FATE Foundation recently had a successful outing at her 2nd Annual Alumni Conference which took place at Shell Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos, Nigeria. This event brought together over 300 FATE Alumni Members, Speakers, Consultants for 12 free Consulting Bars and guests from around the world seeking to enhance their knowledge of the Entrepreneurship Industry. Here are the key highlights from the day.

On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, FATE Foundation held its 2nd FATE Annual Alumni Conference at MUSON Centre with the theme, Unlocking the Growth Potential of MSMEs through Partnerships and Innovation, the subthemes of the day covered: ‘Access to Markets’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Brand Management’ and ‘Agribusiness’ broken down to various syndicate sessions. The annual FATE alumni conference is a programme by FATE Alumni for the FATE Alumni Community and serves as a platform for our alumni to learn from entrepreneurial leaders and influencers; share knowledge about key topical areas to grow and thrive as entrepreneurs; while also giving them an opportunity to network and connect with one another. The planning for the program, activities and events was spear headed by the FATE Alumni Planning Committee made up of; Mr Ibrahim Salau Founder/CEO, Environmental Accord (EnvAccord) Aspiring Entrepreneurs Programme (AEP) 4 & Emerging Entrepreneurs Programme (EEP)11, Roselyn Onalaja Managing Consultant, StreSERT Services Limited EEP 9, Olusegun McMedal Brand Strategist, Upticomm Marketing Company Limited AEP 16, Adenike Adeyemi Executive Director FATE Foundation, Chukwuma Fred Agbata (CFA) Founder, Techsmart.ng AEP 33, Ekene Som Mekwunye CEO, Riverside Productions AEP 29, Fatai Olayemi Coordinator, Business & Alumni Support Services (BASS), FATE Foundation, Barakah Ibisomi BASS, FATE Foundation, Udo Itoro BASS, FATE Foundation. The event was seamlessly facilated by, Fayo Williams Executive Director and Superintendent Pharmacist, Rely Supply Limited EEP 5 and Jide Benson CEO, BHC AEP 21.


The Free consulting bars were set up in the Shell hall for easy access, they offered advice and answers to frequently asked questions, the consulting bars were; credit counselling handled by CRC  Credit bureau limited, Finance software by InfoWare Limited, Sustainability by Environmental Accord limited, Access to finance by Lagos State employment Trust Fund, Tax by FIRS, Legal by DIY Law, HR advisory by StreSert Services Limited, Financial Advisory by DS Professional Services, ommunications by Upticomm Marketing limited, Digital Strategy by TWay Media, HRM Software by TAMS Limited, and Payment solutions by FlutterWave.

The Conference Started at 9am prompt with the welcome address delivered by the Executive Director of FATE Foundation Mrs. Adenike Adeyemi, this was followed by the opening remarks by Mr. Ibrahim Salau.

At 9:15am the special guest of honour and keynote speaker Mr. John Momoh (OON) Chairman and CEO, Channels Media Group gave the Keynote address on “Unlocking the Growth potential of MSMEs through Partnerships and innovation”. The interactive question and answer session with Mr. John Momoh was moderated by Toyin Bakare, Executive Director SAS Textiles Nigeria Limited also a FATE alumni from the EEP 8, and then it was time for the FAME AWARDS, this Award is for the FATE Foundation Alumni business men and women who graduated from our Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Emerging Entrepreneurs and IVD Programmes (AEP, EEP & IVD) since inception. The recipient of this award is a FATE Model Entrepreneur who is doing significantly well and impacting his/her sector/industry; is an upcoming or recognized market leader; gives back to FATE through active participation in FATE business and alumni support programs and by volunteering their time, efforts and/or resources to teaching/mentoring/advising other FATE entrepreneurs. Nominations started in July and ended in August. The three FATE alumni nominated were; Roselyn Onalaja Executive Director, StreSert Services Limited, EEP 9, Raphael Atare CEO, Raphgate Chemicals Nigeria Limited, AEP 6, EEP 13, and Peter Obadare Co-Founder, Digital Encode. The Award was presented to Peter Obadare by Mr. John Momoh CEO Channels Media Group and Mr. Fola Adeola Founder/Chairman, FATE Foundation.

The Tea break and Networking at 10:40am led to the first two breakout/syndicate sessions, we had two syndicate sessions run at the same time but different venues, syndicate session 1A “access to Markets: expanding beyond immediate borders” held at the main Shell Hall with the lead session presenter Adenike Ogunlesi Founder and Chief responsibility officer, Ruff n Tumble the other panellists were; Tope afolayan Co-Founder, Mall for Africa, Chiagozie Nwizu Managing partner, Franchise Business Development services, and Ayoyinka Delumo CEO Play Place Nigeria AEP 54, as the moderator, During this session emphasis was laid on Entrepreneurs taking on the responsibility of Researching on their target market and feasibility studies before Scaling up. In the Function room “Sustainability: Building for the Next Generation” was led by Ini Abimbola CEO and Lead Partner, Thistle Praxis Consulting the other Panelists were; Prof. Yomi Fawehinmi Sustainability/CSR Specialist Chevron Nigeria Limited, Tomi Adepoju Partner, Internal Audit, Risk and Compliance KPMG Nigeria and had Funmi Suleman CEO, F3G1 Limited EEP 19 as the moderator, “ a sustainable Business is not just one that lives for a long time, but one that is relevant, competitive and profitable in the long run” this was said by Ini Abimbola during her speech.

The syndicate sessions lasted for 1hour 15 minutes, and by noon it was time for lunch which was made by Sharon Akironye of JusteLunch from our AEP 34 class. At 1:15pm the other syndicate sessions started with syndicate session 2A, “Agribusiness Opportunities: Strategic opportunities to explore within the value chain” held at the Function room and led by the session presenter Ndidi Nwuneli Co-founder and Director AACE Foods the session focused on the opportunities hidden  in the Agricultural sector of Nigeria, According to Mrs Nwuneli, “Hunger is killing more people than Boko Haram in Nigeria”, and African Farmer Mogaji CEO, Food Chain who talked about the importance of Co-Operatives in Agribusiness. The session was Moderated by Mr Samuel Sogbola CEO, Anfani Foods(AEP) 54, In the main Shell hall, the syndicate session 2B was led by the Lead session presenter Charles O’ Tudor Principal Consultant, ADSTRAT Branding Management Consortium the other speakers were; Tara Fela-Durotoye Founder and CEO, House of Tara, Chizor Malize Managing Partner and CEO, Brandzone Consulting LLC, and Chinwe Sophia Onuorah Managing Partner, Business Value Consulting, Nigeria of EEP 20 as the moderator, the session was largely directed towards building a Social Media presence and having your business Social Media page speak for you.

With the syndicate sessions over, everyone converged back at the main Shell hall and had a general session facilitated by Roselyn Onalaja with the four moderators from all the syndicate sessions, Right after Mr. Ibrahim Salau gave the closing remarks as the conference came to a close at 4pm prompt then it was time for Networking and pictures.