Billionaire businessman, Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, has argued that African businesses rarely scale globally because owners refuse to share equity or partner with others.

In a video that went viral on Saturday, the tycoon highlighted a stark mindset gap between Western firms routinely pool capital from dozens of unrelated investors to fund complex ventures, while Africans insist on total control.

This lone-wolf approach, he argued, caps growth and dooms companies to die with their founders.

He said: “Why we Africans don’t go far in business is because we want to own it ourselves. Nobody wants to share. You see, But Oyibo people, I bet you there might be 20 owners who don’t even know themselves and they come together to make complex project look very simple.

“But our problem is that I want to have Obi Cubana and Sons Limited. whether your sons are interested in the business you do or not and that’s why the moment they die, the business dies.

“The moment they are incapacitated, the business dies because there’s no second or third generation to carry on.” (The Nation)