I didn't have money to either board a car, to fuel my car, to do other things before getting here. So right from childhood I've always loved to do something, to get something, to gain money for myself. So I started this accessory business right from the university, right? And you see, growing up as a typical African child, you are not giving money. The money is either handled by your father or he gives it to your mother and your mother gives it to you. And even when you have to buy certain things with the money, you have to follow somebody, an adult, right? So I remember going to school. My school fees was never handed over to me. I either went to the bank with my father or with my mother. Just for you to be sure that the school fees has been paid, that is it. But for them to give you the money as a child, it doesn't work that way. Then your mother does a white collar job, 95. Your father, 95. Probably your home alone as a five year old child, they can give you the money. But that wasn't that back then. So I learned how to use money, how to handle money by myself. Because of everything that happens around us in our society.

[Derek Abayte]

What are some of the painful memories of your past when it comes to money?

[Priscilla Atapites]

So I gave money to a friend of mine, I lent money to a friend of mine and he used that for better. And the money just got lost. Very painful. And it wasn't any ordinary money, it was my fees, it was my school fees. I was trying to be compassionate because I had paid my fees and I paid my fees as of then, the next year I had to pay my fees. You see, entering the investor, you right from shs, you're not giving the money, but immediately you enter the investor space. You are giving your money because you are an adult. Kind of. They gave me the money, I gave the money to this friend of mine. Oh, just got lost.

[Derek Abayte]

I mean, would that explain the reason why a lot of parents wouldn't want to give money to their children? You know, because of mistakes like this, Right?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. Can explain the reason it really can. Because if a friend of yours has mishandled the money, who do you run to? Back to your parents. Back to your parents. And it will be so sad if your parents are not so well to do and have struggled to get the money for you and you just mishandle it. Next time, you're not going to get the money anymore.

[Derek Abayte]

As a young person, what lessons did you learn about money that has that made you think, okay, I want to start teaching people about financial literacy.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. Before I. I dive into that, I watched your interview with Dr. McDan and he said he's not where he wants to be. It really struck me, honestly, because we all know Dr. McDan. So if you are saying you are not where you want to be, Daddy, it really struck me, honestly, it really, really struck me. I think no money is enough.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. It's one of the lessons I've learned. No money is enough because at every stage there are needs. That's when I'll talk deeply about the mathless. At every stage, there are needs and will amaze you to know that the money you have for this need will not be enough for the next need. So at every point in time, you have to strive to get something to. For your money to grow. That's why 30C teaches on investment as well. You don't just save, you invest.

[Derek Abayte]

I'm still going to go back to, you know, my. The previous question, which is, what are some things that happened to you that made you want to teach people about financial literacy?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. A lot of things I have realized growing up, I'm not, I'm not grown, but I've realized a lot of things growing up, especially about businesses, how businesses are handled. A lot of people say, I don't have money, so I cannot start this business. I don't have money, so I cannot do this. So I kept asking myself, you don't have money? Why don't you have money? How don't you have money? Don't you eat? If you don't have money, you eat, don't you? You do. What do you eat with or what do you use to buy the food? It's money.

[Derek Abayte]

You generally believe that people can start businesses without money?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

How did you start your business? I know you have an accessory business that you do. How did you start that?

[Priscilla Atapites]

So right from shs, I had a friend of mine. I, I live at Castle, by the way. So I have a friend of mine at Castle who sells phone accessories. So I take the phone accessories like this, right? And carry it with me, wherever I go to. So at shs, you're not able to sell. Right. So after shs, I started this. I go to his shop, I take phone cases, I go to school, the university, I sell it to my friends. I have not given him any money for the phone cases I'm taking. And you should know that one, you have to be trusted. Because in this generation, it's so difficult to entrust your money with somebody else or someone else.

[Derek Abayte]

Sorry.

[Priscilla Atapites]

So the guy really trusted me, gave me phone cases all the way to Cape coast. I took the phone cases along, I sold them, I made my profit, and I gave him back the money. I did start with one city.

[Derek Abayte]

Well, I mean, I also know someone who, who gave somebody some items and then the person sold it and never returned the money.

