The Game of Money Chesterfield delivered something that only happens when a room full of people who all understand the same quiet pressure finally get to talk about money — this time, not around it but directly at it.

On Saturday, May 16, 2026, hosted by Brains and Banter at a venue in Chesterfield, United Kingdom, the event ran from 1 PM to 5 PM and brought together African diaspora professionals for what organisers described as "real conversations about your money equation."

The conference, themed, Reviewing Your Money Equation, Enhancing Your Wealth Creation, featured three speakers — Dr. Alo Ohio-Omonkhomion, Tope Mark-Odigie, and James Akinsiun — and a four-hour session of value-packed financial literacy lectures and discussions.

What Is The Game of Money, and Why Does It Keep Growing?

The Game of Money is not a one-off event. It is a movement that began in Nigeria, having already run multiple sold-out editions in Lagos, where speakers unpacked wealth-building strategies for salary earners, young professionals, and entrepreneurs, and has now crossed into the UK.

The Chesterfield edition marked a deliberate expansion with an aim to normalise wealth conversations in rooms that rarely have them, particularly within African diaspora communities navigating the specific financial pressures of life in Britain.

There is an established premise: the people who level up financially are not necessarily smarter or luckier. They simply had the right conversations earlier.

The Game of Money is designed to be one of those conversations; a community, a movement, and a sustained shift in how people think about wealth creation, asset building and long-term financial freedom.

Dr. Alo Ohio-Omonkhomion: The Education Economist Who Reframes What "Getting Ahead" Looks Like

Dr. Alo Ohio-Omonkhomion served as both host and speaker at the Chesterfield edition, and her presence carried the kind of weight that her biography earns.

She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Sussex, ranked number one globally for the discipline in 2017, and a BSc in Economics from the University of Hull, which she completed at 19, winning the CIMA Prize for academic excellence along the way. She also holds an MSc from the University of Nottingham.

She is the founder ofBrains & ButterCubs, a bespoke consultancy placing African children in top-fit British boarding schools, and the convener of Brains & Banter, an intellectual platform for diasporan African dialogue that has hosted events at Oxford University and the LSE.

She was recognised as one of the Top 50 Black Future Leaders in the UK in 2008, has lectured at both the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton, and currently serves as Director of Education at OSTRA Schools. She is also the President of the Queens College Lagos Class of 1999, leading a network of over 500 high-achieving women.

At The Game of Money Chesterfield, Dr. Alo delivered a powerful session on reviewing your money equation and enhancing wealth creation. She emphasised that wealth is mathematical, not magical; it is built by design through deliberate systems.

She introduced the Money Equation as a combination of interconnected factors (beyond just income) that generate money, stressing that “there is no money without people.” Participants were guided to identify their money milestones, wealth goals and financial goals.

Dr. Alo shared her FREEDOM Equation and highlighted the importance of building communities (“circles within circles”), leveraging relationships, documenting measurable results, earning recognition, and protecting energy & wellbeing.

She also covered neuroplasticity, the CORE Pillars (Recognition, Regulation, Reasoning, Reframing), and the need to adapt to Gen Z and Gen Alpha realities.

Her core message challenged respectability culture as she urged attendees to shift from scarcity thinking to a creative, opportunity-driven mindset.

Tope Mark-Odigie: The Convener Who Built a Movement Around One Question

Tope Mark-Odigie (TMO), convener of The Game of Money and CEO of REB360 Limited, delivered a session titled, Financial Freedom Sets the Pace.

As a real estate entrepreneur, television host, and wealth educator, TMO has spent years building a conference and this community model.

Her session introduced attendees to the GAME framework, a decoded acronym in which mindset is treated as the first currency you must earn, habits are positioned as the true determinants of financial futures rather than luck, assets are prioritised over income without exception, and execution is framed as more valuable than education alone.

She also challenged Respectability Culture in Britain which is the conditioning to “want less and be grateful,” where compliance is rewarded and creation is discouraged. Her key line: "You were taught to be comfortable. Nobody taught you to be wealthy."

TMO outlined What It Means to Be RICH (Reject competitive thinking, Invest in ownership, Create from your experience, Have the conversation) and led a Mindset Audit to expose limiting beliefs.

She rounded out the session with the WEALTH framework: working on mindset before money, earning through ownership rather than just effort, acting consistently, leveraging existing knowledge, thinking in markets rather than postcodes, and having the conversation — today, not eventually.

James Akinsiun: The Product Manager Who Made the Technical Personal

James Akinsiun, Senior Delivery and Product Manager, brought a grounded, professional perspective to the afternoon. He delivered a practical session on Financial Freedom Sets the Pace at the conference, focusing on wealth, mindset and long-term stability.

He highlighted a powerful takeaway: “We mastered survival, but many of us never transitioned into ownership.”

He pointed out that many skilled professionals are earning more than ever, yet remain stuck in paycheck-to-paycheck living due to lifestyle inflation, lack of proper financial structure and the constant pressure to support extended family.

His session emphasised building assets over just income, the importance of investing and long-term thinking and protecting your future while supporting family sustainably.

Akinsiun challenged the assumption that a good salary equals financial freedom, stressing that “Your salary should fund your freedom plan, not your entire existence.”

He encouraged a clear shift from income dependence to true ownership, moving from building a paycheck to building a portfolio.

He closed with a thought-provoking question that resonated strongly: “Are you comfortable discussing money in your circle?”

If not, he suggested, you may need a new company of like-minded people, as financial growth thrives in community.

What the Attendees Said: Honest, Practical and Necessary

Two attendee testimonials captured after the event reflect what the room felt like from the inside. One attendee, who had travelled two to three hours to get to Chesterfield after discovering the event on Facebook, described the experience as one that challenged her on mindset specifically. "I've been enlightened. I've been challenged. I've been pushed," she said. "For most of these changes, it's a mindset."

Another attendee, Dr. Campbell, a psychiatrist based in Chesterfield who had been in the UK for five years, spoke candidly about rediscovering the investment confidence she had carried from Nigeria and lost somewhere in the process of resettling.

She noted that simply being in the room, being present at the event, had unlocked ideas she could now build into a concrete strategy. She even opened investment apps during the conference itself.

"Being here today really put that thought into something I could put as a strategy and work with," she said. The conversations were, in the words of one speaker reflecting afterward, "honest, practical, and necessary."

These two testimonials are just a slice of a fuller room, but they capture something consistent across the feedback: people did not leave with a to-do list. They left with a shift.

The Game of Money Is Already Being Played

What The Game of Money Chesterfield made clear is that financial literacy alone is not the gap for most people in that room.

The gap is community and a space where African diaspora professionals can speak candidly about money, accountability, wealth creation and the particular pressures of building financial freedom across borders and currencies. The event delivered exactly that: four hours in a room where no one had to explain the context, and everyone could get straight to the work.

The movement has already proven its staying power across multiple editions in Nigeria. The UK edition suggests that the game has only just expanded its board.