Top 13 Nigerian CEOs 2013

VENTURES AFRICA – 2013 has sure been a fabulous year with many business rising and conglomerates recording huge profits in Nigeria’s enterprising market. Over the year, we have read and heard about innovations and change in management, investments gone sour or profitable and market share expansions on the homefront and beyond.

However, the fabulous commentaries and news have not come out of the blue, rather they have been the result of continuous improvement at the front line- which is maintained by the CEOs of these companies.

In this list, Ventures Africa reviews 13 outstanding Nigerian CEOs. The CEOs have been credited not because they sit on the chair of company with “high-sounding” names but because they have been able to make a difference in highly competitive markets. They have demonstrated effective management capabilities through hardwork, resilience, research, an understanding of the Nigeria business climate as they moved their companies forward. In no respective order, here goes

Chidi Okoro
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria plc
Industry: Drug & Pharmaceutical



Chidi Okoro became the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria plc in 2012. He is the first Nigerian managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria plc since inception in 1971. Prior to that time, he has served as the general Manager and Director of the company. He is credited for being a member of the team that helped the company achieved a turnover of N9.9 billion in 2007 which was driven to an all-time high of N15 billion as at 3rd December, 2009 while he worked as the company’s Sales Director. Chidi’s leadership has help transform the fortunes of GSK immensely by elevating it to remain on the cutting edge as a sector and market leader. He was recently awarded the prestigious Most Outstanding CEO of the Year Award at the recently held 2013 PEARL Awards Nigeria while his company won the Sectoral Leadership Award in the Health Care (pharmaceutical) category at the event. PEARL Awards recognises individuals and quoted companies on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange who have contributed significantly to the growth of the exchange and the Nigerian business environment in general. Under his leadership, GSK Nigeria bagged the first Best Workplace in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) company’s category on the Great Place to Work Trust Index (large companies) for Nigeria for year 2013. The company was also ranked fourth Best Workplace on the overall in Nigeria on the index.

Michael Ikpoki
MTN Nigeria
Industry: Information and Communication Technology



Michael Ikpoki achieved a landmark this year when he was appointed the CEO of MTN Nigeria, the first Nigerian to achieve this feat in MTN Group – the country’s largest mobile operator by subscriber. Ikpoki has been described as “A seasoned business executive, with an academic profile that includes General Management Programme at Harvard Business School; Sales, from INSEAD Business School; Finance and Analytics, from Lagos Business School and LLB from Rivers State University of Science and Technology.”
A pioneer staff of the company, Ikpoki joined the group as a Regulatory Advisor in 2001 after a six-year stint in the Legal Department of the Nigeria Communications Commisssion (NCC). He has formerly served as the company’s Director and CEO in Ghana after successfully running MTN Nigeria’s Sales and Distribution channel as its Executive from 2006.

According to US-based technology market research consultancy, International Data Corporation (IDC), in November, MTN Nigeria hold competitive edges to further unlock market potentials to remain profitable for its South African parent company, MTN Group – going by tariff innovation and other initiatives underway by the mobile phone network. With over 55 million active connections, MTN Nigeria under Ikpoki’s leadership continue to deliver a satisfactory performance, maintaining market share, even in the face of stiffer competition and regulations.
Funke Opeke
MainOne CEO
Industry: Information and Communication Technology


Ms Funke Opeke is the founder and CEO of Main One Cable Company, a Nigerian cable and communications service provider that built West Africa’s first privately owned high capacity cable submarine. An Electrical Engineering graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria, Ms Opeke has served as the Executive Director of Verizon Communications Wholesale Division.
Armed with a twenty-year career in the United States as a telecommunication executive, Opeke returned to Nigeria in 2005 as the Chief Technical Officer of MTN. She also served as an adviser to Transcorp on the acquisition of NITEL and briefly served as the interim Chief Operating Officer, NITEL after which she created Main One as a result of the dearth of infrastructure which forms a huge information and knowledge gap between Africa and the rest of the world. She creatively built Main One as a result of the non-existent internet services in the country at that time. She built Main One over a 2-year period, from inception with a total investment of $240 million financed entirely from African investors (The founding shareholders are called Main Street Technologies) plus $28 million contingency. Since her company began operations in 2010, Main One has transformed Nigerian and African broadband landscape.

