Hakeem Belo-Osagie

Belo-Osagie started his career as a petroleum economist and lawyer, following his graduation from Harvard Business School. For more than three decades, he has been a key player in the Nigerian economy through his participation in several private sector businesses; particularly in the fields of energy, finance and telecommunications. Up Until 2017, Belo-Osagie was the chairman of Etisalat's Nigerian arm, in which he controlled a significant stake. He also has a range of other business interests in Nigeria.

Belo-Osagie sits on the Global Board of Advisers of the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading non-partisan US think-tank. In 2015, Belo-Osagie was appointed to the International Advisory Board of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, which has been described as the most influential think-tank in the world.

Hakeem Belo-Osagie is a Nigerian businessman. He is chair of Metis Capital Partners an organisation focused on brokering and delivering attractive, large-ticket transactions in Africa to select blue chip international investment partners. He was listed by Forbes Magazine as the forty-first richest man in Africa in 2014.

In 1998 Belo-Osagie became the chairman of the board of directors of The United Bank for Africa Plc (the "UBA"), one of the largest commercial banks in Nigeria. He resigned from this post in March 2004, in the wake of unsubstantiated allegations made by The Central Bank of Nigeria (the "CBN") that the UBA had been involved in unlicensed foreign exchange trading. As a result of these allegations, Belo-Osagie was immediately blacklisted by the CBN. In 2005, local reports suggested that the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had launched an investigation into Belo-Osagie's chairmanship of the UBA. No criminal charges were ever filed against him. On 24 May 2010 the CBN acknowledged its actions to have been unduly punitive, and removed Belo-Osagie from its blacklist with immediate effect.

Belo-Osagie and his wife are among the largest donors to the African Leadership Academy (the "ALA"), a residential secondary school in Johannesburg that works to educate Africa's brightest students. Founded in 2008, the highly selective ALA immerses promising young people in a rigorous two-year curriculum of leadership, service and African studies. The ALA network of alumni includes almost four hundred young leaders drawn from forty three countries across the continent. In 2012, the academy unveiled the "Hakeem and Myma Belo-Osagie Wing", named in recognition of the couple's support of the ALA and their advocacy on its behalf.

Belo-Osagie and his wife are among the largest donors to the African Leadership Academy (the "ALA"), a residential secondary school in Johannesburg that works to educate Africa's brightest students. Founded in 2008, the highly selective ALA immerses promising young people in a rigorous two-year curriculum of leadership, service and African studies. The ALA network of alumni includes almost four hundred young leaders drawn from forty three countries across the continent. In 2012, the academy unveiled the "Hakeem and Myma Belo-Osagie Wing", named in recognition of the couple's support of the ALA and their advocacy on its behalf.

Belo-Osagie was appointed by the Nigerian Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to act as a non-executive chairman of the Abuja Investment Corporation from 2007 to 2011. He did not receive a salary for this role. Belo-Osagie also currently chairs Chocolate City Music Group, a leading Nigerian entertainment company.

Belo-Osagie returned to Nigeria shortly after graduating from Harvard in 1980. He began his career in the service of the Federal Government of Nigeria working in various capacities in the energy sector ranging from Special Assistant to the Presidential Adviser on petroleum and energy, to Secretary of the Oil Policy Review and LNG Committees. He subsequently worked in the Petrochemicals Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He resigned his appointment in 1986 to set up CTIC, which became a leading energy consulting firm. He also chairs the board of Vitol Nigeria, which is a subsidiary of the Swiss-based Vitol Group, a multinational energy and commodity trading firm.

Belo-Osagie was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1955. His father was a professional gynaecologist and his mother was a nurse. He is the father of Yasmin Belo-Osagie. He attended King's College in Lagos and completed his secondary education at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales.