If you have ever dealt with AFEX and required logistics for your sales or supply, chances are that you have crossed paths with Ajia. He may not have been there in person but would have approved the transaction. Meet Ajia Abdul-Kadir, the Supply Chain Manager who oversees everything from logistics to warehousing to moving commodities across locations. In a world where you can be anyone you want; Ajia chooses to be competent because he knows that reputation and kindness are the most valuable currencies. In this story, he shares his journey from humble beginnings to leading supply chain operations and growing with AFEX.

How did your adventure with AFEX start? What drew you to join the company and what were your first impressions?

Humble beginnings, right? I recall when I joined AFEX, it looked more like, what am I doing here? It has always been a place where your abilities are tested; this was a mixed feeling for me. I could barely use Excel when I started, but I am proficient with all Excel formulas today. Many things have changed between my early confused stage and where I am now.

My early days were heavy with paperwork. The switch has been like moving from driving a manual to an automatic car, one day, you’re struggling to find a physical file from 2015 in the store, and the next, you’re pulling data from the cloud. By the time I came in, we hadn’t started working with “WorkBench,” so most of the record track was usually done on Excel sheets. It would be a special hell if your laptop crashed and forced you to start looking for how/where to get your data. Another interesting memory is printing GRNs.

What's a GRN?

Goods Received Note. It is used to track transactions with clients after each complete supply to our warehouses. Now, we record data using sheets on our systems. There was a time we had to photocopy our contracts and these notes. It was hectic, running from photocopiers to printers (different machines did the work, unlike now). Passing around a document to get signatures was more hectic than the contract itself. Paper trails were the norm, basically.

So, you’ve seen innovation play out by the reduction of papers?

Absolutely, it’s my favorite part of the entire growth, achieving more by doing less. There were days when the machines jammed up, and my emotions followed suit, spending useful hours on unnecessary tasks.

What was the story behind your joining the company? How did you discover AFEX and what made you decide to work here?

A friend (Sam Ukoh) told me about AFEX; he was here before me. A funny twist is that he left and returned, So I guess AFEX must be such a good spot that you’d be willing to return after leaving. As to what made me decide to work here, it was essentially a healthy environment where I could work, develop relationships, and live a decent life.

A decent life! Would you say you’ve had an incredible journey over the years? Tell me some of the things that have happened in the last 10 years.

My journey in AFEX has been one fun ride, filled with highs and lows, celebrations, special moments, and lovely memories. A lot of things have happened, just like our transition from paper to paperless, moving from the analog to the digital in terms of spreading information, keeping records, and the business as a whole.

Since I joined, we’ve moved from 7 warehouses to having over 130 warehouses in Nigeria. That’s tremendous growth. That’s not even the entire thing. Our movement into East Africa while operating certain things from within the country wows me till today. The experience has been thrilling; the more you expand, the larger the rough work. I’m grateful I get to look back and appreciate the beauty of the journey.

Before now, someone could walk up to you and say, “Help me pull GRN from 2015,” and you’d have to go to the little cubicle room where we kept all the files to search; it was a lot of work, but now you can get the data in 5 minutes or less.

This is the second time; it is like the manual GRN dealt with you.

Yes, oo. It did. A major source of frustration, then.

So, has any other thing happened to you?

I have enjoyed growth from AFEX.

What does growth mean to you?

First, If I left AFEX today, I could work in many industries and thrive as a salesman, marketer, and data analyst. That’s what working here has done for me. It has tested me to do a lot that I may not necessarily have loved but it has made me grow. Heading the logistics team has opened my eyes to a lot of things that are beneficial to every company that's into buying and selling. Logistics is the heart of the business. If you don't get logistics right, nothing can move. Everyone needs it, you cannot run away from it or shy away from it if you must grow.

I also got my first car here; it was an official car from when I was moved to the field, and my first landed property too.

OK, what excites you most about working in AFEX and our evolution?

A lot. I have always said that AFEX is like an academy, an arsenal where talents are brewed. you could come in as a young champ with little to no experience in your career and excel in no time. All you have to do is tap from the wealth of experience of the other people here. Also, character and personality building. I’ve met people who swore they couldn’t talk in public and give leadership talks, but now they can.

You can see our evolution in our numbers. The staff strength has always been a wonder. The biggest growth here has been the Project Black Panther and moving outside the shores of Nigeria.

Is that your best memory? You know you have to choose, right? You are just going around the question.

I'd say my wedding. I didn’t expect the turnout during my wedding. People showed up and showed out. My house was quite full the turnout was massive; I was as happy and surprised.

It pays to be loved; what important lesson has your work at AFEX taught you?

There’s no limit to what you can do anywhere. People’s belief in you is not enough; you need to realize you’re the real deal and work with that realization.