Tajudeen Afolabi Adeola is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

businessman and investor. He is the Founder of

Guaranty Trust Bank Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC also known as GTCO PLC is a multinational financial services group, that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management and payments services, headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos ...

(GTBank Plc.)., a member of the

Commission for Africa The Commission for Africa, also known as the Blair Commission for Africa, was an initiative established by the British government to examine and provide impetus for development in Africa. Initiated in Spring 2004, its objectives include the generat ...

, as well as founder and chairman of the FATE Foundation.

Education

Adeola completed his secondary school education at Methodist Boys High School, Lagos. He obtained a Diploma in Accounting from

Yaba College of Technology Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, was founded in 1947, and is Nigeria's first higher educational institution. It is located in Yaba, Lagos. It has a student enrollment of over 16,000. Overview Yaba College of Technology ...

in 1975 and became a Chartered Accountant in 1980 following his training with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells and D.O. Dafinone & Company (both Chartered Accountants). Over the years he has received professional development training at notable institutions worldwide including Harvard Business School,

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

, and the

International Institute for Management Development International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is a private business school in Lausanne, Switzerland specializes in executive education offering open enrollment programs for senior executives, as well as longer-term educational engageme ...

in Switzerland. In 1999, he completed a one-year sabbatical at the

National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Nigeria is a policy formation center for bureaucrats, private sector leaders, Army officers, and medium-rank and senior civil servants, which was founded in 1979. Most policymakers ...

in Kuru, Jos,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, where he carried out research on economic development and job creation policies.

Private sector

In 1990, he (together with Tayo Aderinokun) established

, which he served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from 1990 to July 2002. The bank has since expanded beyond Nigeria to other neighbouring African countries (

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and Liberia) and in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The bank became listed on the

Nigerian Stock Exchange The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) now Nigerian Exchange Group is a Nigerian stock exchange founded in 1961 in Lagos. As of November 2019, it has a total of 161 listed companies, with 8 domestic companies on the premium board, 144 companies on the ...

in 1996. In 2002, Adeola voluntarily retired from Guaranty Trust Bank, after twelve years, handing over to his deputy, Tayo Aderinokun. Since then he has served as the chairman UTC,

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...

, Lotus Capital,

Eterna Oil Eterna is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in Grenchen, Canton Solothurn, on 7 November 1856 by Josef Girard and Urs Schild. The company is now owned by Hong Kong-based Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited, an investment holding com ...

, CardinalStone Partners Limited, Tafsan Breweries (board member), and

Credit Registry Services Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt ...

. He is also the chairman of Main One Cable Company Limited which completed the construction of an open access submarine cable system that spanned 14,000 kilometres and provides international and internet connectivity to countries on the Atlantic Coast from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to Lagos in 2010.

Public sector

Adeola served as Chairman of the National Pension Commission, following the promulgation into law of the Pension Bill (principally authored by him), by the

National Assembly of Nigeria National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. He chaired the Lagos State Disaster Relief Committee which was set up following the 27 January 2002

Lagos armoury explosion The Lagos armoury explosion was the accidental detonation of a large stock of high explosives at a military storage facility in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, on 27 January 2002. The fires created by the debris from this explosion burnt down a large ...

. He was the Vice-Presidential candidate of the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several othe ...

(ACN) serving as running mate to former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairman (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu in the 2011 presidential elections. Adeola was also a member of the National Honours and Awards Committee and was appointed a member of the Governing Council of

Lagos State University Lagos State University, also known as LASU, is located in Ojo, with sub-campuses at Ikeja and Epe both towns in Lagos State, Nigeria. The university was established in 1983 by the enabling law of Lagos State, for the advancement of learning ...

in November 2004. He served as a member of the Solid Minerals Committee (constituted by the Federal Government) and was the Chairman of Ogun State Development Trust Fund Committee. He was a council member of Lagos State University and until 17 January 2011 served as a council member

Olabisi Onabanjo University Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye is a state owned and operated university located in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria. The university was founded on 7 July 1982 as Ogun State University (OSU) and was renamed Olabisi Onabanjo University on 2 ...

Civic work

Adeola established the FATE Foundation in 2000. FATE is a non-governmental organisation which aims to encourage

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

, using a mix of training, mentoring, loan support and consulting to support young Nigerians. To date it has served over 30,000 young Nigerian entrepreneurs, of which over 65% are fully employed by their businesses and are employing on average about four staff. FATE opened an innovation centre in

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding a ...

, the Institute for Venture Design, in collaboration with the Centre for Design Research at Stanford University, which runs an entrepreneurship program focused on engineering, technology, and innovation, and which aims to promote development of industry in Nigeria. Adeola served as a member of the Global Advisory Committee on Philanthropy of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

for four years. In 2001, he was invited to join twenty-four other business leaders for the Aspen Institute ISIB Annual Business Leaders Dialogue in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

. In May 2004, he was appointed Commissioner on the

by the British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

. He was a Council member, and is Fellow of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is a professional accountancy body in Nigeria. It is one of the two professional accountancy associations with regulatory authority in Nigeria, the other being the Association of National ...

; Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria.

Honours and awards

He was nationally decorated as Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) in December 2002 by President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...

. He has an honorary doctorate from Nkumba University, Ntebbe,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. Banker of the Decade in 2009 by the

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

Newspaper group. Distinguished Famous Alumni award by Yaba Tech. Zik Leadership in 2003. This Day Awards 2011 – Change Makers in Social Entrepreneurship

Personal life

Adeola is married to Hajara, and has six children.

References

External links

FATE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeola, Fola Nigerian bankers Yoruba bankers International development in Africa Living people Arm Holdings people Harvard Business School alumni Officers of the Order of the Federal Republic Methodist Boys' High School alumni Yaba College of Technology alumni Lagos State University people Olabisi Onabanjo University people Nigerian expatriates in the United States Guaranty Trust Bank people Nigerian chairpersons of corporations 1954 births