[Priscilla Atapites]

That's what I'm saying. You need to be trusted. You need to be trusted because coming by money is a very difficult thing to do. Right? So if somebody has set up a business and you also want to start up yours by feeding from his, you need to be trusted. You need to build that kind of trust for somebody to be able to willingly give you something to go and sell and bring the capital back.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay, now talk to me more. And then what happened? Now you're working with this guy, you take some of his stock, you sell it and you know, you know, take your margins and give him his profit. Now what was the next step?

[Priscilla Atapites]

So I kept doing that for a while, and I ventured into iPhones. So I had a friend of mine as well who used to sell iPhones right on campus. I go to this guy. I was not even using an iPhone by then, but I realized it was a phone a lot of people were using, a lot of students were using it. So I went to this guy on campus, spoke to him. Please, can you assist me? This is what I want to do. Once again, trust. This is what I want to do. Just give me one iPhone. So as of then, it was iPhone 7. He gave me an iPhone 7. I sold it to a friend of mine, and then I made a profit of 300 because I was not using an iPhone by then. So I didn't really know how to navigate through the phone, how to sell it to the person since I was not using it. So the profit margin was quite less. I just had to convince him to buy the phone. And it kept moving from then, from there. Then my mother owns a fashion school. I managed the fashion school. I do sales, I do marketing, I do social media, analytics, everything for her. Right. It was as a result of starting something like this. It was a terrain. Right? Because at every point, as I said, at every point in your life, the money you started with might not be enough to carry you to the top. So you need to grow. So in as much as I still handle my mother's business, I still sell the phone cases. I'm in your studio now, but I have phone cases in my bag and in my car. I see you. Hello, this is my phone case. I see you're using an iPhone 17. You can try it on. You try it on. You love it. Fine. If you don't love it, next time you see me, you know that this particular girl sells phone case. And even as of then you've not sold it, but you've left an imprint in the mind of the person.

[Derek Abayte]

I've always. I've asked this question a few times, but I want to ask you to what do you. What is the, the number one skill that people need to learn if they want to grow their money or make money?

[Priscilla Atapites]

I don't even know if it's a skill. Determination.

[Derek Abayte]

I see.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes, determination and a shift in your mindset. Determination and a shift in your mindset. Because let me tell you, if you want to make money and you don't have a particular mindset towards making money, you're still going to be there. Yes, you're still going to be there. I gave some examples about some kind of businesses that are doing well on the streets, right. But would rather prefer to be under the air condition, take home 500 cities rather than being in the sun, take home 500 CES profits a day.

[Derek Abayte]

Well, I mean, what are people running away from? Is it the. Because look, being an entrepreneur is not an easy job, right?

[Priscilla Atapites]

It's not.

[Derek Abayte]

So if you have to be another the scorching sun every day to make 500 cities profit, some people would rather be in an air condition and take less. 2, 2K a month, 3K a month. Right. But why do you think people do that? Why do people. Why would people prefer to stay under air condition or, you know, stay in a job than to start their own business? When then why would people do that?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Social status. Okay, yes, social status. And when I talk about social status, it's simply what they think people say about them or people will think or perceive about them, basically.

[Derek Abayte]

And is this common in Ghana?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Very common. I have a university degree, I'm a master's holder. I have a PhD. Your friend sees you selling coconut, the perception they have about you is that you failed in Life, but actually that's not it. You are making money more than them, but they are failing to look at the aftermath. They are failing to look at what you are getting from it. But they just want to look at the outside. And we see a lot of coconut tenants who even work with suits because of social status.

[Derek Abayte]

Really?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. There are a lot of 37, those around parliament House. They wear suits to sell coconut purely

[Derek Abayte]

because of social status.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Right.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Because there's, there's a way packaging puts you out there. Right. So I'm selling coconuts, you are selling coconut. I'm in a suit, I look good, I'm a female, I've done very beautiful makeup, dressed neatly, selling coconut. The possibility that you choose me over the other person is high. It's a Strategy. And recently, 30 seats, we interviewed a coconut seller.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Around 37. He said the same thing. Packaging. There are some coconuts that are served in pack, right. So they. They pour the water out in a very nice bottle. Some even give you straw. Thank you. Some give you straw.

