Mrs. Cornelia Akpan
GM 2, Operations
Mrs. Akpan’s experience accumulation started during the National Youth Service Corps when she was scheduled to the duties of an Assistant Agricultural Credit Officer and was introduced to the rudiments of Monitoring and Evaluation, Loans Recovery Drive as well as Report Writing at First Bank of Nigeria PLC, Kwara State. On completion of the service, Cornelia later joined Canton Forest Limited as an Operations Manager and Team Mark Consultants where she served as an Assistant General Manager; and from where she attended various professional training programs and courses on: Project Formulation, Planning, Feasibility studies Preparation, Appraisal of project documents, Business Plan Development as well as workshops such as: Training of Trainers for Community Development Management Programs, Supply and Import Management, Financial Management and Conflict Resolution.
These wealth of human capital and capacity have found expression in engagements in various teams of consultancy services at all levels. One of such was her involvement with a team of Consultants, mandated to develop a Business Plan on the establishment of Uyo modern market called ‘Akpan Andem Entrepreneurship Village’ for Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA), in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom State Government (AKSG). In recent times she has been engaged in highly technical business plan documentations like those for the establishment of SMEs Cluster City, private universities, Commercial farms and a Modular Refinery.
As a seasoned research and training consultant with a passion for rural development, Cornelia and her team have: Conducted Baseline Survey for Seventeen (17) communities as pre-requisites for participation in the Integrated Rural Development (IRD) Programme of the UNDP’s 5th Country Programme, Akwa Ibom State (AKS), Conducted a Participatory Baseline Survey in 10 UNDP-IRD Communities; Managed and Trained Women Entrepreneurs on Food Processing Industry in February; Provided Training for 15 UNDP-IRD Communities on: The Use of Improved Agricultural Inputs, Post-Harvest Technology, and The Use of Improved Processing Techniques; Conducted Baseline Survey of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) for Industrial Clusters in the 31 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of AKS from June – Sept.,2005 and produced all the required reports.
As a proven research Specialist, Cornelia as the Managing Consultant of Elia Nig. Ltd is usually included by other renowned consultants’ teams engaged in the Donor Agency’s / Federal MDAs’ consultancy jobs. For instance, She has been a: Support Consultant for African Development Solutions International (ADSI) – Consultants to the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President (OSSAP)-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on the Review and Performance Evaluation of MDG’s – Conditional Grants in Akwa Ibom State in April, 2011; Team Lead in Akwa Ibom State for Micro Development Consulting Limited on The Impact Assessment of the Microfinance Policy in Nigeria, June, 2013; Research Assistant on Governance and Public Expenditure Assessment in Select States for the World Bank Financed Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) in Nigeria from July – August, 2013; and had been on consulting retainership as a Business Plan Development Expert at Global Education and Infrastructure Services (GEISE)LLC with Global Headquarters at Charlotte, USA and Africa Regional Headquarters at Abuja, Nigeria from March, 2015 till date.
In 2020 -2021, She served as Secretariat Manager of the Akwa Ibom Think-Tank on Education, mandated to develop the Akwa Ibom State Education Roadmap, 2020 – 2030.
Cornelia, in her capacity as the Managing Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Elia Nigeria Limited- a consultancy outfit located in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, successfully engaged and coordinated a team of 38 Senior Researchers drawn from all the States in Nigeria on the “Assessment of Social Protection Coverage for Children in Nigeria from 2017 -2023”, a study commissioned by UNICEF- Nigeria office from November 2023 – to May, 2024. Currently, she is working in close collaboration with a team of accomplished, talented and highly experienced professionals as a Business Plan development Lead for Agrivizion Tech Investment Limited, ATIL- a modern concept to revolutionize Agriculture in Akwa Ibom State, South-South Zone and in fact, Nigeria as a whole. She has over 23 years of Career Experience in Business Plan and Proposal Development, Research, Capacity Building and Gender Specialist. Her membership includes Global Development Network (GDNet), Development Aid and Nigerian Association of Technology Incubation Entrepreneurs (NATIE).