Recently, her company began the building of a $25 million Tier III + data centre in Lagos which would be the largest of its kind in West Africa at 1,500 square metres with a 600 rack capacity as part of its growth strategy and vision to enhance infrastructure in its primary market – West Africa. Her efforts have been recognised over the years. Last year, she won the 2012 CNBC All Africa Businesswoman of the Year Award (AABLA) in Midrand, South Africa.
Michael Arumemi-Ikhide
Arik Air
Industry: Aviation



Young, passionate and an enthusiast – that is what describes Micheal Arumemi-Ikhide best. The Nigerian-born University of Edinburgh Chemical Engineering graduate joined Arik’s board in October 2006 as one of its founding board members to serve in the capacity of “Executive Director Corporate Strategy” with a broad remit spanning areas such as fleet evaluation, acquisition and financing; strategic, organisational & commercial planning and execution as well as government and bilateral affairs. Today, he serves as the Group CEO and President of Arik Air Ltd, Nigeria and Arik Air international Ltd, UK.

Under his leadership, Arik has grown to be West Africa and Central Africa largest commercial airline. Since he became Arik CEO in 2009, the airline has also become the national carrier of neighboring country, Sierra Leone and there has also been consideration for it to be Nigerian national carrier. The Lagos-based airline company which started with a single Hawker jet aircraft, and later three brand new CRJ 900s now boasts of a fleet of over 26 aircraft with over 5 million passengers a year across 19 domestic destinations, eight West and Central African routes, and three long-haul markets covering South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA. Arumemi-Ikhide is a member of the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) UK and a member of the Aviation Club UK. He is also credited to have helped set up and established the airline’s overseas headquarters, Arik Air International Ltd, in London in April, 2007. Arik airline was founded by Michael’s father -Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide in 2002.

Florence Seriki
Omatek Ventures Plc
Industry: Information and Communication Technology



Engr. (Mrs.) Florence Seriki (MFR) is the Amazon behind Omatek Ventures Plc, a Nigerian computer manufacturing company known for its dedication in promoting, pioneering and manufacturing local content in the ICT sector of the continent. A graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Seriki’s Omatek company has succeeded in penetrating the Nigerian IT market with local manufacture of casing, mouse, key board and speakers. She is also credited with opening the first indigenous Computer Assembly plant in Nigeria and Ghana. Her company also holds a very enviable position as a market leader in the production and assembly of computers and related accessories. Seriki is a Fellow of notable associations both within and outside the shores of the Country, including the Nigerian Chemical Engineering Society and the Nigerian Computer Society. She also holds a master degree in Business Administration from the Lagos Business School.
Olusegun Agbaje
Guaranty Trust Bank
Industry: Banking


Now many would wonder what will be the fate of GTBank after its co-founder and former CEO Tayo Aderiokun passed away in 2011. But Olusegun Jimi Agbaje has proved to be a worthy successor by taking the bank to a greater height. Agbaje has successfully improved GT Bank’s standing with its impressive year-on-year market share growth while maintaining the bank’s position as one of the most profitable bank in Nigeria for the last 3 years. Agbaje, GT Bank’s third CEO joined a pioneer staff in 1991, after a stint at Ernst & Young, San Francisco, USA. He subsequently rose through the ranks to become an Executive Director in January 2000 and was later appointed deputy managing director in 2002, a position which he held until April 2011, when he was appointed as Acting Managing Director. With over 21 years of investment and international banking experience, the Harvard Business School alumnus has experience in-most aspects of the bank’s business, including commercial banking, investment banking, treasury, corporate planning and strategy, settlements and operations.

This year, he was awarded the 2013 Banker of the Year – Africa by the World Finance Banking Awards- an award conferred on outstanding bankers who have achieved the most with regards to innovation, profitability and sustainability of their organization. GT Bank was also favored as “2013 Best Banking Group – Nigeria” by the same agency. Also London-based EMEA Finance magazine rated Guaranty Trust Bank Plc as Africa’s ‘Most Innovative Bank’ 2013 while Segun Agbaje was recognised as the 2013 pan-Africa CEO of the Year. Many will also agree that the bank today is one of the most innovative and tech-savvy bank in Nigeria. Agbaje through his leadership redefined mobile banking in Nigeria this year with the introduction of “Social Banking” which made it the first Nigerian bank to allow customers to transfer money and review their account balances on Facebook.
Leo-Stan Ekeh
Zinox Group
Industry: Information and Communication Technology