[Derek Abayte]

As a matter of fact, I think there's been times when I've gone and I've gone to buy coconut from my regular coconut seller. And when it. If it doesn't have a straw, I hear.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Exactly. So the probability with which you move to the next person withdraw is high. Packaging.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah. You mentioned three things you really wanted to talk about. And number one was intentional saving. Number two is to invest wisely. And then number three is to start a business. Now, I want you to take us through step by step. So the first thing we're going to start is intentional saving. How do people save their money? How do they build that? Especially, you know, if somebody has a 9 to 5, how are they going to save to then eventually think of starting a business?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay, so first of all, at 30 seats, we focus on savings because we've seen that a lot of people misuse their money. A lot of people spend a lot of money right on. On the wrong things. So most of our videos are centered on, you're buying watchy. You buy egg, you buy willy, you buy salad, you buy plantain, you buy sausage, only you. Why the watcher comes with beans. That's protein. Egg is protein. Sausage is protein. But the average Ghanaian will buy everything knowing that I don't. I do not have money for the next day. So at 30 seats, we teach you how to use your money wisely and profitably to cut down some spendings and expenses with that. A lot of people, or most people use their money for Betting. We talk highly against that as well. Because let me tell you, the money you are using for betting, please buy a sachet of piota, sell it, you make money and the business will thrive. There's the no 2 ways to betting. It is wrong. That is it.

[Derek Abayte]

I see.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Betting is wrong.

[Derek Abayte]

Why?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Because one, the society is so full of itself that we are tired of social liabilities. These people bet with the money. After that, even the benefits they get from the betting are wasted. We have a lot of people sliding into our DMs to tell us about what they are going through from betting. And it's so addictive that they cannot stop. And we educate them. We know it's very difficult. But please, for the sake of your life and your future and your generation, stop, save the money. Start something small. So the first is savings. Why do we teach on savings? For you to cut down certain expenses and save for your future. And we also know that savings is just for a particular time. Right? So we tell you to invest.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay? Now before we even speak about investing, how do we save?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. 30 seats is currently running a challenge called the 30 seats challenge. We encourage you to save every day. So we started from the first of January. First January, you save one CD. Second, you save two CDs. So if you start with one CD, you just add up one city for the following day. A lot of people have this misconception about the challenge that you save one city today, save one city tomorrow. No, it's not going to give you 66 000. The aim is to get 66000 by the end of the year. So you save one CD. The first of January. Second January, you save two cities. Third January, you save three cities. By the end of January, you should have saved 496 cities. And even if you do not want to Continue the challenge, 496 cities is enough for you to start a business.

[Derek Abayte]

What business can anybody start in 460?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Phone accessory business.

[Derek Abayte]

Where are they going to get that from? Talk me through that.

[Priscilla Atapites]

You have 496. I started with nothing.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay?

[Priscilla Atapites]

You have 496 cities. One of these phone cases goes for 40 between 40 to an 80 CD.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Right. So you can just buy five of that. If it's. Let's say if it's 50 cities, five of that is going to be 250 cities. You purchase it from a retailer, okay.

[Derek Abayte]

You go out a retailer or a wholesaler.

[Priscilla Atapites]

A wholesaler, sorry.

[Derek Abayte]

Right.

[Priscilla Atapites]

But you can even purchase from a retailer, okay.

[Derek Abayte]

Depending on the price.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Exactly.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

And even the trust, right? Because the price they can give to a different person is not the same price they give to you. If you're a trustworthy person, okay, you sell it to people. You can even put 30 cities on it. Because now you see iPhone 17 promax is raining. Get iPhone 7 promax cases. People will buy. People will buy. And now because of camera protectors, right, we have iPhone camera protectors, so somebody even uses a 7 Plus. But we'll go and buy iPhone 17 Pro Max camera protector and just fix it there and it looks like an iPhone 17 promax. Get iPhone 17 promax case knocko. So even with 496 cities, you can start an accessory business. You can look for a business that is thriving. Look for loophole schools, support and assist them. Yes. So for instance, there's this fashion school you've seen in your neighborhood, right? That fashion school is not on the map.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

You can simply go to Google AI, help me put something, something on the map. You do everything, but you don't do it right. And there you go to the fashion school. Tell the mistress your school is not on the Google maps. Anybody who comes here finds it very difficult to get here. So I'm going to help you do this and this and this, but at a fee, right? You end from that. You don't necessarily have to go to school for this immediately. You have a smartphone, AI is there to assist you. You get money from there. You save.

