Olufunke Okoro is a distinguished figure in the procurement and merchandising industry, celebrated for her exceptional expertise, innovative approach and leadership. With over 15 years of experience in sourcing and procurement, she has successfully managed a diverse portfolio of projects for clients across the globe. Her expertise spans a wide range of procurement in manufacturing, energy, agriculture, construction and oil and gas industries showcasing her versatility and depth of knowledge in the field, and solidifying her status as an award-winning industry leader.
Olufunke’s academic journey began at the University of Ibadan, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. This foundation in psychology has been instrumental in her career, allowing her to understand clients’ needs and foster meaningful relationships with suppliers. She later pursued a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Middlesex University Business School UK, equipping her with strategic insights that enhanced her procurement practices.
As the Managing Director of Dumare Ltd, Olufunke has built the company into a leading procurement firm that has carved a niche as the go-to company for major players such as NNPC, Total Energies, Zenith, UBA, Oando, Stanbic IBTC, MTN, 9Mobile, ATC Nigeria, Pernod Ricard, Bank of Industry, and KPMG amongst others. Her ability to forge strong partnerships with these organisations is a testament to her strategic acumen and unwavering commitment to excellence.
In addition to her operational achievements, Olufunke is passionate about mentorship and empowering the next generation of procurement professionals. She actively engages in training programmes and workshops, sharing her insights and experiences to inspire others.
In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE-KORIEOCHA, she speaks on how she started off small scale business to managing several businesses across procurement, manufacturing, supply chain and production lines.
How did you come about the name ‘Dumare?
Dumare is coined from a Yoruba word ‘Edumare’, which means God. You remember the song ‘Edumare done bless me oh’ by 2Face. I really liked the song and that year I was going to start my business. I thought of giving the business the name, ‘Dumare’. That was how we got the name, Dumare.
From procurement, to human resource management; how did you get into merchandising?
My first degree was in Psychology from the University of Ibadan and I did my masters in Human Resource Management outside Nigeria. When I finished my Masters, I relocated back to Nigeria. I have always been a business person while in school. While in school when we go on summer break, I buy clothes and sell them to my friends. When I finished school, I knew I wasn’t going to work for anybody; I was going to start my business. When I came back in 2007, I started a company which I still run till date. I wanted more. With Dumare, I just stumbled into the business. Something I’m passionate about is my phone. So I’m always researching and browsing. I tell people that there is nothing in the world that you are looking for that I can’t get for you. This started as something within my friends. Maybe we see something in the magazine and we start to ask where we can get it. I would look for an affordable one and may be searching in Indonesia or anywhere else. My friends would send things to me to look for and I would start searching for it. This was within my friends and it wasn’t just for clothes, it was literally anything. It may just be furniture and I’ll search for it maybe in China and I’ll bring it in. And I just thought this could be a business for me and at that period, I had an aunty that used to weave the Aso oke and I started bringing these clothes to Lagos. I started sewing things and sending them abroad to my friends. I started going to Abeokuta. This was way back 2013 before this became a trend. I will go to Abeokuta, sew my prints and send them abroad. That started as the first chain of business for Dumare. So, we started selling to suppliers on Amazon and Edison . I started producing these things. I’ll speak to my friends if they know anyone that sells on Amazon or Edison. I started putting out the word that if people were looking for African prints or clothes, I sold that. I believe I was one of the people that started selling on Edison and Amazon way back 2013. I was gradually supplying people before COVID happened. I started corporate by the side. Corporate clients will call me to say they needed a chair or bag etc and I’ll import it. When COVID happened, we couldn’t we couldn’t import at the period, so we started thinking of how we can manufacture some of the things here in Nigeria. That was how we started manufacturing some of the basic things like the bags, notepads, the sleeves etc. We started sourcing for leather. We will go to the north and get the leathers. We have a factory in Mushin. When COVID started no one could bring anything from China, especially the PPEs. So we started sewing nose masks. For Lagos, we supply over 200 thousand locally sawn nose masks to Lagos state. That was when we knew we could do these things locally. We made bed sheets locally. We would go to Yaba, source the fabric, sew them and deliver. That made us look inwards and saw the need to take the production locally seriously and today we do the bags. We try as much as possible not to import leather bags. We have notepad, laptop bags amongst others and the reception has been very good with clients. We are all embracing local content. After that, we started going to the north because we had to get access to cheaper leather. This exposed us to another part of our business which now starts as a supply chain because going to the north; we interfaced with farmers, herders. I’ll go and come back with a basket of tomatoes to share with my friends. Basket of tomatoes we got in Lagos for 70 thousand to 80 thousand could be gotten from the north for a very cheap amount. One day we just thought about how we could link the buyers with the farmers. That opened another channel to the supply chain of the business. Now we have three clients we are dealing with now. We link them with their suppliers. We are the go between for them and their suppliers, so they can concentrate on their production. We bring in their cocoa for their chocolate. For our other clients; we link them to farmers in the north to get their tomatoes.
