Inspiration to start a business comes in many forms and for Emmanuel Apollos, founder of Azare Global Resources, his inspiration comes from his passion for farming and the desire to earn an income legitimately.
Bearing this in mind, Apollos, a serial entrepreneur turned his entrepreneurial dreams into a successful reality when he established Azare Global – an agribusiness.
Prior to venturing into agribusiness, the serial entrepreneur had work experience that spanned across AC Nielsen (now the Nielsen Company) and Zenith Media, among others.
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However, in 2018, he ventured into entrepreneurship, founding several businesses ranging from consulting, agripreneur, and manufacturing.
“Legitimate business has been an innate part of me because l watched my mother switch businesses growing up,” he noted.
Moreover, he said that the quest to broaden his source of income was instrumental to his establishing his firms which got momentum through the opportunity provided by his friend that gave him his first million naira breakthrough.
“My great friend Banks Adigwe provided an opportunity for me to render consultancy services to his company back then. This gave me my first N1 million, and just as it’s said; the rest is history.”
To he owns a successful agribusiness providing a range of agricultural services across various value chains.
Speaking about the challenges in his business space, he said; “Growth is subjective depending on the perspective of evaluation. The most important thing is that none of my business interests has been swallowed by raging economic uncertainty and the unfriendly business environment that characterises our country.”
Besides, Apollos said that according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) report, 767 companies went under in 2023. Moreover, he said that a 30 percent out of the 24 million registered SMEs in Nigeria have been shot down.
This, he said implies that any small-scale business that is still surviving in Nigeria today is doing well.
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On how he has been navigating the murky water of Nigeria’s business space, Apollos said; “A combination of things cuts the ice for us. I have an excellent team ready to go the extra mile.
“Besides, there are other factors that have helped the business thrive such as differentiation, consumerism, and value-driven orientation. Without neglecting low OPEX policy that keeps overheads very minimal.”
He described the business terrain in Nigeria as being quite challenging.
“It’s not for the soft-hearted. The statistics are scary. You may have heard that Kimberly Clark may be exiting Nigeria after injecting $100 million. I’m sure you are aware that P&G, GSK, Sanofi and several other multinationals have already left Nigeria. This is a testament that the business environment is hostile,” he noted.
However, Apollos reiterated that the country’s enormous population is a major advantage, even though inflation weakens purchasing power.
“The food industry, especially agricultural subsector may continue to thrive because people will eat. The pharmaceutical industry will do well because health is a priority for a lot of people,” he adds.
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Nonetheless, he frowned that the expansion drive in Nigeria’s agribusiness sector is in backward integration.
According to the serial entrepreneur, bad government policies, multiple taxation, and inflation affect the cost of raw materials. He said rising MPR is making access to loans a difficult call to make.
He urged the government could retract its steps because according to him, the focus of the manufacturing sector is the distribution drive, and this requires much financial empowerment.
Apollos has about 20 employed workers on his payroll and hopes to employ more as the business thrives.
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