Fola Adeola co-founded Guaranty Trust Bank in 1990, then built a foundation for young entrepreneurs.
A chartered accountant from Yaba College of Technology, Fola Adeola ran GTBank for twelve years, then turned to mentoring founders and building Nigeria’s internet cable.
Fola Adeola trained as an accountant, with a diploma from Yaba College of Technology in 1975 and chartered status in 1980. In 1990, with Tayo Aderinokun, he established Guaranty Trust Bank, which he led as managing director and chief executive until 2002.
Under his watch the bank listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1996. It later expanded to The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and the United Kingdom.
After the bank
When he retired in 2002, he handed the bank to his deputy, Aderinokun, and moved into new work. He founded the FATE Foundation, which supports young Nigerian entrepreneurs, and chairs Main One Cable Company, which completed a 14,000-kilometre submarine cable from Portugal to Lagos in 2010. Through his firm Iwosan Investments he has also moved into healthcare.
He served as chairman of Nigeria’s National Pension Commission and is a member of the Commission for Africa.
Founders often ask what to do after a big success. Adeola’s answer was to build the next layer: young entrepreneurs, cables and clinics.
