Fiftyfaces Focus Nigerian and Ghanaian Voices Podcast

Jamila Osman is a trainee investment manager in the graduate training program at Baillie Gifford. She graduated from Edinburgh University with a First in Chemical Engineering. Our conversation starts with her upbringing in Ghana and the pioneering training high school training program that prepared her for a demanding academic load in science that paved her way to Edinburgh University.We describe how she developed an interest in finance and this then transitions into a discussion as to what her generation is looking for in an employer today. This includes paying more than mere lip service to employee wellbeing, being mindful of mental health, offering flexible work solutions and stretch opportunities. She describes a typically intense and varied work day at Baillie Gifford and the blend of deep research time with industry network events that is so essential in an apprenticeship.This podcast is being released as part of our Ghanaian voices series as well as Series 5 of the Fiftyfaces Podcast. Series 5 of 2025…

Chidiebere Ibe is a medical student and Forbes-Featured medical illustrator whose illustration of a black fetus in utero went viral in December 2021. Many commentators said that this was the first time that they had seen a depiction of a dark-skinned fetus or pregnant woman and provoked a discussion about the lack of representation of such images in textbooks and journals. Chidiebere has a bachelors degree in chemistry from the University of Uyo in Nigeria, and is the Chief Medical Illustrator at the Journal of Global Neurosurgery. He holds numerous roles on various committees relating to medical education. Our conversation starts with Chidiebere's upbringing in Nigeria and some of the difficulties he encountered in getting even basic services - such as internet access. He describes how he used to travel one hour each way to his church to get access to an internet connection. He then discusses his first attempt at medical illustrations and how he was essentially self-taught in this domain. We move then to…

Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes is the founder of Aruwa Capital Management, a growth equity impact fund investing in untapped opportunities across Nigeria and West Africa. Founded when she was only 29, Aruwa Capital Management aims to change the narrative for women as capital allocators and entrepreneurs by investing in businesses that make an impact on addressing the gender gap. She previously was Partner and Managing Director at Syntaxis Africa and prior to that JP Morgan, and also holds a number of director roles as well as volunteer roles in groups such as Gaia Africa, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity and Rising Tide Africa. In this fascinating discussion we discuss Adesuwa's early years in finance and what prompted her to start her own fund. We analyze what it means to invest with a "gender lens" and learn how it is not just about creating more seats at the table, but creating more tables.Adesuwa is a visionary and empowering role model on the African financial scene and the vision for gender equity…

Adam Demuyakor is the founder and managing partner at Wilshire Lane Capital, a venture capital and private equity firm that focuses on PropTech solutions based in Los Angeles California. Born in the US to a family originally from Ghana, Adam started out on Wall Street in investment banking and held a number of private equity and venture capital roles before found in Wilshire Lane. He also holds a number of Board roles and is a Board of Trustee of the education nonprofit 9 Dots.Our conversation starts with his family roots, and the expectations that accompanied his schooling and career choices. We hear how he came to be interested in real estate and how he gained experience in both the private and public side of the business, and ultimately the vision with which he launched his own firm. This is an opportunity for our discussion to dive into PropTech and discuss what the technology that is transforming real estate looks like, and how these theses are playing out. Among some of the concepts discussed are Ghost…

Andara Kamara works at the tax policy unit in Ghana’s Ministry of Finance. In this podcast, in which she is interviewed by Justina Etteh, she describes her path into the role, and how she first studied Development, expecting to use her skills in an international institution. The opportunity arose to work at the Ministry for Finance, and Andara describes how she overcame her uncertainty around presenting her work, phrasing her reports and generally adjusting to life in the Ministry. What follows is an open discussion about the challenges in work getting recognized, and how preparation wins every time - and is the path to victory. It is an essential guide for young people entering the daunting world of a massive civil service, and a set of relatable steps for how to stay focused on the task in hand, how to prepare and how to screen out noise. This podcast series is brought to you with the kind support of:Romco Metals, producers of truly green aluminium, copper, and other non-ferrous metals from the African…

Justina Etteh is a transaction banking associate at a large global investment bank, based in London. She hails from Ghana and participated in a graduate training program sponsored by that bank that recruited her directly from Ghana. She spends a lot of her time mentoring young black students and colleagues in the world of finance and sharing her experiences in the workplace.Our conversation traces her journey into a role in banking, and her early introduction to financial literacy. She describes how she is committed to passing on what she has learned while she is still young, and to "lifting" as she climbs. I hope you find her as inspiring as I did.This podcast series is brought to you with the kind support of:Romco Metals, producers of truly green aluminium, copper, and other non-ferrous metals from the African continent, dedicated to decarbonising supply chains across the globe by recycling our way to a sustainable future. Romco: Invest, Reduce, & Grow.

