Hakeem Belo-Osagie

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.^[1] He was listed by Forbes Magazine as the forty-first richest man in Africa in 2014.^[2]

Hakeem Belo-Osagie
Born	1955 (age 68–69) Lagos, Nigeria
Nationality	Nigerian
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Chair of Metis Capital Partners
Spouse	Myma Belo-Osagie
Children	Yasmin Belo-Osagie

Belo-Osagie is the son of Professor Tiamiyu Belo-Osagie, a renowned gynecologist who catered to the medical needs of the family of former Nigerian military president Ibrahim Babangida. Through that connection, Hakeem secured a job as Special Assistant to the Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy and later as Special Assistant to the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, late Alhaji Rilwan Lukmon. The appointments, he admits put him in the position to close in on a few oil deals from which he made his first fortune.

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.^[1]

Belo-Osagie and his wife, Dr Myma Belo-Osagie (a founding partner of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie), are noted philanthropists who believe strongly in the power of education. They are among the largest donors to the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, and have endowed a fund for the promotion of Africa at Yale University.^[3][4] The couple are also supporters of Harvard University's Center for African Studies, and Belo-Osagie has established a scholarship to support African students studying at Balliol College, Oxford.^[5][6]

Belo-Osagie and his wife are both members of Harvard University's Global Advisory Council. Belo-Osagie also serves on the Yale University President's Council on International Activities and the New York University President's Global Council.^[7] In addition, Belo-Osagie sits on the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Institution and the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations.^[8][9]

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.^[10]

Belo-Osagie is also the founder and Chairman of the board of FSDH holding company, which includes among its holdings FSDH merchant Bank, FSDH Asset management, PAL pensions and FSDH securities trading company^{[citation needed]}

Personal life and education

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.^[11] He attended King's College in Lagos and completed his secondary education at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales.^[12][13]

Belo-Osagie holds a law degree from the University of Cambridge, a MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association.

He currently lives in Nigeria with his wife Dr.Myma Belo-Osagie and their four children

Career

Oil industry

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.^[1] 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.

Finance

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 is also the founder and Chairman of the board of FSDH holding company, which includes among its holdings FSDH merchant Bank, FSDH Asset management, PAL pensions and FSDH securities trading company

Telecommunications and other recent ventures

Belo-Osagie until recently, was the chairman of the board of directors of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Ltd, a mobile telephone operator which operates in Nigeria under the Etisalat brand.^[14] He is the ultimate beneficial owner of a significant stake in the company, which is operated as a joint venture with Mubadala Development Company and the Etisalat group.

Belo-Osagie is the chairman of and main shareholder in Duval Properties Limited, a real estate company currently engaged in developing a major new residential and commercial district at Jabi Lake in Abuja.^[15][16] 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 has also recently invested in Andela, which is developing a network of high quality computer science education programmes across the African continent.^[17] Andela operates a self-financing model of education: it funds the training of promising young programmers, and generates revenue by supplying its graduates' services to a range of global clients.^[18] Belo-Osagie also sits on Andela's board.

Non-executive and honorary positions

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.

Belo-Osagie and his wife both serve as members of Harvard University's Global Advisory Council. Belo-Osagie is also a member of the Yale University President's Council on International Activities and the New York University President's Global Council.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Philanthropy

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.^[10]

The couple have recently established the "Hakeem and Myma Belo-Osagie Fund for the Promotion of Africa" at Yale University, and are supporters of Harvard University's Center for African Studies. Belo-Osagie has also endowed a fund to provide scholarships for African students studying at Balliol College, Oxford.

Belo-Osagie serves on the board of Alfanar, a charity which applies the principles of private sector investment to charitable giving to help build sustainable social enterprises throughout the Arab world.^[19] He also chairs the Nigerian National Committee for the United World Colleges, which assists the organisation's member colleges in identifying suitable candidates for their two-year International Baccalaureate scholarship programmes.^[20] Mr Belo-Osagie has also funded several scholarships to the United World Colleges.

References

1. . Archived from the original on 7 December 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
2. . Forbes. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
3. "Nigerian Businessman Belo-Osagie Honored By the Harvard Business School's Africa Business Club and the African Leadership Academy". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
4. "YaleNews". 6 October 2015.
5. "Hakeem and Myma Belo-Osagie Distinguished African Business and Entrepreneurship Lecture with Aliko Dangote". Center for African Studies. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
6. "Scholarships for Graduates | Balliol College, University of Oxford". University of Oxford. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
7. "President's Council on International Activities | Office of the President". president.yale.edu. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
8. "International Advisory Council". The Brookings Institution. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
9. "Global Board of Advisors". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
10. "Today ALA honors Mr. Hakeem Belo-Osagie,... – African Leadership Academy | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
11. "Harvard Business School profile: Hakeem Belo-Osagie" (PDF).
12. "kcoba – King's College Old Boys Association Alumni Official Website (KCOBA) – King's College Lagos Nigeria". kcoba.org.ng. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
13. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
14. "Economist Insights: Hakeem Belo-Osagie".
15. "Actis | Media | Press release | Construction starts at Jabi Lake Mall". www.act.is. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
16. "Home – Jabi Lake Properties". jabilake.com. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
17. "THE SHEET NG Business of the Week: Andela- Making Tech Education Fun, Bridging Knowledge Gap In Africa – The Sheet". The Sheet. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
18. . andela.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
19. "Hakeem Belo-Osagie | Alfanar". www.alfanar.org.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
20. . greenbiro.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.