Chimwemwe (Chim) Chalemera is the Country Director for the UK Government Department for International Trade (DIT) in Nigeria and has a wealth of experience covering a multitude of sectors across several countries including the UK, Nigeria, South Africa, DRC, Malawi and Zambia. She is a multiple-award winning Quantity Surveyor by profession with a passion for making a difference in every area of her work. As a British-Malawian, Chim speaks several languages including French and is keen on initiatives that will bring mutual benefits for the UK and Africa as a whole. Her love and belief in the creatives sector as a major economic force led her to initiate a series of UK-Nigeria creatives’ sector webinars to explore opportunities – this led to the first DIT creatives trade mission from the UK to Nigeria taking place in March this year, focussed on film & TV. Chim is keen to deliver more trade missions in the coming year focussed on music and fashion retail.

Immediately prior to coming to Nigeria, Chim was the private sector growth adviser and mining sector lead for the Department for International Development (DFID) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Before joining the UK Civil Service in 2013, Chim had a successful career in the UK construction industry where she headed the Renewable Energy business of the global construction consultancy, Turner & Townsend. Chim’s career in the male-dominated UK construction industry saw her winning several awards, including the 2005 QS Young Achiever of the Year Award, the 2007 Construction Future Star Award at the Inspire Awards, the Diversity Award at the 2007 G4C Construction Excellence Awards and a Construction Future Leaders Award in 2008.

Chim is passionate about leadership and empowering women & girls – during her time in construction, she mentored and provided career advancement advice to young girls and university students. In addition to delivering professional trainings on commercial, contract and procurement matters, she has spoken as several public events, conferences and seminars, covering different topics from gender and development to business and construction.