“Challenges Come Up With Hidden But Great Opportunities,” Says Multipreneur And Business Leader Rizwan Adatia

The kind of massive momentum and the insane growth levels a few industries have acquired over the years can be attributed to a myriad of factors. Some say it is due to the new-age tech advancements and developments, while others say it is because of the relentless drive, commitment and passion of business owners and their impactful ideas in business. We couldn’t agree more and thought of Rizwan Adatia, who came, faced storms and then conquered markets in business across Asia and Africa. Today, he serves as the Chairman of COGEF, which is known as one of the top multinational private consumer goods groups and is also the founder of his NGO, RAF GLOBAL (website) 

There is absolutely no person on earth who has had an easy path to success and glory. Everyone has had their share of ups and downs, but only those who kept a razor-sharp focus on their goals could sail through the storms, thriving also on their goodness and honesty, just like Rizwan Adatia did all through his journey. He landed in Congo in the 80s with only (INR)200 in his pockets and from there he went to thrive a (INR)2,000 crore COGEF Group, such has been his journey.

After facing numerous challenges since childhood and his journey from India to Africa to learn and set up a grocery store business, challenges never stopped coming his way. First, the riots in Kinshasa 90 s, then in Lubumbashi, Zaire, he faced it all with his colleagues and friends. After moving to Maputo to start a grocery store business from scratch and growing them incredibly while struggling with the loss of his father in India, there were multiple other challenges that kept waiting for him in Maputo. Competitors kept growing and felt dreaded by Rizwan’s business model of selling things at a cheaper rate, keeping a low profit on margin. They planned to make Rizwan’s staff get arrested on the charge of no work permit. All this happened while he was mourning his father’s death one of his friends/colleagues, helped his staff members get bail, making the police understand the truth.

Returning to Maputo, Rizwan set his target for the next five years to expand his business and start a store at every corner of Mozambique. His determination, powered by his passion for his work, helped him gain massive success, which led him to create his brand.He started 22 stores in 8 states in three years and even hired management experts. However, within a few months, the new management members played dirty business politics to make Rizwan leave the company and go his way. This man, on the other hand, for the betterment of his employees, signed a contract that snatched his power. Thriving on his business ethics and hard works, Rizwan yet again set out on a new journey and started  new company COGEF. Ayul Trading, on the contrary, went into losses due to poor management plans and business models. Ultimately, the new management staff sought Rizwan’s help, who bought back Ayul Trading.

All these challenges and disputes made Rizwan more steadfast in his goal to keep expanding and successfully running his businesses, which today has made him the Chairman of COGEF. Besides all this, he ensures to do his bit through his NGO, RAF Global and is a Mozambique-based top entrepreneur, gaining more admiration through humanitarian works and his compassionate efforts, helping orphanages with HIV-positive children and being there for the disadvantaged in villages by implementing significant projects across Asian and African countries.

On a parting shot, Rizwan Adatia (@rizwanadatia) says, “Challenges come up with hidden but great opportunities; one must know how to make the most of them and make a positive difference.”

Published on: Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 02:07 PM IST