PwC: Welcome to the August 2025 edition of the PwC Next Gen Talk Podcast Series. We're thrilled to have you join us as we embark on another exciting journey exploring the stories, insights, and experiences of young leaders in family enterprises around the world.
I am Oluwatoni Olatunde, and I'll be your host for this podcast. In this edition, we'll be sharing invaluable lessons from one of our NextGen members while also celebrating his remarkable achievements. He will be showcasing his experiences, insights, and the influence of the PwC NextGen club on his professional and personal development.
We'll explore various aspects of his journey, including his role in his family business, mentorship, future vision, and work-life balance. So, whether you're a seasoned member or new to the PwC NextGen club, we hope you'll find both inspiration and practical advice to guide you on your journey to success.
So, sit back, relax and get ready to be inspired by the voices of the next generation of family enterprise leaders.
Today we are joined by someone who wears many hats. Strategist, innovator, investor, and a proud second-generation leader. He is an Executive Director of Strategy and Innovation at MedPlus Pharmacy, which is Nigeria's leading retail pharmacy chain with over 140 stores nationwide. At MedPlus, he's driving digital transformation and strategic growth. He's also leading investor relations and was instrumental in securing great capital.
From Verod Capital. Before joining the family business, he worked at Flutterwave, where he helped SME scale across the continent. Please join me as I welcome Ife Bakare. Ife, it's lovely to meet you.
Ife Bakare: Hi, Toni. Pleased to be here. Thank you.
PwC: He has been a longstanding member of our PwC NextGen club, and he attended our global NextGen academics organized in Switzerland in 2024. This is impressive, Ife, your dedication to personal and societal growth is very commendable and it's safe to say that you've come a long way. uh My mom doesn't think so. Okay, so let's start light. Before we talk about strategy and serious business talk, can you tell us more about Ife? So, who are you when you're not working or thinking about investments?
Ife Bakare: Sure, I think I'm a fun-loving guy. I never compromise on my fun. Fun for me is in the little things. I'm with my newborn son now. As of few months, I just became a father. Tennis, paddle tennis. uh I watch a lot of YouTube, probably more than I should. And then I'm really obsessed with history now, Nigerian history, African history, both business, politics.
PwC: That's very interesting. So, let's dive deeper. um What led you to join the family business and we inspired you to join.
Ife Bakare: Yeah, it's funny. You know, I never ever thought I would join the family business. When I moved back in 2016 now, which feels like quite a long time ago, I actually started my own company. It was called Passport, and it was meant to be Uber for buses. You know, I was fresh from university. was like, I'm going to change Africa, Africa rising. And when you get to Nigeria, Nigeria hits you in face. You know.
But of course, I quickly learned from that journey. You learn a lot more from your failures than from your successes. And so, I was like, okay, figure out the job. I'm not working here. I probably spoke to maybe like 20 egg bonds, as you call it, uncles, guys, banks, a lot of my dad's friends, know, top people in industry. And eventually one day, you know, it just hit me that, you know, what's right in front of you is what people look at. Your kind of not looking over how you take it for granted. And so, it started as one day a week. I’ll just come in; I listened to some of the meetings. I was like, I don't really care about selling medicine and selling Panadol. That's not really what excites me. I studied mechanical engineering. I'm an engineer and I'd always tease my mom.
When I started seeing the revenue, I was like, ah.
PwC: And it inspired you.
Ife Bakare: And so that was what the, so I just saw, you know what, this is a business that had legacy. It was what, 20, we're 32 years now when I joined about 20 something. I saw that there was a track record. I saw it's a need. And I saw that the technology that I was very passionate about, I infused it. I could kind of blend both worlds together. Yeah. Amazing.
PwC: And speaking of that innovation, know, the technology that we're able to bring, how have you been able to, you know, balance it with family traditions and how has that also impacted on your business?
Ife Bakare: Yeah, we've had a bunch of different things that we've tried and worked, we give glory to God because God is the maker and creator of all these things. I'll talk about a few. think COVID was a very big game changer for business.
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We were all remote, but we had a sense of service. So, we're actually allowed to come into the office and our WhatsApp channels, our e-commerce, our Instagram just started blowing up. People would message us for all sorts of things, right? Because they couldn't go out. So obviously they needed their everyday medicines and vitamins, but they'd message us for pen, phone charger, batteries, anything that they needed. So that was one way the environment necessitated innovation.