Our first Ghanaian voice in this series is a legend on the London-based investment management scene. Dawid Konotey-Ahulu is an entrepreneur in financial services, technology and elderly care and the co-founder of Redington, the London-based independent pensions and insurance advisory group with $500 bn in assets under advisement, as well as mallowstreet.com, a social media platform connecting the pensions and insurance industry. He has had a long career in financial services and is a high-profile advocate for diversity within the financial services community and one of the leaders behind the recent initiative #100blackinterns.He is also the founder of Partnership for Change, which is driving a social movement to help improve the lives of older people, and Spellbound!, which helps young people develop their public speaking skills so that they can be passionate, compelling and inspiring.Our conversation traces Dawid’s journey into investment, his experience as a founder, his passion for the financial services…

In celebration of Ghana’s 2022 Independence Day, celebrated on March 6, 2022, we are delighted to bring you a bonus series featuring a collection of inspiring Ghanaian voices at home and away. We hear from Dawid Konotey Ahulu, who grew up in Ghana and pursued a successful career in finance in the UK – he has now committed to placing 10000 black interns into careers in finance through the 10000 Black Interns program, Justina Etteh who grew up and studied in Ghana and has brought her philosophy to lift as she climbs to London finance circles, Andara Kamara a guest interviewed by Justina, who describes her career path in Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and why victory loves preparation, and Adam Demuyakor born to Ghanaian parents in the US, and now at the helm of a venture capital firm in Los Angeles that makes a particular effort to fund diverse founders.One episode will launch every Wednesday during the month of March 2022. See more on https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/category/nigerian-voices/

Shalom Lloyd had a career of over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry and then went on to found two businesses. She is the founder of Naturally Tribal skincare, a beauty line based on traditional remedies including shea butter, which she developed initially to cure her son’s eczema. She is also the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of eMQT, described as “the Bridge between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Africa” which facilitates clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies in Africa. She has been a keynote speaker on the topic of innovation and was a fellow of the Start-Up Leadership Program in London until 2020.Our conversation starts with Shalom's upbringing in Nigeria and her taste for adventure which saw her leave for Russia to study pharmacy at the age of 16. Returning from there she found her passion in the pharmaceutical industry and her realization of the gap in use of pharmaceutical trials in Africa was the spark for her business venture eMQT.Just as necessity is the mother of invention,…

At the time of recording, Andrew Osayemi was a specialist diversity recruiter at Rare Recruitment and the creator of the Netflix TV show Meet the Adebanjos. He started his career as a city trader and then took the plunge into starting a TV production company, MTA productions – although, as he claims he did not “know anything about TV”. He is the author of the book “How my Disastrous Teenage Love Life Will Get You Your Dream Job”. Our fascinating discussion starts with his upbringing in South London, how he found himself a job in the City and the cultural adjustments that the trading floor entailed. As his career took off and took him to the US, he found himself faced with a challenging choice. His career then took a creative turn as he started to pitch his TV ideas and ultimately started a TV production company. We hear about the series of "Nos" that forced him to focus on "earning a Yes" and what happened when he did, finally, break through the competitive world of TV.The discussion would not have been…

Uche Orji is CEO of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, based in Abuja, Nigeria. A native of Nigeria, he has had over 20 years experience in various financial roles including semiconductor analyst in Europe and the US, before returning to Nigeria just over 8 years ago. He also holds a number of Board roles.Our conversation starts with Uche's early career in investment banking and particularly semiconductor research. We hear about his swift rise to prominence in this area, and his global vantage point in this dynamic industry. We then move to what motivated his move home to Nigeria when he answered the call to take on a role at the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. This was a huge move - both in terms of responsibility and life direction but it was something he felt had immense sense of purpose and he committed to giving it all of his energy.We discuss what is at the forefront of his mind in his current role - from portfolio diversification to investing locally in the emerging technology…

Arthur Olunwa is an investment professional based in Chicago, whom I got to know when he worked as a senior fixed income allocator at a large corporate pension plan there. Prior to this he spent time in fixed income risk management as well as a portfolio manager in a multi-asset team. He sits on the advisory committee of the CFA Society of Chicago and is the Chairperson of the Chicago Investment Group as well as a Partner and Mentor of Youth Guidance. Our conversation traces Arthur's career journey from Nigeria, through the United Kingdom and on to US, and discusses his experience in moving through different disciplines to his investment role. Arthur shares why he believes persistence is essential to developing a network, and why just "making the call" and going the extra mile to show a commitment to an opportunity pays dividends.This podcast series is brought to you with the kind support of:Romco Metals, producers of truly green aluminium, copper, and other non-ferrous metals from the African continent,…

Bridget Uku is Group Manager Treasury & Investments at a UK local authority, where she has spent over 14 years, and she previously worked as Investments and Insurance Finance Manager at the Greater London Authority. She is frequent participant on the local government conference circuit, which is where we met. We talk about Bridget's upbringing in Nigeria, and her time at boarding school in the UK with her sisters and the cultural shift that that involved. We then move to how she overcame her aversion to maths to embrace a role that involved quite a lot of numbers - and discuss how having a family increased her drive to advance through her career and pursue promotions.Finally, we look back to the family and other industry figures that inspired her and her approach to taking on new challenges and reach assignments. This podcast series is brought to you with the kind support of:Romco Metals, producers of truly green aluminium, copper, and other non-ferrous metals from the African continent, dedicated to…

