Age ain’t nothing but a number for “Real Housewives of Atlanta” reality diva Kenya Moore.The 50-year-old is bringing sexy back in a new selfie that she uploaded to the ’Gram earlier in the week.
The mother of one rocked what appears to be a green silk dress, soft ombre tresses, and a butterfly necklace from former housewife Eva Marcille’s EVA jewelry line’s Jaded collection.
“The beauty of jade!” Moore captioned the photo, and it garnered over 34,000 likes from fans.
“Real Housewives of Atlanta” reality star Kenya Moore shows off a green confessional look. @thekenyamoore/Instagram
Moore’s followers couldn’t help but swoon over her dazzling emerald green look and complimented her on her timeless beauty.
“Damn you fine,” Marcille wrote. “Thank you for always supporting me. #womensupportingwomen,” she added.
“50 WHAT? 🔥🔥🔥.”
“😍😍 Serving while supporting a friend… exactly what I love about you ❤️❤️ #teamtwirl.”
“Girl, you’re going to make them GREEN with ENVY with all this Melanin Drippin’. GORGEOUS GODDESS! 🙌🏾🔥😍❤️.”
“I swear you stay eating these girls up! ❤️.”
“You are so gorgeous. Mark must be crying 😢.”
Moore is getting her groove back following her soon-to-be ex-husband Marc Daly announcing last month that the two have decided to go forward with ending their marriage. The pair will amicably continue “to co-parent our daughter Brooklyn with an abundance of love and wisdom.”
The news follows after Moore told Bravo host Andy Cohen in December 2020 that she has not filed for divorce.
“He did file and withdrew it less than 24 hours later, so we’ve kind of gotten past that,” the MISS USA 1993 winner told Cohen during an episode of “Watch What Happens Live.”
“Right now, Marc is really fighting for his marriage. He wants to go to counseling. He’s made appointments. He’s asking to publicly apologize to me and a lot of things that I never thought I’d see the day.”
Kenya Moore, Marc Daly and Brooklyn Daly. @thekenyamoore/Instagram
Moore has yet to address Daly’s divorce announcement, but she was spotted enjoying a beach day with her daughter Brooklyn earlier this month while celebrating her 50th birthday.
“My most important job in life #mother,” Moore captioned the photo as she smiled while Brooklyn was enjoying some fun in the sun.
The photo attracted over 100,000 likes and fans praising Moore for moving on with her life as a mother.
Kenya Moore and her daughter Brooklyn Daly enjoying a day at the beach. @thekenyamoore/Instagram
In honor of Valentine’s Day, the actress, 32, confirmed her relationship with the 24-year-old MLB player — posting a sweet image of the pair sharing a kiss on the lips.
“It’s you, it’s me, it’s us. @cotuck ❤️💋🤟🏽,” she captioned the affectionate Instagram post.
“Big love,” the athlete added in the comments section.
The Princess Switch star and the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop were first linked in November when they were spotted holding hands and hugging one another during an outing in Los Angeles.
At the time, the High School Musical alum seemingly hinted that she had a new man in her life and shared a photo of herself dressed up and holding a rose. “Date night,” she captioned the snap.
A source told PEOPLE at the time that the two had discussed getting engaged prior to the split, and that they “really loved each other and have been through some of their toughest life moments together.”
RELATED VIDEO: Vanessa Hudgens Smiles as She Walks the Bad Boys for Life Red Carpet After Split from Austin Butler
“Vanessa and Austin’s relationship had been slowly fading — it was one of those things where you don’t even realize it’s happening,” an insider told PEOPLE following Hudgens and Butler’s split.
“The breakup isn’t easy, but she’s not one to sit around and mope. She’s living it up and having fun,” the insider added. “She seems really happy and excited about life, honestly.”
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A month after news of their split, the Bad Boys for Life actress celebrated her Valentine’s Day with a smile and a song.
Alluding to her newly single status at the time, posting an Instagram gallery of silly videos. In one, she channeled Marilyn Monroe, singing, “Happy Valentine’s to me, happy Valentine’s to me, happy day of loving myself, happy Valentine’s Day to me!”
Ozzy Osbourne, 72, shared that he recently received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Ozzy Osbourne is feeling significant relief now that he has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a virtual appearance alongside his wife Sharon Osbourne, 68, on the British talk show Loose Women, Osbourne, 72, sat shirtless in a bed covered in rose petals and several of the family’s dogs.
