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A Roadmap to Personal Growth – A review of Ayodele Alabi’s My Work in Progress Practice Journal

Finishing a good personal development book often comes with one problem: the excitement lasts longer than the lessons. A few highlighted pages, a handful of good intentions, and before long, life returns to normal. Ayodele Alabi seems to have anticipated this. Instead of ending the conversation with Congratulations, You Are a Work in Progress, she continues it through The Work in Progress Journal.

Calling it a journal almost feels too simple. It is better described as a workspace for personal growth. Rather than filling pages with motivational quotes or daily prompts, Ayodele challenges readers to pause, think deeply, and confront the parts of themselves they would rather ignore.

The first thing that stands out is the author’s compassion. There is no pressure to impress anyone because there is no audience. The only person readers need to be honest with is themselves. That quiet reassurance makes it easier to answer the questions truthfully, even when the answers are uncomfortable.

Do not be fooled by the clean layout or the short questions. Many of them look straightforward until it is time to write. Suddenly, what seemed like an easy exercise becomes an honest conversation about habits, relationships, fears, money, purpose, and the choices that shape everyday life. The journal asks for more than answers; it asks for honesty.

One of its biggest strengths is the amount of space it gives readers to think. Publishing it separately from the book was a smart decision. Reflection cannot be rushed into narrow margins, and this journal gives readers the freedom to write, erase, rethink, and write again.

There is also no pressure to race from one page to the next. This is not the kind of book to finish over a weekend simply to say it has been completed. Some pages may take minutes, while others may take days or weeks. That is exactly the point. Real growth rarely follows a deadline.

The questions deserve special praise. They are carefully written, practical, and surprisingly searching. Instead of telling readers what to think, they encourage them to discover their own answers. That approach makes the journal feel less like an instruction manual and more like a trusted guide.

By the time the final page is reached, this is no longer just a journal. It becomes a personal record of victories, setbacks, dreams, difficult truths, and the small decisions that shape lasting change. Long after the writing is done, it remains a reminder of how far its owner has come.

The Work in Progress Journal succeeds because it demands participation. It is not a book to admire from a shelf or skim through in a single sitting. It is a book to write in, return to, wrestle with, and keep. For readers who are serious about personal growth, it may prove to be just as valuable as the book that inspired it.

I want people to wear fashion that carries a story they love, not a costume – Ayomikun Lasaki

In the hands of Ayomikun Lasaki, yarn is not merely a material for garments-it is a language for living stories. As the founder and creative mind behind Knots by Ayomikun Lasaki (KAL), the Nigerian crochet artist has pioneered a distinct visual signature that bridges the gap between global pop culture, anime, high fashion, and structural textile art.

What began as personal experimentation under Aj’s Knots has evolved into an internationally recognized creative practice. By taking beloved cultural references-from Dragon Ball to One Piece-and translating them into complex, sculptured wearables, Lasaki is challenging long-held perceptions about traditional domestic craft. Through 100-plus-hour masterworks, mentorship programs, and a growing international audience, she is positioning crochet as both modern statement fashion and fine art.

In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE-KORIEOCHA, Lasaki opens up about the internal shift behind her brand’s evolution, the technical mechanics of balancing fluid textiles with rigid forms, and why the future of her craft lies in storytelling over replication.

What shifted internally that prompted the transition from Aj’s Knots to KAL?

The shift was really about realizing that what I was building had become bigger than the name I started with. Aj’s Knots was very much connected to me learning crochet, experimenting, and figuring out what I could do with the medium. But over time, I became much more intentional about why I was making certain pieces, how I was interpreting references, and what I wanted people to feel when they encountered the work. I became less interested in simply asking, ‘What can I crochet?’ and more interested in asking, ‘What can I make people feel with crochet?’ That shift is what KAL represents for me. Knots, to me, represent stories and important moments – whether they come from animation, pop culture, or people’s own lives. So KAL became about storytelling through me, for people, with crochet. The name changed, but more importantly, my relationship with the work changed. I started seeing crochet not just as a technique, but as the medium through which I could build a much larger creative world.

How would you describe your visual signature?

I think the easiest way to describe it is that I take things people already have an emotional relationship with and translate them into crochet. A lot of my work starts from something recognizable – anime, football, music, cartoons, science fiction, pop culture – but I don’t want the final piece to feel like a printed image transferred onto crochet. I want the material itself to become part of the interpretation. So my visual language is really a combination of recognizable references, strong colour relationships, texture, scale and construction. Sometimes the reference is immediately obvious; other times, it takes a second to understand what you’re looking at. I like that moment between recognition and discovery. You see the piece first, and then you realize what it is connected to.

How do you redefine crochet as modern statement fashion and fine art?

I don’t really approach it as trying to prove that crochet can be something other than what it has traditionally been. Crochet already has that history, and I think that history is valuable. For me, the interesting question is what happens when you take that same medium and apply it to ideas, scales and contexts that people don’t necessarily associate with it. A crochet piece can be functional, but it can also be sculptural. It can exist on the body, but it can also exist on a wall. It can reference something from popular culture while still functioning as a textile artwork in its own right. So I don’t think crochet is the subject of the work. It’s the medium. The storytelling, construction, colour, texture and scale are what allow me to push it into fashion, art and other spaces. I’m interested in what happens when something traditionally associated with domestic craft enters a contemporary visual and cultural conversation.

How do you translate anime characters and motifs without making them feel like cosplay?

I think the key is interpretation rather than replication. If I’m inspired by a character, sometimes I use their face on the piece I’m creating, but I don’t just paste it onto the garment. I design the piece in a way that is fashionable and intentional, and I take attributes from the character and incorporate them into the design. For example, the Goku vest I made was intentionally a vest – and specifically a V-neck vest – because I wanted the person wearing it to feel like Goku from Dragon Ball while wearing it. I wanted the design to allow them to show off their biceps, because that is part of the physicality I associate with the character. And sometimes, I’m not interested in putting the character’s face directly onto a piece at all. I might take their colour palette, silhouette, personality, symbolism or a particular visual element and translate that through the construction of the piece. That’s why two pieces inspired by the same anime character can look completely different. One might make the character the focal point, while another might only reveal its reference through colour or details. I want the person wearing the piece to feel like they’re wearing fashion that happens to carry a story they love, rather than wearing a costume of that story. The reference can be very obvious or very quiet. Both are valid. What matters to me is that the final piece still feels like a considered piece of fashion or textile art.

