Bashir Azeez

I grew up in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, the third of eight children in a family of entrepreneurs. Before I understood what a business was, I understood what it took to keep one alive.

The early years
As a boy I hawked on the streets of Lagos. As a young man I spent four years as a trading apprentice at Idumota market, learning how goods, trust and cash move through one of West Africa's busiest trading hubs. That apprenticeship taught me more about commerce than any classroom. I still went on to study Industrial Relations and Personnel Management at the University of Lagos, and the two educations have worked together ever since.

The career
After university I worked at Sterling Bank, then started Abart Immigration Services, then moved into oil and gas trading. In 2013 I moved to the United States.

Abartfoods
In October 2017 I took over an African grocery store that was struggling. I didn't start it. I inherited its problems, and I worked to fix them. Sales grew from about $200,000 a year to about $2 million. Today Abartfoods serves customers in Beltsville and Wheaton, Maryland, and online.

A lesson I paid for
During COVID, I launched a clothing import business in Nigeria. Within a year, naira devaluation forced me to close it. I don't blame anyone for that. The lesson was mine: put structure in place first, and bring technology in early. Every venture I run now starts from that principle.

What I'm building now
I saw the same problem in agriculture that I saw in trade: strong producers cut off from fair markets. Baagrilink is my answer, an agritech solution built around the farmers who feed the continent.

How I work
- Structure before scale. Systems first, growth second.
- Technology early. Not as an afterthought.
- Quality without compromise. I won't trade it for speed.
- Build to outlast me. The measure of success is whether what I build survives my presence or my absence.

Closing
I'm building the trade bridge between Africa and the world. If that's the work you care about, I'd like to hear from you.