Dr. Leonard Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh is the Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian ICT solutions giant, Zinox Group. He is recognized for playing a pivotal role in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development in the continent, but most especially, for his intuitive leadership and capacity to define market trends in the technology terrain. An Economics graduate from the Punjab University, India, the Imo state born industrialist pioneered IT distribution in West Africa through Technology Distributions Limited, TD, which has emerged the Number 1 ICT distribution company and the most decorated ICT Distributor in West Africa. Leo Stan Ekeh has a record of incisive entrepreneurship and his vision to Computerise Nigeria has rewritten the history of Information Technology in Africa. His first company, Task Systems Limited changed the face of media and multimedia houses in West Africa as it helped computerise 95 prcent of the Print Media, Publishing Houses and Advertising Agencies in Nigeria. Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh also pioneered IT Solutions in West Africa through his company ITEC Solutions Limited through which he has delivered the largest IT Solutions ever, from an indigenous firm, to the Nigerian Corporate Market. Through his company, Leo Stan has been able to introduce Nigeria’s First Internationally Certified computers which include innovative features like the Naira sign and a power supply designed to contain the erratic nature of power in Nigeria.

In October 2013, the company announced the production of its computer tablet line named Zipad. Ekeh was recently named Africa’s first Microsoft Global Partner Adviser, a position he said he would use to advance the objectives of the Digital Knowledge Democracy and create technology value for Africans. The Microsoft Global Advisor Committee is a committee of distinguished IT icons around the world who serve as feedback channel to Microsoft for business models and strategy for product rollout and meets two times every year. They also act as an advocacy group for customers and channel partners.

A Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Ekeh was also honoured as an icon of Hope by (erstwhile) President Olusegun Obasanjo, for his sustained entrepreneurial efforts in Information Technology. He was also recognised as the IT Personality of the Year 2011 among other accolades.
Aliko Dangote
Dangote Group
Industry: Manufacturing



No list will be complete without Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote who is arguably the most popular and successful CEO on the continent. He is unarguably the king of Nigeria manufacturing industry, and perhaps Africa. His company Dangote group, which he started with a business loan from his maternal uncle has grown to be one of the continent’s leading diversified business empires with interests in cement, sugar, flour, salt, pasta, beverages and real estate, and new projects in the oil and Natural gas sector, telecommunications, fertilizer and steel with annual earnings averaging $2 billion. Today, Dangote Group is worth more than $11 billion, comprising a third of Nigeria’s Stock Exchange.

The company cement business (Dangote Cement) which spans about 24 African countries is the company’s greatest asset and it has helped to push Nigeria to the fore-front in cement manufacturing, establishing it as the largest cement manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa as well as the third-largest cement maker in the broader Middle East. According to Renaissance Capital research, Dangote Cement, owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, was the major force behind the country’s cement success story. Also, his company was listed among Africa’s top 10 most valuable brands in 2013 by African Business Magazine. Dangote group was also named the most valuable brand in the consumer goods sector with an African brand value and overall 8th most valuable brand when placed against brands from other sectors.

In the coming year, Dangote Group plan to invest $16 billion in infrastructural projects in the energy, agriculture and construction sectors in what is likely to be the largest private investment ever in the continent. Dangote plans to double its cement output in Africa to 55 million metric tons by 2015 and to double its sugar refining capacity to 2.75 million tons by 2017. Industry watchers have predicted that Dangote Group will grow by about 30 percent next year if the investment goes according to its plan.

Mosunmola Abudu
Chairwoman and Chief Executive, EbonyLife TV
Industry: Media



The queen of talk shows and Nigeria’s Oprah, Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu is a media mogul and self-taught TV host. In 2013, Abudu launched EbonyLife TV, Africa’s first continent-wide black entertainment network, targeting Africa’s growing and aspiring middle class with programming that celebrates style and success while motivating its audiences to dream and dream big. The Nigerian TV personality has arguably revolutionised pay TV in Africa since she launched the continent’s first syndicated talk show, Moments With Mo, in 2006, and with EbonyLife TV, she is definitely one of the CEOs to look out for in the coming year.