Can you share a story about a wearer or client connecting personally with a piece?

One of my favourite examples was a client who commissioned a dress inspired by Trafalgar Law from One Piece. She loved the character so much that she actually called him her husband. She told me that when she looked at the dress, she wanted to be able to see his face. At the same time, her favourite colour was pink, and she really wanted pink incorporated into the piece. That was an interesting design challenge because pink isn’t really part of Trafalgar Law’s visual identity. His character has a much darker, more rugged visual language, so I had to figure out how to bring those two worlds together without compromising either of them. I went to the drawing board and designed the dress around both ideas – the character she loved and the colour that represented her. The result became this really dramatic, red-carpet-worthy piece that still felt personal to her.

She loved it so much that she eventually came back and commissioned more animeinspired pieces. That experience really reinforced something I love about this kind of work: I’m not just recreating a character. I’m taking something that already has emotional meaning for someone and translating it into something that is uniquely theirs.

How do colour and stitch techniques communicate concepts in the Crochet Archive?

I use colour almost like a visual vocabulary. A colour can separate two personalities, create contrast, or make two sides of a piece feel connected even when they’re visually different. Stitch techniques do something similar. Changes in density, texture, direction and structure can create contrast without having to explain the concept literally. The idea comes first, and then I ask myself what the material can do to communicate it.

What does your workflow look like on 100+ hour projects?

The first part is actually very slow because I spend a lot of time thinking before I start making. I’ll break down the reference or concept, think about the proportions, colours, construction and the technical problems I might encounter. Once I understand what the piece needs to do, I can start translating that into crochet. The physical process is repetitive, but mentally I’m constantly making decisions. I’m checking proportions, thinking about how one section connects to another, testing whether a particular technique gives me the texture or structure I need.

With a project that takes over 100 hours, consistency becomes very important. You can’t rely on motivation for that long. You need a process. There are definitely moments where the work becomes physically tiring, but there’s also something satisfying about seeing something that existed only as an idea gradually become a physical object stitch by stitch.

How do you balance fluid garments with rigid sculptural forms?

That’s one of the more technical parts of the work because crochet naturally has movement and flexibility, while a sculptural element might need to hold a very specific shape. I have to think about the garment almost like a structure rather than just a flat textile. Where does the weight sit? How does it move with the body? Where does it need reinforcement? What happens when someone actually walks, sits or moves in it? Sometimes the solution is in the stitch itself. Sometimes it’s in how different sections are joined or layered. I’m always trying to find that balance where the technical construction supports the visual idea without becoming visible as a technical solution. The final piece should feel intentional rather than like I’m fighting against the material.

What role do material choices play?

Material choice is part of the visual language.Yarn weight changes the scale and presence of a piece. Texture can make something feel soft, graphic, heavy or almost sculptural. Fibre composition affects how the piece falls, stretches and behaves on the body. So I don’t necessarily choose a material simply because it’s the easiest one to crochet with. I think about what the material needs to communicate and how it needs to behave once the piece is finished. For a pop-culture reference, that becomes especially important because I’m translating something that may originally exist as animation, illustration or photography into a physical textile object. The material is what bridges that gap.

What do you prioritize when mentoring emerging fiber artists?

One of the biggest things I try to teach is that technique is only one part of being a creative. Obviously, you need to know how to make things well. But I also want people to understand why they’re making something, how to develop their own visual language, how to solve problems when a technique doesn’t work, and how to keep improving instead of simply repeating what they already know. I also encourage experimentation. A lot of growth happens when you try out new things and allow yourself to make mistakes in the process. Especially for emerging artists, I think it’s important to develop both the hands and the eye. The technical ability allows you to execute an idea, but the eye is what helps you develop ideas worth executing.

How has documenting your journey online affected your trajectory?

Social media has allowed people to see the process behind the work rather than only seeing the finished object. When you’re working with crochet, people can look at a finished piece and not necessarily understand how much thought or manual work went into it. Showing the process makes that labour visible. People see the sketches, experiments, mistakes, progress and eventually the finished piece. It’s also helped me understand that the audience isn’t just watching the work – they’re part of the feedback loop. Sometimes someone’s reaction to a piece gives me a perspective I hadn’t considered. Commercially, that visibility has also opened doors to custom commissions, collaborations, training opportunities and conversations with people outside my immediate environment. But probably the biggest impact has been that documenting the journey has made the evolution of my work visible. People aren’t just seeing KAL as a finished brand. They’re seeing an artist develop in real time.

Nigerian fintech CEO inducted as fellow by Ghana institute

The Chartered Institute of Public Resources Management and Politics (CIPRMP), Ghana, has inducted Benjamin Oyemonlan, chief executive officer of Platnova, as a Chartered Fellow in strategic leadership and public resources management.

The institute said the fellowship recognises contributions to corporate governance, responsible resource management and organisational development.

According to CIPRMP, Oyemonlan’s induction into its 2026 Hall of Fame was based on entrepreneurial leadership, administrative competence and adherence to accountability and transparency in business.

The fellowship places him among professionals cited for impact on strategic leadership and sustainable business practices in Africa.

‘This recognition is a meaningful reflection of the work we are doing at Platnova and the responsibility that comes with building financial infrastructure for businesses,’ Oyemonlan said.

Platnova, which started as a payment platform offering USD accounts, multi-currency wallets and virtual cards, now provides business-focused services including collections, payouts and cross-border transactions.

The investiture was held at Platnova’s corporate office, with representatives of CIPRMP’s Ghana and Nigeria offices in attendance.

