Board of Directors

Jim Ovia is the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, one of Nigeria and Africa’s largest banks by Shareholders’ Funds. He was at the helm of affairs for 20 years until his resignation in July, 2010. Jim Ovia is currently the Chairman and founder of Visafone Communications Limited, a mobile phone company. He is also the Chairman and founder, Quantum Group. Jim Ovia is a member of the National Economic Management Team of Nigeria as well as a member of the Honorary International Investors’ Council. He is the founder and proprietor of James Hope College, Agbor, Delta State. Jim Ovia is a philanthropist. He is the founder of the Youth Empowerment & ICT Foundation, which focuses on improving the socio-economic welfare of Nigerian youths by empowering them to embrace Information and Communication Technology. The initiative holds an annual Youth Empowerment seminar. In recognition of his achievements particularly in support of the Nigerian economy, Jim Ovia was conferred with the national award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in November 2011. Jim Ovia holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Louisiana, Louisiana, USA in 1979 and a B.Sc degree in Business Administration from Southern University, Louisiana, USA (1977). He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School (OPM). Jim Ovia is a writer and motivational speaker. He has been interviewed by the following global networks: CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg and ARISE TV.

Elaine is a General Partner in Quantum Capital Partners, a Sub-Saharan private equity firm with interests in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, real estate, hotels, petrochemicals and oil & gas. Elaine began her career with Watson Towers, the largest global actuarial consultancy advising FTSE 100 companies on both the asset and liability side. She later joined PSolve Asset Solutions, the fund-of-funds subsidiary of Sanlam Bank SA where she focused upon delivering tailor-made liability-driven investment solutions to top UK corporate pension plans, with a focus upon alternative assets. She then moved to Gissings Consultancy Services as Head of R&D, developing derivative based solutions for institutional clients. Elaine joined Zenith Bank Plc in Nigeria within the Corporate Finance & Advisory team and rose to become the head of Corporate Strategy & Advisory. She served on the Investment Committee as an Investment Strategist for the Zenith Bank range of mutual funds. Elaine holds a BSc in Actuarial Science from the Cass Business School, London and a postgraduate in Actuarial Management. She is a member of the Institute of Actuaries.

Joe Onwubuya is a Director of Cyberspace Network Limited and oversees the growth and direction of the company. He is responsible for the delivery of a successful growth strategy for the company. He is highly regarded in the technology industry and has over twenty years of Business, Security and Network consulting experience with several companies in Nigeria. Mr. Onwubuya has held various positions in large integration and consulting companies, he has also served as IT consultant to numerous financial institutions and Visafone Communications Limited. He is a network veteran in particular and an IT professional in general. Engr. Onwubuya holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the University of Lagos in addition to several other IT certifications both within and outside Nigeria, among which are Cisco, Microsoft, and Linux. He has attended the Advanced Management Programme at the Pan-African University, Lagos. He is a corporate member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (MNSE) and Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).

Emeka is a Corporate Attorney with specialization and cognate experience in legal Advisory, Financial & Investment laws, Company Secretarial, Governance, and regulatory compliance. He holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Lagos and Bachelor of Laws degree from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Barrister at Law from the Nigerian Law School (all at second class upper division respectively). A fellow of: Institute of Capital Market Registrars and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), with over two decades of Corporate Legal Advisory, Governance and Company Secretarial experience across banking, capital market, and insurance sectors where he held various Management and Senior Management positions in the Legal Services, Legal Regulatory, Governance, Compliance and Company Secretariat respectively in the Zenith Bank Group. Emeka is the Group General Counsel and Group Company Secretary for Quantum Zenith Group.