When asked if he had received the COVID-19 vaccine yet, Osbourne proclaimed “Of course!”
“He says, ‘of course’ — he only had it yesterday,” laughed Sharon, who sported a cozy pair of pajamas.
“As soon as I got it, I felt relieved,” Ozzy said. “It felt like I was being stabbed. My arm was hurting yesterday, but I’m glad I got it, you know?”
Due to his significant health problems, Osbourne previously said that he wanted to get the vaccine, because he knew skipping it could have severe repercussions.
“I want to get the shot,” he said on SiriusXM, Yahoo U.K. previously reported. “I look at it like this — if I don’t get the shot and I get the virus, there’s a good chance I ain’t going to be here.”
In addition to Osbourne’s Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, he has suffered several other health issues. Back in 2019, Osbourne hurt his neck and back in a fall at home, and had to undergo surgery. The incident aggravated the serious injuries he sustained in a quad bike crash back in 2003.
Unfortunately, not all the members of the Osbourne family were able to avoid the virus. In December, Sharon revealed on Instagram that she had contracted the virus and was hospitalized for a short time.
“I wanted to share I’ve tested positive for COVID-19. After a brief hospitalization, I’m now recuperating at a location away from Ozzy (who has tested negative) while The Talk is on scheduled hiatus,” she said in an Instagram post.
After a period of quarantine, Sharon was able to return home to her family in time for Christmas.
“Got the OK to go home after two negative test results and look at the joy waiting for me!” she wrote on Instagram, along with a photo of a masked Ozzy joyfully welcoming her home with their dogs. “So grateful to be home for the holidays and thank you all so much for your love and support.”
While she successfully recovered from the virus, Sharon said she was still feeling its effects, including fatigue and loss of taste and smell.
“I’m feeling really fine now, except that I’m still really tired. I nod off at ridiculous times of the day,” she said in a virtual appearance on her talk show The Talk. “I’m good, you know I went through all the symptoms — headache, eye ache, body ache, dizziness, sickness, all of it.”
In the chat on Loose Women, she shared that she should receive the vaccine in about two weeks, and still has a “good amount” of antibodies in her system that should last “about another six weeks.”
Back in September, Osbourne announced on The Talk that her 3-year-old granddaughter Minnie had been diagnosed with the virus.
“She caught it from somebody that works for my son. It just goes to show you — she’s 3 years of age — that children can get COVID,” Osbourne said of Minnie, who is the youngest child of Jack Osbourne.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, the couple shared a pair of loving tributes to each other.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, @barackobama! Life is always brighter when I’m by your side,” Mrs. Obama wrote alongside a photo of the pair together.
In his own post, the former president paid tribute to both his wife as well as their two daughters, Malia, 22, and Sasha, 19.
“Happy Valentine’s Day to the three who never fail to make me smile. Your dazzling light makes everything brighter,” he wrote alongside a sweet family snap.
Mr. Obama, 59, and Mrs. Obama, 57, have been married since 1992, after they first met in Chicago and began dating.
The Obamas have spent much of the past year in quarantine with their two daughters. The couple celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary last October.
Mrs. Obama said last fall that everyday spent with his wife, the former first lady, “makes me a better husband, a better father, and a better human.”
Mrs. Obama said she’s “so grateful to have him as a partner through everything life throws at us,” in her own social media homage to her husband.
“I love [Barack Obama] for his smile, his character, and his compassion,” she wrote on Instagram.
The Obamas often shared loving photos with one another on holidays, hallmark anniversaries, birthdays and other special occasions.
The former first couple is coming off another successful year in their post-White House lives.
Mr. Obama released the first volume of his long-anticipated memoir A Promised Land last November, selling more than 3 million copies in its first month on sale, according to The Associated Press.
The former president is currently writing the second — and final — volume of his well-received memoir.
It was also announced this month that construction crews in Chicago are planning to break ground on the Obama Presidential Center later this year.
Mr. Obama said the center — which will feature a library, athletic facilities, parks, an amphitheater and more — will be “a space for the community, built in partnership with the community.”
As for Mrs. Obama, her widely successful post-White House career already took another step up in 2021.
The former first lady and best-selling Becoming author announced this month she’s releasing a new Netflix cooking show titled Waffles + Mochi, which is being made for children. The series is set for a March 16 release.
Mrs. Obama wrote in a Twitter announcement that she’s excited ‘to help kids build healthy habits and help families in need cook with fresh ingredients together at home.”