Germany, Nigeria seal fresh industrial push as Abuja summit opens $3.5bn trade frontier

Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, and Johannes Lehne, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy, have led renewed efforts by Nigeria and Germany to deepen industrial cooperation, as German machinery manufacturers and Nigerian industrialists converged in Abuja to unlock new investments in cement, mining, steel and building materials.

The high-level engagement, which brought together what organisers described as the largest German industry-focused delegation to Nigeria, was held in Abuja, under the German-Nigeria Cement, Building Materials and Mining Technology Conference.

Chux Onaa, convener and head of the German delegation, said the partnership must move beyond conventional trade to long-term industrial cooperation anchored on technology, investment and trust.

‘The strongest commercial relationships are built not only on technology and investment, but also on trust and a shared vision,’ Onaa said.

Bagudu highlighted Nigeria’s recent pound 364 million export credit guarantee agreement with Germany, saying it would strengthen the financial framework for industrial ventures and support private-sector-led growth under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

In his remarks, Lehne said Germany was seeking a durable partnership with Nigeria rather than short-term commercial opportunities.

‘We are not looking for one-off solutions. We want long-term partnerships; we want to develop the future together,’ he said. He disclosed that Germany’s portfolio in Nigeria had exceeded pound 600 million, while bilateral trade had risen from about $2.5 billion to more than $3.5 billion.

The German delegation also met Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, Minister of Steel Development, to explore cooperation in steel production, mineral processing, technology transfer and equipment manufacturing.

The conference featured German technology presentations, a panel on export and trade finance involving DEG, Access Bank and German Desk, and a business-to-business session linking Nigerian industrialists directly with German original equipment manufacturers.

The organisers said the initiative could accelerate technology-driven industrialisation as Nigeria pursues its $1 trillion economy ambition.

Cancer plans face funding shortfall

Funding for national cancer control plans remains critically insufficient, with fewer than 10% fully funded worldwide, the president of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has warned.

Speaking at the World Cancer Congress 2026 in Hong Kong, which ends on Saturday, Ulrika Årehed Kågström said financing national cancer plans remains a persistent challenge. While 81% of countries have national cancer control strategies, most lack the resources to implement them effectively.

“The cancer community must ensure that cancer control is politically and financially prioritised in all countries,” she said, stressing the need for stronger and more equitable systems.

The UICC is the largest and oldest organisation dedicated to leading global action against cancer with more than 1,150 member organisations including major cancer societies and research institutes.

Ms Årehed Kågström said better prevention, early detection and support throughout care could significantly reduce cancer deaths and inequalities worldwide. These objectives align closely with the World Cancer Declaration, launched last November at the World Cancer Leaders Summit in Melbourne, Australia, she said.

Cary Adams, chief executive of the UICC, agreed that while most countries now have cancer control plans, only a minority include adequate financing strategies. He called for cancer care to be incorporated into universal health coverage and urged governments to prioritise investment.

More than 2,000 delegates from 124 countries gathered in Hong Kong this week for the three-day congress, where speakers urged governments and health systems to prioritise prevention, early diagnosis and equitable access to treatment.

Participants included representatives of government agencies, patient organisations, academia, research institutes and UN bodies. Delegates came from North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, underscoring the global scale of the challenge.

Ms Årehed Kågström said that despite differences in background and expertise, participants shared a common purpose: reducing the burden of cancer, addressing inequalities and improving survival rates worldwide.

Rising cancer cases

Ms Årehed Kågström pointed to projections showing a sharp rise in the global cancer burden.

“Cancer cases are expected to rise by 29% to 26.5 million annually by 2035, with deaths increasing by 32% to 12.9 million,” she said.

“Africa, Asia, Latin America and Asean are facing faster growth in incidence and mortality than North America and Europe.”

Access to quality cancer prevention, detection, treatment and supportive care remains highly unequal within and between countries, she said. Lower-income countries face major gaps in infrastructure, workforce capacity, treatment options and affordability.

“The estimated global economic cost of cancer over the period 2020 to 2050 is 25.2 trillion US dollars,” she said. “And 50% of cancers are currently detected at an advanced stage.”

She said five-year survival rates fall sharply between early and advanced stages of cancer. Early diagnosis can significantly improve a person’s chances of survival, while population-based screening and early detection can reduce costs for healthcare systems.

Investment in cancer prevention can deliver high returns, she said, noting that the World Health Organization recommends a range of cancer prevention measures.

Major advances are also being made in targeted drugs, immunotherapy, including CAR-T cell therapy, and mRNA vaccines.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform detection, treatment planning and care delivery. However, access to new treatments and technologies varies substantially because of high costs and differences in health system capacity, she said.

Wider global challenges pose further threats. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) puts cancer treatment at risk, with one in five cancer patients needing antibiotics. Cancer patients are also two to three times more likely than other hospital patients to develop an untreatable infection, she said.

“If we don’t address AMR, advances in cancer treatment risk being undermined by death from infections,” she said.

Climate change can increase cancer risk through air pollution and disrupt services during extreme weather events, she said. Increasing urbanisation also exposes more people to pollution, heat and unhealthy living environments.

Mr Adams also warned that cancer cases and deaths are set to rise sharply, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. He urged governments to strengthen prevention, early detection and financing for national cancer plans.

He said there were 20.6 million new cases and 9.8 million deaths in 2024, with annual totals forecast to exceed 34 million cases and reach 17.5 million deaths by 2050.

Tobacco use, obesity, poor diet and infections remain major risk factors, he said. While tobacco use has declined in many regions, more than 1.1 billion people still smoke worldwide.

The proportion of the global population who are overweight or obese has risen to 43%, compared with 31% in 2010, he said. Progress in screening and early detection has been uneven, with less than half the world’s population having access to diagnostic services.

Vaccination programmes against human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B have expanded, but coverage remains low in some regions, leaving millions at risk of preventable cancers.

Access to essential cancer medicines and palliative care is also highly unequal, with only 14% of patients who need palliative care receiving it, he said.

