Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

Fola Adeola

Mr. Fola Adeola is the founder and chairman of FATE Foundation which promotes entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths.

Fola is also the co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc where he served as the pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for 12 years. He served as the Chairman of the Pension Reform Committee, Chairman of the National Pension Commission from 2004 to 2006, and as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc from 2005 to 2006.

Fola currently serves as the Chairman of MainOne Cable Company, Allianz Insurance Plc and Lotus Capital and also sits on several other boards.

Managing Director/ CEO

Michael Nzewi

Mr. Michael Nzewi is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone and has been Managing Director of the Company since January 2017.

Michael served as a Director in the Capital Markets Division of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), London. Prior to SCB, Michael served as the Head of Corporate Finance at Vetiva Capital Management.

Michael holds a BSc. in Accounting from the University of Benin, Nigeria and an MBA from Said Business School, Oxford University, UK.

He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Executive Director

Mohammed Garuba

Executive Director

Elile Olutimayin

Elile is the Group Executive Director of CardinalStone Partners Limited. She oversees the Asset Management, Securities Trading and Trustees Businesses.
Prior to her current role, she was the Managing Director/CEO of CardinalStone Securities Limited. She grew the business from a relatively new market entrant to the leading securities firm in Nigeria. Before joining CardinalStone, she worked at Investment One Financial Services Limited, and Kakawa Asset Management Limited in various capacities. She has a background in Portfolio/Fund Management, Securities Trading, Investment Advisory and Management, Equity Capital raising, Business Development and Credit Management.
Elile holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Benin. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (FCS), and a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, United Kingdom. Elile is a member of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and an alumnus of the Lagos Business School (LBS). She is an Associate member of the Women In Management, Business & Public Service (WIMBIZ) and a recipient of several awards and recognition, notably the 2023 Angaza Awards Top 10 African Women to Watch in Banking, Finance & Investment list and the BusinessDay’s 2023 50 Inspiring Nigerian Women.

Non-Executive Director

Mairo Bashir

Ms. Mairo Bashir is the Chief Executive Officer of CreditCorp Limited.

Prior to joining CreditCorp, Mairo served in various management positions in United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) before becoming the Executive Director, Corporate Services of UBA. She was also a Director in UBA Capital. Mairo has worked in various financial institutions including International Merchant Bank Limited (IMB).

Mairo is a founding member of Women in Management and Business (Wimbiz) and is a board member of Information Connectivity Solutions Limited and Enownow Limited.

Non-Executive Director

Chief Callistus N.C Nweke

Engineer (Chief) Callistus N.C. Nweke is the Founder and Chairman of Chizzy Nigeria Limited, a chemicals and technical support company, providing services to the Paints and Inks Industry in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa. The Company was established in the mid-1980s, following his employment in International Paints West Africa Limited, then a subsidiary of Courtaulds Coatings UK.

Chief Nweke has over forty-five (45) years’ experience in industry, both in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. He cut his teeth as a young engineer when he joined Mobil Exploration Nigeria Incorporated (now Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited), as a Pupil Engineer in1974 and resigned as a Drilling Engineer in 1976.  Upon his resignation from Mobil, Chief Nweke joined International Paints West Africa Limited, where he rose from Production Manager to become the first Operations Director of the Company.  He resigned from his position in 1986 to focus on building his own company, which has grown tremendously over the years and is now one of the leading products and service providers in the paints and inks industry. It has also expanded its product and service line to cover the food and beverage, plastics, personal care, and oil and gas industries.

Chief Nweke was educated in the prestigious Government College, Umuahia in Abia State and subsequently obtained in B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at the Loughborough University of Technology, UK (now Loughborough University). He is a shrewd business man, with a keen eye for investments. He is an avid traveller and reader; and is committed to community development, especially within his home state – Anambra. He is the Chairman of the Nri Microfinance Bank, Anambra State, a position which he has held for over five (5) years.

Non-Executive Director

Femi Ogunjimi

Mr. Femi Ogunjimi is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone.

He is a Managing Partner of the private equity affiliate company, CardinalStone Capital Advisers Limited. Femi served as Vice President – Investment Banking Division, Goldman Sachs, New York.

Before Goldman Sachs, Femi was Senior Associate at PwC – PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Femi holds a BSc. in Accounting from the University of Lagos and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Non-Executive Director

Yomi Jemibewon

Mr. Yomi Jemibewon is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone and is currently a Managing Partner of CardinalStone Capital Advisers Limited.

Yomi served as Vice President – Financial Advisory in Avante Capital. Prior to joining Avante, Yomi worked at the New York offices of Bain & Company. At Bain, Yomi worked primarily on executing strategic due diligence and developing post-acquisition growth strategy and turn-around initiatives for various private equity and corporate engagements.

Yomi holds BSc. and MSc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.