Abigail Breslin is pleading for people to wear their face masks as her father Michael continues to experience health difficulties after contracting COVID-19.
On Wednesday, the Little Miss Sunshine star, 24, revealed that her father had tested positive for the virus and was “placed on a ventilator.” The actress has continued to provide updates about her dad’s condition since announcing his diagnosis. As of Friday, Breslin said her father was “not conscious.”
Breslin addressed the importance of wearing a face mask in an Instagram post on Friday, noting that “no one should go” through what is happening to her father.
“This is me saying that If you asked my dad: a mask is FAR LESS uncomfortable than a ventilator,” she wrote. “So stfu. And wear your damn mask. Please.”
Breslin noted on Twitter Wednesday that COVID-19 is “unpredictable and relentless” and that her dad had been “careful and hasn’t left home since [the pandemic] began except for doctors appointments.”
On Thursday, the Zombieland star thanked her followers for the “prayers, well wishes, positivity and good thoughts being sent towards my dad and our family.”
“I firmly believe in the healing powers of prayer and positivity. On behalf of the entire Breslin clan- thank you. Will update you as I know,” she wrote.
In Breslin’s post announcing her father’s diagnosis on Wednesday, the actress asked for “prayers and positivity sent this way for my daddy.”
According to E! News, one user replied to Breslin’s post writing, “A fake ass virus that only kills weak ass people,” to which Breslin clapped back, “you’re disgusting.”
Breslin then posted a since-deleted screenshot of the conversation to her feed on Friday, writing, “Ppl like this are why ppl like my dad are fighting for his life. Shame.”
Thank you so much for the prayers, well wishes, positivity and good thoughts being sent towards my dad and our family. I firmly believe in the healing powers of prayer and positivity. On behalf of the entire Breslin clan- thank you. Will update you as I know❤️🙏🏻
Plz keep praying for my daddy. I wish I could talk to him rn on the phone. The doctors and nurses are taking such good care of him and keeping us updated all the time. Hopefully I’ll have some good news shortly. Just missing hearing his voice. ❤️
I’m so used to talking to dad multiple times a day. I still call and talk to him thanks to INCREDIBLE nurses who work so hard and make sure he can hear me, even tho he’s not conscious. Can’t wait to hear his voice again. I love you dada💕
The actress shared on Twitter Friday that the “doctors and nurses are taking such good care of [her father] and keeping us updated all the time.”
“I’m so used to talking to dad multiple times a day. I still call and talk to him thanks to INCREDIBLE nurses who work so hard and make sure he can hear me, even tho he’s not conscious. Can’t wait to hear his voice again. I love you dada,” she added in a later tweet.
Later that day, Breslin paid tribute to her father on Instagram by posting his “fave poem by Rudyard Kipling” which she said her dad “always reads to [her] when [she’s] scared.”
The star’s father is a telecommunications expert, consultant and computer programmer. The actress is the youngest of her siblings, including two brothers Ryan and Spencer, who are also actors.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
In 2019, Ruth E. Carter became the first Black person to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
1.
In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first Black person to win an Oscar. She won Best Supporting Actress for her work in Gone with the Wind. It was the 12th Academy Awards.
CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images
2.
In 2014, Amber Ruffin became the first Black woman to write for a late-night network talk show in the US. She writes for Late Night with Seth Meyers.
3.
In 1934, Josephine Baker became the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture. She starred in the French movie Zouzou.
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In 2015, Viola Davis became the first Black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, for her work on How to Get Away with Murder.
5.
When Ava DuVernay directed A Wrinkle in Time in 2018, she became the first Black woman to direct a film with a budget over $100 million.
Charley Gallay / Stringer
6.
And when A Wrinkle in Time was released, DuVernay became the first Black woman to direct a live-action film that earned $100 million in the United States.
7.
In addition, for her film Selma, DuVernay was the first Black woman nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director and the first Black woman to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
8.
At the same Academy Awards, also for DuVernay’s Selma, Oprah Winfrey became the first Black woman to be a producer for a film nominated for Best Picture.
9.
In 2009, Anika Noni Rose voiced Tiana in the Disney film The Princess and the Frog. Tiana was the first Black Disney princess.
10.
Diahann Carroll starred in the television series Julia, which premiered in 1968. She was the first Black woman to star in a TV series where the role was not a servant.
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In 1960, Madeline Anderson’s documentary Integration Report 1 was released — making it the first televised documentary to be directed by a Black woman.
