Pal Pensions - Board of Directors

Junaid Dikko is currently the Managing Director of United Teslesys Limited, an information communications technology company that provides Wide Area Network (WAN) and Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) communication links to companies across Nigeria.
He holds a degree in Economics & Business Politics from Cornell College Mount Vernon, Iowa USA. He currently runs a recruiting company called Ceres Recruitment Limited, focused primarily on the Oil & Gas and Telecoms sectors. He has served on the boards of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), UBA Trustees Limited and UBA Foundation, First Securities Discount House Ltd (now First Securities Merchant Bank Ltd) and EMTS (Etisalat).

Funso Doherty - Managing Director

Managing Director

Funso Doherty - Managing Director

Funso Doherty is the Managing Director and CEO of Pensions Alliance Limited (PAL Pensions). He is an accomplished Professional with a distinguished record spanning more than 25 years.

He was previously Managing Director/CIO of ValuAlliance Asset Management Ltd, (formerly SIM Capital Alliance) where he led the Asset Management (Non-Private Equity) business of the African Capital Alliance (ACA) Group.

Prior to this, Funso had served as the Pioneer Managing Director and CEO of ARM Pension Managers, which he led from its inception to become one of Nigeria’s most successful Pension Fund Administrators. While at ARM Pensions, he was elected Pioneer Chairman of the Pension Fund Operators Association (PENOP) the umbrella body of all licensed Pension Fund Managers and Custodians in Nigeria.

In his extensive prior experience as an investment professional, spanning over two decades, Funso has held a number of positions in leading foreign and local investment management firms including Goldman Sachs & Company and PNC Advisors in the United States of America and ARM in Nigeria. He started his career in the Lagos office of the Assurance and Business Advisory practice of Arthur Andersen (now KPMG).

Funso holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation of the CFA Institute, and is a co-founding Trustee of the CFA Society Nigeria. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

He holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and a B. Sc. in Accounting from the University of Lagos.

Godwin Onoro - Executive Director, Finance and Operations

Executive Director, Finance and Operations

Godwin Onoro - Executive Director, Finance and Operations

Godwin is currently the Executive Director of Pensions Alliance Limited overseeing the finance and operations functions of the company. He is a seasoned Accountant with over 25 years post qualification experience which spans the Financial Services, FCMG and Telecommunications sector. He worked with Nestle Foods Nigeria, Crystal Bank of Africa, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Vee Network Nigeria Limited (now Airtel Nigeria) with competencies in Financial, Strategic, Operational and Risk Management. He has served as a director on the board of PAL for over 6 years.

Godwin is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a dealing clerk of the Nigeria Stock Exchange. He also holds various certificates in strategic growth and change management from Columbia Business School, NY and London Business School.

Sa’ad Jijji - Executive Director, Technical

Executive Director, Technical

Sa’ad Jijji - Executive Director, Technical

Sa’ad is versatile professional with working experiences across several sectors of the Nigerian economy. After graduating from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1995, with a degree in Business Administration, Sa’ad began his career in 1997 with Intercellular Nigeria Limited, one of the pioneer private telecom operators based in Lagos.

In 2001, Sa’ad joined Citibank Nigeria in the Operations and Technology section also in Lagos. Sa’ad was appointed pioneer manager of MTN Nigeria in Kaduna State in April 2004 and subsequently Regional Manager, MTN Abuja, in September 2005. In 2008, Sa’ad became National Customer Intelligence Manager of MTN Nigeria. Later in the same year, Sa’ad took study leave to attend a full time Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) degree in University of Oxford (Said Business School) in UK. He specialized in Finance and Strategy at the school. Upon his return to MTN Nigeria after successfully completing the program, Sa’ad worked on several transformational projects within MTN before leaving, in December 2010, to start a Finance and Strategy Consultancy business. Sa’ad consulted for many private and public organizations.

In 2012, Sa’ad, joined Premium Pension Limited, Abuja initially as Head of Corporate Strategy and subsequently, as Chief Investment Officer (CIO). In 2015, Sa’ad became the Managing Director of Alexander Forbes Consulting Actuaries (AFCAN) one of Nigeria’s leading actuarial consulting companies based in Lagos and a subsidiary of Alexander Forbes, South Africa. Sa’ad joined PAL Pensions in May 2020 as Executive Director, Technical with responsibities for many areas including Business Development and Investments.

Patrice Backer - Director

Director

Patrice Backer - Director

Patrice Backer is a Partner and the Chief Investment Officer of Senegal-based AFIG Funds, an Africa-focused private equity fund manager. He leads all aspects of the investment process, including deal sourcing and execution, pipeline evaluation, portfolio monitoring and portfolio company monitoring, portfolio valuation and reporting. He is a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to AFIG Funds, Patrice was the Managing Director of PromoCapital, a transnational investment firm with offices in Haiti and the U.S., where he led investment banking in several areas. He formerly served as Vice President of JPMorgan’s Emerging Markets Sales and Trading and Latin America Mergers & Acquisitions groups. Patrice graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Sciences. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained a joint MBA from the Wharton School and an MA in International Affairs from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Lauder Institute Global MBA program. He holds American and Haitian citizenships.

