{"id":809708,"date":"2024-12-02T02:12:08","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T08:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/02\/affiong-williams-left-south-africa-to-pioneer-a-sub-industry-in-nigeria-and-shes-winning\/"},"modified":"2024-12-02T02:12:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T08:12:08","slug":"affiong-williams-left-south-africa-to-pioneer-a-sub-industry-in-nigeria-and-shes-winning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/02\/affiong-williams-left-south-africa-to-pioneer-a-sub-industry-in-nigeria-and-shes-winning\/","title":{"rendered":"Affiong Williams Left South Africa to Pioneer a Sub-Industry in Nigeria, and She\u2019s Winning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Affiong Williams walked away from a comfortable job in South Africa to start a dried fruit business in Nigeria, many would have questioned her decision. The idea was bold, risky, and almost unheard of in her home country. But for the founder and CEO of ReelFruit, the decision marked the beginning of a journey that would take nearly a decade to bear fruit, quite literally.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today, and Williams\u2019 tech-enabled agribusiness has raised $3 million in Series A funding, and broke into the UK and US market. Her story exemplifies the power of persistence, innovation, and an unyielding belief in a vision.<\/p>\n

A leap of faith<\/h2>\n

Starting a business wasn\u2019t always in the cards for Affiong Williams. In fact, her early dreams were rooted in medicine. After earning a degree in Physiology and Psychology, she set her sights on medical school, only to realise that it wasn\u2019t the right fit.<\/p>\n

A post-graduate diploma in Business Administration opened up new possibilities, but it was her first job at Endeavour South Africa, an entrepreneurship support organisation, that truly ignited her passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved working with entrepreneurs,\u201d Williams recalls. \u201cI loved that they created jobs, stood for values, and took risks with outsized rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n

After four years, her passion for entrepreneurship had grown too strong to ignore. In 2012, she returned to Nigeria, armed with a trunk full of dried fruit and a vision to revolutionise the market.<\/p>\n

\"Affiong<\/figure>\n

The road less traveled<\/h2>\n

Affiong Williams\u2019 entry into the dried fruit business was not without challenges. Initially, her plan was to produce fruit juice, but with limited capital, she pivoted to dried fruit, a market that was largely untested in Nigeria. \u201cI didn\u2019t know much,\u201d she admits. \u201cIf I had done more research, I probably would have shelved the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

What followed were years of hard work, uncertainty, and self-doubt. She hawked her prototype products around Lagos, slowly gaining traction. Without the resources to build a factory, she worked out of her apartment, receiving early investments from family and friends who believed in her vision.<\/p>\n

Her husband, then a friend, provided the first significant injection of capital, allowing her to rent office space, buy a van, and hire a small team.<\/p>\n

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Pioneering a market<\/h2>\n

Williams\u2019 company pioneered an entirely new sub-industry in Nigeria. For the first five years, she struggled to convince investors of the potential of dried fruit. \u201cPeople didn\u2019t believe in the big picture,\u201d she says. Instead of raising large rounds of funding, she focused on securing smaller amounts tied to achievable milestones. This strategy of scaling gradually, through measurable successes, eventually paid off.<\/p>\n

By proving her concept in smaller steps, doubling sales, opening new locations, and launching additional products, Affiong Williams built investor confidence. Nine years after starting, ReelFruit closed a $3 million Series A round, cementing the company\u2019s place as a leader in the dried fruit market.<\/p>\n

Lessons in leadership<\/h2>\n

One of the most valuable lessons Williams learnt along the way was the importance of sharing her vision with her team. In the early days, she feared that discussing her long-term goal of becoming an end-to-end business with global exports would seem out of touch. But as she opened up, she found that her team rallied behind her ambitious vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also learned to be more audacious,\u201d she adds. \u201cI used to be timid in business, always expecting the worst, but I\u2019ve gotten bolder about what we can do. That boldness has caught on with the team, and I\u2019m proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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