Iyinoluwa Aboyeji was born in Lagos on March 28, 1991, to Reverend (Mr) and Reverend (Mrs) Aboyeji. He is a Nigerian native of Isin LGA in Kwara State. He attended Primary School at St Saviour’s Primary School Ebute-Metta, Lagos. After earning his secondary school certificate from the Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja in 2007, he continued to the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies.
Iyinoluwa is currently the CEO and General Partner of Fund for Africa’s Future (popularly known as Future Africa), Africa’s largest seed stage investor which has invested millions of dollars into over hundred startups across Africa.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
Prior to that he co-founded Flutterwave, a billion-dollar global payments platform connecting African businesses and individuals to the global economy and served as its Founding CEO from May 2, 2016, to October 5, 2018. In those years, he led the company to become one of the fastest growing payments technology businesses of all time, processing over $2 billion across over 50 million transactions.
In May 2014, Iyinoluwa co-founded Andela, Africa’s largest engineering organization that provides training for African software engineers which has provided training and jobs for over 100,000 African software and tech professionals. The company has received investments from Mark Zuckerberg and Google Ventures, amongst others.
Iyinoluwa has also served his country as the youngest member of Nigeria’s Presidential Council on Industrial Policy and Competitiveness and as the Deputy Director General for Madam Obiageli Ezekwesili Campaign for President in 2019. He has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree amongst other awards and fellowships.
Between Jan 2022 and May 2023, Dr. Salami served as Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Before assuming the role of CEA, he was Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), a part-time role which he combined with being Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KAINOS Edge Consulting Ltd (KECL). He had assumed leadership of KECL – a Management Consulting firm focussed on Markets Research and Capacity Building – in August 2018.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
Educated in Nigeria and the UK, he earned a doctorate degree in Economics from Queen Mary College, University of London. In the past three decades, his work has spanned academics, consulting, public policymaking, policy advocacy and corporate leadership. As an academic, Doyin had been a member of the full-time faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan Atlantic University, between Feb. 1998 and June 2016. He remains a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS). At the LBS, he leads sessions in Economic environment of Business.
Prior to joining the LBS, he worked under the tutelage of his father in a family firm established in 1979. The firm grew to become a leading distributor of automobile spares. Dr Salami served in various capacities rising to the position of Executive Director. Doyin then established his own Consulting Company, Edward Kingston Associates, which was to merge with another to become KAINOS Edge Consulting Ltd.. His consulting activities have included assignments for the companies, international and multilateral institutions.
He has also been involved in policy advocacy and public policy making. In 2009, HE President Umar Yar’Adua appointed him a member of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Economic Management Team. Later that year, HE President Yar’Adua nominated him to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where he successfully served for 8years. Beyond Nigeria, ‘Doyin was also a member of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Advisory Group for Sub-Saharan Africa. He was also involved in various capacities with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). He was, until Jan 2022, a member of the NESG’s Board of Directors.
Beyond Consulting and Public Policy advocacy, ‘Doyin had also served as Chairman, Board of Directors of Prestige Assurance Plc and ARM Investment Managers Ltd.. He was also a member of the Board of First World Communities Ltd – a private firm in the real estate industry
Aisha Abubakar is a passionate and intentional individual with over three decades of professional experience covering Public Service Administration, Pension, Investment Banking, SME Finance/Rural Enterprise Development & Micro Credit Administration, International Development, and Human Resources Management.
Aisha’s work experience has focused principally on Small and Micro Enterprise Development, Women Development, and Family Livelihood Enhancement. Her gentle but firm mien has allowed the fostering of a strong network and relationship locally and internationally.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
She attended the prestigious Queens College, Yaba Lagos to start her Secondary School Education. In 1982 she moved to the United Kingdom to complete her Secondary School Education and then study for her A’ Levels at St. Mary’s Hall Brighton. She was there to complete her University Degree and subsequently her Masters in Development Studies in Development Studies in 1991. This has helped in shaping her thoughts and fueling her passion for helping people at all levels.
Aisha returned to Nigeria and then obtained a position with African Development Bank (ADP) in 1996 Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire. In 1996 she moved back home and joined the African International Bank (AIB) in Lagos where she rose through the ranks to become a Principal Manager.
In 2005, she joined the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) as the Office Manager and rose through the ranks to become the Managing Director/CEO, in 2015, due to high display of management acumen, hard work, dedication, resilience and ruggedness against all odds.
Aisha’s commitment to excellence and dedicated focus saw AEA through to receive the Global Citizen Movement Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in leadership in 2013 in New York City, USA for being a model for entrepreneurial development as a way to lift people and communities out of extreme poverty and serving as a model for the rest of the world.
Due to her excellent performance at the AEA, and desire for challenge, she left the Agency to become a Pioneer Director of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), seeing to the welfare of pensioners under the customs, immigration, and prisons department.
She had only been in PTAD for a few months, when His Excellency President Muhammad Buhari appointed her as a Federal Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in November 2015. She was Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment ( November 2015- October 2018) and Federal Minister of Women Affairs & Social Development ( October 2018 to May 2019).
In keeping to her dexterity and zest to impact lives she Co-founded several organizations namely – Tarihaan Integrated Services (TIS) in 2019 where she sits as Founder/Chief Operations Officer. TIS is a management consulting firm supporting the the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises which remains her passion. Rahina’s Global Services, and Fatimah Balaraba Foundation. Her Foundation which is dedicated to her paternal grandmother was established to support the mental well-being of single mothers and the development of the girl child in Northern Nigeria.
