John Adeyemi-Adeleke

John Adeyemi-Adeleke, Executive Director, World Trade Center Lagos

BORN: 15th September, 1961, London (UK), to the late Chief Adebayo Adeleke (Nigerian) and Ana K. Adeleke [née Alcantara] (of Venezuelan and Grenadian parentage).

EDUCATION:

• Ladycross (Prep) School, Seaford, Sussex, UK 1968-1974
• Worth Abbey (School), Turners Hill, Sussex, 1974-1979
• Buckingham University, Buckingham, Bucks,UK 1980/81
• University of Westminster (formerly P.C.L)
Law Faculty, Red Lion Sq. London UK 1982 – 1985
• Inns of Court School of Law, Holborn, London, UK 1985 – 1986
• Georgetown University, Law Center, Washington D.C. USA
(N.B. Was admitted in 1987, due to start an LLM course in International Trade Law, put off upon father’s death, and was not able to re-start).

• Nigerian Law School, Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria 1989 - 90

QUALIFICATIONS:

I. 9 0-Levels (of C and above grades) and 3 A-Levels
II. LLB Hons.
III. Barrister-at-Law (England and Wales) of Inner Temple
IV. Solicitor and Advocate of Nigeria.
V. Have attended a number of seminars and workshops on trade related matters in the course of activities with the World Trade Center of Nigeria (see below).
VI. Attended an Economics foundation course, sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (of Germany), at the Economics Institute (“Academia International Liberdade e Desenvolvimento”) in Sintra, Portugal, 1993.


JOB EXPERIENCE:

I. Various holiday jobs, whilst at university which included extensive experience in the leather goods manufacturing business, Leon Leather Inc. then in New Jersey USA, a family-owned company on maternal side, (factory since re-located to Florida), and the City Group of Companies (established by father) Lagos, Nigeria.
II. 1986 and 1987 Pupil Barrister with the Cloisters Chambers, Pump Court, Inner Temple, off Fleet St., London, UK (N.B.. worked with Stephen Solly Q.C., Anna Worral Q.C. and Allan Newman Q.C., as pupil masters & Mike Turner)
III. 1988 to date (except one year sabbatical to attend the Nigerian Law School), was first a Manager with World Trade Center of Nigeria (WTCN) and then Executive Director/ C.E.O. WTCN operates as a trade and investment promotion and facilitation agency, through its membership of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) in New York, U.S.A.
IV. In September 1998 was appointed a partner (in a non-practicing consultancy capacity, i.e. “of counsel”) in the “The Law Union” (TLU), a law firm, then at 7 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos. Resigned from TLU in July 2004 (and also from the Board of its subsidiary, TLU Consulting Ltd ).
V. Have undertaken consultancy work for a handful of institutions and companies, producing economic and business reports on Nigeria. Clients have included the Economist Intelligence Unit, Regent Street, London UK (and the EIU in New York), an oil market report for “Energyday” and a commodity report for the “Public Ledger”, both being weekly publications of LLP Ltd in London, the European Union (specifically the EC Delegate in Nigeria) and market reports for a number of Embassies. Also produced the Nigeria survey reports for the “Emerging Markets Investor” publication (in September 1998 and September 1999) of Risk Waters Publications Ltd., London, for their IMF-World Bank Summit edition for both years.
Other confidential business reports are produced for clients in London, Johannesburg, Lagos and Washington D.C.
VI. Advisory/Consultancy services for new investors to Nigeria. Most recent clients have included, Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd of SouthAfrica (towards establishing a supermarket business and distribution centers including fresh fruit and vegetable processing, ripening and packaging units), Export Management Network S.r.l of Milan, Italy (for farming and agro-industrial projects), and Zambeef Products Plc of Zambia (for feed-lotting, meat processing & packaging and eventually the dairy business).
VII. In January 2000, established a loose working relationship with the managing partner of GRID Consultants Ltd., (an accountancy and management consultancy that handles a number of DFID [the British Government’s development agency] projects in Nigeria) and Atlantic Consultancy Nigeria Ltd., (an economic research and consultancy firm) for certain development aid consultancy projects in Nigeria. We worked with GOPA (of Germany) on their tender bid for the EU’s “Programme Study for Nigeria” and in September 2000 worked with GTZ (of Germany) on their tender bid for the “Co-ordination of the Economic Management Capacity Project” (EMCAP) also for Nigeria.
N.B. In February 2002 (in a sole capacity) worked as a consultant to GTZ on the “Niger Delta Master Plan” project managing a team of researchers for data collection to create a resource center.


