IJE NWOKORIE (CHAIRMAN)
Ije is currently a Senior Director at Apple.
Following a series of accidents, missteps and happy coincidences – after training as an architect – Ije became CEO of Wolff Olins; a position which gave him ultimate responsibility for the people, product and profits. Most of his time there was spent figuring out how to make something unprecedented happen, with a full-fat, high-caffeine, all-in, nothing held back style.
He loves diving in, getting to the heart of the matter, trying things and getting as many people involved as possible. Collaboration is absolutely vital to Ije. This approach helps to find multiple solutions: some surprising, others wonderfully straightforward. This is done at a fizzing, energetic tempo but with one eye always on exactly what we’re trying to do, so he can keep the focus on the all-important objective at hand. As well as paying attention to people and figuring out how to help them achieve the things they want, he keeps a hands-on approach to design, which has shone through with clients such as Mercedes, Skype, EE and Expedia.
JOHN MOMOH (VICE CHAIRMAN)
John Momoh is a renowned broadcast journalist with vast industry experience spanning over three and half decades. He has had a distinguished career in news television broadcasting and is widely recognized in Nigeria as a transformative industry pioneer. Prior to starting Channels Television, which he founded in 1992, John worked variously as News Anchor, Senior Reporter and Senior Producer for Nigeria’s National Radio and Television Stations, Radio Nigeria and the Nigerian Television Authority.
John Momoh is a graduate of the University of Lagos with a B.Sc. (honours) in Mass Communication and a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy. In June 2013, he received the Lagos Business School’s Distinguished Alumni Award. John Momoh has professional Diplomas from the UK’s Thomson Foundation and the University of Manchester. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School and a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. He is a Fellow of The International Visitor Programme (IVP), an initiative of the United States Information Agency, a “Chevening” Fellow and a Fellow of the “African Future Leaders”, both initiatives of the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
A former General Secretary of Nigeria’s Independent Broadcasters Association and Chairman of the League of Nigerian Broadcasters, John Momoh was honoured in December 2005 by the Nigerian Government as an “Officer of the Order of the Niger.” John Momoh is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences based in New York and has served as a JUROR for the International Emmy Awards. He is also serving as a Juror for the AIB Awards – The Association for International Broadcasters.
TONYE COLE
He is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Sahara Group; a conglomerate which is present in over 13 countries and whose interests cover trading, storage, energy and power resources, aviation, farming and real estate. From an office in 1996 which “was slightly bigger than a cupboard” to use the innovative man’s words, and the core business of trading excess fuel oil from the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, the Sahara Group has expanded its tentacles to offices in Geneva, Switzerland -which actively trades in crude oil, gas oil, Jet A1, mogas and bitumen in global markets; Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, France, Singapore, Dubai and Brazil.
He attended Corona School, Victoria Island and later King’s College, Lagos before proceeding to King’s School, Ely, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. He is also an alumnus of the University of Lagos and Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil. An Architect, he worked in a Brazilian architectural firm Grupo Quartro SA in Goiania Brazil from 1990-92. He was involved in the design and implementation of the urban planning and city development of Palmas, the capital city of the newly created state of Tocantins in far-away South America.
Tonye returned to Nigeria in 1993, and was quickly employed as the Director of Operations EMSA S.A., a Brazilian Civil Engineering Company-allegedly the 7th largest engineering firm in Brazil that was awarded a World Bank-financed water project valued at about $58m for the Lagos State Water Corporation.
NNENA NKONGHO
She is an experienced, global investment and business development professional with a record of successfully identifying, evaluating and managing investments in emerging markets. Nnena P. Nkongho is currently the principal of her own management consultancy practice that focuses on the telecommunications, media and technology sectors in emerging markets, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Formerly, she was the analyst responsible for the telecommunications, media and technology sector coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa at Nubuke Investments. She is serving as Director at Lache Management Services/ NPN Consulting LLC, Global Head of Business Development at
SOLO Phone. She served as an Interim Director, Strategy and Business Development of Etisalat Nigeria. Prior to that, she worked in the arbitrage group at Merrill Lynch in London and within the Hong-Kong based M&A team at Morgan Stanley.
Ms. Nkongho has a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
BIOLA ALABI
The Managing Partner of Biola Alabi Media, the media icon heads a dynamic Consultancy that helps clients find
solutions for their media related businesses and organizations. Named one of the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa by Forbes Magazine in 2012, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2012 and the AABLA West African Business Woman of the Year in 2013, for five highly successful years, Nigerian-American Biola Alabi held the high-profile position of Managing Director for M-Net Africa, part of the globally renowned MIH/Naspers Group.
Prior to this, she was based in the United States where she was part of the executive team at the influential children’s television brand Sesame Street and a member of the marketing team that launched the well-respected Korean motor vehicle corporation Daewoo in the USA. Previously she was one of the first 50 staff members that launched the first ecommerce college bookstore and destination site, Bigwords.Com, also based in the US.
An alumni of the University of Cincinnati where she graduated with a Degree in Public and Community Health, Alabi has spent recent years polishing her knowledge with Executive Education Programs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Yale University’s Jackson Institute of Global Affairs. She has also spoken globally on the status of the African creative arts industry, the opportunities available on the continent, the success of Nollywood and the need for ongoing investment into infrastructure and skills sharing initiatives.
BRIGHT SIMONS
He is a Ghanaian social innovator, entrepreneur, writer and researcher affiliated with IMANI As of 2013, Bright Simons was the President of the mPedigree Network, a self-described ‘social enterprise’ noted for its work to expose makers and distributors of counterfeit medicines, and for creating a software program called Goldkeys that enables the verification of certain products in some countries. Simons writes for the Huffington Post, Digital and the Royal African Society’s online magazine, African Arguments. He is a regular contributor to the BBC’s Business Daily programs.
Simons has co-authored research at IMANI. In 2012, The Diplomatic Courier and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy named Simons one of the Top 99 under 33 Innovators for his work with mPedigree. MIT Technology Review included Simons in a list, released August 21, 2013, of the top 35 innovators under 35. He was included on the list for his work in telecommunications. In 2009, Simons was a TED Fellow. The World Economic Forum recognized Simons in 2012 as a Young Global Leader and The mPedigree Network as a technology pioneer.
The International Foundation for Africa Innovation gave Simons a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to innovation in Africa on August 7, 2013. The Salzburg Global Seminar named Bright Simons a Fellow in 2011. He credits his Salzburg engagement as helping accelerate movement of the mPedigree Network from Africa to India and China. Advisory Board of IC Publications, publishers of the New African and Africa Business, among other titles.
YOMI ADEYEMI
Mr. Yomi Adeyemi graduated from the University of Lagos with a Second Class Upper (Hons) degree in Mathematics and Statistics. He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institutes of Stockbrokers. He started his career as Trainee Analyst with the former Merchant bank of Commerce (MBCOM), renamed Continental Bank Limited (now part of United Bank for Africa (UBA) in 1999 in the Multilateral Projects Unit in Corporate Banking Department. He subsequently joined Lead Bank Plc in 2000 as a Credit Officer in Transaction Banking Unit responsible for appraising and packaging of Clients Credit requests. He was seconded to Lead Securities & Investments Limited as a key team member to resuscitate the dwindling fortunes of the company as Head, Dealing Services and Client Advisory. He joined Core Trust and Investment Limited as Head, Capital Market and Advisory Services in 2004, a position he held till April 2008 when he resigned to take up his present position with Fortress Capital Limited in April 2008 as the Managing Director. His wealth of experience spans Corporate and Investment Banking, Financial Advisory, Stockbroking and Strategic Business turnaround. He enjoys playing Squash and Football.