The updated World Cancer Declaration sets targets to reduce cancer mortality by 25% by 2035, cut exposure to major risk factors by 30%, ensure 60% of cancers are diagnosed early and guarantee access to essential medicines and technologies.

“Our ambition is simple — to reduce the cancer burden and address inequities,” Mr Adams said. “If you want results, you must prepare and work for them.”

Coca-Cola at 75: When a brand turns its history into a soundtrack

Some brands are remembered by their logos. Others by their products. A few become attached to moments in people’s lives.

For many Nigerians, Coca-Cola belongs in the last category.

That is what makes the Coca-Cola 75th Anniversary Anthem, featuring Johnny Drille and a 75-person choir, an interesting piece of anniversary storytelling. Rather than simply reminding consumers that Coca-Cola has been in Nigeria for 75 years, the song attempts to answer a more difficult question: what does 75 years of being present in people’s everyday lives actually sound like?

The answer is warm, nostalgic and deliberately communal.

Coca-Cola arrived in Nigeria in 1951, and over the decades its presence has extended beyond the beverage itself. It has appeared at birthdays, weddings, family gatherings, office meetings, roadside shops and countless informal moments of celebration and connection. The anthem leans heavily into that collective memory.

Johnny Drille is an appropriate voice for the exercise. His music is often built around warmth, emotion and nostalgia, qualities that allow the song to sound more like a reflection than a conventional advertisement. His background in church music and experience working with choirs also make the decision to build the anthem around a 75-person choir feel less like a marketing gimmick and more like a natural extension of his musical identity.

The choir is perhaps the most effective idea in the entire project.

One singer for every year Coca-Cola has spent in Nigeria turns a numerical milestone into a musical device. The 75 voices do not merely accompany Drille; they represent the generations through which the brand has travelled. When they come together, the message is clear: the story being celebrated is not only Coca-Cola’s story, but also the memories Nigerians have built around it.

That distinction matters. A 75th anniversary campaign could easily have become a corporate exercise in celebrating longevity. Instead, the anthem tries to shift the attention from the company to the consumer. It is effectively saying: we have been here for 75 years, but the reason that history matters is because you have been here with us.

The song’s Nigerian identity is another important part of its appeal. It does not attempt to sound like a generic global corporate anthem. Drille’s delivery, the rhythm, the choir and the references to everyday Nigerian experiences give it a distinctly local character.

There is, however, room for the cultural representation to go further. The inclusion of Hausa in one section acknowledges Nigeria’s linguistic diversity, but a song celebrating 75 years in a country as culturally diverse as Nigeria could arguably have explored more of that richness. The absence of stronger Igbo and Yoruba elements leaves some of the country’s cultural palette unexplored.

Petecio makes short work of Jordanian for in Asiad boxing

Nesthy Petecio stamped her superiority in her first fight at the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games with a Referee Stopped Contest (RSC) victory over Jordan’s Mays Alreem Abukhadijah in women’s 60 kgs class of boxing at the Nishio City General Gymnasium on Saturday.

Referee Lukman Wekadapola stopped the fight in the 1:51 mark of the second round.

The featherweight silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paris 2024 asserted her dominance right from the opening bell to get the judges’ nod, 10-9.

The Filipina boxing star then unleashed her sheer power in the second round, scoring two devastating knockdowns against her Jordanian opponent that left the referee with no choice but to wave off the fight.

Petecio joined fellow Tokyo silver medalist Carlo Paalam in the quarterfinals-Paalam defeated Commonwealth Games silver medalist Jadumani Mandengbam of India via a 3-0 split decision earlier on Saturday.

‘Good day today for us as two Olympic medalists Carlo (Paalam) and Nesthy joined (Junmilardo) Ogayre to make it three boxers in the quarterfinals,’ Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines president Marcus Manalo said.

The ABAP chief outlined the crucial upcoming bouts, noting that the national team is now just one victory away from securing podium finishes.

In the quarters, Petecio will face Chengyu Yang of China, Ogayre is pitted against Uzbek Abdumalik Khlakov in men’s 60 kgs and Paalam will go up against China’s Jiaomao Zhang in the men’s 55-kg.

NIS extends UK passport Intervention exercise to October 30

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has extended its Special Passport Intervention Exercise in the United Kingdom to October 30, 2026, following sustained demand and a high turnout by Nigerians seeking passport services.

The Service said the extension, which takes effect from October 6 and will run until October 30, was approved following a directive by Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior.

In a public announcement issued on Friday, Akinsola Akinlabi, Service Public Relations Officer, NIS headquarters, Abuja, urged Nigerian communities across the UK to take advantage of the extended exercise to renew their passports.

According to the Service, the intervention exercise will continue at designated centres in London, Manchester and Aberdeen, while the venue for the Cardiff centre will be announced separately.

The London centre is located at 56-57 Fleet Street, Temple, London EC4Y 1JU, while the Manchester exercise will be held at the Nigerian House, 23 Platt Lane, Manchester M14 5NE.

In Aberdeen, applicants are expected at the Hilton Convention Centre, 13 Smithfield Road, Aberdeen, AB24 4NR.

The NIS said the venue for the Cardiff centre would be announced in a subsequent public notice, advising applicants to monitor the Nigeria High Commission’s website and official NIS communication channels for updates.

It, however, said applicants intending to use the Cardiff centre could proceed with booking their appointments pending the announcement of the venue.

The Service directed applicants to book appointments through the designated online portal or via the Nigeria High Commission’s website, stressing that applicants must adhere strictly to their scheduled dates and times.

It said the appointment system was designed to ensure an orderly process, minimise delays and enable immigration officials to attend to applicants efficiently throughout the extended exercise.

The NIS also reminded Nigerians in the UK that its Contactless Passport Application System remains operational, allowing eligible applicants to renew their passports without physically visiting a Nigerian embassy, high commission or consulate.

Applicants are required to present a completed application form, payment slips as proof of payment, an intervention appointment printout and a self-addressed return envelope.

Applicants seeking passport renewal must also present their current passports, which the Service said was mandatory.

The NIS further warned that cash payments would not be accepted at the intervention venues.

