Josh Akabum
🇨🇲Cameroon· Douala
"If your knowledge of market structure is messed up, you're not going to go far in this journey."
Trading Methodology: ICT | Smart Money Concepts | Market Structure
Josh Akabum (aka JoshTrades_ICT) is a full-time forex trader from Cameroon with over 6 years of experience, specialising in ICT (Inner Circle Trader) methodology and Smart Money Concepts. His approach combines deep market structure analysis with liquidity mapping — identifying where institutional money moves before retail traders react.
Josh discovered trading through a WhatsApp forex seminar, but what started as curiosity quickly became a calling. Coming from a background in MLM affiliate marketing, he immediately recognised trading as a business built on skill, not persuasion — and committed fully. In Cameroon, where trading is still widely misunderstood and labeled as a scam, Josh has become a pioneer — one of the first credible, verifiable traders to build a public track record from Central Africa.
His $1K-10K FLIP brand is built on a simple but ruthless premise: identify high-probability patterns, define the risk before entry, and execute without emotion. His signature setup is the EBP (Engulfing Bar Play) on the daily timeframe. He has been featured on the TradingNut podcast (Episode 142) and interviewed twice by Audacity Capital — making him one of the few African traders with verified international media recognition.
Beyond personal trading, Josh's long-term mission is to open trading academies across Cameroon and Central Africa — making financial markets accessible to a generation that was told their only path was government employment.
Interview
What was the exact moment you decided trading was your path?
When I was invited to a forex seminar via a WhatsApp group chat. I didn't have much expectation initially, but I had an open mind. When I saw all the earnings others made from the comfort of their homes, it was a WOW moment. I came from a failed MLM background, so to me this was the perfect business — you didn't need to convince anyone to join before you make money.
What is it like to build a trading career in Cameroon?
Trading is still at its early stages here. The predominant belief is that you should get good grades, secure a government job. In my early years, most people including family didn't understand what I was doing — anything related to making money online was considered SCAMMING. On top of that, we face infrastructural challenges like electricity outages and poor internet — your trade can fill several seconds late and those seconds can make all the difference.
Why is ICT fundamentally better for you than other retail methods?
I don't personally think ICT is superior to all other methods — I know traders who make money with other systems. But for me, ICT has context and logic that most retail systems lack. With other systems it's usually just patterns with no framework behind them. ICT and Smart Money concepts give you the reasoning for why price moves a certain way at certain levels. That logic made all the difference for me.
How do you manage the psychological pressure of account flipping?
Go BIG or Go Home — meaning I tell you already: it can go both ways, and you must be ready to accept either outcome and still walk with your head up high. Before any flip I define the risk and accept it before taking the very first trade. With my 7+ years of experience I've come to recognise patterns that repeat themselves — based on my stats I turn successful 7 times out of 10. That experience reduces the psychological pressure significantly.
What is your single best setup if a fund manager gave you $1M to trade one pattern?
The EBP — Engulfing Bar Play — from the daily timeframe.
