FoodCo Restates Commitment to Retail Growth

By Omolabake Fasogbon…

Consumer goods firm, FoodCo Nigeria Limited has restated its commitment to the growth of the Nigerian retail sector, just as it graduated the first set of its fellowship programme.

The fellowship programme was introduced in 2019 to improve the capacity of post-graduate students looking at building a career along the retail sector. Benefitting students were exposed to fundamentals of management and best practices and placed in real-life problem-solving situations to enhance their ability to think and evolve ideas for business decision-making.

Human Relations Business Partner of FoodCo Nigeria, Adetoro Adewuyi explained that the fellowship was initiated to address dearth of skilled professionals at management levels to consequently drive growth of Nigerian retail sector.

She said, “The Nigerian consumer retail segment where FoodCo operates is one of the largest in Africa. However, most of this market is in the informal space which leaves a lot of room for wastage especially in the areas of human capacity development and resource optimisation. This is the challenge the fellowship seeks to address by nurturing a new generation of retail business leaders with the right career orientation, multi-functional skills and top-notch leadership training, necessary to help Nigerian retail achieve its potential.”

She added that with the outcome of the programme, the retail sector holds a promising future in terms of attracting a talented pool of managers and leadership who understand the key operations and can drive key innovations in the sector. One of the fellows, Oluwatomilade Soremekun, described the training as an eye-opener to the rich prospects of the Nigerian retail industry

He said: “The fellowship has changed my perception towards the industry, especially with respect to the many untapped opportunities for a rewarding career in management and leadership roles. I am grateful to FoodCo for the opportunity and also urge MBAs and other post-graduate students who are considering a career in retail to apply for the fellowship, given the immersive training style that puts students in the frontline of everyday business decision-making.

The fellowship programme is designed as a 24 months rotational programme of which successful candidates selected from an initial 3-months internship phase are offered placement into the two-year programme.