Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani: Financial education is key to eliminating gender wealth disparities

Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani is a versatile senior corporate executive with more than 17 years of track record of professional work covering infrastructure, energy and financial services sectors in Africa. She is currently the chief commercial officer and a divisional director of a leading infrastructure developer, Mixta Africa (ARM Group), helping the companyto craft and execute its commercial, market-expansion, revenue optimisation and growth strategies across subsidiary operations in Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, and Cote d’Ivoire. Prior to her current corporate role, she was the senior advisor to IFU, the Danish Investment Fund, and sat on the global advisory board of a Canadian private equity firm, Stonechair Capital, advising on its renewables and gas sector Energy Africa fund. Akinkugbe-Filaniholds a BSc and MSc degrees from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a joint MBA degree from the London School of Economics, HEC School of Management Paris and NYU’s Leonard Stern School of Business (TRIUM). She was recognised as one of the top 275 Global Female Influencer Executives (2020) in Energy by the UK’s Energy Council. In 2015, she won the Best Africa Oil and Gas Analyst Award from Energy Africa US, and was in 2016 recognised as one to watch in African Energy by Centurion LLP. Akinkugbe-Filani, a regular markets analyst on media platforms like CNBC, BBC and CNN, has published articles on African energy, infrastructure, and markets. She anchors a weekly Saturday morning business show on Arise News, ‘BusinessWeek’, distilling complex business, finance, and economic topics to a wide variety of audience. In this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA, she speaks on her evolution in the career world, championing women’s growth by providing strategic empowerment opportunitiesto survive the current economic realities.

You have an illustrious career. Share with us your journey
After finishing high school both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom and graduating from the London School of Economics for both my undergraduate and master’s degrees, the world became my oyster. However, lessons in disappointment started very early on – I had my first rude shock when I failed to make the cut for the Reuters global journalism graduate programme, a career pursuit that I had nursed early on, which I had hoped to combine with a career in diplomacy and international affairs. I quickly moved from that early rejection and focused on the future. Not many people realise that I started my post-university career working in non-profit and international organisation space in London, Brussels and Dakar in Senegal, working with the Centre for Democracy and Development, Foreign Policy Centre, European Commission and the International Crisis Group.

This was where I learnt and built an understanding of politics, public sector, and governance systems across Africa. However, even in these roles, I had a specialty focus on energy, natural resources, and infrastructure, having realised just how key these areas were to Nigeria’s and Africa’s development. This was the same with later roles at Control Risks Group and Eurasia Group, working as a political and country risk analyst for sub-Saharan Africa. Maintaining my energy sector focus, I expanded my scope of engagements to private sector players, banks, and multinationals, taking time to build and nurture those relationships. It was while working in risk consulting and advising companies and banks on their investments and operations in West and Central Africa that I was headhunted for my first full time role in financial services to work as an energy and oil and gas specialist. I was recruited not because I had studied finance or accounting in university but because I had developed deep sector expertise and knowledge (which gave me both credibility and visibility) that the bank wanted to leverage for its own commercial goals. I was the pioneer Head of Energy, Oil and Gas Research at pan-African Ecobank Group based in London.

I helped to build a formidable African research team that won the Africa Investor Index Series awards for three years running. Upon this realisation, I became strategic, and started to find other sectors and stakeholder groups that my expertise could attract. This approach helped me to embrace and stay open to opportunities across different industries, which made me even more versatile and adaptable as a professional. I soon took up a role in Nigeria with an investment bank as Head of Energy in the origination and client coverage team, later expanding my structuring and financial skills, as the investment bank later became a merchant bank. It was also during this time that I invested in an executive MBA to help solidify my financial services experience and prepare me for future leadership and C-suite opportunities. After I left the Nigerian bank in October 2019, I worked with a European development finance institution as a senior advisor on Africa, helping to develop new portfolio and investment opportunities, before landing my current role as chief commercial officer for Mixta. I would not rule out a return to financial services.

You are quite versatile, having worked in diverse sectors. How are you able to hone your skills?
We are all multi-gifted. You just have to decide which medium you will leverage to express your gifts. Youcan decide that one aspect of your skills set will be expressed in full time role in a specific sector, and also decide that another aspect of your skills set will be applied as a non-executive director or advisory board member of another organisation in a completely different sector. The key is being self-aware and clear about your strength and what you bring to the table. For me, consistency, curiosity, clarity of purpose and self-mastery have been key. Never one to shy away from a new challenge or opportunity, every door that has opened has been a journey of discovery. I have developed a formula that has helped me quickly embrace new ideas, environments, and opportunities. Put simply, it is the ability to link all my experiences in such a way that they tell a solid, consistent story about my skills and the value I bring to the table.

How was growing up like for you and how has it helped to influence where you are today?
As number two of four children, growing up was as normal as could possibly be. Focus, diligence and hardwork are essential ingredients for both my parents, as was discipline. But I think the greatest influence my parents had on me was the importance of being a balanced and well-rounded person. At a very early stage in life, despite the obvious pursuit of education, I was exposed to music, so it really made the idea of being multifaceted a normal part of one’s existence. That ability to harness one’s diverse and unique gifts and skills is something that I have successfully leveraged in almost every area of my life today.I remember that at almost every stage of my mum’s career from the time I was born, she gave me free access to her life and endeavours. When she lectured in linguistics at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), I would often accompany her to her office, and observe her interactions.