12.
Anderson was also the first Black woman to executive produce and direct a nationally aired television series in 1977.
13.
In 2019, Ruth E. Carter won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Black Panther. She was the first Black person to win the award.
14.
At the same ceremony, Hannah Beachler won for Best Production Design, also for Black Panther. She was the first Black person nominated for Best Production Design.
15.
In 2017, Tiffany Haddish became the first Black woman stand-up comedian to host Saturday Night Live. It was SNL‘s 43rd season.
16.
Cicely Tyson was the first Black woman to host Saturday Night Live. She hosted in 1979. It was SNL‘s fourth season.
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On March 24, 2002, Halle Berry became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. She is still the only woman of color to win the award.
18.
Dorothy Dandridge was the first Black woman nominated for Best Actress, for Carmen Jones. The ceremony took place in 1955.
19.
In 2019, Robin Thede’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, the first major sketch show created by a Black woman, premiered. It is also the first sketch show starring Black women, and the first sketch show where every single writer is a Black woman.
20.
Thede was also the first Black woman to be head writer for a late-night talk show. In 2015, she became head writer for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
21.
For the 2017 film Mudbound, Dee Rees was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She was the first Black woman nominated for the award.
22.
At the 1973 Oscars, Suzanne de Passe was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, making her the first Black woman nominated in a non-acting category. She was also the first person of color nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
23.
In 1991, Julie Dash’s film Daughters of the Dust had a general theatrical release. It was the first movie directed by a Black woman to have a wide release in the United States.
24.
In 2016, Kathryn Bostic became the first Black woman score composer to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
25.
And in 1986, Dorothy E. Brunson became the first Black woman in the United States to own and operate a television station.
There are countless other Black women in entertainment — and in every field — who have been firsts. Let’s celebrate all of them.
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Kaley Cuoco is calling out people who abuse their animals. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Animal lover and self-described parent to “many 4-legged kids” Kaley Cuoco is calling out irresponsible and abusive pet owners.
The Flight Attendant star — whose production company, Yes, Norman Productions, is named after her beloved, recently deceased pit bull mix Norman — spent the weekend blasting animal abusers and those who ditch their dogs.
“This might sound random, but I’m sick of opening social media and seeing 100s or 1000s of animal rescue posts where people are discarding their animals like trash,” the actress, who is an accomplished equestrian and advocate for animal adoption, wrote on her Instagram Stories.
“Stop the abuse,” she continued. “Don’t get a dog if you can’t care for it properly. The way you treat an animal shows exactly the kind of person you are.”
Cuoco scolded pet owners who treat their “animals like trash.” (Photo: Instagram Stories)
The 35-year-old former Big Bang Theory star — whose personal menagerie includes dogs, rabbits and horses — went on to share a graphic image of a dog whose jaw had been shattered after being shot in the face with buckshot.
“I would like to find the human who did this,” Cuoco wrote of the injured animal, now in the care of a rescue organization.
She also shared a photo of two rescue dogs up for adoption, writing, “Proof you can find adorable puppies at a shelter. Stop supporting backyard breeders! Don’t be an idiot.”
“It makes me sick,” she told the newspaper of people who abandon their animals. “They act like dogs are trash. They act like dogs are a water bottle that you just throw away.”
She also frequently uses her social media to spotlight rescue dogs.
“I live by this saying,” Cuoco told the Times. “I don’t know who quoted it, but it’s like: ‘Who rescued who?’ And I just think it’s the sweetest thing. Because it’s true. It changes your life.”
“In gymnastics, as in many other professions, there is a growing competition that has nothing to do with performance itself. I’m talking about beauty. I don’t know why but others feel as though they can define your own beauty based on their standards,” she wrote.
“I’ve learned to put on a strong front and let most of it slide. But I’d be lying if I told you what people say about my arms, my legs, my body…of how I look in a dress, leotard, bathing suit or even in casual pants hasn’t gotten me down at times.”
Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
“Today, I say I am done competing vs. beauty standards and the toxic culture of trolling when others feel as though their expectations are not met because nobody should tell you or I what beauty should or should not look like.”
“Beauty is #NoCompetition,” she concluded.
The comments were filled with love and positivity – as they should be! Actor Chloë Grace Moretz related to Simone’s post and said it was “so powerful.”
