Review
Nelson Tugume The Young Visionary
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How a village boy tore through the limitations of poverty to become a young and rich African businessman of enviable stature that is inspiring the whole of Africa.
elson’s life story is a compelling mix of adventure, drama, pain, suffering, poverty, resilience, passion, wealth and a strong faith in God. Contrary to what many may believe, it has been anything but smooth sailing. How does a child born into poverty in the early 1980’s, orphaned at 12, and forced to do hard labor in order to survive, become a very wealthy man in his late 20’s? Not because of choices he made, his early life was one of obstacles, struggles, despair and poverty. The difference between Nelson and many others who find themselves in the same situation, is that he took responsibility for the 10 | www.facebook.com/InspireAfrica
choices he would make, as early as age 11. His first business endeavor was as a shop attendant in his mother’s rural shop where he borrowed refrigerator space to sell drinking water. Even at that age, Nelson had a shrewd business mind that pushed him to diversify. He harvested coffee beans from two coffee trees from his father’s farm which he sold at 25,000 shillings per basin. This was the exposure Nelson needed; the opportunity to strike more gold. So he went around the village purchasing the same amount of coffee from small farmers at 2,500 shillings, proceeding to sell the same at 25,000 shillings in the nearby towns.
“Business was good,” he recalls. And with good money in his pockets, Nelson became a celebrity at school. But like most boys at that age, he became pretty careless with money and lost all the profits he had minted from the coffee business. ”Up to now, I still don’t understand how I could lose so much money in such a short time,” he says with a confounded look. No doubt, this was the eyeopening, life-changing experience Nelson needed to grasp the importance of the financial-discipline, creative thinking and responsibility.