Oyeyimika Adeboye is the Managing Director of Cadbury Nigeria Plc. and also the Cluster Director West Africa at Mondelez International. She joined the Board of Cadbury Nigeria Plc as Finance and Strategy Director in November 2008. She was appointed as Managing Director of Cadbury Nigeria Plc on 1 April 2019 and Cluster Director of Mondelez International West Africa on 1 July 2019.
Oyeyimika is also a director on the Board of Cadbury Ghana Limited. Prior to joining the Mondelez International group, she was the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Finance at Nigerian Bottling Company Plc (NBC).
Adeboye worked for the Nigeria Accounting Practice of the erstwhile accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co, and the United Kingdom Practice of Midgley Snelling & Co., Chartered Accountants, where she also trained as an articled clerk after graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Social Studies from University College Cardiff, Wales.
Oyeyimika is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria. Adeboye is a member of the Board of Odutola Holdings Limited, a family-owned group of companies.
She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Timothy Adeola Odutola Foundation, a family-owned philanthropic foundation set up for the purpose of providing educational, industrial and technological development of Nigerian youths who may be unable to gain access to higher education.
As part of her philanthropic work, Adeboye is a member of the Board of Trustees of YEO Foundation which provides various initiatives to empower less-privileged women. She also contributes her time to partner with Handmaidens WiLS, a Christian NGO, which seeks to mentor and empower professional women along an ethical career path.
Early years
I was brought up in a large family by a father who loved and provided well for his family but was also a disciplinarian and an educationist. His standard was high in all he did. My late father, Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola, was an industrialist who established several manufacturing companies in Nigeria. He was one of the founders of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) as well as its first President. He was very passionate about education and established Adeola Odutola College and Adeola Odutola Elementary School in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. My mother, who is 80, is an entrepreneur and still runs her own business.
Breaking the corporate glass ceiling as the first female MD of Cadbury Nigeria Plc
Today women are being given the visibility and exposure that was probably not a priority in the past. While there is still a huge gap in the recognition and appointment of highly performing women into CEO roles (I measure this by what I see particularly in Fortune 500 Companies), the trend is improving as organisations are consciously taking steps to ensure that women are getting the opportunity to take on very senior roles.
I have been fortunate to be in the C-suite of two multinational companies for more than 20 years. At Mondelēz International, which is the parent company of Cadbury Nigeria, we have a deliberate policy of ensuring that women who are competent are given the opportunity and support required to excel. I was Finance Director for Cadbury West Africa for 11 years, before my appointment as Managing Director. with a career goal to be country lead, it is important to have a deep understanding of our business, our markets, our consumers and other stakeholders. Being agile and working closely with cross-functional teams is also important. However, the unwavering support of our global leadership team was quite critical as no multinational will appoint a country lead (irrespective of gender) if they are not confident that the individual in question can do the job.
What is the greatest obstacle to women rising to the top in the Nigerian private sector and how can this be addressed?
Gender stereotyping is one of the biggest challenges that Nigerian women face in the workplace today. Many organisations still make little effort in supporting female employees to grow in their career. We also have laws in our country that create growth barriers. I found out for example, that the law does not permit women to work night shifts in factories. Such supposedly protective laws present the woman as unable to handle a role in the same manner as a man. So how will she grow in her field and gain the respect of teams that she should be leading?
The statistics is out there of the successful companies, countries and organisations run by women. It is very important that competent women are given the opportunity of occupying leadership positions in organisations. Women are by nature experts at multi-tasking. This is not only peculiar to the private sector, but it is also an issue in the public sector. We need more female leaders in government.
Being at the helm of affairs as MD of Cadbury Nigeria for over 18 months. How has the journey been like so far?
We have a great team and have worked together to ensure that we deliver on our commitments. Our performance in 2019 reflects how well the company is doing and although the pandemic created its own challenges, I feel very blessed to work with an agile team that is determined to keep our business going against all odds. The level of creativity and selflessness is amazing and I am looking forward to what we can do as a team with this level of energy and creativity.
Who are your role models in business and how have they inspired you in your career?
My parents have always been my role models in business. That coupled with my faith as a Christian has helped to shape some of the values that are key to who I am.
How would you describe your management style?
I will summarise by quoting Bill George:
“The role of leaders is not to get other people to follow them but to empower others to lead”
Inspiring words to younger women who are still in the process of shaping their careers
One question I get asked a lot is how I manage to strike a balance between work and family. My answer is simply that one must set one’s priorities right. For me, I put God first, my husband second, my children third, and my job fourth. My job will never come before my faith, my husband, or my children. Women often make the mistake of putting their job before everything else. While the excuse is probably that a lot more is expected out of a working woman, this should not be the case. We choose our priorities, they are not forced on us. In any case my faith has shaped how I handle my relationship with my husband and my children. It has also shaped how I do my work.
With examples like Bournvita, how important is it to promote our local production and how has Cadbury been sustaining this?
