Glory Eyinnanya is the CEO Kleos Advisory Africa, she is a management consultant, author, and international speaker who has worked with companies including Accenture, Ernst & Young, British-American Tobacco, and the World Bank. Kleos Africa enables value-adding interactions between experienced MBAs and owners of SMEs. Since its inception in 2016, Kleos Africa has advised thousands of African entrepreneurs through its partnerships with Africa’s largest banks. Kleos Africa was listed by the global MBA Association as one of the top 50 MBA stories worldwide. Kleos Africa was also a finalist in the 2017 African Entrepreneurship Awards.
Glory was named one of the Top 6 Best MBA Students in the World by the Global Association of MBAs and was the first African to serve on the Governing Board of Beta Gamma Sigma, a global business honors society with a million members in 190 out of 195 countries worldwide, including Nobel Prize winners and magnates such as Warren Buffett.She is currently studying for a Ph.D. in management. She has a First Class honors degree in Accounting and an MBA from Lagos Business School. In her spare time, Glory advises startups as a regional partner for Faster Capital. She also serves on the boards of two e-commerce companies and two non-profits. In 2022, she was listed as one of the 100 most inspiring women in Nigeria by YNaija, a leading lifestyle magazine in Nigeria.
Can we meet you?
My name is Glory Enyinnaya. I’m an international business consultant with several years of experience. I started my career at the global management consulting firm Accenture, but since 2016, I have been working for my firm, Kleos Advisory Africa. Educationally, I have a First Class honors degree in Accounting, an MBA from Lagos Business School, and I’m currently studying for a Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. Lauded as one of the most inspiring women in Nigeria and as an advocate for a better world, I am working towards shaping the technological and business landscapes for social change.
What inspired your entrepreneurial journey
I am inspired by bringing about positive change and making a difference in the world. While working as a management consultant at Accenture, I specialized in change management and was responsible for driving transformation in blue-chip companies. While studying for an MBA at Lagos Business School, I came across some interesting statistics. In 2015, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor stated that Nigeria was the world’s most entrepreneurial society. In other words, the country with the most people enthusiastic about business. However, in 2020, we overtook India as the world’s poverty capital – the country with the highest number of people living in poverty. Those statistics made no sense to me; how could the world’s most entrepreneurial country be the poorest country, when entrepreneurship is supposed to be the creation of wealth? To me, there was a gap between the desire that many Nigerians have to start a business and the acumen required to build a sustainable business. Filling that gap through Kleos Advisory Africa became the inspiration for my entrepreneurial journey.
Kindly share a high moment for you as an entrepreneur
In conducting its operations, Kleos Advisory Africa partners with several organizations along the value chain. Some of these partners include commercial banks, fintech companies, business accelerators and incubators, multinational consulting firms, software companies, venture capital firms, financial advisory firms, microfinance institutions, and several other players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. These partners cooperate, collaborate, and coordinate the execution of key processes such as generating and converting potential customers or beneficiaries. Whenever we sign on a new partner, that represents a high moment for me, as it gives us scope to make more impact in our target market. We have also received recognition for our work. Our impact has been recognized by the Global MBA Association as one of the top 50 MBA stories worldwide and as a finalist in the 2017 African Entrepreneurship Awards. Those were high moments for me as well.
How have you been coping with the challenges of being a female entrepreneur in your space?
I cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship by deploying my strengths – my drive, my determination, my organizational ability, my intellect, and my tenacity. I also find that my femininity helps me find common ground with other female clients and fellow entrepreneurs. There are also grants and mentorship programs geared towards women in which I have participated, such as the Road to Growth program organized by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. These opportunities go a long way toward making my entrepreneurial journey more satisfying.
The focus of this year’s International Women’s Day is to get the world talking about ‘Why equal opportunities aren’t enough.” What do you have to contribute to this?
I don’t think justice is to be found in inequality but in equity. Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. Equality generally refers to equal opportunity and the same levels of support for all segments of society. Equity goes a step further and refers to offering varying levels of support depending on the need to achieve greater fairness in outcomes. I think what women need is equity, not equality.
What do you hope to see improve in MSME ecosystem in the next 5 years in Nigeria?
In the next 5 years, I hope to see a more empowering and enabling environment for MSMEs – more funding opportunities, greater access to the market, increased access to capital, more gratuitous training and mentorship opportunities, and improved ‘’ease of doing business.’’
Your final words to everyone reading this and hoping to start something like this.
To paraphrase a quote from Elle Education, “Being an entrepreneur is fulfilling.” “You are transforming your ideas into reality that you can share with others; you solve people’s problems and needs with your services; and you are your own boss.” However, it is also a lot of pressure, and you have to overcome challenges; above all, you must remember your “why” and keep your drive high!
