Making money from property has always been a good gamble because let’s face it, everyone needs a place to live, but recently, the competition has become vast, and it can be trickier for any given individual to keep their property business booming.

If you run a real estate business and you want to boost your bottom line, here are a few things you might want to do:

1. Boost your SEO

If you own a real estate business in 2021, you have a website, but how well is that website performing for you? If it is not bringing you much traffic, you could be losing out to your competitors, and that is where search engine optimization comes in., You want to make it so that when people Google house for rent near me or property for sale in Africa, for example, your website is one of the first listings that come up. When that happens, you are more likely to get that customer’s business than your competitors are. That is why you either need to learn the latest SEO techniques or have an SEO agency optimize your online presence for you. Your property may be offline, but your marketing is not.

2. Get out and get networking

Networking is great for boosting pretty much any business you can think of, but it is particularly good at helping entrepreneurs to grow real estate businesses. Why? Because real estate is an expensive business, and that means that clients only want to deal with people they trust. When they get to know you, and you show them just how trustworthy you are, they will be far more likely to rent an office from you or put in an offer for that property you just flipped and business will start to boom. So, start attending those conferences and trade events and make sure everyone knows who you are and what you do.

3. Diversify

You may have started out by buying properties to rent or purchasing run-down houses to flip and sell, but if you want to stay relevant, and profitable in 2021, you may need to diversify. For instance, you could get into the peer-to-peer lending market, whereby you lend individuals some of the money they need to invest in their own real estate, which they will then pay back plus interest, or you could invest in a real estate investment trust with a bunch of other entrepreneurs looking for a return – the options, when it comes to real estate – are endless.

4. Raise your rents

You need to be fair about this, but if you haven’t raised your rents in a while. See if they are still in line with the average. If they are a little low, increasing them is an easy way to boost your income, and tenants will mostly be fine with this if the rents are fair and you’re taking good care of the property.

5. Look to new markets

If you have a number of properties at your disposal, why not look at new ways of exploiting them. For example, if you’re renting out homes in a beauty spot to long-term tenants, you could make more money by turning them into holiday homes or if you’re making money by leasing office space, maybe you could earn more by converting them into apartments; it all depends on where your real estate is locate and what is hot at the minute. One thing’s for sure, if you stay the same, you will have a struggle to boost your business in the long-term, so always be on the lookout for new opportunities.

6. Invest overseas

Overseas property is often more affordable than property in the local area, so it can make sense to focus your real estate investments there but before you do so, be sure to check out the local rules and regulations because many countries put limits on what foreign nationals are able to do with property, and the last thing you want is to buy a property only for you not to be able to make any money out of it or even spend very much time there at all.

Real estate is a pretty sound investment as it goes, which is why so many people choose it as a business That being said, you cannot afford to rest on your laurels, and if you want to make as much money in your industry as possible, you need to be always looking at a new angle, like some of the ideas above.

Africa is a continent that is abundantly blessed with natural resources. But ever since imperialism showed its grim face to the continent through brutal colonial conquests, the control of such natural resources passed from the hands of Africans into those of gigantic European and American multinationals. The picture of natural resources in Africa is more of a curse as the huge profits end up in the pockets of a few, while environmental damage occurs at a dangerous, unprecedented scale.

The extent of environmental damage can be gleaned clearly through oil spills in Nigeria. Where oil was supposed to transform Nigeria into a more egalitarian society with equal access to social services and opportunities, there has been damage only. The people remain disempowered as the privatization of natural resources – which must benefit all citizens – continues unabated. Environmental degradation in Nigeria at the hands of oil multinationals is something that cannot be simply wished away. It is in all senses a matter of the utmost urgency.

In January 2021, a Dutch appeals court held that the Nigerian branch of the oil behemoth Shell was responsible for the damage caused by oil leaks in the Niger Delta. The subsidiary Shell Nigeria was ordered to pay compensation to farmers while the parent Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell was told to install equipment (a leak detection system to one pipeline) to prevent further damage.

It was a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal in the Hague following years of litigation and it frustrated the oil giant as Royal Dutch Shell expressed its “disappointment” with the ruling. It is a ruling which speaks volumes of the willful negligence occasioned by oil companies as they disregard every iota of morals and ethics for the attainment of super-profits.  The environment and its inhabitants have to bear the brunt of such negligence with their lives.

