With over 25 years in corporate finance, investment and strategic advisory, Jumoke Awolumate’s story reveals how expertise, ambition and service can converge to form a powerful entrepreneurial journey.
She holds a rare combination of credentials and experience in Nigeria’s business landscape—a blend that has enabled her to pivot from leadership roles in investment houses to growing indigenous businesses through her own firm, while nurturing local talent and driving structural change.
Born and educated in Nigeria, Awolumate built a foundation in the sciences with a Master’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Ibadan before charting a path into finance and strategy.
Over time, she added the labels of Chartered Accountant (Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria) and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, and became an Authorised Dealing Clerk at the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Her professional ascent reached key inflection points. She served as Managing Director of Meristem Capital Limited, a major investment firm in Nigeria, and later as Chief Operating Officer of Integrated Dairies Limited—a company manufacturing Farm Fresh yogurt and milk—where she executed a strategic turnaround of the business.
With those institutional roles behind her, she founded Sceptre Advisory Services Limited, using her cumulative experience to support indigenous businesses by offering expert advice, growth capital and governance frameworks.
What distinguishes Awolumate is not just the seniority of her titles but the intentional breadth of her education and the thoughtfulness of her leadership.
At a time when many professionals specialise narrowly, she amassed an Executive MBA from the Lagos Business School, a Diploma in International Entrepreneurship from the Yale School of Management, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Finance from the University of Middlesex.
This wide-ranging academic pursuit speaks to her belief that leadership must be built on diverse learning—whether technical, strategic or global.
Through Sceptre Advisory, she has positioned herself at the intersection where capital meets capability.
Her firm helps local businesses move beyond survival mode into growth-mode, with governance, access to finance and strategic clarity as a central triangle. In a business environment where many indigenous firms struggle with scaling, her role becomes catalytic: she doesn’t just advise, she participates in transforming the ecosystem around these companies.
As a leader, Awolumate emphasises that capability and discipline matter more than lineage or luck. Her leadership message—and action—align with the broader themes you explore, such as personal branding, networking and financial literacy.
She demonstrates how credible education, professional depth and intentional mentoring build trust both inside and outside the business arena.
For African women entrepreneurs, her story is an embodiment of the principle that you must build a foundation before you build your empire.
Her journey also underscores that entrepreneurship is not just about launching new ventures but also about stepping into leadership roles, turning around legacy firms, and ultimately creating platforms for others.
She shows that women can operate at the highest levels of finance, strategy and governance—and in doing so, change the narrative about who leads in Nigeria’s corporate and investment world.
Today, Jumoke Awolumate stands as a seasoned professional who has mastered numbers, strategy and structure, and now devotes her energy to building systems that will outlast any single company she leads.
Her name may not yet be as commonly cited as some public figures, but in the corridors of Nigerian investment, corporate advisory and indigenous business growth, her influence looms large.
For women in business she is not just a figure to admire, she is a practical prototype: build competence, hold breadth, invest in others—and let your success serve as a foundation for someone else’s tomorrow.
