Toki Mabogunje; Breaking the glass ceiling one SME at a time

Her warm personality, smile and calm mien are the first things that greet you when you walk into her cozy office in a quiet part of the busy and popular Allen Avenue in Ikeja, Lagos State.

Mrs Toki Mabogunje is the current Vice President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Founder of Toki Mabogunje & Co. (TMC). TMC is a business consulting firm that nurtures, grows and scales small and medium scale businesses in the private sector.

Trained as a lawyer, Mrs Toki worked with the Federal Ministry of Justice for 9 years as an Assistant Legal Adviser in various federal ministries mainly around business law and later as a Senior State Counsel in the Mercantile and Industrial Law Department. After a masters programme in International Business Law from the University of Exeter in England, Mrs Toki made a switch to the private sector into broadcasting just at the time when it was blossoming in the country. She worked as the Group Head, Legal and Corporate Affairs for the start up enterprise, Minaj Media Group and was later transferred to head the North American Directorate of the broadcasting company in New York where she lived for another three years and eventually became President of the international subsidiary of the firm.

Fuelled by the support she saw small and medium scale businesses receive during her stay in America, she returned to found Toki Mabogunje & Co. in January, 2000. In its 16 years, TMC has nurtured numerous small and medium scale businesses, assisted corporate organization scale their services, consulted for international development organisations to develop the private sector SMEs and continues to do more across the African continent.

Outside of her roles at TMC and LCCI, she also volunteers as a mentor for young women on various mentorship platforms including Women in Business (WIMBIZ), Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR), Fate Foundation and has received numerous awards in recognition of her selfless service to society.

Amongst them are the Volunteer of the Year Award by the Fate Foundation in 2001, the Volunteer Corps Award in 2008, an Achievement Award by the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs in 2009 for breaking the glass ceiling and the Outstanding Volunteer Award by the Fate Foundation in 2010.

Speaking on work-life balance for the 21^st Century career woman, she argued that today’s younger generation of women have romanticised marriage so much that it is not uncommon to see women who are getting married but have made no plans on how to stay married. While a perfect work-life balance may be non-existent, she believes women need to think married life through and have plans in place on how to cope with work and life, as even the littlest of decisions would impact greatly on desired outcomes.

Watch the excerpts of our chat with her at the TMC office in Ikeja, Lagos.