Cadbury Bournvita, our flagship brand turned 60 years in Nigeria this year, and has evolved to become the first food drink endorsed by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria. Of course, by embarking on local production, a company adds value to the economy, primarily through direct and indirect job creation and paying of taxes to the government. It has been a mixed bag over the years, as the operating environment has been quite difficult for manufacturers. Like most manufacturers in Nigeria, we have to generate our own electricity and our own water. Sourcing of key raw and packaging materials locally and abroad is a challenge. Operating in a developing market also means we are faced with high inflation, currency devaluation, FX scarcity and a myriad of other challenges that make it difficult to compete favourably outside of Nigeria. It is only by creating an enabling environment for local manufacturers that we can thrive and provide more jobs for Nigerians, create good avenues for export and generate additional revenue for the government.
Your brand is known for reaching everyone including the unreached, and affordable for all at whatever level. Why the decision to follow this format, especially in Nigeria?
At Mondelēz International, one of our values is to love our consumers and brands. We realise that consumers are the reason we are in business in the first place. So, we take deliberate steps to ensure we stay close to our consumers by offering them great products that is affordable. This strategy is also in line with our mission statement, which states in part, that “we are focused on nourishing and delighting our consumers with the right snacks”. We will continue to follow this model because it represents our essence.
What have you done to remain top in your field for so long? What is the sustaining factor?
Innovation has been a key driver of business and it has helped us win the hearts of our consumers and stay relevant in the market over the years. Innovation cuts across new product developments, our route to market and even how we invest in our brands. We were the first in Nigeria to introduce an environment-friendly polypropylene jar for Bournvita, our flagship cocoa beverage brand. We were also the first food drink company to get the endorsement of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) for Bournvita, as a drink rich in vitamins and minerals. This helps to build consumer trust. For consumers looking for a treat, we launched Cadbury 3 in 1 Hot Chocolate drink made with the finest cocoa. Our brands also partner with sports as TomTom, our iconic functional candy brand, is the ‘Official Candy of the Super Eagles ’ This has helped us to connect with football lovers across the country.
As a corporate body operating in a diverse society, we also take social responsibility seriously and have sponsored programmes such as the Cadbury Bournvita Magic Flight for Children, Cadbury/Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Poetry, and Cadbury Bournvita Teachers Award. We continue to connect with our host communities in Agidingbi, Lagos State, and Ondo Town, in Ondo State, through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. Recently we partnered with various state governments supporting their COVID-19 Food banks. We worked with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide our Bournvita to refugees in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. More broadly, we have impacted many lives across Nigeria through our numerous CSR intervention programmes in the areas of education, health, arts and sports. We use these programmes as brand touch points.
Currently, we have a nutrition and healthy lifestyle initiative for pupils in public primary schools within our host communities in Lagos State. The programme, with a budget of $1million over a three-year period, has been applauded by various stakeholders for its impact.
What informs your choice in creation of new products?
New product development is driven by several factors. Consumers must want your product simply because it provides an intrinsic value to them. While we already had Bournvita as a cocoa beverage, we launched Cadbury 3 in 1 Hot Chocolate drink in 2014 because a segment of our consumers told us they wanted an instant cocoa drink that is rich, silky and smooth. Something they can enjoy as a treat. The brand has been an instant success because we listened to our consumers. That said, it is also important to be abreast of changing consumer preferences. For instance, some consumers may want you to introduce a new flavour of a product but you may decide to launch this purely as a seasonal offering.
How are the staff and factory workers being protected from COVID-19? What measures have been put in place to guarantee their safety and protect the goods produced for general consumption?
At Cadbury, we have very strict health and safety protocols which we have always followed as a food manufacturer. Over the years our employees naturally have imbibed our health and safety culture. This has made it easy for us to educate employees and our stakeholders on how to protect themselves from COVID-19. We take safety of our employees and consumers seriously.
Our manufacturing processes are ISO 14001, ISO 4500, ISO 9001, SMETA and IL6S certified. We thrive on being world-class in what we do and being part of the global Mondelez International family means we will never cut corners as we grow our business and expect our brands to be consumed across numerous continents.
What is the greatest lesson life has taught you?
My faith as a Christian has shaped my values and my outlook on life. I believe my primary employer is God and this drives everything else that I do. Life has taught me to always hold on to my faith no matter the circumstances that I may be passing through. Life has taught me not to compromise on my integrity or behave in a way that contradicts what I believe in. Life has also taught me to set high standards in all I do. I expect this of everyone else that I associate with. So, I try to walk my talk. But I cannot claim to have gotten to where I am all by my own effort. My faith, the huge support I have received from my wonderful husband, Ayodele, and my family have been critical to whatever success I have achieved in life.
Final words
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic that has created a NOW NORMAL in the way we do things across the world, I believe it also presents an opportunity for us to become more innovative to survive both as individuals, businesses and nations.
