Investing in the power of connection
“Life is not about just one person – it’s about the ecosystem around you and how you can better it. That’s everything, isn’t it?
That’s where the magic happens.”
Interview: Sue Wilcock | Martine Silkstone
Pictures: Warren Page
Bolaji Sofoluwe talks to Essex Director
Bolaji Sofoluwe is undeniably one impressive lady.
She has not only founded a thriving, international business ETK Group, but she also works with government departments, lectures at Oxford University, sits on the boards of various multinationals and was recently awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours list.
By any measure, it is quite the CV, but especially when taking into account the challenges of being a woman in the corporate world, and a woman of colour at that.
All of which makes her somewhat intimidating, right?
In reality, not at all. When we meet, she is all genuine warmth and friendliness, completely open and at ease, and charmingly unaware of the magnitude of her many achievements. From the very start, it’s less a formal media interview and more a relaxed coffee and chat among friends.
And that, in a nutshell, is her superpower.
Bolaji’s extensive professional expertise may be around business strategy and expansion, but it is undoubtedly her natural ability to build relationships that sets her apart – whether it’s relationships between people, businesses, countries or indeed continents.
“I’m just a good old-fashioned connector,” she smiles.
So, what’s the secret?
“I’ve always been a natural networker but I also invest in my relationships. My first thought when I meet someone new is: how can I help? Not because I want something from them, but because I think if you have a healthy network, you can soar.”
And soar she has.
Since its launch in 2011, her Colchester-based consultancy, ETK Group, has facilitated trade and investment worth over £1 billion across 32 countries. Today it focuses on Africa, establishing new markets and business partnerships across its many nations; taking each project from initial strategy to final implementation on the ground.
Meanwhile, Bolaji has been named in the UK’s Top 100 Influential Africans and she was shortlisted as a finalist in the Global Entrepreneur of the Year in 2024. Then, of course, there was the MBE which she received at Windsor Castle in April, recognising her significant contributions to business growth, international trade and the empowerment of women in entrepreneurship.
So many accolades and still she seems completely unaware of her success. When asked if she understands the significance of what she has achieved, she looks surprised and replies “no”, adding: “I’m just getting on with my work but seem to be disproportionately rewarded for it!
“I’ve certainly had a lot of luck and that’s what I try to pay back all the time. Because life is not about just one person – it’s about the ecosystem around you and how you can better it. That’s everything, isn’t it? That’s where the magic happens.”
Where it all began
Bolaji was born at the Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham in December 1978.
One of four children, she spent her first years in Erdington, before the family moved back to Nigeria when she was seven. Her father, an academic with six degrees including a PHD, was returning to his homeland to take a position in University of Calabar, where he eventually became Professor of Library Science.
Bolaji says her first impressions of this new home were of a very welcoming community but far too many “creepy crawlies”!
Nevertheless, her parents created a safe haven at the house with lots of toys and games and, of course, a well-stocked library. Indeed, it was here that Bolaji’s enduring passion for reading began.
“We had thousands of books at home,” she remembers. “My dad wanted us to be extremely well educated and encouraged us to know a bit about everything. It is one of the reasons it’s so easy for me to pick up a sector now, because I have a basic knowledge about most things.”
Her father sadly passed away in 2019 and, clearly missing him, she adds: “It’s very hard for me to talk about my dad because he was as perfect as a dad could be. I’m writing a book at the moment [more on that later] and my dedication is for him, thanking him for everything, but especially for thinking it would be really cool for us to read the whole Encyclopaedia Britannica!”
The new book won’t be her first, as growing up surrounded by all that literature, Bolaji was also inspired to write a few novels in her teens, including one about a Nigerian girl who travels to America to work as a domestic before eventually becoming a senator. Sounds intriguing, right? Her publishers might want to take note.
She did, in fact, consider a career as a writer, although broadcaster or lawyer were also options. Then, after the Nigerian Permanent Ambassador to the UN visited her house, complete with a full motorcade, she became fascinated by that kind of sophisticated lifestyle and quickly set her sights on something more international.
It is worth mentioning at this point that Bolaji’s family are all high achievers. Her mother also has five degrees including a PHD, her brother is a successful performer, her older sister worked for the Foreign Office before moving to head up training at Amazon, and her younger sister is a medical doctor.
So, it comes as no surprise that she was aiming high.
She was also educated at one of the best private schools in Nigeria where, surrounded by other bright students, she says she thrived in its fiercely competitive environment.
But was there too much pressure growing up?
“I think that competitiveness prepared me for everything in life, you know. It challenged me to really step up and work hard.
“Though no one wants to play board games with me now,” she laughs.
Finding the light
Now in her teens, working hard at school and happy at home, another significant part of her life was about to fall into place – her faith.
Born into a religious family (her father was also a priest), Bolaji was baptised as a child but it was only at the age of 15 that she truly discovered her own relationship with God.
She was sat in church, listening to a sermon on why faith should be a lifestyle of standards and values and not just a way of feeling righteous, when out of nowhere she began to weep.
