Affiong Williams

Mastercard Foundation 2021 - 2022

Foundry Fellow

From:

Nigeria

Sector:

Food & Beverage

Location:

Nigeria

Affiong founded ReelFruit, the largest dried fruit processing, marketing, and distribution company in Nigeria, as part of her quest to ‘solve for’ youth unemployment in Nigeria. ReelFruit buys fresh produce from farmers and converts it into varied fruit-based snack offerings. ReelFruit’s business model is based on building and growing markets for higher-value processed fruit products, thus generating multiplier effects in the fruit sector and transforming otherwise wasted raw materials into well-branded snacks. The model guarantees a market for farmers and ultimately increases their incomes.

Affi founded and grew ReelFruit with a 100% female management team. As a successful female leader, Affi believes she has a responsibility to set an example in the Nigerian business landscape, especially one that prioritizes the role of women in leadership. Her main focus in the next phase of her entrepreneurial journey is to grow ReelFruit into a shining example, demonstrating the scale women businesses can achieve, and to act as a mentor, teacher, and role model to aspiring female entrepreneurs with bold ambitions.