About us
Leadership Team
Ikemefuna Mordi
Lead Partner
Ikemefuna is the Lead Partner at Desarrollar Limited, a sports management and marketing communications firm in Lagos, Nigeria. With over 28 years of experience, he has a strong background in marketing, corporate communications, and brand management. Previously, he served as Head of Marketing & Corporate Communication (Africa) at a leading financial institution, where he developed communication strategies and coordinated public relations to boost brand awareness.
Ikemefuna has worked with teams across West, East, and Southern Africa, and has experience in both French and Portuguese-speaking regions. He has held various roles in brand management, including Group Head positions at top banks and consulting firms. As the pioneer CEO of International Sports Management Africa Limited (ISMA), he achieved notable success by signing partnerships with global sports franchises and collaborating with Manchester United Football Club.
He has also served as Vice-President at Nextzon Business Services Limited, focusing on business development and strategic brand building for financial and non-financial clients. His career began in advertising and public relations before moving into banking at Citizens International Bank and Standard Trust Bank.
Ikemefuna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and has been involved in several public and private sector transformation initiatives, including strategic communication planning for the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Deji Toye
Company Secretary/Legal Adviser
Deji is the Senior Partner at The Lodt Law Offices in Lagos and holds a Master of Corporate Law from St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge. With around 15 years of corporate law and governance experience, he has served in leadership roles across external, in-house, and consulting environments, advising clients in sectors like financial services, energy, technology, media, and real estate. He has expertise in corporate, securities, and banking laws of Nigeria, Ghana, and OHADA harmonized laws of Francophone Africa.
Deji has provided legal advice for M&A transactions, regional bank expansions, and operational setups in e-payments and media. He was the key legal adviser for the largest real estate development in Eastern Nigeria. His expertise has been utilized by governments, regulators, and industry networks for policy reforms and standard-setting.
He served on the Legal Implementation Committee of the FSS2020 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (2007-2010) and the Integrated Business Reporting Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) in the UK, producing guidelines for integrated business reporting. He was awarded the Deloitte Scholarship in Corporate Governance by ICGN in 2013 and was appointed to UNESCO’s African ‘pool of experts’ on the 2005 Convention on Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Deji is also a board member of Mega Media Limited, Projade Media Limited, CORA Art Foundation, and Beaconsfield College, Lekki.
Olusegun Olukoya
Partner
Segun Olukoya heads the Financial Services and Payments division at NEXTZON Business Services, leading teams to help financial institutions develop business strategies and implement transformational initiatives. He also plays a key role in NEXTZON’s African regional expansion, assisting Nigerian banks and insurance companies in various African countries.
Previously, Segun was the pioneer Head of Strategy and Portfolio Management at HEIRS Alliance Group, where he led strategic initiatives that resulted in significant growth for the group. He began his career at Guaranty Trust Bank and later worked with Accenture, handling business strategy, software implementation, and process re-engineering projects, including international assignments in Germany and The Netherlands.
Segun is a 2016 Eisenhower Fellow, connecting him with a global network of leaders. He is also an associate Fellow of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative and a member of the Crans Montana Forum of New Leaders for Tomorrow. He serves on the investment committee of the Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund and is Program Director of the Lagos Angel Network.
Segun is an authorized trainer of the IFC-Global Corporate Governance Forum and teaches corporate governance to bank executives. He also sits on the boards of One Finance, Gidimobile, and School Kits as a non-executive director. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Lagos and has attended executive education programs at the London Business School and Pardee RAND Graduate School.
Emmanuel Agha
Partner, Global Operations
Emmanuel is a seasoned tech founder, start-up advisor, venture coach, and entrepreneurial scholar with a multidisciplinary background spanning medical sciences, technology, consulting, digital payments, and venture investments. With over a decade of experience in the innovation and entrepreneurship space, he brings a unique blend of strategic insight, hands-on operational leadership, and academic rigor to every project he engages in.
Emmanuel worked with NEXTZON as the Head of her eBusiness Unit with specialty in Process Automation, eBusiness solutions & Concepts, eGovernment solutions & services, Mobile & e-Payment Solutions, Funds Transfer, Web Solutions, and Systems Integration. While at Nextzon, he lead several transformational public sector projects including the national vehicle registration system of the Federal Road Safety Commission.
He is the founder of Innovectives Inc., a pioneering fintech company that played a significant role in reshaping digital financial services across emerging markets. During his tenure, Emmanuel led Innovectives to become one of the fastest-growing digital payment platforms, notably overseeing the development of one of the most expansive agent banking networks in Africa. His leadership helped deliver financial access to underbanked communities while also achieving sustainable business growth.
A true industry trailblazer, Emmanuel is a pioneer member of last mile FinTech, inclusive and open banking community in Nigeria, where he contributed to the foundational frameworks that support data-driven innovation in financial services. He also played a key role in co-creating the emerging markets payment facilitator business model in partnership with Mastercard – a blueprint that continues to influence financial services infrastructure globally.