A visionary, Mo in a statement announcing her company this year said: “The Western media has sold us the best of the West, even Asia has joined that race; it is time to not only sell Africa to the world but to ourselves. And we are now in a position to take indigenous African brands to the rest of the world, giving everyone the best of both worlds – it doesn’t get any better.” Simply put, Mo is a go-getter and an inspiration to African women the world over.
Oscar Onyema
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)
Industry: Finance



Oscar Onyema has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigeria’s trade stable – the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) since 2011. Since he became the bourse head, he has turned it around for good. A former Chief Administrative Officer of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), Onyema introduced Market Making and security lending to the NSE in 2012 as part of his move to introduce initiatives that would help to deepen the Nigerian stock market and make it the gateway to Africa capital markets. The introduction of this programme has paid off as the volume and value of trade has lifted the market by 41 per cent or N3.338 rillion in 2013.

Before the introduction of Market Making, the All-Share Index (ASI) posted a growth of 20 percent, rising 21,106.67 to c lose at 25,373.83. Market capitalisation also added N1.346 trillion, growing from N6.731trillion to N8.077 trillion as at September, 2013. Also, at the end of last week, market capitalisation appreciated by 1.88 per cent to close at N12.661 trillion while the NSE All-Share Index increased by 1.88 per cent to close on Friday (Dec 20) at 39,562.75. Onyema has delivered as the exchange is now one of the most respected globally. The NSE was one of the two bourses that made the top 10 best performing Stock Exchange of UK’s Telegraph this year. Under his management, the Nigerian Stock Exchange joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, making it the third African nation to join the clique. The SSE initiative is co-organized by UNCTAD, the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative, and the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment.

Udeme Ufot
SO&U Advertising Agency
Industry: Media



Ufot Udeme, the co-founder and Group Managing Director of Nigeria’s foremost advertising agency – SO&U is unarguably one of the most respected voice in the Nigerian marketing communications terrain. A graduate of Industrial design at the Ahmadu Bello University, Udeme started his advertising career as an art director with Desmark Advertising but later moved on to Insight Communications where he rose to the post of Deputy creative director after 5 years of working with the organization.
It was after this stint that he took an agency attachment course with German Saatchi and Saatchi affiliate – Scholz and Friends and then came back to Nigeria with a burning desire to establish his company with a vision of making it the most creative agency in Nigeria within two years. That was in 1990. True to his vision, within 18 months, the agency was named the most creative in the country. Several accolades have followed suit over the years. His company won the Fate Model Entrepreneur Award 2012. He has served as the President of both the Advertising Agencies Association of Nigeria and the Lagos Business School Alumni Association. He is also a board member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. He is also the brain behind the popular Nigerian Guinness Advert, “My friend Udeme is a great man.”
Stephen Olabisi Onasanya
First Bank Plc
Industry: Banking



Stephen Olabisi Onasanya is the powerhouse behind Nigeria’s oldest and biggest financial institutions – First bank Nigeria PLC. A seasoned banker, Onasanya took over First bank’s helm of Affairs from the present Nigeria CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Prior to his appointment, he served as the bank’s Executive Director, Banking Operations & Services. Since he joined First Bank in 1985, Onasanya has held several management and operational positions. Under Onansanya’s management, Great Place To Work Nigeria (GPTWN), an affiliate of Great Place to Work, San Francisco, US, a global research, consulting and training institute which analyses, selects and publishes best workplace lists in the country named the Bank as one of “the best place to work” and the ‘Company with the Best Human Resources Structure in Nigeria’ in 2013. The bank also emerged the winner of the Most Innovative Ai SRI50 Company award for outstanding performance, beating other contenders, such as Mobil, Kenya Airways, BHP Billiton, Nation Media Group, Stanbic and Uganda Sasol. This year, it succeeded in strengthening its operational processes to suit international best practices. This includes its migration to the world class Finacle 10, a core banking software application.
Sola David Borha
Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC
Industry: Banking



A powerful voice in Nigeria’s corporate corridor Sola joined IBTC as an Executive Director of Investment Banking & Trust Company Plc (IBTC) in 1994. She rose to the post of its Deputy Managing Director and Acting Managing Director, IBTC Chartered Bank PLC (from 2005 to 2007), as well as Executive Director for Corporate and Investment Banking and then Deputy Managing Director, Stanbic IBTC in 2008 before she was officially appointed as the company CEO. With her extensive experience in the corporate and business world, Mrs David-Borha has been able to steer Stanbic IBTC to greater heights.

