TradeDepot, the leading B2B eCommerce and embedded finance platform in Africa, has appointed former Coca Cola HBC and Hayat Kimya Nigeria Executive, Chidi Akubuiro as its Managing Director for English-speaking West Africa. Effective from May 1st 2022, Akubuiro will lead further expansion of TradeDepot’s services across more key cities in Nigeria and Ghana, and drive growth across English-speaking West Africa.
Akubuiro comes into the role with extensive experience in the FMCG sector, having spent over a decade leading and delivering commercial success for some of the most in-demand consumer goods brands on the continent. Before joining TradeDepot as Commercial Director in July 2020, Akubuiro had previous roles at FMCG manufacturer Hayat Kimya Nigeria and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, where he designed, oversaw and supported the implementation of various sales and growth strategies to drive revenue and meet sales objectives. This experience will be leveraged to deepen relationships with key stakeholders in the retail sector and drive profitability in TradeDepot’s commercial operations.
In recent years, TradeDepot has built a reputation as the supply partner for Africa’s retail ecosystem, leveraging its data, technology and robust logistics operations to get consumer goods from leading manufacturers into the hands of retailers that can sell them. Via its ShopTopUp platform, the company also provides credit lines to fund inventory purchases for retailers, enabling increased sales, higher margins and other value-added services for all parties.
With active operations in 15 key cities across Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, and an innovative merchant platform, TradeDepot takes the pressure off everyone else in the retail value chain by making it easier for manufacturers and distributors to get their products into more than 100,000 retail stores, and for retailers to access the inventory and financial services they need to run successful businesses.
According to Onyekachi Izukanne, CEO and co-founder of TradeDepot, “Chidi brings a wealth of experience that will be invaluable on our mission to make life easier for retailers across Africa. In his short time with us, he has made many valuable contributions that have put us in a stronger position to achieve our objectives and I am looking forward to working more closely with him to drive more success and profitability across the board.”
Chidi Akubuiro, Managing Director for West Africa (English-speaking) at TradeDepot, said, “TradeDepot has been at the cutting edge of innovation in Africa’s retail space for a long time and I am thrilled by the opportunity to support the delivery of more prosperity across the value chain. Our ecosystem is ripe with opportunities and I am confident that we can continue to deliver the solutions to realise these opportunities.”
