Joy Adewuyi Champions Competence-Driven Entrepreneurship in Nigeria

Joy Adewuyi, a Nigerian entrepreneurship expert and business consultant, continues to emerge as a leading voice redefining how modern entrepreneurship is understood in Nigeria, with a strong focus on competence, innovation and sustainable business growth.

An independent thinker by her own description, Joy challenges the traditional notion that innovation is limited to problem-solving alone. According to her, innovation has three origins. “I emphasize generative innovation and opportunity ideation as the two other origins of innovation,” she said, explaining that her work helps entrepreneurs recognise and leverage all three in building viable businesses.

With over 12 years of experience in entrepreneurship and business consulting,Joy has consistently positioned herself as an authority in modern business development. She noted that her drive is rooted in impact. “To help people become skilled business owners reduces business failures and helps people live better lives,” she stated.

One of the major platforms through which Joy is advancing this mission is a recently concluded five-day intensive entrepreneurship workshop aimed at upgrading the skills and competence of over 50 entrepreneurs operating businesses across different sectors in Nigeria. The programme brought together a network of seasoned, thriving entrepreneurs and professionals, including Babajide Oluwase and other industry experts.

The workshop was designed to tackle one of the leading causes of business failure in Nigeria: inadequate knowledge and weak business development skills among entrepreneurs. According to Joy, competence gaps continue to undermine the sustainability of many small businesses. “We are dealing with many young people aiming to be business owners but with zero competence at building a business. They continue to fail, leaving them with pain, wasted resources and wasted time,” she said.

Held between January 13 and 18, the five-day programme featured hands-on learning sessions, structured assignments and in-depth business assessment exercises. Participants were taken through practical processes aimed at strengthening their capacity to drive sustainable business growth going into 2026.

Key sessions focused on cross-border trade and market expansion opportunities for Nigerian SMEs across Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This segment was championed by Babajide Oluwase, who shared insights drawn from her extensive experience in leveraging cross-border opportunities for business growth.

Another major session addressed short-term operational cycles for optimal SME performance. This was led by JTA, who explained why a quarterly three-month cycle is critical for SMEs seeking to manage resources effectively and navigate today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environment. She recommended a cycle built around planning, execution and analysis.

Business accounting also featured prominently in the programme. Olubunmi Omonubi dissected early-stage business accounting practices and highlighted the relevance of Nigeria’s new tax laws to sustainable business operations and long-term growth.

Participants were further exposed to the importance of incorporating investment income into their revenue portfolios. This session was facilitated by Chidimma Ogbuefi, who outlined investment opportunities smart entrepreneurs can leverage to strengthen cash flow and financial stability within their businesses.

According to feedback from participants, the workshop proved highly impactful, with many describing it as a key driver of their business reorientation. Several attendees noted that the programme had reshaped how they think about entrepreneurship and renewed their motivation to intentionally lead company growth over the next 12 months of 2026.

Joy stressed that addressing competence gaps remains critical to Nigeria’s economic future. “To increase the number of growing and sustainable businesses, we must tackle knowledge limitations in both quality and access and walk people through the building process. The success of small businesses growing into scaling companies is a major force for the future economy we seek,” she said.

Her impact in the entrepreneurship space is backed by measurable outcomes.Joy has built a startup that generated up to 50,000 dollars in under 24 months, trained more than 5,000 aspiring entrepreneurs, and developed a business growth framework centred on short-term planning, execution and analysis across a five-year startup lifecycle.

An MBA student of Lagos Business School, Joy is also an African Laureate of the SIBC programme supported by the European Union and a fellow of the Orange Corners Entrepreneurship Management initiative, credentials that reinforce her authority in entrepreneurship education and business growth strategy.

Reflecting on her journey, Joy revealed that entrepreneurship became her lifeline during a period of hardship. “I was about to drop out of school because of poverty in 2014. Entrepreneurship saved me,” she recounted. She also shared a lesson from one of her biggest mistakes. “I once financed a business I didn’t have the capacity to build and wasted my limited resources. That taught me the importance of continuously building competence as an entrepreneur and business manager,” she said.

Outside her professional life,Joy plays tennis, a habit she says helps her maintain balance and discipline.

Summing up her philosophy,Joy insists that the future of Nigerian entrepreneurship will be shaped by skill, not just ambition. “You can build the next great business if you become a competent entrepreneur,” she said.