“It was the weirdest thing; I just started to cry and cry,” she recalls. “Then the priest said, ‘If you’d like to give your heart to Jesus today, come to the front.’ And I did. I got up because I felt an overwhelming sense of unconditional love. That was when it became real for me.
“Now it’s like a special power that allows me to keep going regardless of what is thrown at me. It makes me feel like I can do the impossible. I don’t think I would even dare to try to achieve some of the things I do if I didn’t have my faith.”
Building a future
Having studied French and with an eye on working internationally, Bolaji went on to complete a degree in languages and linguistics at the University of Calabar before deciding to spend some time with her sister in London.
Seeing the exciting life that her sister had created for herself in the city, Bolaji soon resolved to build her own future in England, but first, she needed to return to Nigeria to fulfil a year of National Service. Her father wanted her to complete it, just in case one day she wanted to become president – naturally.
So, in 2001 she went back to Africa.
It was during that year in Nigeria that she met her future husband, Samuel, at a birthday party. Though just friends at first, after Bolaji returned to England their relationship gently blossomed into something more through the writing of many love letters.
“He’s such a romantic,” she says fondly.
Continuing the theme of high achievers, Samuel is a minister and he has three siblings – one is a doctor, one is a pilot and one an aeronautical engineer. His father was a general in the army, his mother a full colonel and his uncle was Officer-In-Charge of the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps. Even the president at the time was a relative.
We can only surmise that there must be something in the water in that part of the country!
Samuel proposed during a visit to England and they married in Nigeria on December 18, 2004, surrounded by loved ones, royalty and political figures from around the world.
Home and comfort
Meanwhile, as her love life developed long-distance, Bolaji moved to Leeds to pursue a career in banking, starting at HBOS in the secured collections department where she quickly became known for her commitment and initiative.
In fact, if you want career advice from Bolaji Sofoluwe MBE, those two things are her “golden nuggets” for success as she explains: “It’s about choosing to put yourself forward and making sure you over deliver. That kind of work will be recognised and it will be appreciated.”
It seems she is right. After implementing a plan to improve the rates of non-performing loans, she was commended by the CEO and promoted to a more senior role in operations risk.
But while she loved the work, she wasn’t there for long.
A few months after getting married, Bolaji decided to move back to Nigeria and build a life there with Samuel. They designed their dream house in the capital, Abuja, and for the next year Bolaji tried hard to settle into her new world – but the big city was a far cry from her “quaint” childhood home in Calabar.
“I just didn’t fit in,” she recalls.
“Calabar was a quiet, coastal city and everyone knew each other, but Abuja felt very sophisticated and intimidating. My husband did everything he could to help, but I really struggled with the adjustment.”
Unsettled and feeling out of place, when she fell pregnant, Bolaji decided to move back to England. Her pregnancy was considered high risk due to a complicated medical history and she wanted to be back where she felt safe and confident in the care of her previous doctors.
“I’ve always had my feet in two continents,” she explains, “and I consider both Nigeria and England home.”
Moving back, she stayed with her uncle in Colchester and her first daughter, Zara, arrived in 2006, with a second, Jael, coming along three years later.
It was a happy time but with her children understandably now her priority, Bolaji felt it was time to reassess her career. She needed to do something that would allow her the freedom to be there whenever they needed her. So, she took a few consultancy jobs while working out her next steps, helping African corporates with operations risk and insurance, and contracts came in from Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya and, of course, Nigeria.
It was a tough time mentally as she sought a new direction but, without knowing, she was already starting to build her network across the continent and the seeds of her success had been planted.
New beginnings
In 2010, after a few years of travelling back and forth, Samuel moved to England to be with his family and they bought a home in Lexden.
As they settled into life in Essex, the consultancy work was still growing and Bolaji was adding to her skill set all the time, researching subjects online and reading up on strategy while her children were small.
Having clearly found her true path, she was continuing to grow in confidence and when her husband’s friend, Kevin Korgba, suggested they join together to offer training and advice for trade in Africa, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use her extensive knowledge and valuable connections to explore an exciting new market.
“People always look at Africa as one monolith, where there are actually 54 different countries and opportunities in each one,” she explains passionately. “We saw a gap for SMEs and wanted to teach people about those ecosystems so that they could be entrepreneurial and self-sufficient.”
Nel van Zanten joined them as a co-founder three months later and, with her background in education, the team now had all the expertise they needed to launch their new venture.
But, naturally, Bolaji still needed to put together a detailed business plan before committing to the project.
“I always need to see things written down,” she smiles. “The Bible says, ‘write down the vision and make it plain’, and I take those words very seriously. As I always tell my girls – if you don’t have a plan, if there’s nothing you want to attain, then there’s no target to hit.”
With a clear strategy in place, ETK (enterprise, training, knowledge) Group officially opened its doors for business in 2011.
