Agriculture investment platform, Thrive Agric has appointed ex-VP Growth of Migo, Adia Sowho to become the interim CEO of the company.
Her appointment comes days after the company faced renewed allegations on defaulting of payment of matured investments.
Co-founder of Thrive Agric, Uka Eje, will be stepping down from his role as CEO and take on the position of Chief Operations Officer (COO). He is also expected to understudy the incoming Adia Sowho who replaces him as CEO.
According to Eje, Adia will steer the business out of the current challenges caused by the effects the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare Thrive Agric for the future.
Delayed Payouts
Few weeks ago, Technext reported the allegations levelled upon Thrive Agric that it failed to pay up investments whose maturity periods range from a few days ago to four months ago.
Following the backlash, the startup apologised for the inability to meet its obligation. It explained that the pandemic had a significant effect on business and promised to pay up all investors debt by March 2021.
“In April however, business started to slow down for our partners who produce frozen chicken. This was because supermarkets in Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt were shut down and they were not getting the same sales volumes as they normally got.”
Thrive Agric
In a tweet announcing his stepping down, Eje explained that the re-organization efforts in the company is part of extra efforts to address the delayed payouts.
He added that they have started the repayment process with the support of its investors, particularly Ventures Platform.
Apart from the new CEO, Eje revealed that the company has appointed a Chief Financial Officer who has significant experience in finance. He also said the company hired an experienced hand to head its Risk Management and Compliance decision, and additional legal representation.
We have recognized from this episode that we did not have a strong enough protection against risks.
Thrive Agric
Suggested read: Thrive Agric Responds to Ponzi Scheme Accusation, Promises to Clear Investor Debts by March 2021
Meet the new CEO
Adia Sowho has over 19 years of experience in business. Before joining Thrive Agric, she worked at Migo for about 2 years where she held a managerial position as the VP of Growth for its Nigerian Branch.
She has also worked at Etisalat Nigeria for more than 7 years where she held positions like Head, Strategy and Business Development, Head of Digital Media and Director, Digital Business.
Before then, she served as Consultant at Deloitte Consulting for about 2 years and Radio Frequency Engineer at US Cellular for about 7 years.
Suggested read: From Farmcrowdy to Thrive Agric, Here are 6 Agric Investment Platforms With Healthy Risk and RoI Levels
Education Background
Adia has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering at the University of Sheffield. After her first degree, she attended Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management where she got an MBA in Analytical Consulting, Strategic Marketing, Management and Strategy, and Entrepreneurship
She is Fluent in both English and French.
Speaking on her appointment, Eje expressed that she’ll guide the company through a turnaround exercise to survive the effects the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Adia has a lot of experience with building businesses from the ground up and shaping them to operate at scale. I asked her to support us, recognizing that she has the required expertise to move us past this period successfully.”
Thrive Agric
With the addition of Adia’s experience and expertise, Thrive Agric would be looking to leverage her leadership to pull them out of troubled waters.
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