A woman of many paths, Mrs David-Borha is also a devout Christian and a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). She was recently named the highest paid CEO in Nigeria.

 

About Busayo

Oluwabusayo Sotunde is a versatile writer with interest is in business analysis, the Stock Market, book and music reviews. She also has keen interest in developmental issues, reading, adventure and innovation. Her writing experience includes stock market updates on InvestingPort.com and contributing to CP-Africa.com. She also had an internship with Eko FM, Lagos (at the news and current affairs department) before proceeding to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) to complete her studies.

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Interview: Dangote Group president and CEO Aliko Dangote

The Dangote Group is one of the most diversified business conglomerates in Africa. The group’s activities encompass cement manufacturing, sugar and salt refining, flour and semolina milling, pasta and noodle manufacturing, poly products manufacturing, port management and haulage logistics, real estate and the Dangote Foundation.

How confident are you about growth prospects going forward, in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa?
Our business strategy has really paid off. The year 2012 was particularly good for us in terms of our record of excellent performance. In 2012, we launched a number of projects, including a fertiliser plant and an oil refinery. These are big-ticket projects. We are also looking at establishing more cement plants and expanding our sugar business in line with the new federal government backward integration policy.
Our business strategy has been to look at the country’s imports and invest in critical areas of need. By so doing, we have helped to make Nigeria self sufficient in some commodities such as cement, and also a net exporter of these products, specifically within the Economic Community Of West African States.
There are a lot of investment opportunities in Nigeria and Africa. Discerning investors know this and are trooping in to have a piece of the pie. The only thing keeping others back is the issue of the negative perception that some people have about the continent. But things are changing fast. Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. The return on investment in Africa is also one of the highest.
So, the potential for growth is there. We need to transform this potential into reality. In addition, you have to be innovative in this market. If you bring a textbook solution and try to apply it here, it won’t work. To tell you the truth, the best market today is sub-Saharan Africa and I have not seen any country where you can make money like in Nigeria and I say it to anyone who cares to listen. The opportunities here are so tremendous.

How do you balance growth trajectories with profitability?
We are currently diversifying our business. Some businesses will have greater or lesser profitability, depending on the industry. In petrochemicals or refining, for instance, the refining margin is low, perhaps no more than 10%-12%, but what we are doing is not just refining, we are also extracting a lot of high-value items out of the import pool. That requires a huge investment.
For example, today, I don’t control all of the costs in my sugar business because I don’t grow my own sugar. I only add value. If the cost of raw sugar goes up too high, I can’t make much money, but if it falls, I can make more money. By producing sugar, you end up with excess capacity. When you crush the byproduct, you end up with a shell which can power high-pressure boilers to produce power, which you can pass through the national grid. You produce ethanol which you can mix with diesel for fuel and other byproducts can be used for animal feed. So there is no waste and it is about value distribution and putting things back into the economy, including employment.

What are some of the risks to growth that worry you?
The biggest issue that we have that really worries me is the lack of infrastructure. Our leaders are beginning to understand this. Without infrastructure, no one will come to your country to invest.
I also have a phobia about debt. The way we operate the company is this: we take on debt and we go through our trajectory to deliver what we promised to deliver. We accumulate cash and after two years or so we have more money to invest. Once you do your numbers right and know what you are doing, everything falls into place.
There is risk in anything. What you need to do is make sure that you minimise those risks and that they are calculated risks.
Corruption and oil theft in Nigeria are two other areas that I am more worried about. When you create jobs and people have disposable income, there is less restlessness, particularly among the youth. It is very simple. We have abundant resources, but we need the right attitude to get there.

This interview was published as part of PwC’s The Africa Business Agenda 2013 report.MTV Base Meets Africa's Richest Man: Aliko Dangote

Aliko Dangote Lecture at Lagos Business School Part 1

$8Mn Funding Round for VOD Platform iROKOtv

International Investors Confident in Future of Emerging African Entertainment and VOD Market as ‘Netflix of Africa’ Start-Up Raises Additional $8Mn

 

London.  iROKOtv, the Africa-based movie platform for Nigerian movies, known colloquially as ‘Nollywood’, today announces a funding round of $8Mn, led by existing investor Tiger Global, with further participation from Sweden-based Kinnevik and introducing new investor to this round, US-based Rise Capital. This brings the total raised to $21Mn, arguably making iROKOtv one of the most well funded internet companies in Africa today.