[Derek Abayte]

So this conversation is for the young ones who are looking for a way to grow the cash. I mean, look, in my method of growing wealth, this is number one and number one is cash flow, right? You need money, you need to be able to grow with what you have. You need to do a few other things to make sure that you are getting enough cash before you move to the next stage, which, which is the business stage. So this is the stage where somebody, you, you could be in SHS, or you can be in university and start doing some of these things. For me, the only thing you need to learn is selling skills, whether you're using social media or, you know, ads, if you may, or be convinced and be able to speak to people and sell these products to them. So I really hope that the young people take this from us. It's going to be a new series where we are going to be having conversations with a lot of young people who are doing something amazing that the average Ghanaian or African can learn from. And they can also apply their principles to start growing some cash flow, Right? It will it will cut down a lot of the begging on the street.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

And a lot of the, you know, the people just come into your DMs and then they're always begging, right?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Always.

[Derek Abayte]

Because maybe sometimes some of the conversations we are having, we're talking big money, you know, we're talking millions of cities, millions of dollars, and they don't have that money. So they see you as somebody they can come to, come and beg from. But that's why I love this conversation. Because it's going to allow somebody to start tomorrow.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. Even now, right now.

[Derek Abayte]

You heard it right now. Priscilla says start now. All right. Yep. Let's go.

[Priscilla Atapites]

So I want to illustrate it with the Mathew's theory of needs, if that's fine.

[Derek Abayte]

Awesome.

[Priscilla Atapites]

On the board.

[Derek Abayte]

Awesome. So Priscilla is going to go to the board and then teach us something on the board on exactly how you can save your money. So let's watch it. Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now let's get back to the conversation.

[Priscilla Atapites]

So this is savings, right? I want to break it down to every average Ghanaian to understand this. We have the physiological needs. That's food, water. Water entails the food. So that's food, shelter and clothing. Food, shelter, clothing. And the reason why a lot of people are poor is because they focus on only this. After all, the only money I have is for food. I have a place to sleep, I have clothes to wear. Why do you want me to continue getting money? For what? Won't I die? I'll die. My net of kin will come and enjoy. I think people have this mindset because as I told you, a lot of people slide into our DMs and it will amaze you to know that things people think about and the misconceptions they have about savings. Let's move. We have the safety needs, right? So from the physiological needs, if you move to the safety needs, people just put money somewhere for emergency cases. Emergency cases. Like I fell ill, I was going somewhere, my iPhone was stolen. It's an emergency. People save money for that purpose. Then we go to love and belongingness from here. They only save money to cater for other people, for responsibilities, family responsibilities, for the sake of social status. Right. So as a Man, as a woman, there are a lot of responsibilities on you from the society, money wise they move to you and you see before you move from the physiological needs, the safety needs, the love and belonging needs, it might look like a little step from here but it's not, it's money. And if you have 50 cedis to cater for this, 50 cities is not going to cater for your city illness. Tell me a hospital that charges 50 Ghana. Just show me, I'll go there. 50 cities can take care of this but cannot take care of this. From here you move to love and belong in it. You are married, you have a wife, you have children. What is 50 cities going to do for you? Right? So 30 seats teaches you how to manage the money from here for it to translate to here to here. Then it moves you move to the esteem. That is when people want to do a lot of things for themselves. Right? So I've bypassed the stage now. So this is where people start thinking about investment. Here people start thinking about investment from the esteem because why not? I've catered for this, catered for this, catered for this. I now have to take care of myself and my future. That's the self esteem. Then the final one, self actualization, that's when they are fulfilled. This is where people invest into big time shares and the shares work for them. They do not necessarily have to do something else. They are self actualized. That's why I loved it when Dr. Makdan said he's not where he wants to be but to us he's self actualized but to him he's not. Do we see the difference? That is where social status also comes here and the perception of people about you. So you have to work hard to change that perception. And the comments people give, especially in our DMS and our comment section about why will I save my next of kin will come and chop the money then put it in that way. See in the typical Ghanaian environment, if you die, it is what is said about you after the death that matters. Imagine you only had money to take care of it, take care and even to take care of your family, extended family, but please die right now. They would refer you that you didn't leave any property and you are not living property with just word of mouth. It is money, it is money. So that is simply what 30 seats do or does. We teach about all these things, savings. So from here you move to investment. All right,

[Derek Abayte]

thank you. I hope you know people understand these things. I mean when you were, you were talking, I was Trying to figure out where am I, you know, I was trying to figure out where am I in that.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Wow.

