Andy Egwim compares the 2004 Nigerian bank frenzy to today's IPO hype, showing how FOMO pushes people into rushed trades. He argues for JOMO, the joy of missing out, where you read the prospectus, ask questions, and decide deliberately instead of following the crowd.
Don't confuse pressing the button quickly with making a better investment. It's not the fastest finger at who wants to be a millionaire. Now, a lot of this excitement is what is driving the FOMO, the fear of missing out. In 2004, as a new young investor, I remember under the then CBN Governor Charles Soludo, I was only about 21 then. Nigerian banks were required to increase their minimum capital base from ₦2 billion to ₦25 billion. That led to the ₦25 billion scramble. If you're around, you remember. I'm not sure Gen Z can relate. You know, I still remember the atmosphere back then, even as a student, as a medical student. It was like a proper fanfare. Banks were marketing shares aggressively. Many banks resorted to aggressive street-level kind of carnival-like marketing tactics. You could see the custom t-shirts, live musical bands, dancers, and roadshows. to sell shares, initial public offerings and additional public offers to raise more money to meet that goal. So there were public offers everywhere. Everyone was talking about stocks. Everyone became an overnight stock market guru. It felt like everybody needed to get in. 20 years later, the technology is different. I mean, some of those investments did well, some didn't do well. But now we have social media apps, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, and the rest of them. But look, human psychology hasn't changed much. And only 3 months ago, we saw another extraordinary IPO event. With Elon Musk's SpaceX. I actually analyzed SpaceX on this channel before I began trading in June. You can check out the video here on the channel. But what the point is, we are still the same human beings. We don't want to miss out. That's a story for another day. Look, see, I'm not saying Dangote Refinery is the same as SpaceX or even the Nigerian banks of 2005. No, that's not what I'm saying. But the principle is the same. It's the same, you know, marketing campaign, promotions, new companies coming to the market. There are big headlines splashing all over the place. There are interviews. There are bankers, brokers, social media, friends talking about it. Everybody's showing you screenshots and suddenly something happens psychologically. You begin thinking, everybody else is moving. Why am I still here? Am I missing out something? I've already mentioned the name for this thing is FOMO, the fear of missing out. I call my own JOMO, the joy of missing out. I'm not going with the crowd. I'm making a mistake. That FOMO feeling can be dangerous. So you take your time, read the prospectus, or ask questions if you don't understand it. And if eventually you decide to invest, fine. If you decide not to invest, also fine. And if you have already planned or if you already applied, no, I'm not saying you've made a mistake. My purpose here is to help you to understand the process and become even a better investor moving forward.
