Adenike Adeyemi
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Adenike Adeyemi is the Chief Executive Officer of FATE Foundation, Nigeria’s foremost business incubator. She leads the organisation’s strategies to enable aspiring and emerging Nigerian entrepreneurs start, grow and scale sustainable businesses.
Since joining FATE Foundation in 2015, she has deepened the organisation’s strategic footprint in the Nigerian entrepreneurship ecosystem through business incubation programmes; sector focused accelerator programmes; and financial and non-financial linkage programs for the organisation’s over 6,800 Alumni members and 189,000 reach. She has led the organization to become the thought leader in research and policy analysis on Nigerian MSMEs and the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem including the Annual State of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria Index.
Under her leadership, FATE has achieve strategic digital pivot by launching programmes such as the ScaleUp Accelerator programme for Agribusinesses, the Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Digital and Agribusiness programmes; msmehub.org; and the recently launched Journeys in Entrepreneurship Podcast and Video series. She has also raised funding of over $6,000,000 to date through partnerships with the Youth Business International, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, Facebook, Citi Foundation, Accenture, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Ford Foundation, the African Capital Alliance Foundation and the Mitsubishi Corporation.
Adenike’s previous experience includes Manager, Public & Development Sector Services, KPMG Nigeria; pioneer Executive Director, Nigeria Leadership Initiative; and Learning Support Programme Management at the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Program. She started her career 20 years ago with the West African NGO Network and has Interned at the New York based Africa America Institute.
Adenike has a Master of Public Administration and a Masters of Arts in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University (2005). She also obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of Ibadan (2001).
She is also a 2020 Eisenhower Global Women Leaders Fellow. Adenike serves on a number of Boards including Trustee of the Youth Business International; Council Member, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industries; non-Executive Director, VDT Bitflux Communications; Director, Oxbridge Tutorial College Foundation; and Advisory Board Member, BudgIT. She is also the lead facilitator for the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) MSME Community of Practice and has served on the National MSME Council Committee on Improving the Business Environment.