The journey so far: Ani Charles Bassey-Eyo, CEO, LANI Group
Ani Charles Bassey-Eyo is the founder and the CEO of the LANI Group, a Lagos-based business focused on management consulting and advisory services to medium- and large-scale organisations in the public and the private sectors. Bassey-Eyo is also the founder of Axiom Learning Solutions, a learning and development company that specialises in education and management consulting. The company offers its expertise in teacher development, education policy advisory, corporate social responsibility management, and project design and implementation.
1. Tell us about one of the toughest situations you’ve found yourself in as a business owner.
The recession in Nigeria post-2015 was one of the toughest situations I have faced as an entrepreneur. Prior to this period, the entities within the LANI Group had enjoyed decent growth rate and the macro-economic growth fundamentals showed a positive future trajectory. However, 2016, in particular, was tough with the economy tanking at a rapid rate that resulted in all economic activities being at a standstill.
It was tough to exist, at both at a personal and corporate level, but I made a decision to survive and also not to cut down the headcount of my loyal and motivated workforce. It was a combination of faith, grit and focus that enabled me to achieve the objective of surviving through the recession as many businesses went under.
By faith, I listened and focused on stories of others who overcame similar challenges and learned that I was not alone. I also embarked on a rewarding personal fitness regime that improved my resilience and ability to focus through mental alertness. In fact, it was during this period we decided to launch our trading/merchandising business unit to improve the group’s working capital.
Generally, empirical evidence shows that recessions can impact companies positively by instilling grit and focus in such enterprises.
2. Which business achievement are you most proud of?
The social impact in communities we at the LANI Group have been able to demonstrate through the activities of the LANI Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of the group that was founded in 2012.
Through this process, I have learned that structured social impact activities should not only be pursued by large corporations but should also be at the heart of every sustainable business model. In fact, this was my vision as far back as 2006, before I embarked on my entrepreneurial adventure and before the Sustainable Development Goals were established.
Our education business, Axiom Learning Solutions, for instance, is the largest private sector provider of continuous professional development for teachers and its largest programme is a fee-paying course focused on special education needs and disabilities.
Similarly, our agro business, Sehai Foods, Nigeria’s second-largest honey packer, recently worked with the DFID MADE II Project to train and incorporate retuned migrants from Libya and Europe into our outgrower programme in Edo State, Nigeria.
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