[Derek Abayte]

You know, that's amazing. I hope people actually pay attention to this and they focus on it. Right. So you've taken us through saving, how to save money and you, you guys are actually running a method where people can save I think 66, 000 by the end of the day.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Now the next step you spoke about was invest wisely. Talk me through that.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. Savings alone is not enough. That's why you need investment. Right? Savings can take care of things at the interim, but investment goes a lot further than it. So we teach people on how to buy shares and it might interest you to know that people do not know what shares are.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay, so tell us, what is it?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Let me, let me use this water, cup of water, right? And let's say we have an orange here. The water explains. So let me just give the simple definition between shares or differences between shares and treasury bills. People don't know, okay. For Treasury Bills, they are regulated by the government, right? And no matter what, there's water in this cup I'll drink at every point in time I go for the cup, there's water I drink. That's Treasury Bill. If you save 10,000 cities by the beginning of the year and let's say the government imposes a percentage for Treasury Bill, no matter what, by the end of the year, you've gotten an addition to the money. Okay, it is fixed, that is Treasury Bill. But when it comes to shares, shares are not fixed and shares are simply buying a part of a company. So we created a video on buying shares from mtn. If you buy shares from mtn, it means you're buying a part of mtn.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

And if MTN is doing well, your shares will do well.

[Derek Abayte]

Right?

[Priscilla Atapites]

But for the Treasury Bill, it is stagnant or it's the same because it is regulated by the government. So if government decides to increase the percentage, so be it. But for shares, you cannot determine when it's going to rise or it's going to fall. That's the difference between shares and. And treasury bills.

[Derek Abayte]

So Kwame is watching you now. 19 year old, you are speaking fantastic, Priscilla. And they want to buy some shares. Where do they start from?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay, first of all, you can start by saving, okay? Yes, you save, you take a portion of that savings to investment, right? We have, we've created a lot of content for IC Wealth. I don't know if you heard of IC World. Yes. And we are hoping to Get a partnership collaboration with them. We hope this video will get to them. You can invest or buy shares using the IC Worth app that processes you register, you get a CSD account, then you buy the shares. They have a lot of companies that are registered on IC Worth.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Without IC Worth, you can also use the Black Star app.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. But for now we create content on the IC wealth and we'll definitely move to the Blackstar app. But for the IC world it's, it's just simple. You just download it from your phone, either app store, play store, you start registering, you get your CSD account, you buy your shares, you move.

[Derek Abayte]

Give me the top three shares that young people can invest in today.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Personally I invest in MTN shares. Okay, Goyle, we came across the increment in girls percentage last week. As of last year, gold shares was one CD 50% now.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. And we also shot content on Ben, so Oil Palm plantation.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes, it's doing very well. You can buy shares from there. And just recently one of the companies appreciated by thousand percent. So if you had saved 10,000 cities after last year, now you're making 100,000 cities from buying the shares.

[Derek Abayte]

I mean, but what's the point of buying like using your money today as a 20 year old to buy shares. Like what's really the end goal for buying shares?

[Priscilla Atapites]

For your future. That's one. Okay, for your future. We didn't grow up learning about shares. I don't think well my time, my parents didn't sit me down to teach me. I didn't even know what shares were. Right. But now 30 seats is here. We are teaching you about shares. You can start now. The money you would invest into in Tibetan. Please buy shares with them, with the money.

[Derek Abayte]

Well, somebody's thinking, well if I buy shares and I have to wait a whole year for a price of, you know, a company to go from one city 20% to 2C to 50, then what's the point?

[Priscilla Atapites]

The point is that you don't get huge money in one minute. No, nobody gets huge money in one minute. I'm here. I want to be the MP Focus 1 I am not the MP Focus. When I cannot just wake up and be the MP for Caswa or expect that I buy TomTom for somebody and because of that I'll be an MP. No, it's a process. It's a process. You need to go through the process. Just buy the shares, forget about it. Just come back after one year and it will amaze you. And it's even teaching you to be disciplined. Because if you're not disciplined, you cannot grow money and you cannot keep money.

[Derek Abayte]

Like you see in, in the lives of a lot of young people in Ghana. What's one responsibility that takes a lot of money from young people?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Expenses.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

From, from food, daily activities. Let me give you an example. I'm an NSS personnel. I see my bosses always buying 100 cedis. Jollof, I want to buy 100 cities. Jollof are you your boss? You are not your boss. Your boss has worked hard to be where he is and he is fine spending 100 cedis on Jolof for lunch. My dear, who are you? How much are you taking for NSS expenses? So we teach you to cut down certain expenses and let me tell you, in the long run you'll be glad you did.

