Career
Economist & SME/Investment Expert Akin Oyebode is our #BellaNaijaMCM this Week!
Our #BellaNaijaMCM feature this week is celebrating Akin Oyebode, an economist, former banker, and SME/investment expert.
Akin is currently the Special Adviser, Investment, Trade and Innovation at Ekiti State Government. His job is to lead the state’s efforts to making it an attractive destination for investors and innovation-driven enterprises.
Before this, Akin led the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund where he spearheaded the development of a $75 million programme to boost job creation in the state.
Part of his achievements at LSETF include disbursing $25 million to 10,000 small businesses; implementing the Lagos Innovates startup programmes that supported over 100 companies, as well as developing the largest technical and vocational training programme in the state.
The fund has also been applauded for creating thousands of jobs, with the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics attesting to the reduction in unemployment rate in the state.
Akin started his career as a research assistant at Lagos Business School before moving to First City Monument Bank (FCMB) where he led customer research, and then its strategy department.
He was also the pioneer Head of SME Banking at Stanbic IBTC Bank, where he was responsible for building a customer base of 120,000 small businesses; a loan book of over $100 million; and SME BizDirect, the first branchless platform to manage SME clients.
Akin is one of the 23 leaders selected from nearly 250 nominees across the African continent for the 2019 Tutu Leadership Fellowship by African Leadership Institute.
