Abdulfatai Issa

Accomplished FMCG Commercial Executive with over 18+ years of progressive leadership experience driving business growth, revenue acceleration, market expansion, and commercial transformation across multinational and indigenous organizations including Tolaram Group, The Coca-Cola Company (CHI Limited), Seven-Up Bottling Company, Flour Mills of Nigeria, PZ Cussons, Nutricima, and Johnvents Foods Limited. Proven track record of leading large-scale sales organizations, managing multi-billion-naira businesses, building high-performance teams, expanding distribution networks, and delivering sustainable profitability in highly competitive markets. Recognized for developing winning go-to-market strategies, optimizing route-to-market structures, driving revenue growth management initiatives, and building strong stakeholder partnerships that accelerate business performance.

Experienced in leading cross-functional teams spanning Sales, Trade Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Customer Development, and Operations while providing strategic direction to achieve corporate objectives. Positioned for executive leadership roles including Sales Director, Commercial Director, General Manager, Business Unit Director, and Country Manager.

HEAD OF SALES: Northern Nigeria, East and South South of Nigeria - Johnvents Foods Limited - Nigeria

(2025-10)

Provide strategic leadership for the entire sales organization with accountability for revenue growth, market share expansion, route-to-market effectiveness, customer development, sales capability building, and commercial profitability.

• Lead the development and execution of national sales and commercial strategies aligned with corporate objectives.
• Drive sustainable revenue growth, profitability improvement, market share expansion, and customer acquisition.
• Develop long-term commercial growth plans and annual operating plans.
• Partner with Executive Management to shape strategic business priorities and growth initiatives.
• Translate market intelligence, consumer trends, competitive insights, and business opportunities into actionable commercial strategies.
• Own national sales targets, volume growth, revenue performance, and profitability objectives.
• Lead forecasting, pipeline management, demand planning, and sales execution processes.
• Drive commercial excellence and sales productivity through KPI management and performance accountability.
• Lead Revenue Growth Management initiatives to optimize pricing, portfolio mix, margins, and trade investments.
• Design and optimize Route-to-Market models across Traditional Trade, Modern Trade, Wholesale, Key Accounts, and Emerging Channels.
• Strengthen distributor capability, governance, and performance management systems.
• Expand market coverage, numeric distribution, weighted distribution, and outlet penetration.
• Improve availability, visibility, merchandising, and execution standards nationwide.
• Lead, coach, and develop Regional Sales Managers, Area Sales Managers, Territory Managers, and sales teams.
• Build leadership pipelines and succession plans for future organizational growth.
• Establish a culture of accountability, ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Drive capability development initiatives to strengthen commercial effectiveness.
• Manage commercial budgets, trade investments, sales resources, and profitability targets.
• Evaluate return on investment across sales and trade programs.
• Support integrated business planning with Finance, Supply Chain, Operations, and Marketing functions.
• Drive cost optimization and sustainable business growth.
• Present strategic business reviews, forecasts, and commercial performance updates to Managing Director and Executive Directors and the CEO.
• Influence strategic decision-making through data-driven business insights and recommendations.

REGIONAL BUSINESS HEAD – INDOMIE NOODLES & ADDME SEASONING - Tolaram Group - Northern Nigeria

(2025-06 - 2025-10)

• Held full regional P&L accountability for revenue, profitability, market share, and business growth.
• Led regional commercial strategy across Northern Nigeria.
• Managed large-scale sales operations, distributor networks, and route-to-market execution.
• Delivered double-digit growth and expanded market share across strategic territories.
• Strengthened distributor capability and expanded market penetration across emerging markets.
• Led people development, operational excellence, and cross-functional business execution.
• Championed loyalty and trade activation programs that increased sales by over 20% within 30 days while strengthening market competitiveness.

REGIONAL BUSINESS HEAD – ADDME SEASONING - Tolaram Group - Northern Nigeria

(2025-04 - 2025-06)

• Led market entry and commercial expansion strategy across Northern Nigeria.
• Appointed strategic distributors and key commercial partners.
• Built route-to-market structures and execution frameworks.
• Drove rapid distribution expansion and brand visibility.
• Provided strategic leadership support for new product development and commercialization.

REGIONAL BUSINESS HEAD – MINIMIE NOODLES, PASTA & SNACKS - Tolaram Group - Northern Nigeria

(2023-10 - 2025-03)

• Delivered 362% business growth through strategic commercial interventions.
• Expanded distribution footprint and strengthened market penetration.
• Built high-performing sales teams and execution capability.
• Improved visibility, market share, and customer engagement programs.

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER - CHI Limited (The Coca-Cola Company) - Northern Nigeria

(2022-03 - 2023-09)

• Developed national sales capability strategies impacting over 500 employees.
• Implemented Joint Business Planning frameworks.
• Led transformation to a coaching-led sales culture.
• Managed ₦10 Billion+ annual business portfolio.
• Led multi-layer sales teams across 10 sales areas.
• Improved coverage, capability, and sales productivity.

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER - Seven-Up Bottling Company

(2021-07 - 2022-02)

• Managed ₦4 Billion+ regional business.
• Led 80+ sales personnel across multiple territories.
• Improved distributor performance and market coverage.

SENIOR SALES MANAGER - Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc

(2020-04 - 2021-07)

• Achieved 162% sales growth.
• Expanded distribution network by 22 distributors.
• Led high-performing sales teams across multiple categories.
• Strengthened distributor capability and expanded market penetration across emerging markets.
• Led people development, operational excellence, and cross-functional business execution.
• Championed loyalty and trade activation programs that increased sales by over 20% within 30 days while strengthening market competitiveness.

Commercial Manager - Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc

Area Sales Manager - Fareast Mercantile

Area Sales Manager - PZ Cussons

Wholesale Executive - PZ Cussons

Area Sales Supervisor - Nutricima Limited

Business Development Manager - Paga

Retail Sales Manager - Salmat Business Enterprise

MBA - Marketing - National Open University of Nigeria

M.Sc. - Public Administration - Kwara State University

Master of Public Administration - Public Administration - Kwara State University

B.Sc. - Public Administration - Kwara State University

B.A. - English - Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin