By Juliet Umeh

The China Europe International Business School, CEIBS, Nigeria Alumni Chapter on Saturday, June 20, 2026, inducted a fresh set of members, unveiled its official alumni website and announced the expansion of its flagship Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership for Africa, WELA, programme to Abuja, marking one of the most significant evenings in the chapter’s history.

The ceremony, held at Shu Garden Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos, brought together business leaders, corporate executives, entrepreneurs and alumni from across Nigeria in what organisers described as a celebration of community, achievement and shared purpose.

Perhaps the most talked about development of the evening was the official launch of the CEIBS Nigeria Alumni Website, a platform that promises to redefine how the chapter’s over 300 Nigerian members connect, collaborate and do business with one another and with the outside world.

The President of the CEIBS Nigeria Alumni Chapter, Mrs. Omoyemi Chukwurah, was visibly excited as she explained what the platform means for the community. She noted that with an increasing number of Chinese investors entering Nigeria and actively seeking local partners, the timing of the website could not be more strategic.

“It is not just a website. It is like a mini website inside a big website. Each alumni member gets to write their own profile, tell people what they do and post pictures of their businesses. For anybody that comes and says they are looking for someone that can provide a particular service, it is easy to go to the portal, run a check and get a list of members who can deliver that,” she said.

Beyond business matchmaking, the platform also allows members to pay dues, message one another directly, access community updates and stay informed about chapter activities, making it a one-stop hub for everything alumni-related in Nigeria.

In another announcement that generated considerable excitement, the Country Manager of CEIBS Africa in Lagos, Sa’id Adewale Mohammed, confirmed that the WELA programme would for the first time be running in Abuja, a move that removes the burden of travel that had long faced prospective participants outside of Lagos.

“All the knowledge and exposure that the Lagos cohort has access to, they will also have right there in Abuja,” Mohammed said. He added that the cross-border structure of the programme remains fully intact, with participants from Lagos, Abuja and Ghana converging for shared sessions that deliberately build connections across national boundaries.

Mohammed also made a compelling case for why CEIBS remains a cut above other business education options available to Nigerian executives. “The world is truly global and there is nothing happening globally that does not have something to do with China. Having access to a school that is already globally number one in China and represented across the world gives you a stepping stone way above the others. And it is not only about China. You also have access to Europe. That powerful combination sets you apart,” he said.

The Executive Director of CEIBS Africa, Prof. Gordon Kwesi Adomdza, used his address to make a broader and more urgent argument. He called on African business leaders to stop viewing the world exclusively through a western lens and to recognise China as an indispensable window into the future of global business.

“It used to be the case that if you wanted to see the future, you went to the west. Today, many people agree that if you want to see the future, you would include China in that endeavour. Chinese companies are breaking the sound barrier in so many different aspects of life, in technology, in business processes and in innovation. We want African managers to get a sense of what the future looks like by learning from these companies,” he said.

Prof. Adomdza stressed that this is not merely an academic argument. African executives, he said, are already operating in environments shaped by Chinese influence whether they realise it or not, and that CEIBS exists to ensure they are equipped to engage and negotiate on their own terms. “We need to make sure that African managers are conversant with what Chinese companies are doing, the models they are bringing on board and how to negotiate with them, so that we can build an Africa on our own terms,” he said.

Mrs. Chukwurah, who is herself an alumna of both the WELA and Owner Director programmes, did not only speak as an administrator. She spoke as someone whose own trajectory was shaped by the CEIBS experience, and her words carried the weight of personal conviction.

Drawing a direct comparison with other world-class institutions she has attended, she said the CEIBS model of education is uniquely immersive. “Getting a China education is different from just getting a regular education. I have had the honour of doing executive programmes at Harvard and Stanford, but I won’t even begin to compare them to the learning in China. With China learning, you get to actually practise. They take you to people that are doing what they are teaching you, from the classroom to either a factory or an organisation that is doing exactly what you are being taught,” she said.

She described the school’s global alumni network, which she put at over 35,000 members worldwide, as one of the most valuable assets any CEIBS graduate inherits. “Sometimes you are as rich as your network is. And it is that wealth of network and networking that new members are being inducted into tonight,” she said.

Her final words to the audience were unambiguous. “If you are not in the CEIBS community, you are missing out. Doing a CEIBS programme is a gift that you give to yourself that just keeps multiplying.”

Ten accomplished women drawn from diverse sectors of the Nigerian economy were formally inducted into the WELA 2025 cohort at the ceremony. They are Fadipe Janefrances, Chief Operating Officer of Elfad Concept Ltd; Akinde Ifeoma, Executive Director of Whitehills Events; Tolulope Olaiya, Managing Director of Greenswealth Corporate Services Limited; Ikimi Titilayo, Assistant Director at the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service; Aire Natasha, Chief Executive Officer of Style Space Concepts; Fasoranti Bimbo, Managing Director of Hair by Beesroots; Okuntola Abisola, Creative Director of Plum and Grey; Marian Nwanze, Design Lead at Design by May; Odokor Patience, Chief Executive Officer of The Fabric Hub and Ehiwoman; and Ogu Jane, Chief Executive Officer of Flawlessfaces by Jane.

One of the inductees, Dr. Mark Juliana Ladini, gave what was perhaps the most moving testimony of the evening. She recalled coming into the WELA programme as a university lecturer with a struggling business and leaving as an entirely different professional.

“When I came to WELA, something happened. There is this boldness, a change of mentality. I know how to approach things better than before. I do things with professionalism and excellence. WELA transformed me automatically. My business is doing well now and I have more ideas on what to do next,” she said.

The award ceremony was another emotional high point of the evening. Itohan Asibor was named the Best Graduating Student, while Nkechi Oji received the Worthy Ambassador Award. Okuntola Abisola was named First Runner-Up and Adeyemi Adebanke Olufunmilade Second Runner-Up. Category honours went to Aire Natasha for Best in Entrepreneurial and Finance Accounting, Fadipe Janefrances for Best in Strategy and Innovation, and Akinloye Oluwakemi Yetunde for Best in Entrepreneurial Gender and Leadership.

Nkechi Oji, an estate surveyor and valuer by training, spoke about how the CEIBS China immersion experience completely redirected her career path. She has since launched a new business in environmental services and electric vehicles, and she credits a visit to the Alibaba campus in China as the moment her thinking shifted permanently.

“Going to the Alibaba boot camp and seeing what one man achieved for a nation kept me thinking about how I can also do something that serves my community, then the nation and the world. The companies I visited, including JA Solar, I am now doing business with them,” she said.

Dr. Abiodun Hamzat, who completed his CEIBS Executive MBA in 2013 and 2014 and has remained an engaged alumni member since, offered a long view of what the institution has meant for his professional life. He said that studying over 300 case studies of global multinationals, visiting Harvard through CEIBS and building relationships across continents have all contributed to shaping who he is as a leader today.

His advice to anyone sitting on the fence about enrolling was simple and direct. “Don’t think about it twice. You can be operating locally but you need to think global. The result is more than the investment,” he said.