The argument that some of the leaks were due to the actions of saboteurs was considered by the court, but the matter still goes back to the responsibility of Shell – the latter must adequately protect the pipelines from sabotage. The court was not convinced that Shell’s saboteur argument had been proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The four farmers who instituted the proceedings argued that the leakages from underground oil pipelines had contaminated land and waterways, destroying their livelihoods and fundamental environmental rights in the process.

The ruling is a victory for the farmers and their communities, but questions of enforcement remain. The exact quantum of damages has not yet been ascertained. The verdict can still be appealed to a higher court. Shell’s oil exploration in the Niger Delta has done nothing to improve the lives of farmers despite the huge profits. People have been robbed “environmentally and economically.” In previous settlements, like the 2005 one, the compensation for villagers by the oil giant was measly.

This goes to reveal the extent of “foreign investment” and leaving the exploitation of natural resources to foreign private capital. To them [private foreign capital], the sanctity of the environment is an obstacle in their quest for profits on the world market. The same oil is not even processed in Nigeria. The conservation of the environment is of secondary importance to huge private capital, and it is seen as expendable (as long as the profits have been processed and acquired).

Oil spills in Nigeria have over the years undermined the livelihoods of people. Soil fertility levels have drastically reduced, water sources have been seriously contaminated, plant life has been destroyed, aquatic life has been destroyed while social infrastructure crumbles. The levels of water, land, and air pollution in the Niger Delta are scandalous. As oil exploration continues, poverty is perpetuated. Take for instance Oloibiri, where crude was first discovered in Nigeria in 1956. Social services are a remote possibility – there are no jobs, roads, schools, and hospitals.

Shell insists it will clean up the environment and maintains its line of defence that oil leakages are caused by sabotages. After they clean sites, vandals return to cause further damage and pollution, their argument as postulated in the press goes. But as one community leader Morris Lamiengha said to AFP, “It’s not completely true all the incidents are caused by sabotage. Some of them are due to equipment failures.” Under Nigerian law, oil firms are obliged to clean up all oil spills regardless of the cause. For some citizens, stopping oil exploration in Nigeria is the only way to put a permanent halt to this never-ending malaise.

It is not only Shell that has raped the Niger Delta. Other oil behemoths such as Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total, and Chevron have extensively damaged the ecosystem of the Niger Delta. It is almost as if the greatest nemesis of these companies is accountability. They desire to extract the benefits of the Earth without paying up for their omissions and commissions, amassing maximum profits at the minimum costs. They privatize the profits while socializing the harmful effects of environmental degradation and pollution. And this contradiction cannot be allowed to sustain.

Fishing settlements have been affected economically by the oil spills as marine life is annihilated. People in the gas-rich Niger Delta bemoan health concerns caused by oil spillages such as breathing problems and skin lesions. The invasion of water hyacinth is another major concern. Water hyacinth thrives in polluted environments and it can completely clog waterways such that navigation by fishing boats is impossible. It deprives sunlight and oxygen to marine organisms. Gas flaring is a common phenomenon, and it releases toxic elements into the atmosphere, aggravating climate change.

Capitalism has reached alarming amoral levels, where the sanctity of the environment and human life is desecrated. Oil spills in Nigeria over these years bear testimony to this. There should be stringent penalties for these companies imposed on them by the Nigerian government. An impediment to this is that a few bourgeois elites within Nigeria’s ruling establishment are colluding with these oil giants to enjoy the private profits of oil while inequality in the country is the order of the day. And the environment collapses.

But perhaps the question of the privatization of natural resources across the whole of Africa is one of ideology. This is a capitalist contradiction that can be resolved by a return to the solid ideologies of Pan-Africanism, where Africa is for Africans, and not for the elite in the global north who rip the continent apart; and where natural resources should inspire attempts towards an egalitarian society. Nigeria’s case is just but a microcosm of the macrocosm.

According to a new report by Oxfam, the world’s wealthiest 1 percent continues to control more wealth than most others.

The anti-poverty charity organization, Oxfam, reported that economic inequality is getting more comprehensive than ever, and women are at the receiving end.