 

iROKOtv is the leading Video-on-Demand (VOD) platform for African content and following the announcement of the $8Mn investment, the company will continue to focus its attention on growing traffic, content curation and building a platform-agnostic distribution system for its 1Mn monthly users.

 

To-date, the capital raised by iROKOtv has been used to acquire content, expand the London-based tech team, develop mobile websites and applications and open offices in London, New York and Johannesburg, alongside the company’s Lagos headquarters. iROKOtv now holds the world’s largest online catalogue of African content, with over 5,000 movies.

 

The new capital will be channeled at building and transitioning the company’s audience from a primarily Diaspora base to an African base, as well as migrating from a largely ad supported model to more subscription service. Currently, 50% of iROKOtv’s audience is located in the UK and US alone, but with the continent coming online, demand for homegrown multi-platform video content is rising fast. There will also be a renewed focus on monetizing iROKOtv’s catalogue through its SVOD service, iROKOtv PLUS, as well as through its strategic distribution partnerships with global airlines and TV channels.

 

Jason Njoku, CEO and co-founder says: “The $8Mn raised by Tiger Global, Kinnevik and Rise Capital will further fuel our expansion and help us to realise our long term goal of becoming one of Africa’s preeminent media companies. We started life three years ago as a Nollywood content aggregator on a YouTube channel and today we find ourselves with a VC-backed dedicated VOD platform, watched in 178 countries around the world, with one million unique visitors a month. These metrics were achieved with hard work from a great international team and today’s news allows us to continue in the same vein and accelerate our growth.”

 

Bastian Gotter, COO and co-founder says: “We have forged a niche in African movie programming and captured people’s imagination in terms of bringing previously unobtainable yet popular content, loved by millions, to a global audience on an awesome platform. This additional capital allows us to consolidate our position as VOD market leaders for Africa, invest in tech, content and infrastructure and, importantly, we are now in a position to become profitable by 2015, which is an extraordinary feat for any start-up, let alone an African VOD one like ours.”

 

Today’s announcement also sees a new investor, Rise capital, brought into the funding series, with Gotter adding: “Nazar's guidance as our first outside investor and active board member has significantly helped our development as a company, so we are excited to strengthen this relationship with him and the Rise Capital team. We look forward to continuing to benefit from their global investment expertise."

 

Nazar Yasin, Managing Partner of Rise Capital says: "We are very pleased to participate in this round of financing alongside Kinnevik and my former colleagues at Tiger Global. Having worked with Jason, Bastian and the team since their early days, we at Rise Capital look forward to continuing to help them scale their content acquisition and distribution channels and secure their positioning as Sub-Saharan Africa's largest and most impactful media company.

 

Mia Brunell Livfors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kinnevik adds: "This latest funding round for iROKOtv is testament to the fact that Kinnevik continues to support them on their journey to becoming one of Africa's most exciting and far-reaching media companies".

 

On 1 July 2012, iROKOtv introduced a subscription service (SVOD) to its site, iROKOtv PLUS, where for $5 a month, subscribers are the first to access the 12 brand new movies uploaded onto the site every month. The iROKOtv PLUS business is currently growing rapidly and is now the largest single source of revenue for the company, revealing that more consumers are willing to pay for quality content. 95% of content on iROKOtv continues to be free and is supported by an advertising (AVOD) business model.

 

iROKOtv has aggregated the world’s largest online Nollywood catalogue, now standing at 5,000+ movies and the company has been credited by for pioneering VOD for Africa and African continent. Coined by the media as the ‘Netflix of Africa’, iROKOtv has successfully disrupted and reorganised the multi-million dollar Nigerian movie industry’s distribution infrastructure.

London: The playground of mega rich Nigerians

Wealthy Nigerians are living it up in London, playing polo with royalty, frequenting the capital’s top restaurants and bars, snapping up luxury properties and driving sports cars.

