Jani Ibrahim’s Rise to West Africa’s Business Frontline

Jani Ibrahim’s career has followed an unusual arc: engineer first, industrialist second, institution builder last, each stage quietly funding the next. In September, that arc reached West Africa, when he was elected President of the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI).

The election happened in Abidjan, at FEWACCI’s 11th Annual General Assembly, placing a Nigerian at the head of a body coordinating chambers across the region. Ibrahim arrived already serving as National President of NACCIMA, Nigeria’s chamber federation, a post he has held since June 2025.

Before either title, though, there was a workshop floor. Ibrahim graduated with First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering from Greenwich University in London on a British Petroleum scholarship, before working through Nigerian corporate roles including Managing Director of Nigeria Airways and Stallion Properties. Entrepreneurship followed. 

He founded Lubcon Group, whose flagship company became the first indigenous lubricant blender in Nigeria to earn ISO certification, later expanding blending operations into Ghana and Ethiopia. Lubcon has since grown into financial services, construction, hospitality and agriculture.

That diversification has something to do with his current mandate. A businessman who built an indigenous manufacturer in an industry once dominated by multinationals brings particular credibility to conversations about strengthening African trade rather than simply talking about it.

With advocacy that has been consistent, Ibrahim has pushed for greater participation by Nigerian small and medium enterprises in the African Continental Free Trade Area, and NACCIMA under him signed a cooperation agreement with Togo’s chamber earlier this year.

At FEWACCI, that advocacy now carries formal weight across borders. His mandate includes strengthening cooperation among West African chambers and advancing the regional economic integration that AfCFTA was designed to deliver but has struggled to implement at scale.

From a factory floor in Kwara to a boardroom in Abidjan, Ibrahim’s trajectory reflects an argument he has made for years: that Nigerian enterprise, done properly, does not need to stay confined within Nigerian borders.