Interview
IN this interview, Chinelo Anohu, Senior Director, African Investment Forum, AIF, talks about promoting Women as Investment Champions, connecting women-led businesses to finance, her career journey, in AIF and her mandate as its Senior Director, SD.
She spoke with the New African Woman.
Excerpts:
Chinelo is poised and eloquent throughout our interview. Knowledgeable and convincing on the topics of our discussion. She evidently knows her stuff. The fact that she is a corporate law graduate with a Master’s degree in Computer and Telecommunications Law perhaps makes for her intellectual demeanor.
Twice honored as one of the most influential Africans by the long-running New African magazine and of course by the publication, Chinelo is lauded as one of the continent’s go-setting go-getters who walk the talk, and her career path is a testament to that.
She has worked in the public sector such as the Nigerian Bureau of Public Enterprises where she was part of the team behind the reforms that successfully implemented the privatization of state-owned public enterprises, as well as the private sector starting in Chevron Nigeria.
In 2014 she was appointed Director General of the National Pension Commission of Nigeria (PenCom) becoming the first woman to hold that position – one which she reflects on with honesty and pride. “It was hard but exhilarating work. We first had to draft the Pension Reform Bill, then shepherd it through the National Assembly for passage into law and thereafter set up the National Pension Commission… it wasn’t easy.”
She adds however. “But we were extremely lucky to have the political will of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo behind us, and his unflinching support every step of the way. He was quite resolute that under his watch, the pension problem was going to be tackled once and for all, and so it was.”
Women as Investment Champions
But Chinelo is not only driven, her knack and passion for finding innovative ways of delivering results is also admirable. Soon after her appointment as Senior Director at ALF, she hit the ground running. Less than two months into her role, she birthed Women as Investment Champions, an initiative she is very passionate about because of the significant gender empowerment impact it is already yielding. Indeed, the importance of empowering African women economically is a common fact.
And conversations about unlocking their potential as entrepreneurs of impact is routine; as is talk of how gender equality can accelerate economic growth. And yet, African women remain the most saddled with challenges that obstruct them from excelling economically.
Creating a platform such as Women as Investment Champions is therefore a significant step, and Chinelo is determined to make it work, by helping African women-led businesses excel and scale to sustainable, impactful levels.
The AIF 2021 Virtual Boardrooms which were moved to March 2022, was the first Boardrooms where gender deals were presented as a specific category to investors. Eight deals, with a combined value of US$ 4.856 Billion were presented to investors in various sectors including health, creative industries, and manufacturing.
And the 2022 Market Days that took place in November 2022 in Abidjan, further reinforced the Women as Investment Champion pillar, with additional deals presented for investment dialogue in sectors such as Information Technology.
Sadly, many societies on the continent have both spoken and unspoken limitations on women.
One of the key premises on which the Women as Investment Champions initiative is anchored is identifying women who have great business ideas or great companies and assisting them to expand. “What we found is that most of the time when talking about women businesses, there is almost always an automatic shift to SMEs [Small & Medium Enterprises] and subsistence businesses. While that is in itself, laudable, we encourage the women to lay the foundations that will support eventual scaling,” she explains.
Changing mindsets
However, because of the mindset and norms, some of the women grew up with, they set themselves limitations that hinder them from thinking big, Chinelo points out. “Sadly, many societies on the continent have both spoken and unspoken limitations on women. A woman is often lauded for running a good home, being a good wife, and looking after the children. These are absolutely important but are not mutually exclusive to pursuing her chosen career; A woman can do both! She can run a home, take care of her husband and children and also run a business and excel at both! And may I also say here that I have always believed in the innate multitasking abilities of women. At some point, I hope there will be scientific studies to support this belief,” she proffers adding:
“We therefore work and engage with the women to introduce ways that assist them to identify the champion within.”
Some of the women-led projects on the platform include a textile deal, a tannery, a telemedicine project, a Shea butter maker, a dried foods business, and a woman-led refinery project.
She points out that the telemedicine project, for example, has recently received nearly USD$1million feasibility studies grant from the USTDA [United States Trade and Development Agency]. AIF is now working with the EXIM [Export-Import Bank of United States), to provide the funding for the project, after the studies have been finalised.
‘All of the projects on our platform have different needs and different requirements. But the fact that these businesses are now distilled into bankable projects, and the women have set themselves up for capital investment, is significant,” she states.
Asked if she finds it fulling to see the initiative thriving, she answers with guarded optimism: “It is indeed. But I wouldn’t want to gloss over the effort required, especially with limited resources. However, there is the commitment on both sides — from both the AIF and the project sponsors. There is also the commitment of investors because that is the niche of the AIF — an all-rounded conversation with every component of the ecosystem playing a significant role.
