New Money Masters

For the everyday African business person and entrepreneur, “New Money Masters” is a book to be read. In this book published by Alpha Brands and Communications, the author Sylvanie Beukes predominantly deals with the journey of entrepreneurs in Namibia or Africa in general. It is divided into 17 chapters containing first-hand experience, including lessons and factors one needs to understand in order to emerge successfully through the trials and tribulations of life while endeavouring to enter any business or entrepreneurship arena.
The book features many inspiring quotes from African citizens, spiced with a few from outside of Africa. It takes us through the stages of life, with the author taking us through his own journey of life and business, having being a young entrepreneur eager to learn what the world has to teach. He uses instances of typical African business transaction scenarios, mentioning mistakes and suggesting possible redresses.

The book deals with African-style business, clearly outlining key factors of personal value, outlining professional ethics that could make one unsuccessful as a business person.
“I have written the book as a way to renew my battle against poverty by taking a different approach. It deals with the challenges that people face in the real business world when trying to launch a business, grow a business, or simply to make some extra money. Through the various chapters I draw illustrations and lessons from my own experiences. Critically the book would like to shed some light on the many dark corners of business where people often find themselves,” said Beukes. One should take into account that he is a young African entrepreneur, with his expertise including commodity trading. He also is the co-founder of Geo-Capricorn Mineral Developers, a company currently working with about 25 small-scale miners developing mineral resources in the south.
“I start my book by stating that wealth-creation on a personal or national level should have an argument, an argument that is stronger than the tribal, political, gender or any other sectarian differences that tie us to chronic poverty and hunger. I discuss the need for us to build an ‘African Wealth Theory’, a set of experiences to serve the improvement of our attempt at wealth creation.”
The book is based on daily journals and shorthand note books made over eight years, inspired and written with the readily available information of around August 2013, a task which took the author about four months to complete. He stated that the book was a direct product of his frustrations in regard to wealth creation. “I have done and tried everything – from tendering, commodity trading, public private partnerships to mining negotiations, and I even tried launching a couple of technological start-ups. I also realised that I was not alone – I was stuck in the same struggle as top lawyers, doctors, pastors and executives, Kwaito artists and ordinary citizens. At some point I was even working with a judge on several business deals. What frustrated me the most was that I was repeating the same mistakes that others before me made years ago, all because there was no record of their ordeals and experiences for us to prevent us from falling into the same traps they fell into.”
“There are some lessons you may only need to know once in your life. But it may have saved your life if you would have had the knowledge by learning from the mistakes of others so that you do not repeat these mistakes and pay a heavy price. This is the main issue being conveyed in this book,” he concluded.