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AKIJ Resource is a diverse conglomerate evolved from the legacy of the AKIJ Group, which was once Bangladesh’s largest and most diversified group of business entities founded in the 1940s by the legendary business icon Sheikh Akij Uddin.
In April 2020 AKIJ Resource was founded by Sheikh Jasim Uddin, Sheikh Akij Uddin’s son, who took on the role of Group CEO and Managing Director. Since its foundation, AKIJ Resource has expanded into numerous sectors including building materials such as cement, steel, ready-mix concrete, shipping lines and digital transformation solutions.
While AKIJ Resource operates as an independent entity, it builds on the reputation, values and entrepreneurial spirit of the AKIJ Group.
“I joined AKIJ Group in 2008 as a director, and one of my first initiatives was to build our own ERP solution,” Uddin explains. “This allowed me to understand how the business works and what levers I need to pull to make things happen.
“It was a mammoth company, yet I introduced lots of changes, so when I started AKIJ Resource, I consciously made the Group very agile so we could grow fast.”
“My vision is to make AKIJ Resource a US$5 billion company in five years.”
And so it flourished. Driven by Uddin’s bold vision, one of his first actions was to acquire several other companies to expand its business portfolio and fast track the company’s growth. In just five years, under his remarkable leadership, AKIJ Resource saw its turnover soar from US$250 million to US$1.2 billion – a testament to his relentless drive and forward-thinking approach.
This is only the beginning, as Uddin remains dedicated to growth by focusing on AI and green tech while exploring investment opportunities with the International Finance Corporation and so on.
Other recent achievements include the commissioning of a cutting-edge flour mill on the outskirts of Dhaka City under its subsidiary, Akij Essential, a blue chip technology-run light engineering production facility – a move that represents a significant advancement in the country’s production capabilities.
AKIJ Agro Feed has also launched a new range of high-quality feed products. The new feed line serves fish, cattle and poultry farming with accuracy and efficiency guaranteed by superior European gear, with the goal of boosting productivity and promoting sustainable lives.
“Looking forward, my plans for the next 12–18 months include making AKIJ Resource a global business,” he says.
“We have several overseas offices at the moment, and I’m thinking about making acquisitions beyond Bangladesh. My vision is to make AKIJ Resource a US$5 billion company in five years, and while there’s a big gap between where we are now and this goal, I think that going global and achieving top-line growth is the way to achieve this.”
Yet with such rapid growth and innovation comes challenges, Uddin says.
“Some people think we are moving too fast,” he says. “I’m aware that as a leader I may be asking somewhat more from my people. With anything new, people tend to feel afraid, so it’s important to focus on communication. Right now, I’m doing lots of counseling with my people, explaining to them the benefits of change and encouraging them so we are more aligned.”
Unlike many other companies, AKIJ Resource has just two core values – innovation and systemic approach – values that represent the company’s focus on agility.
“I say to my managers that their job is to build innovative systems and execute them,” Uddin says. “We are creating digital twins, something that is unheard of in Bangladesh. We’re also working with AI a lot, always testing and learning. We’re innovators at heart – constantly experimenting, learning quickly and embracing failure as part of the journey.
“I’m a strong believer that less is more, meaning that efficiency and effectiveness will win out above all, and this is made possible through technology. I believe in people, process and technology and for people to be the lead.
“When you build a system, the system cannot go outside the box, but people can go there. So you need people to drive those changes into the system. So I’m focusing more on my people and the technology. Processes are the glue that brings the people and technology together.”
“My philosophy is if you can dream it, you can do it. But there’s a but, you need to sacrifice to achieve that dream.”
One of the ways AKIJ Resource has already demonstrated this mindset is through the creation of two systems to manage purchases and sales between the company and its partners.
“This is totally integrated so that all stakeholders can see everything in the system; they don’t need to call us anymore,” Uddin says. “To launch this, we educated our partners and used our IT division to create a simple ERP for them called Managerium. We give this to our partners at a very cheap price so we can grow together.
“We had a trusting relationship with our partners before, but then the efficiency came. This meant we could grow faster. We have made their lives easy and we’re all growing together, so there are no worries.
“I’m quite an optimistic person. I don’t believe in challenges, as challenges will be everywhere. The key thing is thinking about how to come out of the challenges.”
Thanks to AKIJ Resource’s ambitious growth plans – including digital inclusion, financial literacy drives, and focusing on innovation – the Group is well-positioned to become a global powerhouse, while contributing to Bangladesh’s rapid development.
“My philosophy is if you can dream it, you can do it,” he says. “But there’s a but – you need to sacrifice to achieve that dream.
“Everyone talks about dreams, but nobody talks about the sacrifice. The equation should be equal because to get something you have to lose something. If you can dream it, you can do it, with a cost – and the cost is how much you want to sacrifice.”
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