Financial Inclusion & Women in the AfCFTA
The African Union has declared this decade that of “Financial inclusion for women”, and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which is now operational, is also championing more inclusion of women in trade. We sought her view on the two important milestones and she said:
“I’m gratified by the attention women and gender agenda issues are getting not just within the continent, but globally. And for the African Union with all its might, to step out and make such a bold declaration is a plus for women. What needs to be done now is for the member countries to actually take that declaration and meant it. How do you walk the talk?
With regards to the AfCFTA, I believe it is a bold step that would when properly implemented significantly boost the African economy. No doubt, women-led businesses will play a huge role in actually kickstarting and sustaining the robust implementation of the AFCFTA.”
And throughout her professional journey, she has ably juggled career, motherhood, and homemaking. She speaks on these areas with authentic sagacity. A staunch women’s rights champion, Chinelo also believes that to overcome the hurdles constantly thrown at women, they must also learn to move beyond norms (traditional or otherwise) that hold them back. “Our traditions exist and will continue to exist. Because that’s the way we are,” she says but quickly adds: “I am [however] extremely optimistic, and incurably so. I take time to study challenges very carefully because in so doing, I am equipped on what I have to surmount. I, therefore, don’t believe that it is in our interest as women, to dwell on the things that hold us back from achieving our goals. We should instead dwell more on our strengths.”
She also advises women to be the best at what they do. “The fastest and most consistent way of overcoming adversity towards what you do, is the quality of what you bring to the table. How good are you at what you do? Bring superior value. Work, focus on results, and excel. Armed with that, you can deal with anything and can overcome any challenges, no matter how daunting. It is also key to ensure that people’s attitudes do not change yours.”
Can-do-attitude
As we concluded our interview, it becomes even clearer why MOB President, Akinwumi Adesina had this to say on her appointment to her current post in 2019: “Her can-do-attitude, leadership, hands-on experience in working with global pension funds and institutional investors, and extensive global networks among institutional investors, will significantly position and help the Africa Investment Forum to drive its global agenda to attract more investments to Africa.”
PenCom Reform Legacy
But prior to her appointment as DG at PenCom, Chinelo was already part of a leadership team set up and tasked by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, to spearhead pensions reforms in Nigeria.
However, as it is well documented, excel is what she did as head of PenCom. In the five years she held sway, she initiated innovative structures and models which helped PenCom yield contributors that rose from 5 million to close to 8 million, while assets under management grew from $19.3 billion to a record $42 billion. An unprecedented accomplishment and a legacy she left behind at her departure from PenCom in 2017.
Does she look back to that period in her professional life with nostalgia? “Oh. yes! It was baptism of fire that was also exhilarating,” she exclaims adding: “… that’s because when you work endless hours, and you don’t feel it, you must be enjoying what you do… [at PenCom] we didn’t have hours, we just had milestones and deliverables. But it was also an incredible learning ground for me. PenCom equipped me with the skills that I still hold on to even today, for example, to never lose focus in the face of any adversity.”
It is also worth nothing that Chinelo convened the first-ever World Pension Submit Africa, popular and apt event that ran for three years during her tenure at PenCom.
AIF: The multidisciplinary, multistakeholder platform
In May 2019, Chinelo was appointed to her current role – Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum, an initiative championed by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and seven other partners institutions: Africa 50, Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and Trade and Development Bank.
A multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder platform, the AIF is today solidifying itself as Africa’s leading investment marketplace, accelerating transactions aimed at closing Africa’s Investment gaps. “Put simply,” she explains, “The reason why the AIF was initiated was to prepare projects for bankability, create more awareness for them, raise capital, and then accelerate deals to financial closure.”
“Between these mandates lie the very important task of unlocking the bottlenecks that prevent the acceptability of deals for financing; the bottlenecks that lie in raising capital; and the bottlenecks that lie in getting deals closed early enough.” She explains.
And in just 4 years since its inception in 2019, and under her helm, AIF is inarguably delivering – so far to the tune of more than US$100 billion in investment interest mobilization.
And how does she reflect on these four years? “It has been overwhelmingly rewarding, on many counts,” she asserts and explains: “What we have is a collation of successes, highs, and lows. But more importantly, we have redefined the engagement with projects sponsors, the owners of the deals. They are the innovators and remain the future of the continent. What the AIF does is shape these ideas, to make them bankable. We do this by interacting closely, vetting their governance structures, running robust due diligence, and distilling their asks to practical deliverables. Just last November at the AIF Market Days Event, there were 31 billion US dollars of investment interests realized across 48 deals. But there have also been lows.” (Culled from Orientalnews)
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Tags: AfCFTA’ Chinelo Anohu National Pension Commission President Olusegun Obasanjo
