Team - Friends of Nigeria

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Friends of Nigeria is a dedicated community that bridges the gap between businesses in France and lucrative opportunities in Nigeria, fostering cultural exchange, promoting development, and nurturing enduring friendships.

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Honorary Board

"Our honorary board guides the management team in executing the Spotlight Nigeria annual event (A prominent initiative by FON) and achieving the organization's mission, vision, and objectives.".

Emmanuel Igah, Phd

Founder & Ceo, Phobos

Anino Emuwa

Founder, Avandis consulting

Marcel Hochet

President and CEO, GreenElec

Maître Ebenezer Okpokpo

Professional Lawyer

Élé Asu

PR & Communication Specialist

Serge Blanchard

CEO, SCB Sub Sahara

Management Team

John Okoro

President

Abiodun Odunuga

Vice President

Nkechi Nwosu

Director of Media & Communications

Oyindamola Olunsunmade

Director of Professional Membership

Ifedolapo Onikoyi

Director of Events

Sub-committee Leads

Ajibola Faniyi

Head of Business Committee

Aderonke Abudu

Head of Professional Committee

Ifeanyi E.Nwadishi

Head of Governance Committee

FON Germany Executive Team

Bukky Kadiri

FON Germany Executive Member

Olamide Olayiwola

FON Germany Executive Member

Chioma Okonkwo

FON Germany Executive Member

Oluwasegun Kadiri

FON Germany Executive Member

Oluwasegun Kadiri

FON Germany Executive Member

Anino Emuwa

Founder, Avandis consulting

FON Belgium & Luxembourg Team

John Okoro

president

Angel Patricks Amegbe

FON Belgium & Luxembourg Team

Sheriff Tahiru

FON Belgium & Luxembourg Team

Anurika Ohalezim

FON Belgium & Luxembourg Team

Oyindamola Olunsunmade

director of professional membership

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Connecting Nigerian professionals and European businesses for mutual growth and investment opportunities.

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John Okoro

president

John is an expert in international business and project development with several years of experience across 30 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and 40 Countries Globally, spanning across key sectors of the economy, with a particular focus on sustainable infrastructure projects and enterprises.

John is currently Managing Director of Growth Energy, with offices and subsidiaries in France, Kenya, Nigeria, and Burundi. Growth Energy develops, engineers, and deploys renewable energy power plans and electric mobility charging stations in selected markets in Africa. John is also a member of the Executive Committee of Growth Supply Group, the parent company of Growth Energy. Before Co-Founding Growth Energy, John was Commercial Director (Sub-Saharan Africa) for CMR Group’s Solar Division until December 2022, and directly reporting to the Group CEO of CMR Group. In this role, John directly managed business and project development teams located in France, Tunisia, Nigeria and Zanzibar.

Before his career in clean energy and infrastructure, John worked as a Project Manager in the public and private sectors in Nigeria including at Nigeria’s Presidency between 2012 and 2013 during which John was part of a project team in charge of deploying a public-private partnership project geared towards job creation amongst Nigerian youths. John also co-founded several social impact initiatives including the “mentor-me” initiative which won a State award for excellence in Nigeria in 2013.

John is an international key-note speaker and panelist on topics related to clean energy, innovation, and Africa. John has delivered various presentations and key notes at more than 20 international conferences across 10 Countries. John is also a non-executive board member of a number of companies and non-profit organizations in Africa and Europe, spanning across Engineering, Technology, and human capital development.

John holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Covenant University, Nigeria and a Master Degree in Project Management and Business Development from Skema Business School, France. John is also an alumnus of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management’s Climate and Renewable Energy Finance Program. John is a member of the Project Management Institute and holds the global Project Management Professional (PMP) certification since 2013.

John is Co-Founder and President of Friends of Nigeria Europe. In this role John oversees administration, and works closely with his colleagues and in collaboration with leaders of other African Diaspora organizations in strengthening the capacity of the African diaspora in Europe and in promoting the attractiveness of the African continent to foreign investors and the African Diaspora.