[Derek Abayte]

But like how do you actually build the discipline? Because saving money is hard. While you're speaking, you know, I was just thinking about When I was 17 years, I used to work teach this lady Chance in London. I used to teach her a computer repair services.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Right. Okay.

[Derek Abayte]

So you know, I'll go to a house and then, you know, she used to pay me, I think around the time about £18 an hour. I used to work with her on Wednesdays. I never saved any money. I never saved any money. But she was paying me £18. And on Wednesdays I used to do about three or four hours, maybe two, maybe three hours with her. But I never saved any money.

[Priscilla Atapites]

It's.

[Derek Abayte]

It's really hard.

[Priscilla Atapites]

It's.

[Derek Abayte]

It's hard like the level of discipline required for a teenager to save money. It's, it's. We don't speak about it enough. Especially when by the time I get my money, you know, there's Air Max 90s I want to buy.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Oh my God, iPhone 17 Pro Max. Right?

[Derek Abayte]

So I mean, I mean there was a time even when the government used to give us. I only got it for one year. The government used to give us £30 a week. Right. Just, just being, just going to school.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay.

[Derek Abayte]

You know, and I never did anything with that money. Nothing substantial that I can tell you I did, but probably sent it back home for my siblings to, to, you know, to, to help. I didn't save anything. So I really want you to tell us the type of discipline that you guys have used to, to help save money.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. So we, we had all these things in mind. That's why we brought a 30C challenge to your doorstep. 1. You're not walking into any bank. You can simply do it with envelopes, with our normal money box at your home.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Save, right? And the most important thing is not how much you are saving, but the discipline and the consistency is, is never about the money. It's the discipline. Right. You see, we have the saying that if you continuously do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit.

[Derek Abayte]

I've increased it, man.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Wow.

[Derek Abayte]

I make it 90 days. Oh, 90 days. Every 90 days. Every 90 days. And you have it. I've increased it. But I guess we are different people, isn't it? Every person is different. So.

[Priscilla Atapites]

And this is somebody who is struggling to save.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

So let's just bring it to the 21 now.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah, well, I mean, look, it's habit, isn't it? So for me, I figured out that if someone has a really bad habit, you aim, you aim for the stars, right? So you aim for 90 days. So if you end up doing 60 days, hey, if you do 30 days, fantastic. Great, right? But the longer you do a habit

[Priscilla Atapites]

for, for it stays with you.

[Derek Abayte]

Yes, great.

[Priscilla Atapites]

That's why the 30C challenges for 365 days for the whole year. And if you're not able to save today, right. If you get the money tomorrow, just put it in.

[Derek Abayte]

You know, you work out and you have 500 cities in your pocket. You get a taxi or you get an Uber or, you know, you get Trotter or whatever it is. And while they are sitting in there, especially the throttle is worse. The woman that is selling chewing gum, you know, comes around, the one that is selling polo, comes around. Like a whole lot of people come around. Do you? It's almost as if they are trying to push it down your nose, right? To buy it. And this young man is sitting there and he's thinking, charlie, this thing I can buy someone, you know, and then you get off. Once you get off, you see all these roadside sellers. Somebody selling plantain, roasted plantain. It's hard.

[Priscilla Atapites]

It's this. There's no lie. It's hard, it's difficult.

[Derek Abayte]

And then when you get home, by the time you get home, food is not ready. Maybe mama's not made food.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Some indomie.

[Derek Abayte]

There's an interview by the door right outside. So we are in no way saying, I'm trying to make people understand that because it's hard. Not a lot of people do it. And that's the reason why people remain poor.

[Priscilla Atapites]

That is it.

[Derek Abayte]

So for me, I always say the way people become wealthy is by being disciplined only 5% more than the average person. Just be just 5% of your habit, 5%. Just be a little bit more disciplined by just 5% than the average person and you're winning.

[Priscilla Atapites]

It's quite insightful.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Just something a little above. What's the average.

[Derek Abayte]

Exactly.

[Priscilla Atapites]

That's it.

