Nigeria and other African countries must place greater emphasis on developing their people and creating an enabling environment for talent to thrive if the continent is to fully harness its vast consumer market, the Business Unit President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mondelēz International, Hisham Ezz El Arab, has said.
Ezz El Arab said Africa’s estimated 1.3 billion population, particularly its young and increasingly aspirational demographic, represented one of the continent’s biggest economic opportunities.
He spoke in Lagos on Tuesday while delivering a keynote address at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Leadership Dialogue, themed “The 5 Ps of Business Transformation.”
His remarks came against the backdrop of mounting economic pressures on households and businesses across Nigeria, where high operating costs, limited access to credit and reduced purchasing power continue to constrain growth, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to the Mondelēz executive, however, the continent’s demographic strength could become a major engine of economic expansion if governments and businesses invested deliberately in human capital.
“Investing in our talents, giving them the best possible environment and ecosystem to grow and thrive, nourishing them, giving them opportunities, is, I think, probably the only way we have to tap into this massive opportunity we have in front of us,” Ezz El Arab said.
He described Africa’s young, energetic and aspirational population as a unique competitive advantage, arguing that few regions of the world currently offered a comparable combination of population size and growth potential.
Five pillars of transformation
At the leadership dialogue, Ezz El Arab also presented a five-point framework which he said could help organisations navigate transformation and achieve sustainable growth.
The framework is built around people, plan, process, progress and purpose.
He stressed that the five pillars should not be treated as a rigid sequence, noting that organisations could begin their transformation journey from any of the five areas depending on their specific circumstances.
“I have discovered that you can start from anywhere and then work on anywhere. Really, it depends on the transformation of man,” he said.
Drawing on experiences from his career across Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Ezz El Arab demonstrated how the framework could be applied to businesses facing very different challenges.
In Egypt, he recalled his experience leading a purpose-driven transformation of a dairy business whose yoghurt products were largely consumed during Ramadan.
The business, he said, was transformed within 24 months into a year-round category leader by challenging conventional assumptions about the market and aligning the business more closely with its purpose.
“The learning for you is that sometimes you’re going to have to pick between an unconventional approach and an ordinary, safe, conventional approach, and the best way to adjust your compass is to consult your purpose,” Ezz El Arab said.
Turning adversity into opportunity
His experience in Turkey, he explained, presented another dimension of business transformation.
Although the business was performing strongly, worsening economic conditions created uncertainty among employees, with some highly skilled workers considering leaving the country in search of opportunities elsewhere.
The challenge, he said, was no longer simply about financial performance but about retaining talent and giving employees a reason to remain committed to the organisation.
Management consequently had to rally the workforce around a broader organisational purpose and reinforce the connection between individual aspirations and the company’s long-term objectives.
In Saudi Arabia, Ezz El Arab recalled taking on a business unit that had struggled for an extended period.
Rather than attempting to immediately fix the financial and operational symptoms, he said the focus was first placed on rebuilding the people and the organisation.
His experience, he noted, demonstrated the importance of putting people at the centre of any turnaround strategy.
“You start from people. And once you fix that, everything else will fall in place gradually and slowly but surely,” he said.
Transformation now a continuous responsibility
Earlier, in her opening remarks, the Dean of Lagos Business School, Prof. Olayinka David-West, represented by a member of the school’s Management Board, Prof. Uche Atoh, said the theme of the dialogue was particularly relevant given the rapid changes confronting businesses.
She noted that organisations were operating in an environment shaped by significant ecological, economic and competitive pressures, making the ability to adapt and transform increasingly important.
“Transformation, therefore, is no longer something organisations undertake occasionally. It has become a continuing pillar of responsibility,” Atoh said, quoting the Dean’s remarks.
She explained that the Leadership Dialogue series was established to provide an avenue for LBS participants, alumni, executives and faculty to engage directly with business leaders who had navigated complex real-world challenges.
According to her, the initiative aligns with the school’s broader mission of developing responsible leaders capable of contributing to Africa’s economic and social development.
For Ezz El Arab, however, the broader lesson from his experiences across multiple markets is that successful transformation ultimately comes down to people, purpose and the willingness of leaders to challenge conventional thinking.
With Africa’s consumer population projected to remain a major source of long-term economic potential, he urged governments and businesses to focus on building the capabilities and conditions required to convert the continent’s demographic advantage into sustained prosperity.