Tell us a bit about the procurement side of the business?
On the procurement part; like I said, we started doing a lot of procurement. We handle procurement for a good percentage of banks. We handle the procurement for most of the top multinationals. We also do their promotional and branding items. What we have done mostly is corporate wholesale. Recently, we just thought we needed to get to the retail market. So that is why we have opened a retail outlet so that we can cater for a larger audience.
All these things we do are all interrelated. The procurement, supply chain and merchandising are all similar. Now we are looking into exporting for our clients. So it’s like a full chain of supply. So, apart from getting the raw produce for our clients, we get the finished products out there for them. So, it’s a full chain of supply.
Why did you study Psychology when you had interest in doing business?
I feel Psychology plays an integral part in what I do today such as building my relationship with my suppliers and my clients. So, I feel with my knowledge in Psychology, I’m able to manage relationships better. In dealing in a business terrain like Nigeria, you have to understand the needs of each client, and how to approach and manage them. So, I think it played a very important role.
What business lessons have you learnt since you started in 2013?
In Nigeria a lot of ‘Gbas Gbos’ will happen to you. So if you want to be successful, you just have to keep at it.
Can you take us through some of the challenges you had when you started and now?
As a woman, people sometimes undermine you. They also perceived the business as not a serious business and I tell people that this industry in Nigeria is a multi-billion naira industry but a lot of people don’t know this. Getting clientele when I started was a bit difficult. You go to people and they don’t take you seriously. But thank God that with my tenacity and keeping at it, I don’t even go to market anymore. I get referrals. When you are talking about the first 10 corporate merchandises in Nigeria, I will be called. That is only happening because I have kept at my craft. I have continued to push and break into the glass ceiling. So, those problems I encountered when I started are no longer problems anymore. Now people know my brand. Most of my clients are even coming from other clients that have referred me. That confidence has been built over the years of hard work.
Our greatest challenge at the moment is the foreign exchange. I’m having to reprice and recost my products. Exchange rate of yesterday is not the same as the exchange rate today. This is a really big challenge. We are giving quotations today and by the time we are done negotiating, the prices are changing. So this is a major challenge.
Are there significant changes in the industry that you are happy about?
We have a lot of new entrances. When we started, there were not many of us. For me, I feel competition is always good. This always pushes people to do better, think out of the box and think of how to diversify.
We are trying to look inwards, so we are producing ourselves and starting to use a lot of AI technology in what we do.
How has the high cost of importation affected your business?
For every business, it has not been easy. The price changes, we are dealing with the foreign exchange and customs as they often change their rates. But over the years, I have built a relationship with my suppliers and they are quite aware of what is going on. My suppliers have been able to appreciate the peculiarity of where I am coming from so that we can continue business.
Is there a point where you draw the line on products you accept or won’t accept?
Because I do a lot of importation, I get a lot of requests for so many items. Nobody can force you to do anything. It is a simple no if I’m not comfortable with the product.
Why the choice of the relatable items that you sell here?
So many people come to us. They see us on Instagram. They walk into our other office and they want to buy items. Like I said, we don’t sell retail items. We have done that for years and people always get us to do that. Sometimes I give concessions, sometimes I don’t. So, I just thought that instead of losing that market, we can as well cater for these people. We made this decision earlier this year.
What separates you from every other merchandiser or procurement expert?
I’m not just a procurement person, I’m also into supply chain; I’m also into production and manufacturing. Most people into my business are probably importing. I import, I export, I manufacture and I’m into the supply chain. I don’t know anybody that does all of these. I’m a professional middle person that takes off the stress from everyone. People appreciate this more. They save more money doing business with me.
