If you do not have friends you can make money with, how valuable is your friendship circle really.”
Arese Ugwu
Mid-way into this book, I realised that I had “slept on it”. The funny thing is, I did not even plan to read it. Let me give you the “low down”. About like three to five years ago (I really cannot remember when but it was early in my journey to financial freedom), I heard about a young woman called “Smart Money Arese” whom, at the time, was using her social media handle to teach about personal finance. About a couple of years later, she published a book called “The Smart Money Woman: An African Girl’s Journey to Financial Freedom”. I liked it. Using fictional characters, she identified a few basic principles important to financial planning like budgeting, insurance, and the importance of having an emergency fund.
The answer is always “no” when you don’t ask.”
Arese Agwu, ‘Smart Money Tribe’
Fast forward to 2021, The Smart Money Woman has now become a series on Netflix. I started watching it skeptically. I am generally wary of new generation “Nollywood” productions. First, they are always so flashy and very unrelatable. The weaves, the heavy make-up, the unrealistic costumes, it is just a little bit too much. How many women in Nigeria on the average walk around with false eyelashes and full make-up all the time? Well, the Netflix production did not not disappoint me in that regard. I want to ask Arese a few questions about the brands that were visibly featured and name-dropped in the Netflix series. I mean, there could have well been contracts but I think that some could have just been “shout-outs”. For instance, the cameo appearance of an on-air personality (and influencer) in one of the episodes. There is also reference to one newspaper, and a bank, and a make-up company she is on the board on. It is just really thoughtful, I think.
Second, for new Nollywood movies with romance, there is always a heavy importation of the fickle American dating culture (I say this in relation to Zuri and Tsola’s romantic relationship). It is really unexciting, to be honest. I was talking with a colleague about how I have started watching Asian movie productions and I think that Hollywood has the worst dramas and romantic comedies. Honestly. As she mentioned, Hollywood just really has great PR.
The only relationships that matter are the ones where meaningful bonds exist.
Arese Ugwu
I am not really sure I agree with the just mentioned quote. You take some time to nurture a relationship before you can achieve “meaningful bonds”. In any event, the principle is actually sound. There is no point being stuck in a relationship where there is no exchange of value. I must now turn to the actual book review.
The Smart Money Tribe is a continuation of the Smart Money Woman. Arese delves deeper into the lives of the five friends – Zuri, Lara, Adesuwa, Ladun and Tami. We see them lose some and win some. We see them make mistakes and learn from them. We see them make mistakes and also not learn from them. It is great that the characters are not superwomen (except for Lara, lol). She maintains the style in the first book. It is still fictional. There are also heavy references to a lot of Nigerian brands – I see she is preparing a fertile ground for the adaptation of the second book into a movie. I would not have expected less. She is indeed the Smart Money Woman. What I really enjoyed the most are the conversations, the Smart Money Lessons and exercises at the end of each chapter. After a chapter, she extracts the key principle from it and explains it in concise terms. This summary is closely followed by practical exercises to enable the reader see how it works. This is the highlight of the book for me. I made sure to do the exercises. I also looked up unfamiliar terms on the the internet and took a lot of notes. How else do you think I have been able to come up with these quotes?
Negotiate everything. You leave money on the table when you do not negotiate.
Arese Agwu
Arese is actually knowledgeable. You can tell that she knows what she is talking about. I was highly impressed by the digital marketing/influencer marketing twist to it. The conversations around that was indeed eye-opening, especially for those of us that are very snobbish when it comes to social media. There is a lot more reference to persons and places in Africa (outside Nigeria). There are a few pointers on a lot of important topics – mentorship, networking, building a personal brand, feminism/equal access to opportunities and independence, personal development, negotiation skills – outside of money matters, but which are invariably connected to, and capable of significantly improving, one’s financial independence.
There is no shame in failure
Arese Agwu
If I had any major complaint about this book, it is one that Arese already addressed. The truth is, it is not every relatable, seeing as she decided to tell the story using fictional characters. These women are ideally upper middle class. They earn well, and can afford to buy designer items fairly regularly. The average millennial in Nigeria (perhaps, in other African countries it is different) who buys a designer item is probably doing a one-off purchase to spoil themselves. Arese is unapologetic about her choice of characters or storyline though. She explains that this is the perspective she can do justice to. And that is also okay. I believe that principles in the Smart Money Lessons make up for the perceived deficiency in the characters and storyline. Afterall, principles are of universal application.
I recommend it for young women seeking to take charge of their finances and increase their earning power. It is a great and easy read.
EKAETE HUNTER 