Yele Aluko is Chief Medical Officer at EY, a role he has held for close to 4 years.He is Co-Chair, Health Equity Advisory, at the international Well Building Institute, an Advisory Board Member at the Children’s National Hospital and a Board Member at the Wake Forest University School of Business.He has worked as a Cardiologist in hospital settings for over 30 years. Yele was born in Nigeria and we start with when he first realized his calling to be a doctor.We trace his journey to the US and how at the beginning he went through a difficult integration into life there - with little social capital locally and few relationships.We move to his journey to cardiology and his experience in hospital settings, and ultimately to what led him to move away from bedside medicine into matters of medical policy. True to the mission of this podcast series we examine the issue of diversity in medicine, and Yele discusses the concepts of "missing persons" in medicine - the gap in representation of people of color at every…

Toyin Oluwole's last role was as a Senior Strategy Manager with Royal London. She previously worked in a range of financial and marketing roles at Standard Life and Moody Monday. She recently left Scotland and returned to her home country of Nigeria, and it was a moving Linked In post that she wrote that led me to her. Our conversation starts with Toyin's upbringing in Nigeria and what led her to university and the first part of her career in the UK. She describes how she settled there and eventually made Scotland her home. We talk about graduating with an engineering degree into a bleak job market and how she stumbled upon a career in finance and investing almost by accident. We discuss the ups and downs of a career in finance, the importance of seizing opportunities and the need to be flexible and adaptable as the industry's opportunities ebb and flow. Moving then to what prompted her move back to Nigeria just this summer, we learn of the confluence of professional and personal opportunities that enabled…

Raymond Onovwigun is founder and CEO at Romco Group, which trades and processes non-ferrous metal. Founded in 2015, it now employs over 180 people in Nigeria, over 50 in Ghana, and another 15 in the UK and is on track to have revenues of £40m by the end of this year. Ray has a fascinating journey that has taken him from South London, to founding a successful plumbing business while still at university to his current quest to help to close the sustainability gap in Africa. Our conversation starts with his Nigerian heritage, how he learned the meaning of hard work through following his mother around in her cleaning business in London, what interested in him in plumbing and how he perceived a business opportunity. This was his gateway into waste management as he saw the massive amount of waste in the business and that there were means to solve this problem sustainably. He saw the opportunity to recycle scrap metal in Nigeria on a trip there and his business started on a small patch of land behind a gas station…

Obi Ozor is Founder of Kobo360, a privately owned, pan-African technology company disrupting the African third-party logistics industry. Kobo360 was named one of the Top 100 SMEs in Africa in 2018 by Business Day and Disruptor of the Year at the Africa CEO Forum on 2019. The company uses big data and agile technology to reduce friction and scale efficiency in the African logistics ecosystem. He previously held positions at Uber, JP Morgan and Bezmo Global, an international, socially-minded investment firm focused on the African continent. In this discussion we trace Obi's journey from investment banking to Uber, and ultimately what led him to develop the genesis of Kobo360, which seeks to Brin data and technology to innovate in the African third-party logistics industry. We talk about the problem Obi identified that needed to be solved, and how he devised a business model to do that.The challenges in establishing a business in Nigeria were enormous - from challenges in recruiting talent, to navigating…

Eric Idiahi is co-founder and a partner of Verod Capital, a private equity firm based in Lagos, which he founded in 2008. He is Chairman of the Board of Tangerine Africa as well as Eleva Group and holds a number of Non Executive Director positions. He was previously a Managing Parter of FountainHead Media Group as well as a Financial Derivatives Company. Our conversation traces Eric's move to the US where he completed his high school and university education and what drove his decision to move back to Nigeria. This was an exciting time, and we look at some of the surprising aspects of re-integration - and how the fact that he wasn't married initially was relevant. We chart the investment landscape in Nigeria, where the opportunity lay then (in 2005) and how it evolved, and how connections and social capital are important in different ways. He speaks about the explosion of technology investment opportunities in Africa and the enormous potential that leapfrogging traditional infrastructure has enabled. We also…

Since we launched the Fiftyfaces Podcast in August 2020 some of our most popular episodes were those featuring guests from the Nigerian diaspora and in this first Fiftyfaces Focus Nigerian Voices podcast series we have assembled a set of ten interviews of different professionals each with fascinating stories of accomplishments and career paths. Also, watch this space with a follow-up 4 part Ghanaian voices series to continue our West African focus immediately after this one. In this trailer hear from each of our 10 guests about our recurring themes of immigration, adjustment, integration, re-integration upon the return home and what opportunities Nigeria holds in terms of investment and business. We hear from Yele Aluko about his isolation amid the foreignness of US winters, but how he channeled his energy into building a leading cardiology practice and is now a prominent advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in medicine. We hear from Shalom Lloyd, founder of eMQT and Naturally Tribal,about her own…