This is incredible @Simone_Biles no one should dictate what beauty is to any of us. Having grown up in this industry my whole life I’ve had to deal with unfair beauty standards placed on me, andover the years it’s really taken a toll mentally. This is so powerful. #NOcompetition https://t.co/7f0RHOYPCD
Not so fast! Just weeks ago Issa Rae was the recipient of pushback from fans on social media after announcing the fifth and final season of “Insecure,” but already those same people are singing her praises. On Feb. 11 it was announced that Issa has been working on a new show tentatively titled “Rap Sh*t” with the help of Miami rap group City Girls.
The eight-episode comedy show will air on Issa’s home network HBO Max, although a date has not yet been announced.
Issa Rae rapping during a scene for her former web series “Awkward Black Girl” alongside co-star Sujata Day. (Photo: @issaraepresents/Instagram)
The show is set in Miami and will “follow two estranged high school friends from Miami who reunite to form a rap group,” according to the The Hollywood Reporter.
“Insecure” fans everywhere let out a huge sigh of relief.
“This quiets the Insecure last season tears.. Congrats! Ready for more gold!!✨✨”
“I thought our girl was gonna leave us hanging. HA”
“Did I just get a WootWoot alert. Go ahead Issa. Can’t stop, won’t stop.👏🏾”
“Oooooooh the excellence is brewing”
Rap Duo City Girls Yung Miami (L) and JT (R). Photo: @citygirls/Instagram
While Issa has shared that the City Girls are her favorite group, and even featured their songs on episodes of “Insecure,” it’s not a far stretch that the rappers’ Miami roots made them the perfect pick to co-executive produce the show.
The show’s premise has fans wondering if the show will tie in bits and pieces of Issa’s 2012 web series “Ratchet Piece Theatre,” where she comically broke down ratchet rap lyrics, or her own lyricism often showcased on “Insecure.” But above all else, countless people tweeted the actress in hopes of shooting their shot to land a role on the upcoming show.
“Y’all hiring?”
“Issa let me get coffee for y’all while y’all work on this. Or let me write. I’m fine with either sis. Please😖”
“😂need to be apart of the music Supervision team for this!!”
“What a coincidence. I can write and rap. I would be perfect for that show, where do I audition😊”
International trade for this article is explained as, “a means of connecting a seller and a buyer to trade across countries for a particular good(s)/service(s) at an agreed price, with accepted payment instrument, and an acknowledged sanctioned working procedure”.
Trade is simply the selling and buying of goods or services. Where a seller puts across a good or service searching for a credible buyer, and the buyer seeks (agrees) to purchase the good or service of the seller. Buyers on the other hand, in an equal measure require a credible, efficient, track record and seller who can perform seamlessly.
Borders/Boundaries is the physical demarcation or territorial sovereignty of nations (countries). Example is, Ghana is bordered to the East by Togo, Ivory Coast to the West, and Burkina Faso to the North. These three countries Ghana shares boundaries/borders with basically are our neighboring countries. There is as well the broader boundaries or borders of continents, for instance we have Africa, Europe, Asia, North America and South America, and Australia.
Goods/Services is the item or product of transaction between a performing seller and a credible buyer. Hence without goods or services in essence, trade or international trade cannot happen in a vacuum. So, goods or services of any variety is the fulcrum around which trade or international trade evolves.
Price is the single most important agreement or discussion that ensures trade or international trade takes off on a smooth starting. Price is the economic value at which a good or service is exchanged between a seller and a buyer for mutual benefits. Price discussions, negotiations, countering, acceptance and agreement is critical to finalizing a trade between any two interested parties. Price is key to satisfying both seller and buyer to agree to trade. Price solidifies and fortifies the spirit and intent of trading or engaging the common interest of both seller and buyer.
Payment Instrument is the guarantee or assurance of settling the agreed price and accepted payment schedules or arrangement. In strict international trade or business transaction, instrument might imply any of the following: Stand-By Letter of Credit (SBLC), Letter of Credit (LC), Bank Guarantee (BG), Block Fund, Proof of Fund (POF), Bank Comfort Letter (BCL) and others. Payment can be by Swift messaging or others. The commonest and often requested mode of Payment is MT103.
Procedure/Steps of Engagement is the agreed ‘way and manner’ for which both seller and buyer have agreed to guard and guide the business transaction or trade between both parties. Procedure is usually given by seller to buyer for consideration by buyer. However, buyer can as well submit their proposed procedure for seller’s consideration. In any which way, either the seller or buyer is at free will to ‘counter’ the procedure for final acceptance by both parties.