John has a flair for sports, music and arts. He plays football, badminton, ping pong, tennis and was former member of the IBB Golf and Country Club Abuja. John also plays the Piano, Drums, and Bass Guitar. He writes poems, does interior decoration, and is fascinated by nature. John’s most relished hobby, however, is spending ample time with his Wife and children which his peripatetic schedule does occasionally deprive him of.

Abiodun Odunuga

vice president

Abiodun Dominic Odunuga is an international development consultant.

Having acquired over 10 years of experience in the field of sustainability, entrepreneurship and International development, Abiodun has developed and worked on projects with organizations such as the World Bank, European Union, United Nations (UN), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), and The Commonwealth across Africa and Europe. He has presented various papers relating to entrepreneurship, social innovation and sustainability at different levels such as the International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) in New York, United States as well as the in Rome Italy.

He has consulted for various government agencies in Nigeria and France on economic initiatives in Agriculture, Digital Technology and Industry. Abiodun has also worked with various Sates Governments in Nigeria and the Nigeria Governors Forum with respect to development projects and attracting foreign investments.

He holds a Masters in Development Practice (MDP) degree from Sciences Po, Paris.

Abiodun is also the project manager for the Nigeria-France Tech Initiative (NFTI) recently launched by the Embassy of Nigeria, Paris amidst stakeholders such as the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to support the tech ecosystem between France and Nigeria.

He is a recipient of many international awards such as the Tocqueville Active Citizens Award for Co-creation and Community Impact in France as well as the United States of America Partnership award for Economic Empowerment by the United States Consulate, Lagos, Nigeria.

Based in Paris, he brings his wealth of experience in training, project management, fundraising and business development to consult for various International organizations focusing on Africa as it relates to investment opportunities, supporting start-ups, and empowering small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

Abiodun is also a lecturer on Leadership, Soft Skills and Entrepreneurship with leading institutions having students across Africa and Europe. He is a frequent global conference speaker and sits on the board of many organizations.

As the Co-Founder and Vice-President of Friends of Nigeria, Abiodun serves in the Executive role of Director of Partnerships for the organization.

When he’s not working, you can catch him mentoring young people, discovering new cultures, volunteering for noble causes or watching movies.

About Us

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Our Team

Meet our

Honorary Board

Emmanuel Igah, Phd

Anino Emuwa

Marcel Hochet

Maître Ebenezer Okpokpo

Élé Asu

Serge Blanchard

Management Team

John Okoro

Abiodun Odunuga

Nkechi Nwosu

Oyindamola Olunsunmade

Ifedolapo Onikoyi

Sub-committee Leads

Ajibola Faniyi

Aderonke Abudu

Ifeanyi E.Nwadishi

FON Germany Executive Team

Bukky Kadiri

Olamide Olayiwola

Chioma Okonkwo

Oluwasegun Kadiri

Oluwasegun Kadiri

Anino Emuwa

Founder, Avandis consulting

FON Belgium & Luxembourg Team

John Okoro

president

Angel Patricks Amegbe

Sheriff Tahiru

Anurika Ohalezim

Oyindamola Olunsunmade

director of professional membership

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Emmanuel Igah, Phd

founder & ceo phobos

Anino Emuwa

founder, avandis consulting

Élé Asu

pr & communications specialist

Serge Blanchard

ceo, scb sub sahara

John Okoro

president

Abiodun Odunuga

vice president

Nkechi Nwosu

director of media & communications

Oyindamola Olusunmade

director of professional membership

Ifèdolapo Onikoyi

Social & Events Committee

Ifeanyi E. Nwadishi

Head of Governance Committee

Bukky Kadiri

Creative Graphic Designer

Ewa-Ade Adeyemo

Chemical engineer

Esther Illaboya

Blogger

Chioma Okonkwo

chemical engineer

Oluwasegun Kadiri

founder & ceo phobos

Angel Patricks Amegbe

Belgium & Luxembourg Team

Sheriff Tahiru

Belgium & Luxembourg team

Anurika Ohalezim

Belgium & Luxembourg Team