Platinum Fisheries, an ethical and sustainable B2B seafood production company in Nigeria

Dupe Killa-Kafidipe is the founder/ceo of Platinum Fisheries in Nigeria, which has a mission to produce healthy seafood using efficient, ethical and sustainable methods. Dupe is an award-winning business leader with prior C-Suite experience in process re-engineering, change management and business consulting. She is also an alumna of the Harvard Business School, IESE New York, the China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and INSEAD. Dupe once volunteered as Head of Strategy with a humanitarian intervention for children affected by conflicts in the North-East of Nigeria. Dupe’s life pursuit is to continue to be a force for good in all spheres of human interaction – business, social and environmental.

Lioness Weekender spoke to the inspirational Dupe Killa-Kafidipe about her entrepreneurial journey, her passion for ethical and sustainable food production, and her vision for the future of her business.

What does your company do?

Platinum Fisheries is an ethical and sustainable B2B seafood production company in Nigeria, focused on increasing access to healthy seafood, tackling food poverty, addressing climate emergency and protecting life below water. To proliferate impact, Platinum Fisheries run training and mentoring programs for traditional fishing communities that transition them away from aggressive over-fishing in the wild. (i.e. fragile open water bodies). Operating on a 2-hectare farm on the outskirts of Lagos since 2016, we have served over 3 million households since inception, and trained over 100 traditional fishermen to farm fish ethically and sustainably. Platinum Fisheries have 17 permanent staff and 15 part-time staff.

What inspired you to start your company?

A combination of factors and incidents inspired me to start the company. Coming from a long line of traditional fishing communities, I saw how overfished our fragile water bodies had become. On another plane, the major source of seafood in Nigeria (imported seafood) had gone out of the reach of over 90% of the population due to high foreign currency prices. These two factors had severe consequences for health, education and general well-being. I should know; I had experienced hunger at a young age and the hopelessness of that period of my life is something I truly never wished for another child but it was happening already. I felt something had to be done and I felt qualified to lead because of my passion, drive for problem solving and experience I have had with providing solutions.

What makes your business, service or product special?

By farming seafood at scale, Platinum Fisheries directly addresses the global food insecurity that is spreading at alarming rates.

By operating ethically and sustainably, we are showing that responsible industrial scaling is possible and does not have to devastate our planet.

By our training and mentoring programs for traditional fishing communities that are transitioning away from aggressive over-fishing in already fragile water bodies, we catalyze the conservation of life below water whilst helping them achieve the livelihood assurance driving some of the unsustainable practices.

In summary, through sustainable fish and seafood farming, we are changing the world by addressing hunger and poverty, collaboratively building food systems that endure. and we are showing sustainable practices at industrial levels and conserving life below water. This separates us from the rest and entrenches our sector leadership.

Tell us a little about your team

I am the leader of this pack and actively lead from the front by sharing the vision and ensuring nobody on the team is left behind with regards to our vision-mission clarity.

Heading Operations is Temitayo Akiyode who has degrees in Animal Production and Health & Animal Science. A fun fact about Temitayo is his near 100% success rate with our hatchery and nursery operations. This is a very high industry standard.

Ayo Olatunji is a Chartered Accountant whose accounting firm (AOPS) oversees PFL’s financials and has done so since inception. A fun fact about Ayo is that we both used to be consultants at a consulting firm. I am most grateful for this because my drive for excellence is also in Ayo's professional outlook. He gets it!

Afolabi Akinboye is the Head, Feed Mill Operations and is certified in agribusiness, value chain and food system management. He has significant experience in feed formulation is central to our innovative transition to plant and insect-based feed formulation.

Salamatu Machida is our Sales and Marketing Manager whose exemplary relationship management has been critical to our retention strategy given the unique market dynamics in the B2B space. Salamatu is also the only other female at Platinum Fisheries and this was an intentional decision given this is a male-dominated industry in general.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

I was that child that had to help her mother in her store from a very early age because of our modest financial means. I became a trading and enterprise native. I started to see every transaction not simply as exchange of goods/services for money, but as deep and meaningful human interactions. Given my corporate background in process management, consulting, human capital management and business strategy, I began to see problems as opportunities to improve everything and to solve some problems. I was driven to become an entrepreneur to solve problems of food insecurity, environmental degradation and related social issues. This is what keeps me going.

What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?

Operationally, our growth strategy is based on the acquisition of the Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) - a biotech system that drives exponential yet sustainable seafood production whilst cutting production cycles and related costs by more than 50%. This system will also reduce input resources entrenching both fiscal and operational efficiencies that will enable us reduce our selling price and deepen access to affordable fish and other seafood.

Jobs opportunity-wise, our planned scaled operations will provide up to 60 jobs to local communities' youths.

Financially, our planned year-on-year net profit margin growth from 2023 - 2025 are of 12%, 37% & 38%

Social and environment intervention-wise, we plan to scale our training and mentoring programs that allows struggling fishing communities to assure their livelihood, adopt sustainable practices and contribute to urgent climate action. Our target is 150 fishermen annually

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur is arguably the closest one can get to having significant control in solving problems, and there are quite a few global problems to solve. Of course, there will always be challenges to face as an entrepreneur because the buck certainly stops at my table. So there is an abundance of care, caution, research and wide consultation to many decision-making points that I routinely observe.

However I can move with the speed and conviction that very few structures yield. I can use my experience, skills, networks and even risk tolerance to make the sort of decisions needed to evolve and drive innovative solutions.

I am never bored as an entrepreneur. Every incremental challenge simply motivates me to dig deeper and chase transcendence. This is why I love being an entrepreneur.

What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

I am a woman in a male-dominated field so this advice covers all spaces, male-dominated or otherwise.

Actively and genuinely listen to your team members with an open mind and heart, ensuring you look out for, and promote, superior ideological and practical positions.

Know when to be firm and assertive (especially when the instances are mission-critical) but do not hesitate to embrace the team's ideas even if they fail. It is important to learn together.

Celebrate and reward team members when their actions lead to a win and focus on lessons (rather than blame) where they under-perform.

Know this: you are only as brilliant as your team.

To find out more, contact Dupe via email: dupekilla@gmail.com or visit the company’s website and social media platforms:

Website: https://platinumfishfarm.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dupekilla

Twitter: http://twitter.com/dupekilla

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dupekilla/