Beyond his entrepreneurial ventures, Emmanuel is deeply invested in developing the next generation of innovators and changemakers. He serves as a start-up mentor with Women in AI and AI4All, championing inclusive innovation and supporting underrepresented founders in artificial intelligence and deep tech. He also works as a venture coach with the Pangea incubator, where he supports high-impact migrant start-ups in achieving product-market fit, investment readiness, and scalable growth. He is currently incubating a venture fund in the Netherlands dedicated to female founders, addressing the gender funding gap.
Emmanuel is a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, researching entrepreneurial team dynamics and venture scalability. He is an alumna of the University of Cumbria, University of Amsterdam and University of Nigeria. He holds degrees in International Finance, Business Administration (Leadership and Sustainability) and Computer Science — and is committed to building inclusive, high-growth ventures across the globe.
At Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, he runs two entrepreneurial leadership programmes for female founders and growth stage ventures, open enrollment programmes of the VU Leadership Academy.
Emmanuel is a licensed cyclist and enjoys long distance bicycle races every weekend. He is married to Sarah Agha and resides in Amsterdam with his 2 daughters – Christine and Samantha.
Isiaka Gbodiyan
Creative Lead
Isiaka holds a BA in Fine Arts from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife (1989-1994). His artistic practices include printing, welding, graphic design, photography directions, and painting. With about 29 years of professional experience, Isiaka has held various positions in advertising and print media organizations, such as Rosabel Leo Burnet, DDB, Timbuktu Media (publishers of NEXT), and LEADERSHIP Newspapers.
He is proficient with Apple Mac OSX and Windows operating systems and has technical skills in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop), QuarkXPress, CorelDraw, and Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Excel, and Word). Additionally, he has basic knowledge of Macromedia Dream Weaver and Fireworks.
Gwen Abiola-Oloke
Advisory Board Lead
Gwen is currently the CEO DI-Africa Limited, a multi-disciplinary investment advisory vehicle with extended networking footprints across the African continent.
Gwen had previously been the Regional Investment Director and lead in the expansion and deepening of Grofin’s operations in West Africa. Grofin is a development financier providing medium term risk capital and business support services to SMEs across Africa and the Middle East.
Prior to now, Gwen has 23 years of financial services experience culminating as Country CEO of a Pan African bank. She has strong networks across West Africa with governments, private sector leaders and development finance institutions. She is a Collaborating Researcher for the UNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development) and co-authored several publications on access to finance, sustainable financing, financial inclusion, women entrepreneurship, food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation. Gwen has been involved in the past 20 years with SMEs, capacity building, leadership development, gender mainstreaming, sustainable community- based development initiatives and philanthropy. She served the Federal government of Nigeria as member, Ad-hoc committee on Petroleum Deregulations; Strategic Options, 2000.
She also served the government of Republic of Benin as Chairperson, Committee for the Promotion of Trade & Investment between Nigeria and Benin Republic. Engaging top decision makers of the organized private sector, Ambassadors and key Ministries of both countries notably Ministries of Finance & Economy, Trade & Commerce, Development & Planning and their relevant agencies.
Gwen has had speaking engagements at several events including a side event at the 3rd United Nations International conference on Finance for Development – Addis Ababa, 2015 – World bank, Africa Development Bank, USAID, Euro- money sponsored events. Active participation in the current discourse on sustainable development and related courses sponsored by the World Bank, UNITAR and ECA on Finance for development, Africa regional trade, etc.
She has been a Participant at international events like the World Bank/IMF annual Spring meetings, African Development Bank annual meetings .• Fellow, Lead International UK and Collaborating Researcher for the UNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development).
She is a member, judging panel for Shell international LiveWire Top Ten Innovators Award. Mentor, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women Member, Advisory committee for development of USAID Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) for Nigeria – 2017. Philanthropy -Providing feeding for indigent widows above active working age. She holds B.Sc Economics, M.Sc. Marketing and MBA degrees.
Banwo & Ighodalo
Legal Consultants
Banwo & Ighodalo (“B&I”) was established on the 1st of February, 1991 with a resolve to create a world class law firm. Today, B&I are known for providing innovative, competent, cost- effective and well-timed solutions. Industry sources speak highly of the firm’s “legal service excellence across the board, from partners to junior staff,” adding that the group is “highly responsive and flexible.”
Banwo & Ighodalo is structured as a partnership and is a fairly large-sized Nigerian firm, presently comprising, over Eighty (100) Solicitors. They undertake work for public and private companies, governments, Nigerian and foreign investors, financial institutions, foreign law firms and international consultancy firms. B&I lawyers are often called upon to serve as resource persons at local and international seminars/ workshops and as public and private sector office holders and advisers.
They are consistently ranked as a leading Nigerian law firm in the areas of Capital Markets, Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions; Corporate Finance & Restructuring, Project Finance and Foreign Investment & Divestments and one of the top five law firms in Shipping, Aviation & International Trade, Energy & Natural Resources and Intellectual Property. B&I also have a tested and dependable track record in Commercial Litigation.