Nonetheless to enter into international trade, just like a customary administrative or managerial functions or roles, it is necessary and incumbent you appreciate the following tools or principles (however, not limited to them): • Activation: Activation is meant to initiate a business dealings with the next party or partner. By activating a party or partner in international trade or business, it is recommended you come prepared, straight to point, clear and concise and precise with what the activation is about. The activation should be enough to fully get the other partners desire to enter into a business or trade with your offer or activation. Simply put, activation can equally be referred to as an offer from one party (buyer/seller) to the other party (seller/buyer). In practice however, activation or offer can be: Letter of Intent (LOI), Irrevocable Corporate Purchase Order (ICPO), Full Corporate Offer (FCO) and others.
• Trust: Trust is simply to get and secure the attention of the other party who has fully been activated. Trust is never an end on itself. Trust is work in progress. Trust needs always to be spiced with water, air, nutrients and constant food by both parties to ensure both parties are at par with each other in terms of information, updates, expectations and projections. Trust is not to be jeopardized for anything. Trust is not to be taken for granted. Once trust is missing or jeopardized, then expectedly nothing fruitful can come out of the business at hand.
• Integrity: Integrity is key to business transactions. Both seller and buyer ought to ensure their integrity is top notch and free from dirt. Integrity comes for both the firm or business and the individual representatives of the firm or business. At any moment, integrity is lost for the firm or personality, then the business at hand suffers a detrimental and unrepairable damage. Integrity is the soul, body, spirit and vehicle covering the success or otherwise of any business transaction.
• Confidence: Confidence is imperative to setting the business tones and asserting the competence of parties to a trade or business transactions. Confidence basically exhibits our ability to perform a trade or business to the life span of such a transaction. The confidence we exhibit to our partners in business (trade) convinces and wins us over to them. Confidence is one business tool we ought to take seriously and continue working on to ensure we boast our assurances and personality.
• Long term relationship/rapport: Any moment we intend activating any business prospects, we ought to reflect that it is for a long term. This is because, business is a going concern and expected to live for the foreseeable future. Hence, any moment we activate or offer a business prospects to any partner, we should ensure we do that for keep. Meaning we are going into such business prospects for a long term relationship or rapport. The relationship or rapport we build and keep with our business prospects or partners goes a long way to show whether such a trade or business have a Short term or long term relationship and mutual benefits?
• Competence: You would realize that, from the point of activating a business prospects or partner, to building trust, to ensuring integrity, to cementing confidence and to ensuring a long term business relationship, we ought to be competent of our business or trade offer. Competence is vital to securing and consolidating a business prospects or transaction. Be competent on what you want or have to offer. Be competent on how you want it delivered or intent delivering. Be competent on why you need the other partner (cannot overlook your offer) or why they can’t do without you. Be competent on where you want the partner to deliver or where you will deliver up to. With competence we show no weakness or lack of knowledge to the other partner, such that our incompetence be exploited against our interest. Simply put, competence is to abide by the agreed timelines, arrangements, understandings and schedules.
• Professionalism: A principle worth emulating and practicing is, “at all times be professional and exhibit professionalism to the latter”. Be professional in all your dealings or correspondences with the party you into business or intent being in business with. Being professional pays a lot. When you least expected, your professionalism opens more opportunities to you than being disrespectful and belligerent. Go for professionalism when into business transaction or trade. Professionalism is to abide by the etiquettes and training of your profession or industry of practice. Such that you exhibit great maturity, calmness and much resolve to going by what ought to guide and ensure success of the trade or business you into with your other parties.
• Understanding: Without understanding one another, basically there is no need for projections, no need of planning and no need to work as a team to achieve set goals or target of the business prospects. Understanding is imperative if at all an international trade or business is to be successfully closed. Each party of the seller and buyer are required at all times to reach understanding on what is to be executed/implemented, how to be executed, when to be executed, where to be executed and why to be executed for a desired outcome. With understanding between seller and buyer at material times, all the above critical questions are adequately discussed at length and agreed, and procedures are placed at each predetermined stage to be achieved seamlessly and efficiently devoid of misunderstanding.
• Pro-Activeness: Pro-activeness in simply terms requires the ability to prepare forehand for any inconvenience, mishaps, delays or disappointments that might impede the success or otherwise of the business prospects or trade at hand. Pro-activeness requires us to be foresighted on happenings in our business environment, to have oversight on intricacies of business transactions, have a firm insight on knowledge of the industry of practice, and clear convictions on decisive decisions we take periodically. Proactiveness is one business tool we ought to train oneself often in other to acquire the tools of foresight, oversight, insight and clear convictions. These tools when we put to practice will have a direct correlation on our business dealings, such that it will guide and aid us to render sound judgment.