For enquiries and assistance, applicants can contact the Service through [email protected] or via WhatsApp on +234 916 087 8000.

The Service urged applicants to cooperate with immigration officials and comply with the procedures to ensure a smooth and orderly exercise.

The NIS said the extension reflected its commitment to providing efficient, transparent and responsive passport services to Nigerians in the diaspora.

President Ilham Aliyev attends event held as part of 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum [PHOTOS/VIDEO]

On September 26, an event themed ‘Restoring Trust in a Fragmented World: The South Caucasus as a Pillar of Global Connectivity and Investment Stability’ was held as part of the 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku, under the patronage of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev attended the event.

The head of state answered questions from moderator Adebayo Ogunlesi.

Moderator: Good morning, everybody. I’m Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, and it is my pleasure to have this fireside chat with His Excellency the President. Let me start by giving you a sense of what the President has accomplished over the last 20-some years that he has been President of Azerbaijan. It really has been a true, an extraordinary transformation. And, as you would expect, I consulted ChatGPT. I’m on the board of OpenAI, so I have to consult ChatGPT. It’s not Claude. And so, here’s what he’s done. GDP has increased tenfold, from $7 billion to $76 billion. GDP per capita has increased more than eightfold, from 900 to 7,500. Impressively, the poverty rate has dropped from 45% to 5%. SOFAZ assets have grown 90-fold, from $840 million to $75 billion. And in a meeting yesterday, the President gave our friend Israfil a challenge to increase SOFAZ’s assets to $100 billion, and I’m sure everybody in the room here-where is Israfil?-they are all eager to help you achieve that objective.

He has expanded the economy by increasing the size of the non-oil and gas economy by four and a half times, so that in 2025, the non-oil and gas economy accounted for 71% of GDP. At the same time, while oil production has been going down, gas production has been expanded from 5 billion cubic meters in 2003 to 50 billion in 2025. And, of course, Azerbaijan has now become a critical supplier of natural gas to Europe, to Trkiye, which obviously has been very, very important in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

I’m sure the President will tell you about some recent developments in the gas sector, with announcements with Exxon, TotalEnergies, bp, and ADNOC, which will further increase gas production.

Physical infrastructure in Azerbaijan has been transformed. Lots of spending on social programs, on defense, roads, electricity, water, rail, schools, hospitals. All of this has been accomplished at a time when he has actually reduced public debt as a percentage of GDP from 22% to 20%. I can name many countries-the U.S., France, the UK, Japan, China-who would love to have public debt as a percentage of GDP of 20%.

On the political front, he has restored Azerbaijan’s control over its internationally recognized territories, which, of course, culminated in the peace agreement that was signed at the White House in August of last year. Azerbaijan has maintained its strategic autonomy, strong relationships with the U.S., with Europe, and Trkiye, and continuing relationships with Russia and with China, and hosted COP29 in Baku in 2024.

So it’s small wonder that the people of Azerbaijan have rewarded the President by electing him five times, each time with an increasing majority. If I were an Azerbaijani, I would vote for him. So please join me in a round of applause for the President.

But, Mr. President, as they say, that was yesterday’s news. What my audience here is eager to hear is what your plans for the future are. So let’s turn to the future. Sitting in the room are people who manage some $30 trillion in assets. I think the President’s request is that only a small portion of that be channeled towards Azerbaijan to help stimulate further growth. I was talking to my friend George Walker, who’s sitting in front, who’s the CEO of Neuberger Berman, and he said he bought a large number of the 30-year bonds that SOCAR sold. So I think George asked that I ask if he would stay on for another 30 years, but I’m not sure that’s feasible.

Over the next decade, Mr. President, what is your vision for Azerbaijan, for economic growth, and what are the key drivers for that growth?

President Ilham Aliyev: First of all, thank you very much for such an introduction. I think you covered all the parameters of our economic performance, and not only that, but also the regional dimension. I am very grateful for that. What has been done so far was definitely the main prerequisite for future development. Because if not for what has been done, and for a stable economy and independent financial and economic system, today it would be difficult to talk about the future. So we need to build on that positive momentum. We need to build on the fact that many leading international companies from different sectors of the economy consider Azerbaijan a reliable partner. And, already having a good investment climate, we have accumulated more than $350 billion in investments over the last 20 years. Half of that is direct foreign investment.

So, building on all that, we need to be in line with the general trend of economic development and use our potential in sectors beyond oil and gas to achieve long-term and sustainable growth. As the main priorities, I would name several. One of them is renewable energy. We have enormous potential. Only in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, we have 157 gigawatts of power, plus onshore solar and wind farms already in operation. So our target is to reduce to a minimum the consumption of natural gas to generate power and to use that reserve for export. And renewables will be developed everywhere in Azerbaijan in the coming five years.

The second important driver of the economy is definitely logistics, transportation, and connectivity. We have worked on that for quite a long time, creating physical infrastructure, establishing a more understandable business climate for investors, and also working with our neighbors because we are landlocked. Without our neighbors, we cannot be a major transit country. So that could be another driver, especially taking into account today’s geopolitical situation, where some of the traditional supply chains are at certain risk.

So this is a great opportunity for local and foreign investment. Having extra capacity of electric power, definitely, we are looking in two directions. First, how to use it to the maximum degree domestically, with respect to AI data centers, and how to export it. We have transmission lines, but they are not sufficient. So now we are working on new transmission lines, expanding the existing ones and building new ones. So that could also be an important part of economic development for the future.

And maybe among those which have big potential is mining. Just several days ago, the State Program on Mining was adopted. It’s a very short-term program of four years, which will generate a lot of activity. So these are the main directions of our development. And, of course, we should not forget the elephant in the room: oil and gas, especially having in mind that this year many contracts were signed and more are to be signed today. So, oil and gas will continue to dominate our economy and generate the wealth which will be reinvested.

