By Agatha Emeadi
Omolara Svensson is the group managing director of OOK Group Limited, an agro-allied business which she has turned into a successful enterprise through her grounded knowledge in farming, commodity trading and export.
Sunday Sun had a chat with her at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, during an event organised by her firm, OOK Foods, to relaunch some brands.
How did the story of OOK Foods begin? What was the inspiration?
OOK Foods actually started in Sweden in year 2003, when I opened the first Nigerian restaurant, which was called African Week Café. But just before the restaurant, I had Omolara Collections, salon, interior and exterior décor. The business fingers ran fast for me at the time I was married to my late husband while in Sweden. The first frustration I had was that I could not get noodles and that led to my opening a Nigerian restaurant, which got me exposed to our need for regular African food. That was also when I knew there was a huge opportunity in the business. I remember then that I used to take my foodstuff to Dublin before going to Sweden, because when one does that, it is regarded as being within the European Union. But if it is coming directly from Nigeria, it does not get out that fast. I remember once it took their laboratory eight weeks to examine egusi, whether to release it for me or not and the business was more profitable. At present, our major export commodities have been soya, maize, cashew, garri, cassava chips and shear-butter. Others include coffee beans, tea, palm oil, charcoal and firewood. The passion for food business came from my background as well; my paternal and maternal grandmothers were businesswomen. For instance, my maternal grandmother was the Olori-Olonje (Mama of food) in her days while my paternal grandmother had a creche and a bakery. I remember that every vegetable and protein we ate in the house came from my grandfather’s farm. So, you can see how the passion for food business originated. Setting up the African Week Café was a natural progression.
How then did the food business in Sweden perform?
From the situation of the country, more Nigerians flew in and out of Sweden and we rejoiced at seeing each other even though we did not know ourselves then; but that natural tendency of one’s root drew us close. I had people who called me from Norway and Finland to make orders for foods like Garri-Ijebu and others; that was because of the flair and background I had, coupled with the fact that the business was lucrative, it did not take long for me to shut down the salon and boutique aspect of the business.
You must have experienced some challenges. How did you cope with them?
Just like every other business, there were quite some challenges. In terms of quality control, once the shipment is from Nigeria, it will raise an instant red flag. I remember once I made flour for akara, but didn’t grind the pepper with it. When it was opened, it was white, but because they could not consume pepper like Africans, I then diced purple onions and fried it alongside with the akara; my business was shut down for almost three weeks while the akara was taken to the laboratory because they thought the onion was mucour. Then African Week Café grew to a point that it was selling almost 100 plates of food for lunch on a daily basis without staff. So, I went in search of students and that was also a challenge. Then again, one of the things that motivated my relocating home was inability to get the exact foodstuff I wanted for clients.
You shifted from cooking business to food exportation? How did you come about the shift?
At a point, the more money we earned in Sweden, the more taxes we paid and that motivated my coming back. So, I sat down and said to myself, why would people sit at home and get money at the end of every month; they were on physical cash, while I was credit worthy. It looked as if one was working for another to benefit, maybe if it was now, I would have done things differently, but even with that, I was exposed to a lot of other businesses.I didn’t know Nigerians had refugees abroad until I got into Sweden. It was a cultural shock because I came into Sweden as a respected Nigerian married to a citizen. I was a graduate with a certificate. So, I thought of all these and decided to come back to do my food business and start a television talk-show, to educate Nigerians that greener pastures are not found only in foreign countries.
Talk a bit about the talkshow?
I came back to Nigeria to start Yes with Omolara. But just it was to go on air, I became pregnant for my first son and it was put on hold.
As an exporter, how much support did you get from Nigeria Export Promotion Council?
The Nigeria Export Promotion Council has done a lot for women; the NEPC is striving to do a lot of initiatives. The people managing the agency are determined to create value for the society. Since Segun Awolowo has been at the helm of affairs, a lot of positive initiatives have been happening and they have engaged a lot of women. The people want change and they have actually done a lot of things.
In what specific ways has the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) helped to support exports?
There is a lack of trust between the people and the intervention agencies of the government. A lot of people would not bother to apply for the intervention because they do not trust the system. But I want to encourage other people, especially women, to give it a trial. I know there is a lot of work yet to be done; our leaders need to keep a tab on such intervention funds. However, one must acknowledge that there have been some testimonies around the funds.
What have been the gains of the export business?
In the course of our international trade, we have built up and gained expertise in service delivery to our clientele at an acceptable standard. We have also been able to generate and sustain a very good business relationship with most of our clients. Again, we have set up our soya and corn processing plant and warehouse in Cotonou, Benin Republic. We export 25,000 MT of both products. Our processing and warehouse in Ojongbodu, Oyo West, is also active in service.
Did COVID-19 affect your business?
There was no agricultural business that was not affected. We had partners with a United Kingdom health technologies business. That Monitoring Services Nigeria (HMSN) for the tracking of COVID-19, so that is another part of the company. HMSN actually is a device that our partners developed that when one puts in his/her data, it will tell the symptoms that one is having, working for other ailments like diabetes and other complaints; that was what took our time in 2020. But the COVID-19 created an opportunity for us to export soya bean because the United State could not plant soya, so the pressure fell on us in Africa and the demand became very massive. The projection is that it is going to be like that through another 10 years. For the fact that a lot of farmers and people died in the process of COVID-19, and for them to replace that gap means that the soya beans demand from Africa would be affected more because of the loss of human capital.
I learnt you also exported charcoal; how did that go?
We usually buy wood because there is a very strict charcoal organization, especially in Oyo State, which exports. So, if you are huge charcoal exporter, they would let you know that you do not cut off the trees completely. You will be required to plant a couple of trees.
What fond memories of childhood do you have?
I came from a Christian background and all of us graduated from the University of Ibadan. I broke the family norm because my family expected me to either be a medical doctor or lawyer; I didn’t have the flare for medicine or law. But when I made the good money from charcoal, my mother rejoiced with me.
What part of your life do you regret now?
When I look back today, I do not regret any part of my life. I have got two smart, lovely sons out of my journey. Yes, we shot the first phase and our topic was ‘Greener-Pastures, home and abroad’, for which we interviewed Dr. Reuben Abati, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Tony Payne and others. This was many years ago, but now that I have learnt more and grown, my show will not just be the same vision of Nigerians in Diaspora, but something broader. The food export business was what bankrolled the TV show; it has grown, we learnt, there have been ups and downs, with losses and gains, but we eventually came out of all that.