The story of Olatubosun Fatoki is a riveting one indeed. In search of the proverbial Golden Fleece he left the shores of the country for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirate in 2015, where he had to literally scrap by surviving on his wit ends in a new environment. But his persistence and sheer grit made all the difference. Fast forward to almost a decade later, Fatoki has attained a lofty height which has placed him amongst the forerunners in a foreign land. Widely acclaimed as a visionary entrepreneur and the first Nigerian to establish a real estate company in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Crest Range Properties LLC, Fatoki’s story resonates well with the survival struggles of many Nigerians abroad who are making the most of the opportunities at their disposal. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, he shares interesting insights on his career trajectory thus far. Excerpts:
Going into real estate
I had a baseline experience in real estate working with a property magazine in Nigeria where I had a short stint. So when I came to Dubai it was easy for me to choose real estate as a career path because if you go to any building here, especially in Abu Dhabi, you will see a list of companies that are in that building. And there is no building, almost all buildings I go to have two, three, four to five real estate companies in it. And I know it’s a moving country. So I opted for real estate, knowing that I have a baseline experience back from Nigeria. But coupled with the experience I have in sales, because I’ve been a salesperson all my life, I feel, oh, this is an industry for me. So I picked up from there, started off real estate as a salesperson, as an offline salesperson in Dubai. And that was back in 2016. And from there, I went to Dubai for two years.
And from there, I came to Abu Dhabi to Dubai every day just to do real estate. But, I mean, I was just trying to learn the city, learn the environment, learn the industry, get to know how things work here, and how to go about it. So for the first 2 years, I was in Dubai going on and off every day.
And before I moved to Abu Dhabi, I’m like, listen, now I have a baseline experience of real estate, how it is in Dubai. So it’s time to move close to Abu Dhabi, where I reside. So I moved back to Abu Dhabi, tried a job hunt for it with a real estate company in Abu Dhabi, took it up from there, and I started to build myself.
