Ms Lolade Ayanniyi is the founder of En-Hakkore Foundation, an organisation that supports the entrpreneurial advancement of the womenfolk in sub-sahara Africa. In this interview with Yemisi Aofolaju, she speaks on why women who are running micro and small-scale businesses need all the support they can get, and how she found herself coming to the rescue of these women entrepreneurs through her foundation. Excerpts:

Who is a social entrepreneur?
IN a layman’s language, I will describe a social entrepreneur as a person who runs a social enterprise; a not-for-profit organisation, which aims at societal change.

Why did you choose to go into the area of supporting the economic advancement of the womenfolk?
Basically, I will say it is a call to serve. I can still remember very vividly how I prayed to God to show me what I could do to affect my society and this free support for women entrepreneurs came to my heart. At En-hakkore Foundation, we give free and qualitative support to women entrepreneurs in the area of training, seminars, information dissemination and trade exhibitions.

As an entrepreneur, over the years, I realised that building a formidable enterprise is far more complex than just having money and opening an office. You need to train and retrain yourself. Continuous training, learning and gathering of information related to your field is a continuous process in the market place and these do not come cheap. With my experience in business,  despite the belief that anyone who is in business is relatively okay, I found out that not everyone can afford to participate in training and exhibitions.

By the time they tell you all their challenges and the unnecessary overheads they incur in running their businesses, you will think twice before you invite them for another programme or training. God laid it in my heart, and I came up with En-hakkore Foundation.

More importantly, you know women are the catalysts of development in any nation, if you harness their potentials well, agreeing with the word of Mr Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General  of the United Nations in February 25, 2005, he said  “Study after study has taught us that there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.” For poverty reduction, egalitarian society and economic emancipation of our sub region that is, West Africa, there is really no shortcut to that order than to give a qualitative support to economically productive women in our sub-region.

You have extended your frontiers to other West African countries, why is this extension important?
Through personal observation and information, I realised that there are so much opportunities in Africa and at the same time, there is so much poverty, just because we failed to harness our resources and human capital well. We have over 20 million women running micro to small scale businesses that can be turned into conglomerates if the basic enterprise growth ingredients and information are readily available to them. But what do we have? businesses without structures, not even with the basic book keeping know how.

In West Africa, we don’t even do businesses with one another despite the fact that we belong to the same sub-region when compared with the way we do businesses with other regions of the world. I now thought it would be good  to encourage our women to participate in trans-border businesses and links. Let us see how we can help in putting food on the table of a fellow Africans by engaging in economic activities with each other, and as a matter of fact, I had my break in business from one of the African countries [the so called dry land]. There is the need to give back to that land and I cannot pick that country in isolation with my own country [Nigeria], the configuration will look awkward, so I decided to work on the sub-region as a whole.

How have you been able to run this foundation, considering the cost implication of your activities?
We have a basic budget per year and we work around and within this budget, this makes our work a lot easier, and you know our primary and basic raw materials for this work are human capital. You will be shocked that we have quite a number of good-spirited Africans who are always willing to share out of their knowledge and experience to help other Africans at a premium. All our programmes are handled by seasoned consultants in relevant fields.

How old is En-hakkore Foundation?
Seven years. We actually started operation in 2005.

What was your experience like at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan African University and how did you get
Goldman Sachs Scholarship award?
I just applied for it after reading the advertisement in a newspaper; that was all. No internal or external influence whatsoever. The programme at EDC was all encompassing, in fact, it was a great booster to the knowledge I had on enterprise building before. You know I applied for the scholarship programme as an entrepreneur running a small business not as a social entrepreneur, but the knowledge I gained there is even helping me to navigate our activities at En-hakkore Foundation.

And about your book, The Market Place Creed, what informed your style of writing, because one can see that it is a total departure from the conventional way of writing books?
I just don’t see myself writing in a conventional way like what you have all over. I think I am more of a creative writer who needed to pass a serious message in a subtle manner; at least in a way that will make you laugh and think at the same time. Each chapter is so brief and straight to the point, because I know my target audience are entrepreneurs and they are busy people, more so, the pictorial caption for each chapter is a comic relief after a tough day’s job.

Why are your activities covering only micro and small businesses alone?
As we know, micro to small enterprises are the main engine of growth in any economy, and as such, proper attention should be given to them, because once they get it right at this level the sky will be their limit. Getting it right at this level, will help them to lay a solid foundation for future expansion and challenges.We should also note here that people operating at this level have limited resources, while the trainings and seminars do not come cheap, if they are to be embarked on individually. In fact, we have a nickname for these business people in this category, we call them “the young shall grow.” For them to grow to the next level and still stand there, a solid and sound foundation must be put in place.

Where do you see En-hakkore Foundation in another seven years?
I have no doubt in my heart that En-hakkore Foundation will become a reference point in Africa when it comes to giving free qualitative supports to micro and small businesses run by women, because of our content and integrity of purpose.

At En-hakkore Foundation we are building a strong institution, and not a strong personality which is always the problem in Africa. As you know in this part of the world, we are used to building strong personality and not institutions, so when the personality goes down, nothing will be heard of the venture again. This is really a venture that will outlive me and everyone on its board at every point in time,

We are structured in such a way that if you mention En-hakkore foundation in seven years, time what comes to mind is “the body that gives free and qualitative supports to women entrepreneurs in Africa.” And we are gaining momentum day after day.

What prompted you?
You know I was already an entrepreneur running a small business before starting En-hakkore Foundation and I realised at a very early stage that you need more than money and idea to running a formidable enterprise. You need to train, retrain, gather information and  attend relevant seminars and exhibition in your field, which is pretty lacking among the market place tenants, most times due to lack of finance.

Was it that you were not making much from your first job/business?
For Heaven’s sake, this work is a voluntary  work, it  is  not about profit at all. In fact, I am yet to make the first profit, I am using my personal funds to run the foundation. It is all about being a societal change agent. I still run my business like any other person.

When should one disengage from the public service?
  I will say the earlier the better for you; when you are still very vibrant, strong and intellectually sound and relevant, so that you can still be useful to yourself. But again, I will say this depends on your profession, because there are some vocations that bring the best out of you when you stay longer on the job; for instance, lecturing and judiciary among others.

Do you have time for socials?
This  question is relative; my definition of socials may be different from yours. But I will say I go out on visits when the time permits and I play a lot with my friends, nieces and nephews any time they are around. I am not really a party person, although I attend one or two in a while.

What were you told as a young girl that has shaped your life till date?
  You know I grew up in an environment where women are highly economically productive, so I was brought up to see the importance of a woman having economic power in a legitimate way. And I was told that for a woman to have economic power, it should be non-negotiable.

How  do you unwind?
 I read, listen to news, watch documentaries, Christian, non-Christian home videos. I also write and listen to Christian and country music.

What do you want changed in Nigeria?
   For an average Nigerian to stop thinking he or she needs to be a public office holder before they can affect their environment.

What is fashion to you?
 Fashion to me is putting on what suits me best, that is, what fits well on my body, not neccessarily wearing something in vogue, a good, well crafted delicate jewellery, a quality simple wristwatch, quality pair of leather shoes and a subtle perfume.