What else have we done? We've done some, we tried to make a mobile truck, a mobile pharmacy. The regulator was a bit iffy about that. We've gone Beyond Medplus, came out of this idea of focusing on beauty and beauty as a category. So, Beyond Med Plus is sort of like our Sephora offering, where we just take the best and the brightest of the local beauty brands, as well as the ones from abroad and push that out there. Those are some of the things we've tried to bring in.
PwC: I'm balancing it with the tradition is kind of just you hear their own point of view. You hear this us younger, the millennials, and you sort of meet in the middle.
Ife Bakare: Amazing. And speaking of, you know, the skincare brand, I can say I've been able to purchase one or two skincare that I've run out of. I like to hear that. Yeah. So, let's dive deeper into the PwC NextGen experience.
PwC: And for our viewers online who are interested in the PwC NextGen club, it's an international club for entrepreneurs and also young successors in family businesses.
If you can, tell us what has inspired you to join the PwC NextGen club?
Ife Bakare: Yeah, I think it's two things. First is obviously like minds and network. The people I've met in the PwC family, the NextGen group are people like me, people that have joined their family business and are trying to take it to the next level.
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And you know, there's that commonality that brings us all together. We're going through similar challenges. How did you hire this person? How did you raise money from this investor? How is it like dealing with your mom or your dad or your grandpa? I remember the last session we had, the summit last year with business day.
You know, we were all on a panel. We're talking with, I can't remember his name now. One of my Northern friends. He was like the 21st child. You know, and I think maybe like couple of them are in the business. Those are family dynamics you must manage, you know, he has a lot of history to learn. So that's one, I'd say the collaboration. And then two is that global perspective.
PwC is a global brand; guys are in God knows how many countries around the world. So even at the program in Switzerland, I met people from Korea, South Africa, Bahrain, Canada, Cameroon, all of which I'm still in touch with. And every single one of those countries I want to go to, can talk.
And even Jonathan Flack, who is the head of PwC family business now, was there. He's a fantastic resource for me. He works with the Mars family, all the biggest US family business companies. It's just an incredible network to leverage on.
PwC: Amazing. So, you've also kind of answered my next question. But I'm just going to ask, did you um get to know about PwC NextGen?
Ife Bakare: I can't even remember at this point. But I definitely know Esiri, who's one of the family business partners in PwC, and then Frances and her team. We're big supporters and advocates of pushing me to get involved.
PwC: Amazing. Esiri is one of our powerhouses in PwC. And for our viewers online who are interested in knowing more about the PwC Next Gen Club, please stick around as we'll be sharing invaluable insights at the end of this session on how to join and participate.
So, speaking of last year, there was a training that happened in Switzerland, and you were part of it. So apart from the Alps and the scenery and the free chocolates, what would you say is your biggest takeaway from that event?
Ife Bakare: You said the best thing. No, I think I'll tell you a good story and I think this sums it up. was, I think this is like the fourth or fifth day.
During the class, I wanted to meet, I wanted to go to Audemars Piguet, it's a big watch brand, the headquarter of Switzerland. And so, I literally, they had just appointed a new CEO. So, I asked one of the classrooms, either one of the professors or one of the associate professors, do they know anybody there? And within five, 10 minutes, they got a number, and I had called them to set up a meeting to go there. This is a meeting I'd obviously never been able to get anywhere else, but in five, ten minutes, just from asking there.
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And why was that? Because the CEO or someone in the team was an alumnus of the school, IMD Business School, where we're having the course. So that's to show you the power of the network, the power of learning from people who do this as a business. This is what they do literally for a living. So, the network for sure was my biggest takeaway. Obviously, the Swiss hospitality, the Swiss lake at Lausanne.
And then it was actually quite fun as well. know, got to bond, share stories. That's interesting.
PwC: Thank you so much, Ife. And you'd agree with me when I say that with the way the world is moving now, you cannot overstate the extent and the importance of constant drive towards transformation. So, from your perspective, what global trends are shaping the world right now, especially in emerging markets like Nigeria?
Ife Bakare: I think that's a great question. Of course, AI is the buzzword now that everyone's talking about. The AI conversation is obviously one that you need to get ready for. You need to start to create your data structures. And what that means is just any business you're in, what is the data that you're generating? From your revenue to your staff, to the number of customers, where they live, what they buy. Those are all things that's going to feed into your machine, your AI, what they call your LLM, your language learning model, your basically your AI machine. So that's one thing I say you want us to get ahead of, creating the data input and data structure around your business.
