Bilikiss Adebiyi

Bilikiss Adebiyi or Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola is a Nigerian entrepreneur who founded the Lagos-based recycling company 'Wecyclers' in 2012. In 2022 she was the Director General of the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB) and Managing Director of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK). She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

Early life Adebiyi was born in 1983 in Lagos, Nigeria, where she went to the Supreme Education Foundation secondary school. She entered the University of Lagos, but left after a year to complete her studies in the United States. thumb

In 2012, she co-founded Wecyclers, a company that collects recyclable rubbish from households in Lagos. When the business started, Adebiyi would take out a tricycle to do collections to find out more about her new business. Once the rubbish is sorted, her company sends a SMS back to the household, informing them of how many points they have earned for trading in the rubbish. The company works in partnership with the Lagos Waste Management Authority. Lagos produces 9,000 tons of waste per day and the authority was trying to double the proportion that was recycled from the 18% figure in 2011. The Nigerian economy is one of the largest economies in Africa, but the disorganisation in Lagos means that rubbish cannot always be collected. Wecyclers use modified tricycles that enable the collection of rubbish from places where normal vehicles cannot reach,

Adebiyi, whose married name is Abiola, has arranged for the Coca-Cola and GlaxoSmithKline to subsidize their operation. Wecyclers had found that a significant proportion of the rubbish came from these companies and they were willing to assist with the recycling effort. Guinness in Nigeria agreed to collaborate with Wecyclers in 2018.

In 2017, Abebiyi stepped down as the CEO of Wecyclers to become the Managing Director of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK). She is currently (2023) the Director General of Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB).

Recognition Adebiyi's efforts have been reported in Nigeria and D+C. She has been awarded grants from MIT and she has won a number of awards, including the Cartier Women's Initiative Award for sub-Saharan Africa in 2013. Wecyclers were awarded the King Baudouin International Development Prize in 2018/19. Fela Akinse and Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola were the only two Nigerians listed in Africa among top five waste recycling entrepreneurs in 2020.

Partners Wecycler's partners include FCMB, DHL, Unilever, Oracle, Nigerian Bottling Company and MIT Sloan School of Management.