ENERGY BIG FISH                                                                                                                                      

Kola Aluko (born 20 October 1969, in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian energy business magnate with further interests in African infrastructure development and aviation. Based in Nigeria, Aluko is the Co-Chief Officer and an Executive Director of Atlantic Energy, an indigenous, private upstream oil and gas company. A key shareholder in Atlantic Energy, Kola Aluko is also a founder and shareholder of Seven Energy. Both companies exclusively focus on independent exploration and production ('E&P") participation in Nigeria.

Kola Aluko was ranked by Forbes Africa as one of the 40th Richest Africans, as well as included in the Top Ten list of Successful African Entrepreneurs 

The New African Magazine (November 2013 issue) included Aluko in their 100 Most Influential Africans listing and issue.

 TARA FELA-DUROTOYE

BRIGHTLY SHINNING STAR.       Tara Fela-Durotoye Nigerian. Founder, House Of Tara

The Nigerian-born entrepreneur and lawyer is the founder of House Of Tara, Nigeria’s leading beauty and cosmetics company. House of Tara develops a wide range of African-themed beauty products and perfumes and also operates Nigeria’s foremost beauty academy. In 2013, Fela-Durotoye was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

 

JASON NJOKU

AN INDUSTRIOUS MIND  
As an entrepreneur, 32-year-old chemistry graduate Jason Njoku achieved success in a most unlikely way: he is Africa’s largest distributor of Nigerian movies, and has raked in over $8 million since 2010, when he founded the company Iroko Partners. In December 2012 he captivated an audience at a conference in Texas, United States, as he narrated the story of his success after failures in some other business ventures. Mr. Njoku currently has 71 employees in Lagos, London and New York, and often boasts that “these people are working for us in a country with 50% unemployment.” He was recently listed by Forbes, an American business magazine, as one of the top 10 young African millionaires to watch.

LEKE ALDER

Founder & Principal, Alder Consulting

Mr Leke Alder is the founder & Principal of Alder Consulting, Nigeria’s leading branding corporation with offices in Lagos and London (www.alder-consulting.com). Mr Alder is credited with introducing branding as a discipline to Nigeria and has consulted on policy, politics and business at the highest levels at home and abroad. He has consulted on policy formulation for the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Federal Ministries of Information & Communication, Education, Foreign Affairs, Solid Minerals Development, and others. He has also consulted on political strategy and communication campaigns at national and sub-national levels.

Mr Leke Alder wrote the blueprint on Nigeria's image management programme - the Heart of Africa project christened Nigeria Rebranding Project; and was the Chief Consultant to the Federal Government on the project.

He was appointed by the Federal Government to the Board of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and was Chairman of the Board Tenders Committee as well as Chairman of the Communications Committee. (He served on the Board for 4 years).

Mr Leke Alder has been a member of the organising committee of the Nigeria Economic Summit. He was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Day Waterman College.

He has served as a panelist at the Annual Africa Business Conference of Harvard Business School; the Annual Africa Business Conference of Wharton Business School; the Annual Africa Business Conference of Kellog School of Management. He was also a speaker at the Financial ADFocus Conference, South Africa as well as Leadership Forum, Ghana.

Mr Alder was a guest lecturer at the School of Media & Communications (SMC), Pan African University. He was also a guest speaker at EDS, Pan African University; the Nigerian Bar Association; Women in Management and Business (WimBiz) Annual Conference and The Platform.

He is the author of several business books and was the host of a weekly radio business programme, Minding Your Business with Leke Alder on 92.3 Inspiration FM.