When she had choir rehearsals at MUSONCentre (the Musical Society of Nigeria) or a concert to give, I was also there and was exposed again to her interactions and network. When she ran the Book Terminus on Ogunlana Drive in Surulere, Lagos,again, my brother and I would spend hours there sometimes after school or on a Saturday reading the books on the shelves or playing. When she would spend hours watching her favourite tennis players on TV, she would give me the low-down on everything that was happening. My dad’s dreams for me were lofty, and I often got a glimpse of where I was possibly headed when he would reference high-profile figures like Christiane Amanpour and tell me that would be me someday. I think those comparisons made me feel on top of the world, gave me a sense of validation and affirmation, and gave me the licence and power to have ambitious and audacious dreams. I really and truly felt like nothing was out of reach. I think one of the biggest lessons I learnt growing up was the importance of balance in everything I do. One of my dad’s most regular pieces of advice to me is ‘Rolly, pace yourself’, and though I always thought he was being a little too overbearing, I’ve come to appreciate the wisdom in those words.

Share with us your key drive. What motivates you for excellence?
My key motivation is really being able to help and champion the cause of other women. There comes a time in every woman’s career when you notice that people are constantly asking you ‘how did you do it?’. It was at this point that I realised I needed to be more intentional about sharing my strategies and keys to career growth and development. That’s when I adopted the Multiple Streams of Impact mantra, and started a career development series called ‘Multiple Streams of Impact: On The Job”. I’m passionate about helping others thrive. In terms of excellence, it is really about seeing the results that come from applying myself excellently.

Whether it be managing a major project or facilitating a coaching session, or speaking at an event, I get fulfilment from knowing that a combination of hardwork and leveraging my talents in an excellent manner has help someone or some organisation realise their own dreams, goals or objectives.

What is your take on women and financial literacy awareness?
I am passionate about women’s economic empowerment. Financial inclusion and literacy for women is key to their long-term economic security and stability.I’m a member of the Board of Trustees of Nigeria’s leading women’s network, WIMBIZ, and also sit on the advisory board of gender-focused growth equity board, Aruwa Capital Management, a Lagos-based that invests in rapidly growing and profitable companies that either provide essential goods and services to women or employ women through their workforce or value chain. Led by their incredible founder and Managing Partner, Adesuwa Okunbo-Rhodes, Aruwa has identified an untapped investment opportunity currently overlooked by other funds. Aruwa has recognised that women represent an untapped investment case, and this is a principle that resonates with me. Seeing the funding gap for female businesses further highlights just how much importance we need to give to not just basic financial literacy, but capacity building programmes that empower female entrepreneurs to scale their business by attracting the right sort of capital.

This work is also being done by WIMCAP, which is WIMBIZ’s programme that helps women build technical capacity to prepare for and attract funding. Women will control $15 trillion in global spending by 2028 and will be responsible for about two thirds of all consumer spending worldwide, so it makes business sense to look at investments in sectors where women’s purchasing power will be particularly strong. This is how Aruwa is positioned. One such portfolio company that has underpinned this principle is an investment that is delivering robust returns, which Aruwa closed in October 2019, Wemy Industries. The company tprovides daily disposable and affordable personal hygiene products for women. My role as advisory board member has focused on assisting Aruwa with investor engagement, particularly for prospective limited partners or DFIs within my network, who can contribute to their on-going or future funding rounds. Overall, when it comes to securing and maintaining financial wellbeing into later life, women face greater challenges than men. Financial education has to be key to eliminating these gender wealth disparities.

In this changing economy, how favourable would you say it has been for women and how easy is it for them to thrive?
I think women are in a position to take advantage of emerging economic opportunities, especially in providing goods and services to the underserved, many of who are also women. We still have some gender biases in our society that can often obstruct the fantastic contributions women make to Nigeria’s economy and her national development. In addition, our current economic challenges ultimately have a disproportionate impact on women in society, especially those who don’t have a financial plan or strategy to rely on. Limited credit availability also disproportionately impacts women-owned or women-led enterprises.

As a woman who has risen through the ranks and sits on boards, what advice do you have for women who look up to you?
Develop a strong sense of self-awareness about what you bring to the table, so that you’re always in a position to play to your strengths. People involved in hiring decisions or headhunting for these senior positions are not always obsessed with technical skills, they are also looking for women who bring a unique edge, have great interpersonal and strategic skills, are confident and have a demonstrated track record of performance and capacity to adapt to, and thrive even through difficult situations.But there are also two sets of skills that I think are worth an evergreen self-development focus – tech skills and financial acumen. In all of this, career women need patience and resilience to stay the course and prepare for opportunities. Your brand has to be underpinned by evidence of having delivered value to companies and organisations and delivered tangible and measurable results. Building a track record takes time but remember to record, acknowledge, highlight, and leverage past wins for future opportunities. Never just assume that the good work you do at every point in time will speak for you. You must be deliberate in showcasing this.

What is your life mantra?
I never wanted to leave an environment without giving people the sense that I was impactful, if not on the bottom line, on people.