By Koketso Mamabolo
“... it’s quite important for us as stakeholders on the continent to tell the story and to tell the story right,” says Adebayo Adeleke, an author and entrepreneur who is on a mission to tell Africa’s supply chain stories. Adebayo spent his early years in Nigeria, where he was born, and joined the US military when migrated to America after high school.
He promised himself that after 20 years in the military he would retire and move onto another profession. He spent time as a lecturer, doing consulting work and went on to start Adebayo Adeleke LLC, Supply Chain Africa. The organisation works with business to find sustainable supply chain solutions.
One of the ways he’s shedding light onto the continent’s supply chains is through his podcast, Unfettered, where entrepreneurs can share the stories of the challenges they’ve faced and how they’ve found success. He’s since expanded the scope of the conversations.
“I took a pause for a while to kind of redirect the direction of the podcast, but it has really helped me share my message, especially on non-supply chains and non-leadership topics - more or less on humanistic topics. The more I understand the supply chain, the more I understand life.”
Here Adebayo shares his thoughts on how e-commerce could affect supply chains on the continent, the need for business to consider risk management and the lessons he learned in the military.