[Derek Abayte]

Right. And. And I think it's the reason why, you know, some people become great at, you know, saving money, building wealth, and I'm growing their finances. Okay, Right. So your next one is. What's the last one?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Starting a business.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

In as much as savings and investment is hard. Starting a business is hard.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes, it is very hard. But as I stated earlier, you do not necessarily need hundred thousand dollars to start a business. Please. Wherever you find yourself, there's definitely a service you can provide. Look for that service and clock it.

[Derek Abayte]

But I mean, we've heard this thing for so many years. Why are people not doing it?

[Priscilla Atapites]

People are not doing it because of their mindset. Right. I do not mind selling phone case alone to get my money or to get what I want to get. Right. Let's say I have a target for the month. I want to get about 400 cities profits. Sorry, 4000 cities profits. And I know I can holistically sell this case to get my 4,000 CDs. Please. I'm selling this case forever.

[Derek Abayte]

But like Priscilla, what are some of the Ghanaian mindsets that are keeping young people from starting businesses?

[Priscilla Atapites]

They want to start big. They want to start big. Right. I walked into your studio. I did not have a shop, but I have what I sell. I don't need a shop. I carry it wherever I go to. I came here, you just taught me that what the person or someone struggling to save can do is just to be just 5% above the average person. Right. It's imprinted in my mind. I go home, I try to work within that 5%. It's a mindset from what you've taught me here. You didn't necessarily have to put me in a classroom to teach me this verbally. I picked it.

[Derek Abayte]

But like, isn't that also because of the type of person you are? Because there are people who. Look, imagine a classroom, 25 students. You just illustrated savings. Let's say this was a classroom, 25 students, and then you put an exam paper out and then only one person gets an A star.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay.

[Derek Abayte]

Doesn't that tell you the type of individuals, like, it is the makeup of us that makes us suffer?

[Priscilla Atapites]

On one side, yes. On the other side, no.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

On the other side, no. Because.

[Derek Abayte]

Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed? Do us a favor, because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now let's get back to the conversation.

[Priscilla Atapites]

You learn not only from yourself, but from people. Okay, so I've seen this person do this and said he sold six of his properties. He didn't just say it, he went through the process. Right. I'm home watching this podcast. What, what can I give up to make it like any day Japan? It is not in my likeness to think about it, but because of what I heard, I start to think further. Right. But a normal person will see it as he's trying to bluff. So, yes, we might be different people with different mindsets, but it is not only you. You do not center it on only yourself.

[Derek Abayte]

So what needs to change? What, what do we need to let go in our lives to embrace these things?

[Priscilla Atapites]

You are teaching us our old way of doing things.

[Derek Abayte]

And some of them are.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Some of them are how to save money. Okay, you see, in our audience and me, I saw my mother keep money in handkerchief inside her dress. That's how I saw my mother save her money. Then we grew to teach her. So there are micro finances. That is, that is. Then she started saving from there. She might have also learnt from her mother or from whoever she learned it from. Right. But we grow. We grow.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Your mindset to be able to change things.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You just took me back when you said, when you said how your mom saved money. And then you just took me back to the blue sheet on grandma's table underneath. She saved her money and it was never more than three cities. Right. So you, you lift up the blue sheet. So when I go to her and I say, grandma, I'm hungry. And then I say, well, no, go to the regular place. And then I'll lift it. And I'm like, I'm seeing coins. And yeah, it just, it just took me back. But that's how she saved her money. She didn't have a bank account.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

In her time. In fact, she's dead now. But she didn't have Momo at the time, was not available. It wasn't that popular.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes, but.

[Derek Abayte]

But that's how I saw her. Saving her money.

[Priscilla Atapites]

By all means, save.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah, my, my stepfather, the way he saved his money was. I mean, he was A bit more, you know, a little bit more modern. I mean, he had a bank account later, but he used to work as a farmer and as a chemical seller. So he would work and a ceiling is where he used to save his money. And then one day somebody went to steal it.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Ceiling, Ceiling.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah, yeah. So I mean, he being smart, isn't it? So nobody thinks about that.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Wow.

