Billionaire businesswoman, Titilope Ejinagwa, will walk into a room with her signature smile and still grab the attention of others. She’s as simple as they come. But when you get to know her, you will realise that she is not just an ordinary entrepreneur, but one who believes in working hard in silence and allowing success to make the noise.
When the brainy woman came into the Nigerian market not so long ago, with her ‘Sparkle Rice’, it was a deliberate effort to bring affordable food to the people while also giving them good taste.
Not only that, but she has also proved that she is not a selfish mogul, as she has invested in additional equipment that will make it possible for any of the other rice growers to finish processing their rice products at her factory. It is, therefore, not for fun that she is called the mother of network marketing in Africa by her admirers.
Today, she is one of the most successful marketers to emerge from the continent and she is currently the first black five-star director and global icon of Longrich Bioscience.
In 2012, Longrich, a $20bn OEM products manufacturer for Adidas, Walmart, Carrefour, Procter and Gamble and GSK, had simply wanted to test the African market.
Consequently, in her resolve to help establish Africa operations, she mounted pressure on Longrich to build a permanent smart factory in Nigeria. Her insistence paid off in 2018; and today, a $104m OEM Smart factory is built in Lekki Free Trade Zone in Nigeria, which will export Longrich products to Western Europe and all of Africa from this year. The factory will employ over 600 Nigerians in two years.
Meanwhile, the woman of substance is said to have also substantially invested in real estate. In the last 11 years, she has acquired properties in Dubai year on year. However, her penchant for local content made her decide to bring similar real estate projects to Africa.
Partnering with the Middle East Construction company, ESLA (known as EKO PEARL in Nigeria), the entrepreneur is also the Chairman on the Board of two Nigerian Companies in different phases of development of medium to high rise real estate projects, one of which is the Trillion Tower at Eko Atlantic City.
She also understands that the fossil fuel industry is in transition, as the oil and gas companies are repositioning and re-inventing to make their value-chains greener. This transition phase presented an opportunity for her to invest in the sustainability industry.
As soon as she became a shareholder and Director on the Board of Loofca International, a multinational oil and gas services company registered in Africa and the United Kingdom, she exerted her inaugural pressure again. She wanted the Board of Loofca to update their Greener Earth Operating strategy.
From a business perspective, business continuity in the oil and gas industry is only achievable through sustainability planning and practices. This is the reason she is also currently a member of the Board-committee that is updating Loofca’s sustainability plan to ensure it is future proof.
Ejinagwa, who is also the chairman of DTP, a talent detection company for creative arts, music and acting, is working on a reality TV show with Adeola Agoro, a journalist and media consultant whom she has encouraged to reach for more. Known to be tirelessly innovative, she was pioneer Chairman and a majority shareholder of Richway MicroFinance Bank Lekki, Lagos.