Through the foundation, Aisha reaches out to single mothers and girls in a bid to promote sustainable livelihood and self-improvement. Rahina’s provides her the opportunity to mitigate climate and environmental issues as well as foster youth employment. With Tarihaan she has improved the mode of doing business for SMEs and organizations. She serves as Advisory Board Member on Onewattsolar Ltd and One Community One Industry
She continues to contribute her wealth of knowledge to the development of the private sector in Nigeria. Recently Aisha Abubakar was appointed Chairman of NACCIMA Business Women Group (NAWORG), also appointed as Independent Non-Executive Director of Union Bank of Nigeria and SUNU Assurances Nigeria.
Abdur Rasheed is an accomplished executive in the energy industry with over 25 years of experience spanning Africa, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. His experience in the energy industry cuts across multi-disciplines including field engineering, operations management, Integrated Project Management, field development planning and execution. Other areas includes business & finance management, human resources management, strategy management, structured project finance, government relations & trade mission, and environmental sustainability. He has also served on the advisory board of African focused oil and gas companies and oilfield services in different countries.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
Abdur is trained as a mechanical engineer at University of Benin, He is certified project manager trained at Heriot Watt University Edinburgh and a certified circular economy and sustainability strategist trained at University of Cambridge.
In his early oilfield operations engineering and management career with Schlumberger and Weatherford, he held several positions including Testing and Production Engineer, Field Services Manager, HR, Training Development and Staffing Manager, Country Manager, Integrated Asset Development Manager and Regional Manager responsible for 9 middle east countries. He led several deepwater exploration discoveries and development in Nigeria – Agbami, Erha and Bosi and in Angola Kizomba and Dalia. Other projects include Manifa unconventional heavy oil, NWQ shale and tight gas and Karan Hasbah Arabia high rates gas field development for Saudi Aramco.
Abdur led a team from multiple organization to establish and operationalize Team-Energy Africa; a United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNECA initiative in partnership with Sustainable Energy for All SE4All. The SDG 7 accelerator brought together stake holders including: Government regulatory authorities, public sectors, private sectors, institutional and private investors to mobilize $1Billion energy accelerating investment fund to catalyze energy projects developments. He orchestrated the concept of the Expert Group on Natural Gas for Africa’s Energy Transition and Sustainable Development and source partnership with technology companies to collaborate with African energy developers for knowledge transfer and local capacity building. Engage oil and gas operators to eliminate gas flaring and implement gas abating technologies to reduce GHG emissions and carbon footprints. Provide advisory to UNECA on gas solutions i.e CNG, LNG, Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage CCUS and Hydrogen solutions for Africa wide energy transition.
Ambassador Babatunde O. Ajisomo served meritoriously as a Nigerian career Diplomat for more than 33 years in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as at the Nigerian Missions in Africa, Europe and Asia. Ambassador Ajisomo started his diplomatic career in 1982 as a Protocol and Consular Officer under the tutelage of seasoned and accomplished Chief of Protocols in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He later served with dedication and commitment in Administration, Budget and Finance, West African Affairs, European Affairs, Department of Regions and International Organization as well as a substantive Director in the Office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
Ambassador Ajisomo’s cognate exposures to diplomatic practice and consular activities, rules of procedures of International Organizations and diplomatic Order of Precedence helped him greatly in the discharge of his responsibilities throughout his diplomatic career, including as Principal Representative of the President of the Republic of Nigeria to the Government of Vietnam and as Special Representative of the President of ECOWAS Commission to the Government of the Republic of Liberia. He is conversant with the inner workings of regional and international systems, particularly ECOWAS, the African Union, including the United Nations His long working experience with ECOWAS Institutions and Agencies has garnered him proficiency in regional and multilateral diplomacy and partnerships.
He is highly committed to regional values, protocol and procedures of bilateral and multilateral Institutions, including promotion of democracy, rule of law and human rights. He understands the nexus between peace, rule of law, security and sustainable development and with a good mix of diverse experiences in different settings and cultures. He was able to facilitate resolution of various conflicts at all levels through promotion of dialogue, mediation and reconciliation during his tenure in Liberia from 2013-2020. He believes strongly in the promotion of collaborative support and engagements between the public and the private sector in the advancement of an inclusive and sustainable developmental process. He handled complex bilateral consular cases during his diplomatic sojourn in Republic of Benin, The Netherlands, Vietnam & Thailand, involving visitation to prisons, exchange of prisoners, deportation of illegal migrants in accordance with Geneva Conventions as well as issuance of visas and passports.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
He was educated at the Corona School, Yaba, Lagos, (1962–1968), University of Lagos Staff School (1968–1969), C.M.S Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos ( 1969–1974), Davies Tutors, Hove, Sussex, England (1975–1977) and University of Lagos (1977–1981) where he studied Law.
He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the Nigerian Institute of Management, a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria and a Director of the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria. He is also a member of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Nigeria.
He became the First Executive Governor of his home State, Ekiti on 29 May 1999 where he laid the remarkable foundation for development strides. He was also the Pioneer Secretary of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF.
A core chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Minister held office of the Interim National Vice Chairman South West and Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party.
Happily married with children and grandchildren, Adebayo’s hobbies include tennis and football.
.elementor-accordion { border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #ff0000; }
He was educated at the Corona School, Yaba, Lagos, (1962–1968), University of Lagos Staff School (1968–1969), C.M.S Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos ( 1969–1974), Davies Tutors, Hove, Sussex, England (1975–1977) and University of Lagos (1977–1981) where he studied Law.
He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the Nigerian Institute of Management, a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria and a Director of the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria. He is also a member of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Nigeria.
He became the First Executive Governor of his home State, Ekiti on 29 May 1999 where he laid the remarkable foundation for development strides. He was also the Pioneer Secretary of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF.
A core chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Minister held office of the Interim National Vice Chairman South West and Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party.
Happily married with children and grandchildren, Adebayo’s hobbies include tennis and football.
Patner with with Bruit Costaud and unlock the full potential of your endeavors in Africa and beyond.