Moderator: That sounds like quite a vision, and lots of opportunities for people to invest in Azerbaijan. You mentioned the current geopolitical environment, and obviously Azerbaijan sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, on an increasingly important trade route. And you yourself have been one of the big advocates of Central Asian unity and prosperity growing together. How do you see Azerbaijan’s strategic role evolving as global trade and supply chains are reshaped?

President Ilham Aliyev: First of all, we had to do our homework. And that was to build physical infrastructure. So we largely invested in railroads, in seaports, in air cargo transportation, and highways. Sixty percent of our railroads are electrified. And this process continues. We have railroad connections with all the neighbors, and also inside the country. So that was an important part. In order to become a transit country, definitely we needed to have good relations with our neighbors and the neighbors of our neighbors. Otherwise, as a landlocked country, no matter how hard you try, you will not succeed. That also was done, and today relations with all the neighbors are very clear and, more importantly, predictable.

And also, we had to create such an environment and such an incentive that suppliers would choose Azerbaijan, and we did it even before this geopolitical change. Because five years ago, it was difficult to even imagine that the traditional supply chains would be disrupted. So we wanted to create such a physical and administrative environment so that suppliers would choose to use multimodal transportation through Azerbaijan. Because if you go through Azerbaijan, you also have to use ferryboats.

So today we see a growing demand for transportation through Azerbaijan, whether it’s East-West or North-South. We are sitting at these two important junctures. And, by the way, we are one of the very few countries that are active participants in both transportation corridors. We have seen rapid growth in transit cargo through Azerbaijan. This year it will reach 16 million tons. But our target is, by 2030, to reach 25 million tons, and maybe even more on both routes, as I said, East-West and South-North. For that, we are actively engaging with our neighbors. You mentioned Central Asia. Azerbaijan, since last November, became a full member of the Central Asian Consultative Council. This is actually an unprecedented event, because geographically we are situated in the Caucasus, but already politically and from an economic and transportation point of view, we are part of the broader Central Asian region. And also, definitely, the administration, digitalization of transportation, customs administration, very clear and understandable rules and regulations in Azerbaijan for investors-all that will strengthen our potential. If the geopolitical situation in our region changes and goes back to what it was five years ago, still we should be attractive for suppliers.

Moderator: That’s very exciting, and I think one of the goals you have set is to deepen Azerbaijan’s engagement with global markets. You mentioned some of the competitive advantages: renewables, your geographic location, and, obviously, the hydrocarbon sector. Perhaps you can expand a little bit on what you think the competitive advantages are, and why all of these ladies and gentlemen should bring big portions of that $30 trillion into Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev: Well, I think one of the most important factors, especially in today’s world, is political and economic stability, and this has continued in Azerbaijan for more than 30 years. We had difficult times since the beginning of our independence in the 1990s: the occupation by Armenia of our territory and ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis. We had 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons at the beginning of the 1990s. At that time, the population was 8 million. So it was actually a humanitarian catastrophe. We had a civil war, and the economy was in total chaos.

So all that is already in the past. So today, political stability and economic stability are important factors. Another factor is that our financial system is very strong, and, as you mentioned, we have a very low public debt, 20%. But this is together with internal debt. External debt, foreign debt, is 5.6 percent of GDP, and we can actually zero it in one day because our currency reserves exceed our foreign debt almost 20 times. Our currency has been stable since April 2017. The exchange rate of the currency against the dollar didn’t change. It was $1 to 1.7 manat in April 2017, and it is today, and it will continue because we have a good trade balance.

The investment contracts which actually led to the development of the oil and gas sector, signed 30 years ago, are still absolutely untouched. Not a single word was changed, and that was one of the factors that attracted investors. So already we have a very credible portfolio of being a very responsible partner. So even if we were not 100% satisfied with some parameters of the contract, we think that responsibility should prevail. I think one of the important factors, especially in today’s world, is security. Azerbaijan is one of the safest places in the world. The criminal situation is totally under control.

And also, I think it’s important to mention a good climate, nine climatic zones in a relatively small country, good cuisine, hospitable people, and also important events like today’s Formula One race, UFC traditional fights, and many others. So I can talk a lot about the advantages, but I don’t want to seem too nationalistic.

I think the audience will have time, if not yet, to walk around and explore more about Azerbaijan. And also, I think all these and many other factors will lead to more investments in human capital, infrastructure, AI, and other sectors of our economy. And the importance of these kinds of gatherings also is to have a country presentation in the country. Because if you go out and have some presentations outside, the audience is relatively limited, and also you come and you just say good things about your country. And when you have this gathering in Azerbaijan, everyone can make their own judgment. I think that-I hope that most of the judgments will be positive.

Moderator: That’s really excellent. So, give us some advice: What do you think are the two or three most attractive investment opportunities in Azerbaijan over the next decade?

President Ilham Aliyev: First, of course, though we want, and we do a lot, on diversification, it will still be oil and gas. And today, two important contracts are to be signed. One with Exxon on the development of unconventional oil and gas fields with huge potential. If exploration is successful, that could lead to another oil and gas boom in Azerbaijan.

And fortunately, now the main Euro-Atlantic trend on fossil fuels has changed, thanks to President Trump. And on gas, we again today will sign a contract on the development of the second stage of the Absheron Field with Total, which will increase gas production in Azerbaijan in three or four years by 5 billion cubic meters more. And contracts have been signed during this year’s Baku Energy Week. So, oil and gas will still be one of the most attractive sectors and, from the point of view of the volume of investment, the biggest segment. And this is for the long term.

Another potential, as I said, having in mind that not many countries in our region-and I mean a broader region-have spare energy capacity. Most of them are facing energy shortages. Most of them buy energy resources from outside, including from Azerbaijan. So this advantage, of course, can be used for digital development, data centers, AI development, and we are already in a very active phase of negotiations with the leading companies of the world. So this is, I would say, number two.

I already mentioned renewables, and when I say renewables, I don’t only mean generation; I mean transmission and storage. So we already have storage capacity of 250 megawatts, but it’s only the beginning. We want to become a very important supplier of electric energy, and along with oil, natural gas, oil products, petrochemicals, and fertilizers, which we export. And we are one of the few in this region which exports all of them. Export of electric energy, especially to the European premium market, will also strengthen energy security, connectivity, and interdependence.

