Session with Fola Esan

Session Description

Meet Fola Esan, an accomplished and esteemed figure in the realms of leadership, business, and entrepreneurship. With a background in engineering that started at Schlumberger, Fola's journey towards excellence led him to the London Business School, where he earned his MBA. His pursuit of knowledge didn't stop there – he enriched his expertise in leadership and management through renowned institutions like Harvard University, The Aspen Institute, and Tulsa University. Currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at AGRA, Fola is orchestrating transformation across Africa's Agricultural and Food Systems. Not content with just one masterpiece, he is also the Founder and Managing Director of Red Iroko Groups – an Africa-focused consulting and investment advisory corporation. In his impressive career, Fola has held prestigious roles such as CEO and COO for renowned organizations like Lafarge and Quantum Global Group. His remarkable leadership extended to overseeing the East African Regional Group of Schneider Electric, a multi national company with annual revenues of $25 billion. At Schlumberger, Fola ended up as a Group Mergers And Acquisitions Manager, where he developed best-in-class M&A methodologies that yielded 14 successful acquisitions ($2.69 billion) in three years. Over a span of more than 25 years, Fola has exhibited a masterful command of strategy, innovation, and team leadership. He possesses a unique ability to steer operations, optimize resources, and foster growth. His expertise shines in emerging markets, where his insights have ignited sales acceleration, revenue growth, and profit expansion. Fola's impact extends to providing support to start-ups. He sits on advisory boards encompassing organizations like the Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund, Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings Ltd, The African Seed Investment Fund L.L.C (ASIF), The Mvoula Group, TouchMedia Ltd., and UTU Technologies. But Fola's story isn't confined to corporate accomplishments. He has climbed literal peaks, including twice summiting Mount Kilimanjaro's Uhuru Peak. His creative interests also include co-founding TouchMedia, a company amplifying TV and film production in Africa. Fola created and marketed a full-length movie and filmed 24 episodes of a successful TV series currently running on four Cable TV stations in Africa.