Nume Ekeghe
As part of efforts to build capacity in the consumer goods sector in Nigeria, FoodCo Nigeria Limited, a diversified consumer goods company with interests in retail, manufacturing and fast food, has instituted a fellowship programme aimed at preparing MBA students for leadership roles.
This is against the backdrop of projected growth in the food and consumer goods market segment, currently the largest in Africa, which was expected to hit $40 billion by 2020.
Announcing the Fellowship, an Executive Director at the company, Mr. Ade Sun-Basorun, stated that the initiative was targeted at building capacity for management positions. He added that the FoodCo Fellowship program became imperative in order to train a specialised workforce that would drive the expected growth in the sector and help it maximise its potential.
He said: “As modernsation and a population shift from rural to urban centres continue to stimulate growth in the Nigerian consumer goods retail sector, the FoodCo Fellowship program aims at preparing a complementary workforce with the requisite skills and disposition to harness the vast opportunities within the sector and transform it into a significant economic bloc.”
He continued: “Candidates are selected from MBA or Masters programs and set up in teams where they are expected to solve real world operational issues including team building, leading others, analysing problems, communicating solutions and progress in both related and non-related fields.
“Whereas similar programs place trainees in a learning position where they understudy employees in the hopes of gaining work experience or mandatory credits for their degrees, the FoodCo Fellowship puts fellows in the centre of everyday business decision-making and practice so they can learn while simultaneously impacting the organisation with their personality and wealth of knowledge gained in the classroom.”
Sun-Basorun, also disclosed that successful participants would be offered full time employment at the organisation, on completion of their programs.
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