The Nigeria Board of Directors, Endeavor, Global Entrepreneurship Network, has announced the appointment of Tosin Faniro-Dada as its new Managing Director & CEO, effective March 1, 2021.
This was disclosed through a press statement signed by the Senior Associate, Marketing and Communications, Endeavor Nigeria (EN), Joy Mabia, on Friday in Abuja.
Tosin Faniro-Dada, who is succeeding Eloho Omame, was Director, Programmes & Coordination, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), where she led the fund’s intervention programs; providing access to finance to MSMEs, facilitating training and job placements for young people, and supporting entrepreneurs in Lagos State, under the Lagos Innovates program.
She brings over 14 years of experience in finance, strategy and program management in the public and private sector.
According to the outgoing Managing Director & CEO Endeavor Nigeria, Eloho Omame, who launched Endeavor’s Nigeria office in February 2018 and has led its operations since then, it has been a privilege to steer the Endeavor Nigeria ship for the past three years.
“From a standing start, we’ve grown into an Entrepreneur-First organization that supports 17 Endeavor Entrepreneurs, who are impressive, high-impact founders leading 11 scale-up companies with operations in and outside Nigeria.
“Our local network also includes around 30 business leaders who embody Endeavor’s Pay It Forward value and support our efforts as active Endeavor Mentors. We’ve grown quickly to become a leading support organization for entrepreneurs in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, working with many strong local and international partners.
“The time has come for me to hand the wheel to Tosin, who is an excellent choice. I’m grateful to the Board of Endeavor Nigeria, under the leadership of Aledo N.A. Peterside (CON), for their support and look forward to celebrating 10 years of Endeavor Nigeria’s continued success,” Omame stated.
Quoting Ike David Sarnoff, the incoming Managing Director & CEO, Tosin Faniro-Dada said, “I firmly believe nobody can be successful unless he/she loves what they do. I am passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and helping them scale, not just for the immediate impact this has on their organization but more for the multiplier effect this confers on the larger society and economy. And I cannot think of any other organization that puts Entrepreneurs First, the way Endeavor does,” she said
Established in 1997, Endeavor is a mission-driven, global organization leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement. Endeavor was founded on the belief that job creation, innovation, and overall prosperity flourish where there is robust support for high-impact entrepreneurs.
To date, Endeavor has screened more than 60,000 individuals and selected more than 2,000 founders leading over 1,200 scale-up companies. With support from Endeavor’s worldwide mentor network, Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created over 3 million jobs, generates more than $20 billion in revenue each year, and inspire future generations to innovate and take risks, building strong entrepreneurship ecosystems in growth markets.
Headquartered in New York City, Endeavor currently operates in nearly 40 growth markets throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
Endeavor launched its Nigeria office in 2018 to select and support the best founders of companies at the scale-up and growth stage, who recognise a responsibility to pay-it-forward and multiply their impact in Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. In Nigeria, we aim to select 4-6 companies a year and today there are 13 Endeavor Entrepreneurs leading 8 companies in the portfolio.
