Affiong Williams did not have any background in or prior experience in running a business, but what she has in abundance is her entrepreneurial passion. She founded ReelFruit in 2021, the largest agribusiness in Nigeria focusing on dried fruit processing, packaging and distribution.
Creating jobs and empowering women
As chief executive officer of ReelFruit, she not only wanted to fulfil her personal ambitions, but also wanted to create jobs for the youth. She also wanted to empower women by involving them in the running of big business operations, which include active participation of local farmers as part of the entire value chain of the fruit production.
Rising youth unemployment in Nigeria
“I was inspired to start my business because I was burdened by youth unemployment in my home country, Nigeria. I believed that by starting a business, one with huge potential to create jobs, I would be solving this problem. I decided on the agribusiness sector based on its job creation potential and its ability to uplift farmers,” says Williams. ReelFruit is a majority female owned enterprise, has a 100% female management team and a 55% full time and part time female employee base. Most of these women hold management and key positions in ReelFruit.
Gaining experience to share with others
She spent 12 years in South Africa and four years of these were spent working for Endeavor Global – a non-profit outfit promoting economic development by supporting small to medium enterprises in developing markets. After gaining sufficient experience and exposure, Williams returned to Nigeria to establish ReelFruit.
Initially, her plan was to produce fruit juice, but this did not materialise because of lack of financial resources to secure the requisite equipment and machinery. She then shifted her focus to dried fruit and started to market it among acquaintances, friends, close relatives and other prospective clients. The reception was overwhelmingly positive and in 2013, the year it officially started to operate, ReelFruit launched its mango and pineapple snacks.
Vision
Williams says her vision is to build an end-to-end agribusiness adding value across the fruit value chain, positively impacting smallholder farmers to consumers. This will guarantee a market for local farmers and increase their incomes. She wishes to add value to the local fruit produce economy by focusing on processing, marketing and distribution of raw materials.
Awards
ReelFruit has won coveted awards, one of which is the international Women in Business Competition in the Netherlands. In 2015, it was awarded a grant by IDH Sustainable Trade to complete an innovative pilot project to train and hire 50 women in mango farming in Nigeria, a first-of-its-kind intervention. In her personal capacity Williams has also won several accolades, such as:
- In 2015 she was recognised by Forbes Magazine as one of the most promising 30 under 30 entrepreneurs
- In 2017, she won Entrepreneur of the Year award from the prestigious Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WimBiz) and
- In 2018 she successfully completed the Stanford Seed in Emerging Economies programme
ReelFruit’s product range is sold at over 400 outlets around Nigeria, via online channels and to B2B markets such as hotels and airlines. According to this enterprising young woman, the products are also exported to Europe, specifically Switzerland and Belgium and even sold on Amazon. In 2020, ReelFruit sold 1,200,000 pineapples which would otherwise have otherwise gone to waste, achieving $480,000 in revenues.
Future goals
Williams says her long-term dream is to build a sustainable, long-term business “providing young Nigerians with dignity, benefits and formal employment offers,” a key driver as an entrepreneur. She believes entrepreneurship to be the only way to lead the African continent out of poverty.
“I strongly believe enterprise is the only way to develop Nigeria and its people. “Youth account for 45% of the workforce, yet 55% of them are unemployed. My business goal is to create 1000 direct jobs in the next 7 years.”
