Lamide Akinola’s time at the top of Glovo Nigeria has come to a close. She exits after pushing the company through its most aggressive growth spurt yet, a run that saw Glovo pour record sums into the Nigerian market and ramp up its reach across major cities.
At the Future of Commerce summit in April, Glovo reported delivering 38 million items in Nigeria over the previous year, highlighting the scale of its operations.
Investment and operational milestones
Glovo entered Nigeria in 2021 and claims to have invested more than ₦54 billion in the country, with ₦8.5 billion spent in 2025 alone. TechCabal, in its own review, puts Glovo’s total investment at over ₦37 billion (about $27 million). The gap likely comes down to different reporting methods or timeframes. Glovo says it has handled over 40 million deliveries nationwide. At the April 2026 Future of Commerce summit, the company cited 38 million items delivered in the previous year, showing how delivery counts and item counts can differ depending on the source. In 2025, Glovo said it doubled its network of restaurant and retail partners and more than doubled the economic value created for these businesses, according to a TechCabal market report.
Akinola first joined Glovo as Head of Q-commerce for Sub-Saharan Africa, where she led the push into grocery and retail before taking over as country head in July 2023. She made her exit official on October 6, 2026, after more than five years at Glovo and over three years leading the Nigerian business, as confirmed by TechCabal reporting.
After the leadership transition, Glovo Nigeria received industry recognition at the EDGE Awards, being named Outstanding Digital Commerce Platform of the Year, while Reni Onafeko was honored as Outstanding Digital Commerce Business Personality of the Year.
Leadership transition and future outlook
With Akinola gone, Reni Onafeko, who had been Head of Growth, steps in as managing director. Onafeko has been acting in the role since February 2026. The company says Onafeko’s job is to keep pushing into Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan, showing Glovo’s plan to dig even deeper into Nigeria’s biggest cities.
This handover comes as Glovo tries to balance its expansion plans with the realities of Nigeria’s unpredictable economy, where inflation and currency swings keep pressure on the business. Dima Rasnovsky, Glovo’s Director for Africa, has doubled down on the company’s belief in Nigeria’s long-term promise and says Glovo will keep investing in technology, partner support, and e-commerce growth, as stated in a statement to The Nation.
Akinola called her years at Glovo Nigeria some of the most rewarding of her career, pointing to the company’s transformation and the new opportunities for riders and local businesses. The numbers back her up: steady double-digit growth, major capital outlays, and a logistics network that now cuts across several sectors. Whether Glovo can keep up this pace as Nigeria’s delivery market gets even tougher will show if its strategy can go the distance.