They quickly won a big United Nations contract and raised £250k in investment to fund a fully equipped office in Dugard Avenue and several new staff members, all in readiness to begin work as soon as the papers were signed.
It was an exciting start and things were all set to go…then a change of executive secretary at the UN meant all projects were frozen. They were left with a big investment and a big office, but no contract.
Bolaji was devastated.
“I thought my life was over and I was going to lose everything.
“And we tried to claw it back. We made people redundant and any work that came in, we would do it ourselves, which meant long hours for no wages. We had a few good contracts but still, it was like splashing away at the water and not really moving.”
Fall and rise
They struggled on for seven years but in 2019, Kevin decided he needed to move on. That same year, Nel moved to Scotland to be near her family and their office building was sold, so they needed to find new premises.
And as all this was unfolding, Bolaji’s father passed away.
“It was a really difficult time for me,” she recalls. “For a good month or so, I buried my head in the sand and thought, it’s over – I’ve got all this debt, my dad’s gone, my co-founders have left me. I’m finished.
“But I didn’t want to walk away from my shareholders and I didn’t want to walk away from the debt either, because in Africa, if you borrow money you must pay it back. So, I thought I’m just going to have to put my head down and crawl out of this hole.”
What she needed was a plan.
During the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Bolaji put together a spreadsheet – a personal strategy for moving forward – and she finally felt happy again because she was taking back control of her life and had a strong vision for the future.
First up, she needed to complete her master’s degree in international business leadership and management, so she had the qualifications to back up her years of experience should she need to interview for another job.
Next, she took on additional consulting work and looked for non-executive director roles to support her career in case the business folded. She closed the training arm of ETK (the ‘T’ now stands for trade), which had been running at a loss, and set up new offices at Lodge Park in Colchester where she focused on paying off the debt incurred in those early years.
By the winter of 2021, she had completed her degree and joined the British engineering company BGEN Ltd, as chairwoman of the board of their growing international subsidiary. The book ‘Board Talk’ by Catherine Bishop proved invaluable for learning how to push back and challenge things, and not give the ‘corporate nod’ all the time.
First steps completed.
Then before the end of the year, she was invited to teach MBAs at Oxford University as an Entrepreneurship Expert.
“I tutor students who’ve come up with great ideas for businesses and just need to understand how to do it. Because if you’re doing an astrophysics degree, you’re not necessarily going to know how to start a business! I’m also constantly asked to do different things around the university and I absolutely love it. It’s my happy place.”
Back to black
Over the years, Bolaji had worked with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) offering consultancy and training for international advisers. In that capacity she met a woman called Marguerite Meyer who was working at Exemplas, one of the government’s contractors at the time. Marguerite eventually joined the government department as Head of International Trade Service Delivery Southern England, before becoming Head of Partnerships.
They built a relationship – as is Bolaji’s nature – and Marguerite was to become a great mentor and friend.
She chose to encourage the international trade advisers at Exemplas to send Africa trade enquiries to ETK, then invited Bolaji and her team to help organise the ‘Africa Week’. The online event in 2021 saw more than 700 businesspeople attend, all looking to build their trade strategy across the continent.
It was all great exposure for ETK Group and things quickly started to improve from there.
Looking back, Bolaji says: “I still feel emotional about the support Marguerite gave me because she doesn’t realise what she did. You know when they talk about women supporting women? That’s who she is, and that’s what saved me.
“Now I am really passionate about giving back – because I’ve been there and had that support myself. And if you don’t have your hand open to give, then you don’t have it open to receive.”
As all the new work came in, Bolaji did as much as she could herself and renegotiated anything that needed to be outsourced, finding contractors happy to reduce their percentage if it meant that her important pipeline of work stayed open. Government initiatives allowed her to claw back some money through export schemes and she continued to build relationships through every introduction, eventually securing contracts with major banks and regional organisations, establishing herself as the expert in all things Africa.
In 2024, ETK finally went back into the black.
Up to date
Now having brought ETK back to life through hard work and tenacity, Bolaji is still advising government departments and can even be found on billboards around the world. Most recently she and some partners in Africa have taken on three projects for the Mastercard Foundation – some of their biggest projects to date – to help nurture entrepreneurship and create sustainable development across Africa. This year she also joined the Lloyds Bank Black Business Advisory Committee and she sits on the Greater Essex Business Board and various groups in Essex and beyond.
Given all of that, it is perhaps no surprise that this year she was awarded the MBE – though she says raising her daughters is still her greatest achievement by far.
So, what’s next?
“Right now, I’m writing my book so I’d like to get that finished. It’s going to be the definitive business manual, with practical advice for entrepreneurs, tips on how to make money and a big chapter on international trade.”
Working title?
“‘Why is everyone making more money than me?’,” she laughs.
“Eventually I’d like to wrap things up so I can take a year out and genuinely switch off. I just want to be able to wake up in my pyjamas and go into the garden to look at my roses.
“And I’d definitely like to do a bit of travelling with my husband. He’s always so supportive and I really need to make some time for that man.
“He deserves it.”