Oxfam claims that the world’s 22 richest men, for instance, own more wealth than all 325 million women in Africa combined. This report further goes to emphasize the level of poverty in Africa today and the hardship women in particular face daily.

“When 22 men have more wealth than all the women in Africa combined, it’s clear that our economy is just plain sexist,” Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive at Oxfam Great Britain said in conjunction with the report’s publication this week.

Published in advance of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders will meet this week, Oxfam’s report highlighted how women are “chronically undervalued” for unpaid care work, Sriskandarajah said.

“If world leaders meeting this week are serious about reducing poverty and inequality, they urgently need to invest in care and other public services that make life easier for those with care responsibilities, and tackle discrimination holding back women and girls,” he said.

Women risk been trapped in poverty with little time to get an education, earn a decent living or have a say in how society is run, Sriskandarajah added.

Men not only own more than 50 percent more wealth than women, but they also control government decision making. On average, women make up only 18 percent of cabinet ministers globally and 24 percent of parliamentarians.

Oxfam’s data showed that more women are left out of the workforce during their peak productive and reproductive ages, worsening the income gap between men and women.

The problem of inequality affects more than just women as more than half of the world is trying to survive on $5.50 a day or less, according to data from the World Bank.

“Many people are just one hospital bill or failed harvest away from destitution,” Oxfam said in its report.

The world’s total number of 2,153 billionaires had more wealth than the poorest 4.6 billion people, which is more than half the global population, Oxfam’s data showed.

The pressure on carers will grow in the coming decade as the world faces not only an ageing population but also the adverse effects of climate change, such as requiring women to travel further to get clean water for their households, said Oxfam.

Fairer tax systems that tighten and close loopholes should be prioritized by governments, which should invest in national care systems so that the burden of care does not fall on unpaid work by women, the charity urged.

“[Our] research has shown that providing access to an improved water source could save African women significant time, for example in parts of Zimbabwe up to four hours of work a day, or two months a year,” Oxfam said.

“Investments in water and sanitation, electricity, childcare and public healthcare could free up women’s time and improve their quality of life.”

These days, the world of betting is bigger and better than it ever has been before. Betting operators are constantly on the lookout to develop their products in ways that will ensure their users are satisfied beyond measure, which is certainly paying off, especially across Africa.

Africa can be thought of as world betting’s new and exciting prospect. Many operators have turned their attention to the sprawling continent, as it holds so much promise from a betting perspective.

Historically, it has been European countries that have received the most attention from online betting operators, as nations like Italy, Sweden, Germany and the UK each have rich betting cultures that have come to shoulder the sporting events that are so widely supported.

With rich betting cultures often come clear and easy to follow regulations that are well laid out for operators to act upon. This is part of the reason European countries have been at the forefront of the iGaming revolution.

While many big name betting operators have now turned their attention to Africa, it is important to note that there have been plenty of influential betting sites that have come from the continent, each offering their own unique products to their local markets.

For example, SportPesa in Kenya, Bet9ja in Nigeria, and Hollywoodbets in South Africa each offer their respective markets a betting suite that is targeted to meeting the needs of locals from a betting perspective, something that outside international operators can only achieve in a limited capacity.

While the rise of operators is one of the reasons that can be used to explain the betting boom in Africa, certain features of the continent itself makes it an absolute prime destination for those looking to make a couple of wagers.

For one, based on census data, inhabitants of Africa have an average age of 19.7. While potentially surprising information, it points directly to the fact that betting has seen a considerable upturn throughout the continent.

Younger people are simply more likely to engage in risk taking behaviour, such as betting. The risk in betting is what makes it so thrilling, and why it is often younger people, between the ages of 18 and 30 who generally engage more in the practice.

What’s more is that younger people are more influenced by sporting heroes than older generations. Generally, sportsmen have the ability to almost cast spells on younger people, as youth tend to idolise these sporting stars. This develops a vested interest in the sport, which paves the way for wager making.

Another factor that can be linked to Africa’s subsequent betting boom is the fact that mobile smartphones have managed to penetrate the market. Nowadays, betting online does not require laptops or other elaborate devices, but rather only requires a smartphone and an internet connection.

What’s clear is that betting in Africa presents an incredibly exciting prospect for everyone from operators, affiliates, and all those involved in the iGaming industry. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg, as more and more nations begin to emerge as giants of the industry.