And it can be anything from selling chewing gum, sending plantain chips, there's data there. Even for us in retail, what are the key things we look at? Footsteps through the door. How many cars go past the shop every day on the road? That gives you a sense of the input traffic, the customer volume. I think blockchain is going to be big. I'm a big proponent of blockchain and crypto. We're able to move money now around the world in seconds without minimal fees. We don't have to rely on these banks. We're going to name many names. But the idea now is that you can literally start a company in your bedroom, if it's a family business in your house, and all the tools are there for you. You can open an account globally.
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You can send money to anyone, you can hire an engineer, you can even get AI to write the code for the business. So, one has to stay relevant, one has to stay on top. I think now the global, what I call the globalization of talent. You know, you're in a global firm, you can work from anywhere in the world, just because you're in an NGO office now, a PwC doesn't mean tomorrow you're in Ghana, you're in Sierra Leone, you're in Pakistan. So, what we've seen is a lot of our best talents in methods, we don't lose them to competitors, we lose them to companies abroad.
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They're going to Canada, they're going to the US, they're going to the UK. So now when we're interviewing them, the first thing we ask is, come, how long are you staying here? Before you even go, how many years do we have before? And that's just because of globalization. Everyone just needs a VPN and a laptop, and you can work from anywhere. So, we must continue to adapt the environment, build a Thailand pipeline. So, we partner with University of Benin, Unilag, with the Pharmacy Department.
Best graduates coming out from there, we're making sure that we're equipping them for roles and mentors. But also, in terms of leadership, our guys internally, how do we train them to be better leaders? Because they are the ones that drive the culture. They're the ones that engage and also inspire the guys on the shop floor, talking to customers to ensure that we actually get the business done and we can scale. Amazing.
PwC: That's a good initiative in talent retention. So, what are some of the effective ways that family enterprises can navigate generational differences in leadership and also long-term decision-making?
Ife Bakare: Good question. I think family businesses typically are long-term decision-making businesses just because of the nature of the family. You're thinking about passing the business onto the next generation. You're not thinking in terms of quarters or quarter reports or the markets or earnings.
So, I think that generally genuinely lends itself to family businesses as normal. But in terms of leadership transition, and this is something we're going through right now, right? You must be very, very clear on the mission and the vision of the business. That is what drives everything else. For me, there's the family and there's the business. Those two can intersect, but you also must make it clear where the boundaries are, where the boundaries lie.
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So, in terms of leadership, I think one needs to be thinking of, fair enough, in the next generation, other people equipped to lead the business in that next phase, they need to be trained. They need to go either to work outside in a different company, in a competitor, go for business school, to get an MBA, and then come back. The other thing is, and we see this very often now, you can get professional managers to run the business. The family member doesn't need to be the one in this decision-making seat.
You take MSC, for example, Mediterranean Shipping Company. We met the CEO in Switzerland, the headquarter in Geneva. He's the first non-feminine CEO. It was started by Joanne Luigi Aponte. His son is now chairman of one of the subsidiaries of the main company. And this is the CEO that they brought in from their biggest competitor.
PwC: Wow.
Ife Bakare: In Denmark, Musk, a Danish guy. Absolutely amazing. And so that shows you he's still in the business, the son, but he's not running the operations. The CEO reports to them. He's giving them that guidance, that cover, that family values, anything that he needs to sense check. When we bring it to the African context, and I think it's important we bring it to this context, we look at businesses like the Leadway Assurance, the Hassan Abou Kalis. That's a good example of where the father runs the business, and now two brothers.
But they've expanded it into different areas, there's Leadway Assurance, there's Leadway Insurance, there's Leadway Pensions. And between them, they figured it out, okay take this bucket, I'll take this bucket. And now their third gen, Shalewa, that's Mr. Oye's daughter, is also in business, and some of their cousins. So, it's a way of just how do you create a nice map to bring in the next generation, but also being clear, what's the mission and vision of the business?
PwC: Yeah. Thank you so much, Ife. So can you tell us how businesses are rooted in transition, construct a balance between legacy, innovation and sustainability, especially when applying ESG frameworks.
Ife Bakare: So ESG frameworks, That's another buzzword that investors like. Environment, sustainability and governance. We actually hired our first ESG manager like two years ago, shortly after Bero came into the business. And it was fantastic for us. We have paper bags now that we use in stores for recyclability. We're wearing footprints for plastic waste. We use solar in up to almost, I want to say, 40 % of our stores now, up from zero in the last 18 months. We're also tracking now a lot of metrics. What is our diesel consumption? What is our fuel consumption? And we're constantly now, how do we bring that down? I think it's more to renewable energy sources.
