Businessman and Sahara Group co-founder Tonye Cole has shared how his wife became the family’s sole provider for nearly three years while he focused on building what would later become one of Africa’s leading energy companies.
Speaking on the Afropolitan Podcast, Cole said he and his business partners invested all their savings into the company and agreed not to draw salaries during the early stages of the business.
‘We Put Everything Into the Business’
Cole explained that the decision meant the founders had to rely on alternative sources of income to survive while the company found its footing.
“For about two and a half to three years, we took everything, all my savings, everything, and put it into the business. None of my partners or I earned anything from the business. We all had to survive and support ourselves from other sources,” he said.
According to him, two of his partners depended on income from their clothing business, while his wife became the family’s financial backbone.
‘My Wife Paid the Bills’
Cole said his wife, who was then undergoing her housemanship as a medical doctor at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), used her modest salary to take care of the family’s needs.
“My wife was a medical doctor at the time, doing her housemanship at LUTH. For that period, we lived on her little salary. She was in Lagos, I was living in Port Harcourt. I had to trust her, and she had to trust me. She paid the school fees, the electricity bills and everything else while I focused on building the business,” he said.
‘Those Sacrifices Paid Off’
Reflecting on the experience, Cole said the period strengthened his belief in trust, sacrifice and shared vision in marriage.
He encouraged couples to support one another through difficult seasons, noting that the rewards of patience often become evident with time.
“Today, I can afford everything. My wife is a trained woman; she doesn’t have to work. The compounded interest of those sacrifices paid off. By far, compounded interest works beautifully,” he added.