Glory Enyinnaya is a Nigerian business women and has an MBA from Lagos Business School. She was drawn to the business world from a young age and is passionate about creating positive change and making a difference in Africa. This led her to start her own company called KleosAfrica, which is what she describes as an ‘Uber for consultants’. She hopes her company can contribute significantly to help Africa’s economy grow, while giving MBA students and skilled professionals a chance to be part of this growth.
Why did you decide to take an MBA?
My interest in business was ignited when I was seven years old. My father was a senior executive in a commercial bank in Nigeria. One day, I visited his office and was taken by the sight of professionals hard at work at their gleaming mahogany desks. As a result, I chose to study economics, commerce, and accounting. In my final year in high school, I founded a club for business students and served as the pioneer President. You can say I’ve always enjoyed starting and running things.
I studied accounting at University of Nigeria as a Shell National Merit Scholar, a programme designed to promote excellence in Nigeria, and graduated with a First Class Honours degree. After university, I had a brief stint as an investment banker. Subsequently, I worked for five years as a management consultant at Accenture, then I worked as an independent change management consultant on SAP projects in several industries.
I knew I would want to start my own consulting firm someday and my entrepreneurial aspirations led me to invest in an MBA from Lagos Business School (LBS). I chose LBS because the School places a strong emphasis on ethical business practices. It also offers world-class business education and the EMBA, in particular, offers excellent opportunities to immediately apply the knowledge acquired in the classroom.
How did the MBA have an impact on your career?
The MBA had a transformational impact on my career in two major ways. It changed my perspective and expanded my network.
It helped me develop a business-owner mind-set, which I believe is invaluable, whether you are running a billion-dollar corporation or a sole proprietorship. My MBA gave me the opportunity to start a business and that’s something not many management consultants can say.
My MBA also gave me access to a wide network of seasoned professionals and MBA graduates, through the LBS Alumni Association, AMBA, and GNAM.
Talk to us a bit about KleosAfrica – why did you decide to start it, how does it work and how can other MBAs get involved?
I first conceived the idea to consult for SMEs when my friend, Chude Jideonwo, CEO of Red Africa and a Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ entrepreneur, asked for my help with an HR audit. The engagement helped me see how the skills I had developed as a consultant at Accenture could be applied to help the growth of SMEs in Nigeria.
While at LBS, I participated in a course called the ‘Africa Platform Management, Strategy and Innovation’. The initial idea for KleosAfrica emerged as a result of the programme. During the application process, we were asked how we would apply the knowledge from the course, and I had my ‘eureka’ moment: I could create a platform for African freelance consultants!
KleosAfrica allows MBA students and graduates worldwide to take on side projects that help African businesses. While they will be paid for their services, the major value for them is the opportunity to contribute to the development of the African continent.
Why do you think organisations like KleosAfrica can make a difference in contributing to the development of the continent?
Studies have shown that small firms play an important role in the growth of the African economy. However, small businesses in Africa often suffer from a lack of critical skills needed to be successful.
Meanwhile, there are many skilled professionals and MBAs who have problems such as their under-utilised business acumen. They have the skills and the passion to support the development of African businesses, but don’t have a feasible channel to connect them to business owners. KleosAfrica connects these professionals and students to business owners, which is mutually beneficial to both parties.
SMEs can’t afford companies like McKinsey and Accenture. But KleosAfrica gives them affordable access to the intellectual horsepower behind those firms’ client output. In other words, we are ‘McKinsey for SMEs.’ As a result, by helping SMEs, and reducing their failure rate, we can contribute positively to Africa’s economic growth.