Our women and diversity metrics are fantastic. On our management table, we're probably about 70 % women. And even in the organization, we have more women than men. It's like 51, 49, or 52, 48, but go women. And our managing director, Mrs. Bakare, an absolute Amazon in the industry and icon. Amazing. So ESG is very important to your question. And I think any business that doesn’t start following those guidelines is going to fade away. They're not going to be relevant.
PwC: Thank you so much, Ife. Okay, Ife, so let's take things down a notch a bit and get a sneak peek into your fantasies. So, if you could have a superpower, what would it be and how would you use that to help the business?
Ife Bakare: Oh, I like that one. That's a good question. You know what? I think it'd be the ability to read people's minds because when you really think about it,
Any business has people behind it, especially in our business. And if you can understand what people are really thinking of, what are their motivations, what are their wants, what are their aspirations, even our customers, what do they really want from us? You're able to unlock the whole value chain. Our employees will be more fulfilled at work, will be able to give it their best, will be able to do their best work. We'll be able to know who the girlfriends and boyfriends in the office are. We're also able to pair people with their skill sets. Which fit is the best roles, who are the best communicators, they should go into marketing, who are the best people with numbers, they should be in operations and supply chain. So, mind reading. Not mind control, I won't do mind control yet, that will come after.
PwC: All right, that's an interesting take, Ife. Your wealth of knowledge and understanding of the family business landscape is truly remarkable, and it has been fantastic listening to you so far. Thank you.
Finally, what advice will you give someone who is either stepping into a leadership role in the family business or is looking to join the PwC NextGen club?
Ife Bakare: I'll take the first part. I think you should go for it. The worst thing you lose is you don't like it, and you can leave. Good job. I think we all need to really try and push our legacies and African and Nigerian businesses into second, third, fourth and fifth generation.
It's not for everybody, so it's not by force. You have to make sure that your principal or whoever is in the generation before you, you guys have a good relationship, and you understand each other. Part of why me and my mom work so well is we understand each other. I know what she thinks about certain things. I know what I think about it, she knows how I feel about certain things. And there's trust. She trusts me that when I'm making the decision, I'm making it to the interest of the business. I'm not going to compromise.
And I know the same for her. There's also that understanding that her boundary, her domain is her domain and mine is mine. So, when you try and, I will try and keep things professional. Don't try and make it where I don't want to say informal, but don't make it too non meritocratic. There's this new trend, "nepo" baby, "lapo" baby. In Family business don't be a "nepo" baby, just be a focused baby.
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So that's what I'll say for people stepping into next-gen businesses. For PwC, it's a fantastic network, as I said. It's a global network. You're going to learn from like minds. You're going to learn from best practices from PwC as a firm because they do this for hundreds and thousands of companies globally. And they're also going to meet peers, both in Nigeria and both globally. And you don't even have to pay for it. So, it's free.
PwC: Thank you so much, Ife.
So, our viewers online think we can all agree that we've not just been able to get to know Ife Bakare better but also gotten valuable insights into navigating the family business waters. Thank you again for coming to the show, Ife. It's lovely to speak to you and thank you for your time.
To wrap things up on today's show, we would like to use this opportunity to invite next generation members of family businesses between the age 21 to 49 who are involved in the ownership, management or leadership roles to join PwC family business next-gen community.
We implore you to participate in our global next-gen academies for 2025 to connect, learn and grow with peers from around the world. We're thrilled to announce the launch of our PwC NextGen academies 2025 and this year's event features a new name and an exciting new opportunity.
For the first half of the year, we had the next-gen academy at IU University, Center for Families in Business, which happened 23rd to 27th of June 2025 in Madrid, Spain. And those that were eligible were next generation members who have acquired a sound knowledge of their field of study, have some initial work experience, and are aiming for a management role. And the minimum age to participate is 21 years. If you missed that already, not to worry. I will share more details. Sure. So, for the second half of the year, we're looking forward to the NowGen Academy at Waseda Business School, holding on the 27th to the 31st of October 2025 in Tokyo, Japan.
Those eligible are now generation members who are entrepreneurs or successors or aiming for an executive management role. And the maximum age to apply is 49 years.
Thank you for tuning into this edition of the PwC NextGen Talks podcast. We cannot wait to have you back on our next episode.
I remain Oluwatoni Olatunde. Stay curious, stay inspired.