And with respect to our domestic needs, all that I was just describing has a broader impact. With respect to domestic needs, of course, one of the priorities is food security, because we do not yet feel the complications of climate change. I go skiing every winter, and I see that the level of snow in our mountains stays the same. Maybe somewhere it is melting, but not in Azerbaijan. So we are not yet subject to the effects of climate change, but water scarcity and some other factors definitely dictate that we need to do more on food security. A state program was adopted this May to largely reduce dependence on imports. I don’t know to what degree agriculture will be of interest to these gatherings.

Moderator: Lots of people care.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yeah. But I think this is a huge potential, especially now when there are also some limitations due to different factors, due to droughts, due to a lack of diesel, due to other problems with the supply chain. We do not exclude the situation when some countries will be in danger with respect to food security. We want to avoid that situation. So this could also, I think, be attractive for local and foreign investors.

Moderator: So, Mr. President, being an infrastructure investor, and we have some of the leading infrastructure investors in the room-we have Connor Teskey from Brookfield, we have ADIA, we have Temasek-how can infrastructure investors, and imagine what you’ve done on the renewable side with Masdar and with ACWA Power, where else should infrastructure investors be looking for public-private partnerships to help grow the development of infrastructure in Azerbaijan?

President Ilham Aliyev: Well, actually, as far as domestic needs are concerned, I think everything, most of the things, have been done.

Moderator: Do you need us?

President Ilham Aliyev: For domestic purposes, maybe not, because we have one of the highest, maybe the highest, rates of gasification in the country. Ninety-six percent of the country is gasified. We have 100% coverage of the country with electricity and broadband internet, and we’re exporting railroads-almost done. Airports-we have nine international airports; the seaport is being expanded.

So basically, as far as domestic infrastructure is concerned, we are fine. What I think could be of interest is the infrastructure that serves multinational interests. And here comes, first of all, transportation, logistics, and physical infrastructure, and software infrastructure, because we can build a lot of bridges and piers and, you know, vessels, but if we do not properly address the current trends with respect to digitalization and customs administration, and make the process of handling cargo easier and more speedy, then we will lose. So I think this is one.

Another is electric transmission lines. This has huge potential because today, not only is Azerbaijan itself a source of energy for Europe, but less than two years ago we signed an agreement with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to build a subsea electric cable from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan under the Caspian to connect Central Asia with Azerbaijan and then with Europe with electric energy. So that will need a lot of financing.

Another important project, which is already in the post-feasibility-study phase, is a Black Sea cable, which will again come from Azerbaijan to Georgia and then Romania. It’s a four-gigawatt electric cable, again heading towards the premium energy market. Energy storage-so all this is needed not only for us, but for broader international presence. So this, I think, could be the major areas of infrastructure concentration.

Moderator: Mr. President, you mentioned interest in digital infrastructure and data centers, and benefiting from the excess supply of low-cost energy, some of which is renewable, that Azerbaijan has. And I know one of your plans when you go to the G20 in December is to meet with the leadership of some of the major hyperscalers. Talk to us a little bit about your vision for Azerbaijan as a center for digital transformation and activity in the region?

President Ilham Aliyev: We work on several tracks. Of course, one is capacity building, and a lot is being done now on education. The Center for Cybersecurity, which has already been operating for a while, was just the first important step. Education is number one because without trained personnel, we would never be able to achieve our goals. And, of course, these practical advantages which we have, like extra capacity of cheap energy and our location-we are situated just between Europe and Asia. We have a fiber-optic cable going towards the west. By the end of this year, we will inaugurate one connecting Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan under the Caspian Sea. So this is also an advantage.

We definitely want to be in line with the general trends in the development of the global economy, and for that purpose, of course, we need to work actively with hyperscalers, with those institutions like yours and like those whose leaders I met yesterday, to look at Azerbaijan from the point of view of investments. And what I already mentioned about security, safety, a good investment climate, predictable tax regulations, and also an investment-friendly economy-all these can be prerequisites. So, if this is attractive enough, we will succeed. If not, then we will ask our partners to tell us what else should be done in order for them to come to Azerbaijan as long-term investors.

Moderator: So beyond capital, obviously your global partners can also help by bringing technology, expertise, and capabilities. You have a willing and enthralled audience. Tell them what they should be doing in terms of bringing technology and capabilities to Azerbaijan and to Baku in particular.

President Ilham Aliyev: First, open the offices in Baku.

Moderator: We discussed that yesterday indeed.

President Ilham Aliyev: We discussed this with our friend from Brookfield yesterday. I think, well, you know, technologies we can buy, and we are doing that. And today, having substantial financial resources, we can buy almost any technology. Of course, if it’s not classified.

Expertise, yes, it’s very important, and here we also have a good example from our experience in oil and gas, because when the first production-sharing agreement was signed in 1994, more than 90% of the employees in the energy companies of the West were expats. Now, probably, the percentage of expats is about 5%. So that was an enormous contribution to the country’s development and capacity building. Many Azerbaijani nationals now work on a global scale in different companies, and we are also glad and proud that our representatives are holding important positions.

So I think what will be very important will be training and capacity building, especially taking into account that the literacy level in Azerbaijan is close to 100% and a lot has been done with respect to education. As soon as I became President for the first time in 2003, we adopted an educational program to train our young people abroad, and since that time, thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of them have studied, and the absolute majority came back. So this is capacity building, which we cannot buy.

And, of course, with respect to expertise, yes, the best practices, the best experience of the leading companies will be very important for us in order to follow the right path and to create, in the sectors which we described, the same environment as we have managed to create in oil and gas.

So in this case, our economy will be more diversified. Though today it’s already, if you look at GDP, more than 70% in the non-oil sector. But if you look at our exports, you will see more than 90% of our exports are still oil and gas. We need to improve it, and we hope, with the help of our guests, those who would decide to work with us, we will achieve that.