[Derek Abayte]

But in the ceiling, he had a small place there and unlucky for him, the neighbor, he was sharing the same ceiling with the neighbor. Right. So it's just a wall. This is just a wall. And that guy went through there and, you know, took all the money he had. I'm sure it wasn't more than 10,000 cities, but like, my point is this is what we saw, right? It didn't really matter how they did it. It's the fact that they did something, that's it. To keep some money because they knew that a time will come where they will need to go to their savings.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah. Okay, great. Now what businesses? I think you've, you've spoken about some of the businesses that people can do. Is there any more businesses that you, you guys have seen on the street that young people can put money in?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay, talk me through what some business, the porridge business. Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

It's like coco in the Ghanaian language, right? Yes. A lot of monies in that business.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes. We recently interviewed somebody who sells coco and will amaze you to know these people are making money.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

We've interviewed about three people. Like the, the least of them makes 500 CD a day.

[Derek Abayte]

In net or gross?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Gross.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay. Okay. Any more businesses that young people can do?

[Priscilla Atapites]

So I've mentioned the phone case.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

I've mentioned coconut porridge business. I mentioned coconuts.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Another business is providing service technology.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

AI now, AI does a lot of things that 30 seats teach our audience. Right. So I gave an example of the Google Map situation. You can just see that this being seller is not on Google, is not on Google. We call it Google Profile or Google Business profiles. Yeah, you just talk to the person. Oh, I'm just going to charge you 50 cities. I'll do this for you. And people would see your business on the map. It's a business opportunity for you.

[Derek Abayte]

Right?

[Priscilla Atapites]

You can.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah, go on.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. You can design flyers now. You don't even need to go to school. There's Canva to assist you. Does YouTube to assist you.

[Derek Abayte]

So I, I figured out that maybe the reason why a lot of people don't do it is because one they don't have the knowledge. And then two, they don't. They're not courageous enough and they don't believe in themselves enough, right. To be able to do some of the things that we have been speaking about. But I hope that more young people understand and, you know, begin to take some steps towards their life. Because for me, throughout my journey of entrepreneurship, I have understood that at every step in my life, money has become more important. And, you know, health can scare you by surprise. And it's one thing that people spend. I say, look, something people spend their money on the most, education, right, today is education. People pay anything for their kids to have good education. If they can afford food, we spend money on. But it's not even at that skill than education, right? And then you have things like, you know, parents, parents, how they spend money on children is huge.

[Priscilla Atapites]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

But the biggest thing is health. Health is something most people spend a lot of money on, a lot of money on. So people should save, you know, they should put some money down, have some emergency savings. Have money you are saving for investment. Have money you're saving for, you know, for your lifestyle as well. So learning to do some of these things will be very, very important. Very, very important. Now, Priscilla, is there anything that we could have spoken about that you still think you can put on the table for us to talk?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. It's the perception about money, okay? Yes, the perception about money. And what I want the young people to change is their perception about money.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Priscilla Atapites]

And how you're making the money. We want them to know that there are genuine businesses you can venture into to get money. Yeah. You do not need the shortcuts to get the money. No, we do not want social liabilities in our society anymore. Please, you can do it. That's the mindset. You can do it. If a coconut seller can tell us he's bought shares, like, what are you saying? You can do it. Just do it in a genuine way and in a legal way. That's all we need in the society. We really want Ghana to progress. Ghana is doing well, but you and me are to be accounted for that. Yes. So do business in a legal way, please. Make your money in a legal way. And also the notion people have about people who have money, that's usually. Oh, it's through an illegal means, right? In the local, I mean, Ghanaian, local dialect, you say wafa, baby. No, do it. That's it. Do it legally. So that's, that's what I just want young people to have in their mind. You can do it.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah. Yeah. And, I mean, because of some of the conversations we've been having, sometimes when I go on the street and people see me, I'm beginning to feel that the words are getting in. Lives are beginning to change. People are beginning to think differently. You know, knowledge is potential power. If you feed on the right knowledge, you would have the right information to change your life. So hopefully, hopefully, the work is being done. Now, what's the best advice you've ever received?

[Priscilla Atapites]

Okay. From Dr. Macaulay? He's not where he wants to be.

[Derek Abayte]

Thank you very much. So to my viewers and to my listeners, I'm hoping you enjoy this. This is some new series that we are doing. We might be releasing this once every month or twice every month, so watch out for it. A lot of young people are asking that they want to have. They want to see conversations where they can relate a lot more. So that's the reason why we have listened and we are doing just that now. If you made it to the end, I'd love to know and share this conversation with someone who is also going to benefit from it. Take care. My name is Derek Abayte, and I'm out.