• Sound Judgment: Sound Judgment is the instance to make injunctions, inferences and conclusions that stands the test of time and is relevant. The ability to make sound judgment on business transactions and most especially in international trade goes a long way to sanction the success or otherwise of such a business prospects or trade. Sound judgment is a skill and business tool worth mastering in the business world. Sound Judgment interestingly bars emotions and feelings into decisions making. Devoid your sound judgment from emotions, feelings and guesses, which most often is not empirically driven for an optimal efficient solutions.
• Experience: Experience is the composition of all what is required to guard and guide utterances, writings, thoughts and correspondences in a business prospects or trade. Experience gives one the spring board to shoot higher than its partner who is not well versed in such a business prospects or trade. Experience is the mother of succeeding or failing in a business. Success to a large extent in international trade is dependent on how experienced one is in such a trade or business line. The reverse is largely true. In any capacity you are currently in, the advice is to sacrifice your time and energy with devotion to learn and practice your skill or trade to perfection. In effect you are gathering your wealth of experience and wisdom which is a cardinal business principle worth inculcating.
In all these let me link it to the reality of international trade or business prospects with an excerpt of message sent a partner some time past:
“Hi Seller A,
Good Morning Seller A. Trust our mail reaches you doing fine. We extend warm greetings as well to your entity.
We write to ask for your response to the 30 days LC sent by Buyer B on the 8th of January 2020 by Representative C.
On the 25th of January (specifically 22nd of January) 2020 we were made to understand that in 10 days’ time we would get Seller A’s final response. Today the 5th of February 2020 is exactly 10 (working) days as we were promised.
Kindly we wish to know: 1. What is the response from Seller A to Buyer B on the transaction at hand? 2. What specifics are the Issues (concerns or worries) of Seller A regarding Buyer B’s issuing of 30 days LC? 3. What does Seller A require Buyer B to satisfy for this transaction to go through? 4. Any genuine feedback worthy of Buyer B’s knowing after the ‘due diligence, background check and verification’ of Seller A’s bank on the 30 days LC (the transaction at hand)?
We (Representative C) strongly suggest the following as the way forward: 1. Seller A and Buyer B should have a conference call first thing today (preferably before noon, 12:00pm). 2. Seller A should put in writing acceptance of the 30 days LC or otherwise stating issues worthy for Buyer B’s attention. An acceptance and assurance is highly recommended. 3. Propose a timeline for the shipment schedules for the transaction at hand. 4. Show more willingness and capacity to perform to Buyer B. 5. Ensure more communication and timely correspondence with Buyer B.
We expect Seller A is in the know that, as part of understanding between Seller A and Buyer B, Seller A was supposed to show PPOP (partial proof of product) as soon as Buyer B issues the 30 days LC.
We encourage Seller A to bullet their genuine concerns with the 30 days LC as advised by their bank for Buyer B’s consideration. Most importantly with the proposed conference call, this should be settled once Seller A and Buyer B discuss the issues.
Counting on your full cooperation and kindest consideration. We expect to have a swift response from your end. Thanks for your assistance.”
The above excerpt is an instance of a quarter billion dollars commodity transaction, the aftermath of which was not materialized. There is a word called ‘SETBACK’. Setback is bound to happen in a business prospects or international trade especially when a party (seller/buyer) has followed the rules (procedure, understanding and contract) to the latter. Once setback sets in, the ability to manage the setback gives a clear picture on your mindset, maturity, calmness, composure, acumen and likelihood of bouncing back strongly and spectacularly. It is my strong proposition that, no matter the gravity of the setback in shutting the success of the business or trade at hand, ‘the equal measure of energy and focus we redirect (and channel) in making a resounded come-back is the antidote in granting us the best, effective, strategic and optimal solutions (outcomes)’. Kindly never give up, no matter the avalanche of setbacks, disappointments and failures. Be a fighter, a hero and champion you are to stand tall, bold, daring and fearless to conquer all setbacks and fears. All the best in your strides thus far in achieving your dreams and goals.
Author Name: Ismail M. KAILANI. Title: Head of Research and Operations, Aliska Consult Ltd-Accra