APPOINTMENTS:

I. Board Director of several family related companies including the Lagoon City Development Corporation Ltd. which originally developed the sites at Osborne Road, Ikoyi, and “Banana Island” in the lagoon off Ikoyi (both in Lagos, and both the subject matters of extensive law suits) and the various City Group companies, and others (not family related) including Export Manufacturing Ltd., TLU Consulting Ltd (resigned 2004), Brook Street Insurance Brokers Ltd and Gateway Africa Ltd.
II. Appointed to the committee set up to fashion out a policy and draft legal framework for Export Free Zones by the then Hon. Minister of Trade and Tourism in Nigeria, Mr. Senas Ukpanah, 1990/91 (the committee was chaired by Mr. Robert Audu, who went on to be the Permanent Secretary of the Aviation Ministry).
III. Since 1990 have been a member of the (WTCA) World Trade Centers Association Inc.’s Industrialising Nations Committee, re-named the Committee on International Relations & Development (Chaired by Ousama Ghannoum of WTC Abu Dhabi).
IV. Since 1997 have been the Regional Co-ordinator for West and Central Africa for the World Trade Centers Association Inc. (WTCA) in New York.
V. In June 1998 was appointed to the inaugural 7-member Strategic Planning Committee of the WTCA which sat for the first time in Seville, Spain, at the WTCA’s annual General Assembly of that year.
VI. In April 1999 was appointed on to the sub-committee on Finance, the Economy and Industrial Development, of the Presidential Policy Advisory Committee (PPAC) of the then President-Elect, Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo. The broad-based PPAC was set up after the election to assist President Obasanjo fashion out a policy prior to his actually taking office (May 29th 1999) and inaugurating his cabinet. With over ten members, other committee members included Mr Fubara Anga (now a Partner with Aelex [a leading commercial law firm]), Mr Adetilewa Adebajo (a finance consultant, now with GTBank Plc ), Mr Tony Elumelu (now MD of the merged Standard Trust Bank and UBA ) and Mr Akin Kekere-Ekun (of the National Council on Privatization [to whom the Bureau of Public Enterprises is accountable] and a former MD of the former Habib Bank [now PlatinumHabib Bank])
VII. Presently a member of the Board of Trustees of the “Adunni Olorisha Trust” (AOT), dedicated to the upkeep of the home of Austrian artist and Orisha priestess, Susanne Wenger, in Oshogbo, Oshun State, Nigeria, as a place of worship, shared studio for the “New Sacred Art Movement” and a living museum, as well as the upkeep of the sacred Oshun Groves et al. The AOT is affiliated to the foundation known as the Susanne Wenger Privatsiftung (SWP) of Krems, Austria. AOT is essentially a culture, monuments and environment preservation initiative. In January 2002, was asked to join the Board and Executive Committee of the SWP in Austria.
VIII. On the 5th December 2000 was appointed a board member of ICL Nigeria Ltd (originally a subsidiary of ICL, London and then Fujitsu, Japan) involved in IT sales (hardware and software), services and training. Resigned in 2001 but was asked to return in 2003 to help resuscitate the company.
IX. April 2001 at the World Trade Centers Association’s Spring Meeting in Seoul, Korea, was appointed to the Board of Directors of WTCA
X. January 2004 took up seat on the board of Trustees of Pro-Natura International (Nigeria) the local arm of Pro-Natura International, a leading environment NGO and community development consultancy (that in Nigeria, primarily works in the oil producing Niger Delta region), with its main offices in Paris. Chairing the board (in Nigeria) is Mr. Philip Hall OBE (of the Leventis Foundation, set up by the Greek-Cypriot family whose companies bottle Coca Cola in Nigeria, Cyprus and in Central Europe) and other trustees include Mr. Guy Reinard (President of Pro-Natura International, Paris) and Mr. E.T. Aworabhi (of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital). Pronatura’s Akassa community development programme (in the town of Akassa) in Bayelsa state has become the model for such projects in the Niger Delta region. Partly sponsored by Statoil of Norway, the project was recognized with an award at the World Petroleum Congress in South Africa in 2005
XI. July 2003, appointed to the Governing Council of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, which was launched in the same month, under the leadership of its inaugural Director-General, Mrs. Ify Akerele.
XII. In October 2004, in Geneva, was appointed to represent Africa on the WTCA’s Inter-regional Task Force on Trade.
XIII. In November 2005, was appointed an inaugural board member of the Zambeef Products Plc’s Nigerian subsidiary, Master Meats & Agro Production Co. of Nigeria Ltd. Zambeef is a quoted company in Zambia. In December 2005, was appointed Chairman.


INTERESTS:

Art (enjoy painting, sculpturing etc) as well as assisting local artists to promote their work. Also look after a family collection of Nigerian art and artifacts.

Also enjoy traveling, most sports (esp. horse riding and polo, swimming, tennis, squash, rowing, sailing, cycling and walking) and a member of relevant clubs in Lagos (e.g. Lagos Motor Boat Club, Lagos Polo Club and the Ikoyi Club). Undertake various socio-community development activities (am involved with relevant NGOs) and co-sponsored and ran a small free part-time school for Kanuri (the Borno state agrarian tribe from near Lake Chad) children in Lagos, mainly children of night-guards in the S.W. Ikoyi area of Lagos, throughout the 1990’s. A second one was to be started in a fishing village in the Lekki Peninsular area of Lagos but the village was bulldozed down by the authorities in July 2004.

Member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (Lagos) and of the World Trade Law Association and the Inner Temple for barristers (both in London, UK).