Hamda Ambah - Director

Director

Hamda Ambah - Director

Hamda is the Managing Director of FSDH Merchant Bank. Prior to joining FSDH in 1993, Ambah was a Senior Executive of Reuters in Nigeria, with major responsibility for the Nigerian Sales accounts.
She has worked at the International Merchant Bank Plc. where she had a long career. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers and was awarded the 1999 IBTC award for the best examination candidate in Corporate Finance.
She serves as a Director at UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust. She is a graduate of the University of Lagos as well as the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London

Fola Laoye - Director

Director

Fola Laoye - Director

Fola holds a BSc. in Accounting from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and an MBA from Harvard Business school, Cambridge, USA. She is also an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. In 2011, Fola was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and in 2013 she was awarded the Harvard Business School Africa Business Club Leadership Excellence Award.
Fola has 25 years of local and international business experience, having trained with Ernst & Young, Lagos and PriceWaterhouseCoopers in London. She is currently the Director for West Africa Investments at the Investment Fund for Health in Africa (IFHA). She is also member of the following boards – Hygeia Group Nigeria; Old Mutual Life Insurance Company Nigeria; Results for Development Institute (R4D), Washington DC USA; and Harvard Business School's Healthcare Initiative.

Funmilayo Omo - Director

Director

Funmilayo Omo - Director

Funmilayo brings over 25 years of experience and a proven track record of success into her role as the Managing Director of African Alliance Insurance Company Plc. She began her professional career in 1991 at African Alliance, before it was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as the Head of Department, Individual Business. In 2012, Funmilayo resumed the position of Executive Director, Operations at African Alliance Insurance Company Plc. In addition to her BSc. (Hons.) degree in Insurance from the University of Lagos, Funmilayo is an Associate Member of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Insurance, London, an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and an Associate Member of the Certified Pensions Institute of Nigeria. She is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Funmilayo served on the Board of Trustees, Ajaokuta Steel Complex, Axiom Air and National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) until 2016.

Adesuwa Belo-Osagie - Director

Director

Adesuwa Belo-Osagie - Director

Adesuwa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature from Harvard University and a Graduate Diploma in Law. She is a Solicitor (Corporate – Private Equity) with Clifford Chance LLP, London. Her role involves advising on a wide range of domestic and international M&A transactions for global, regional and emerging markets financial investors, which include major private-equity houses, banks, specialist infrastructure and private equity real estate funds and other financial institutions.
Adesuwa is a co-founder of ‘Generation for Change’ a charitable organization created to raise awareness and funds for Nigeria’s underprivileged. She also serves as a planning committee member for SME100, which was established to promote youth-driven entrepreneurship at the small and medium size business level. She also volunteers for different charity organizations aimed at education, training and employment activity for illiterate adults.

Dr. Myma A. Belo-Osagie - Director

Director

Dr. Myma A. Belo-Osagie - Director

Dr. Myma Adwowa Belo-Osagie is Partner Emeritus (of Counsel) in the law firm of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie (UUBO) which she co-founded in 1985. Dr. Belo-Osagie has primarily focused on advising corporate clients - in particular, international corporates establishing or restructuring businesses in Nigeria in the oil and gas, telecommunications, and general corporate sectors. She has participated in the drafting of various pieces of legislation - the most recent being the legislation that established Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. Dr. Belo-Osagie holds an LL.B from the University of Ghana, Legon and holds a LL.M and SJD from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is a member of the Ghana Bar, New York State Bar and the Nigeria Bar.

Dr. Belo-Osagie has previously served on a number of boards including the board of FSDH Merchant Bank. Currently she sits on a number of corporate boards including the boards of Africa Opportunity Fund and African Fabric Holdings BV. She is an avid supporter of Nigerian and Ghanaian art.

Mr. Osagie Ediale - Director

Director

Mr. Osagie Ediale - Director

Osagie has over 27 years of business/corporate experience spanning Finance, Telecommunications and Energy. He holds a BSc. in Economics from Lagos State University, an MBA in Oil & Gas management from University of Dundee, Scotland and a Post Graduate Diploma in oil supply and trading from College of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Oxford UK. Osagie is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.

His corporate career started with Fidelity Finance Ltd, trading shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock exchange. He was also a key member of the team at the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, which oversaw the successful launch of mobile telephony services in Nigeria. Subsequently, Osagie served as regulatory/business consultant to major players in the telecom industry.

He is currently the CEO of Flagship Energy Ltd, an oil and gas trading company. Osagie's special interests include, environmental conservation with a focus on plastic pollution of the world's oceans and it's impact on aquatic life.

Mr. Tosayee Ogbomo - Director

Director

Mr. Tosayee Ogbomo - Director

Mr Ogbomo is a senior finance expert with over 27 years of international and local finance and investment experience. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the University of Benin in 1988, he also holds an M.Sc. in Finance from Bentley College Graduate School in 1993 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997.

He worked as a senior associate at Price Waterhouse Coopers in 1993 and then as a Director at Merrill Lynch and as a Managing Director, Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs from 2004 to 2011. He was a Partner at Vine Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in key sectors in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. He serves as a director on the board of FSDH Asset Management Limited.