A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, has revealed he lost more than $500,000 after venturing into the restaurant business in Accra, Ghana.
Momodu spoke about the experience while appearing on a podcast titled ‘Building Wealth with Femi’.
The media entrepreneur said the loss occurred when he attempted to diversify his investments.
“The time I lost money was when I tried to diversify,” he said.
“People always think that diversification means you will make more money. No, unless you are very lucky, you can lose all your money while trying that.”
Momodu shared that he floated a restaurant called ‘House of Ovation’ in Ghana.
He said the business was conceived with high expectations and quality planning.
“I tried to do a restaurant business in Accra, Ghana, and I lost over half a million dollars,” he said.
The ex-presidential candidate added that the project featured modern facilities and employed experienced chefs.
“It was called the House of Ovation in Ghana. Very beautiful, great ideas, good food. I employed the best chefs,” he said.
Asked what went wrong, the politician said the venture encountered multiple challenges.
“Everything that could go wrong went wrong,” he said.
Momodu said part of the problem involved imported kitchen equipment he ordered from South Africa.
He spoke about paying $60,000 to a South African company to customise industrial catering equipment.
“I paid $60,000 to a company in South Africa to customise my industrial catering equipment. My plates, my spoons, my forks, my knives, of course, refrigerators, everything,” he said.
Momodu said the equipment arrived in Ghana in January 2007 but remained stuck at the port for years.
“In 2006 October, the goods arrived in a container in Ghana in January 2007,” he said.
“Do you know when they released it to me? I got it out in 2010.”