This according to a colourful article, titled The Nigerians have arrived, in the December issue of British lifestyle and fashion glossy magazine Tatler that describes the lavish lives of rich Nigerian businesspeople and their children.

Many of those mentioned in the article travel between Nigeria and the UK. Some even fly in their favourite British food when visiting the West African country.

According to the article, Nigerians are the UK’s sixth-highest foreign spenders, and spend £300m annually at British universities and schools.

While many of the families featured in the article made their money in Nigeria’s oil and energy sectors, some of the younger generation are establishing themselves in industries such as music.

“Though oil and gas is still the usual career path for the ambitious and connected, it’s notable that several of the younger generation are trying to make it in the entertainment business,” notes the magazine.

In the article, CEO of Shoreline Energy Kola Karim tells the story where a woman assumed he was a professional football player after seeing his yellow Ferrari parked in London’s affluent Chelsea neighbourhood. “The automatic assumption was that a prosperous black man could only be a footballer or a rap star.”

A number of recent reports have highlighted Africa’s super wealthy. According to a recent Bain & Company research report, Africa’s market for luxury goods will grow by 11% in 2013 compared to 2012. A recent study by Wealth-X and UBS bank reveals that Africa as 42 dollar-billionaires, seven of whom are from Nigeria.

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Africa’s Hidden Billionaires: Nigerian Banker Reaches Zenith With $1 Billion Fortune

There’s a new dollar-billionaire on the block, and he’s Nigerian.

Jim Ovia, 58, made his fortune providing financial services to Nigeria’s richest middle class. He is the founder and largest individual shareholder of Zenith Bank, a $4.5 billion (Market Cap) financial services conglomerate after a successful stint in finance in the United States.

Banking was always in Jim Ovia’s blood. Even before he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Southern University Louisiana as a teenager in 1977, he had already enjoyed a stint as a clerk in Barclays Bank, DCO (which now operates under the name, Union Bank). After obtaining his MBA from NorthEast Louisiana University in the United States in 1979, he joined International Merchant Bank as a financial analyst, subsequently rising to become a senior manager in 1987.

In 1990, he co-founded Zenith Bank in Nigeria. Within two decades, Ovia transformed Zenith from a small commercial bank into a fully-fledged financial services conglomerate with operations in Investment, Private and retail banking, staff strength of close to 4,000 people and assets in excess of $8 billion. He was Chief Executive of the bank from 1990 to 2010 when he was compelled by the Central Bank of Nigeria to step down following a directive limiting the tenure of bank chiefs to 10 years.

But Jim Ovia is still the largest individual shareholder of the publicly-listed bank. Through his own name, Ovia owns over 2.7 billion shares (which translate to an 8.75 percent stake in the bank). That stake is currently worth over $360 million.

In 2007, while he was still serving as CEO of Zenith, Ovia founded Visafone - a Nigerian mobile and fixed telecommunications provider. Visafone has become a runaway success. The firm has amassed a subscriber base of about 4 million and is worth at least $400 million according to data compiled by VENTURES AFRICA’s Intelligence unit and our Investment Banking analysts. Jim Ovia owns the company completely. Add these to Ovia’s ridiculously expansive real estate portfolio consisting of dozens of landmark commercial and residential properties in some of Nigeria’s swankiest neighbourhoods (such as The Civic Center in Victoria Island, Lagos) and Aquamarine, an exclusive boat club catering to Nigeria’s richest folks and Jim Ovia is conservatively worth $1.1 billion. A report by VENTURES AFRICA’s estimates, Jim Ovia is the fourth Nigerian to legitimately attain USD billionaire status after Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga and Folorunsho Alakija.

The Nigerian billionaire shows no signs of slowing down. Last November, Ovia’s newly-formed Quantum Luxury Properties signed a multi-million dollar deal with Marriott- the New York-based global hotel group to develop a 150- room five star hotel on the Ozumba Mbadiwe Waterfront in elitist Victoria-Island, Lagos. Construction of the property is expected to kick off later this year.

Ovia is as philanthropic as he is wealthy. He donated $6.3 million to assist the Nigerian government in its relief efforts for the rehabilitation of victims of the various flood disasters across Nigeria last year. He also runs the Youth Empowerment & ICT Foundation, a non-governmental organization which encourages young Nigerians to embrace information & communication technology (ICT) as a tool for socio-economic change.