Our Team
Tonye Cole
Tonye Patrick Cole, an alumnus of the University of Lagos and Harvard Business School. He is currently a Transformational Leadership Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford. Mr. Cole co-founded the Sahara Group an energy conglomerate, where he served as Group Executive Director. The Group operates in 38 countries with an annual turnover of $11 billion. He has direct experience in building international expansion strategies, forming global partnerships, and shaping corporate strategies built on strong governance principles.
Mr. Cole has actively led initiatives at the World Economic Forum, where he was a key member of the Pact Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), The United Nations, where he was a pioneer member of the advisory board of the Private Sector Advisory Group for the UNDP Sustainable Development Group Fund (SDG- F), The African Philanthropy Forum, ENACTUS Nigeria amongst others.
Mr. Cole resigned from the Sahara Group in 2018 to focus on building transformational agendas that can impact people and society. As a servant leader, he contested for the gubernatorial seat in his home state of Rivers in the same year.
Leke Adekola
Leke Adekola’s experience is steeped in creative and transformational industries. He has degrees in Architecture and Business Administration. From the late 90’s up until 2005, he worked as an strategy advisor in Silicon Valley guiding new to market technology entrepreneurs on go to market and innovation commercialization strategies. Leke’s experience as a business builder has seen him advise companies on creative disruption and innovation in Europe, USA, Japan and Nigeria across several industries including Oil and Gas, Consumer Electronics, Internet, Alternative Energy, Publishing, Culture and Lifestyle. Between 2005 and 2012 he authored and steered the strategy of Sahara Group companies. He has an acute instinct for digital transformation and working knowledge of technology management, innovation development, corporate finance, growth strategies, and structured exits via M&A in both public and private markets.
Adeolu Adeboye
Adeolu Adeboye is a graduate of Software Engineering from Hertfordshire University. He practiced in this field for ten years in the the Uk before moving back to Nigeria.
A seasoned entrepreneur who has created many businesses.
Areas of expertise: Insurance, Retail, Power, Construction,
As can be seen, Adeolu Adeboye is an entrepreneur with experience in running diverse business interests successfully.
Dr Deji West
Dr Deji West has a Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant in in England & Wales (ICAEW) and also the Nigerian equivalent (ICAN).
He has an in-depth knowledge of finance, commerce, project management and accounting from working in several industries which include Banking, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas and others. He has worked in several countries across the world.
Dr West has excellent understanding and knowledge of all accounting, project management, process development, corporate finance, strategy implementation, and financial systems executions.
TJ Cole
TJ Cole has degrees in Biochemistry and a First Class Master’s Degree in Supply Chain Management. After graduating TJ worked in the City of London with PriceWaterhouseCoopers before returning to Nigeria where he worked with the founders of Andela and Flutterwave. TJ is a connector who brings an active link to the start-up eco-system in Nigeria. He actively scouts for new investment opportunities and bringing qualified opportunities to the attention of the partners. He is also an active volunteers with charities in Nigeria and internationally.