Moderator: So, Mr. President, what message should the trillions of dollars that are gathered here take away about Azerbaijan and its future? What I’ve heard is that Azerbaijan is open for business. It’s an attractive place to invest. What else should they be thinking about?

President Ilham Aliyev: I think they should not believe the fake news media. And I think one of the advantages of this kind of event is that they can see everything with their own eyes. They can hear what people say, and not only from the business community, but these days they can ask anyone what they think about the country and how it develops. Is it on the right track or not? And make up their minds themselves.

No matter how we praise our country, how we say good things, every host country says good things about its country. It would be difficult to find any kind of investment forum where the president would come and say, ‘This is bad and this is bad.’ We say it between ourselves, but again, I think the best impression is the impression you feel yourself, you get yourself. We just need to create an environment. We just need to provide some room for that.

But I think if any objective observer, from any kind of background, any part of, you know, activity-not only business-looks at what the transition of Azerbaijan was from being part of the Soviet Union in 1991, with a zero market economy, with zero freedoms, with an absolutely devastated, you know, even at that time, oil and gas industry, and now, everyone can judge that, yes, this country is not a failed state. This country and its people are committed to their statehood.

You know, Azerbaijan was the first-not at that time a country, but the first place in the world-where oil was produced, and we have a memorial to the first oil derrick. It is situated not very far from here. It was 1846, even before Pennsylvania. If at that time Azerbaijan was independent, can you imagine what today would have been? If we could have preserved our independence in 1920, because in 1918, the first democratic republic in the Muslim world was established here, but it lasted only two years. Then our independence was taken from us, and we became again part of the big empire. So, if at that time we had been independent and could have been the owners of our resources, can you imagine what we would have been today?

So we were deprived of that. During the Second World War, Azerbaijan supplied more than 80 percent of the fuel to the Soviet army, and if not for that, the result of the Second World War would have been completely different. The Nazi Army-why was it going to climb the Caucasian mountains? Why? Just because they wanted to train themselves? No, they were coming to Baku to get Baku oil, and if they succeeded, then the Soviet army would be totally cut off from fuel supplies, and that would be the end of the war, with very, very bad consequences.

So all that was taken from us, and what did we get when we became independent in 1991? Oil industry in decay, gas production at zero. We were buying gas, energy shortages, civil war, Armenian aggression and occupation of our lands, which lasted 30 years until we liberated our lands by force, and all that was bringing Azerbaijan to the verge of collapse. So when we became independent in 1991, we were very close to being totally ruined. So we managed to stand up, and today we stand up firm.

I think the history of the country, at least its 20th-century history, is enough to understand that people in this country are capable. They can live independently, they can live with dignity, they can win wars and win wars in a short period of time. They can restore their territorial integrity. Probably the only case in the history of this century, and maybe the biggest part of the 20th century, and they are strongly committed to national interests. They are open to the world.

A lot of expats live and work in Azerbaijan, and I think that this is something which one cannot read in a book or in an article. One can only feel it when one comes and stays for some time. So I wish our guests will stay for some time in Baku and maybe come again. Definitely, we would like them to come back and to work with us, to be with us, and to be a part of our new journey.

Moderator: Mr. President, it has been a pleasure spending time with you. This is an extraordinary story. I think the context of the history that you put it into makes the achievements even that much more significant.

This seems to be the period of investment summits. Last week it was Toronto. I think next month it will be Germany. I think you have given every other country that has an investment summit a run for its money.

So congratulations, and we look forward to investing in Azerbaijan.

Thank you, Mr. President.

20 sim racers head to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines Esports GT Championship 2026 National Finals on September 27

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is thrilled to announce the top 10 Sporting Class players and top 10 Junior Class players who will be competing in the upcoming National Finals of the 2026 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines Esports GT Championship.

This season, more than 400 sim racers across the country participated in the qualifiers, where players put in their fastest lap time around the Laguna Seca racetrack using the stock Toyota GR 86.

The TGR Philippines Esports GT Championship is the country’s premier sim racing tournament, which aims to provide aspiring racers with an avenue to kickstart their racing careers, as well as gather sim racing enthusiasts together to celebrate the thrill and joy of motorsports. Participants compete wheel-to-wheel in the game Gran Turismo.

Since it was launched in 2020, the TGR Philippines Esports GT Championship (formerly known as the GR GT Cup), has been pioneering competitive sim racing in the country, offering attractive prizes, and the opportunity to face against other sim racers in Asia and the world.

As a grassroots tournament, the series also bridges the gap between sim racing and real-life racing by transitioning winners of the competition to TMP’s premier racing series, the TGR Philippine Cup (formerly known as the Vios Cup).

The champion of each class will be receiving a cash prize of PHP 100,000 and a slot in the Asia Finals, where they will go head-to-head with other sim racers in the region as part of Team Philippines. The runner-up of each class will be receiving PHP 75,000 and a chance at the third and final slot in Team Philippines. The final slot will be given to the runner-up with the higher number of points at the end of the National Finals.

Aside from the thrilling competition, fans can try their hand at the public sim racing rigs, and check out displays of the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, GR 86, and Tamaraw one-make-race car. The new GR merchandise lineup will also be available for purchase at the event for those who want to show off their brand love.

‘The esports community has grown a lot since last season, where we only had 250 participants for the qualifiers. We are thrilled to see that there a more people getting into motorsports through sim racing, and we look forward to finding out who will be coming out on top at the National Finals,’ shared First Vice President for Vehicle Sales Operations Elijah Marcial.

‘We are especially encouraged by the strong participation in our Junior Category, which plays a vital role in our esports program by giving young racers an avenue to develop their skills, gain competitive experience, and pursue their passion for motorsports from an early age. Through initiatives like this, we hope to continue nurturing the next generation of Filipino racing talent,’ Marcial added.

The 2026 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines Esports GT Championship National Finals will also be livestreamed on the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines Facebook Page.

For more information on the TGR Philippines Esports GT Championship and other TGR Philippines products and events, follow TGR Philippines on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube.