Man of The Year Award: Nonso Okpala, Anambra's Rising Star - Africa’s Oracle of Omaha

Anambra is a state with an incredibly vast human resources. A school of thought has courageously propounded that Anambra has the highest number of gifted people per square metre more than any other places inhabited by the Blackman across the world. Every statistics qualifies Anambra as the financial powerhouse of Nigeria. In education, she competes favourably. Her human capital is unmatched. Anambra is the home of Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Emeka Anyaoku, Francis Cardinal Arinze, Louis Ojukwu etc. In commerce and industry, Anambra had the likes of Sir Joe Nwankwu, Nigeria’s foremost industrialist, Sir Godwin Chikeluba of the G.M.O Group,Chief Augustine Ilodibe( Ekenedilichukwu Motors) the pioneer of logistics and transportation in Nigeria and in recent times, Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson motors, Cosmas Maduka (Coscharis), Alexander Chika Okafor(Chicason Group),Cletus Ibeto, Mallinson Ukatu, Nigeria’s first Indigenous tile Manufacturer, Engr Eloka Ejeh( Dover engineering) Emma Bishop Okonkwo( Ekulo Group) Godwin Okeke (G.U.O Transport)and many other captains of industries and entrepreneurs that are big players in the Nigerian economy.

To be recognized in Anambra as a successful and accomplished Entrepreneur is an extremely difficult thing. It is synonymous to an Olympian race. These are billionaires in their own rights, who in the past two to three decades have held their own, created wealth, employed thousands of people and can at any point hold their heads high nationally and internationally. It is in the midst of these accomplished second generational entrepreneurs, captains of industries that a star is rising in the land of the rising sun.

Nonso Okpala was born in 1978. He started his career at KPMG in Lagos where he honed his financial skills. He thereafter joined BGL, a renowned investment company in Africa. It was at BGL that Nonso learnt and developed a deep understanding of how businesses were run and how funds required for business operations and investments could be raised. He also served as Chief Financial officer (CFO) at Heirs Holdings .In 2009, he co-founded the VFD group and became its CEO in 2016.VFD Group is a financial services proprietary investment company, spreading its investment wings into basically every sector within the financial services industry.

Today, Nonso with his team of professionals are building Africa’s first truly diverse business ecosystem, with over 40 portfolio investments, a total asset base of 34billion naira and a share price of 361 naira in 9 investment sectors. This accomplishment is nothing short of a phenomenon considering that the company is still young. At formation the company issued its shares at N2 per share and was listed on NASD at N100 per share and today the company’s shares is trading at N361. Such accomplishment in few years is a mark of ingenuity. It is proper to tag Nonso Africa’s Oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffet). Like Berkshire Hathaway, the VFD Group is fast emerging as Africa’s top investment conglomerate. The Midas touch and the giant strides of this rising star is now most evident. This young entrepreneurial genius is fast cementing his place as a Corporate Titan in the Nigeria private sector and leaving a foot print in Nigeria’s economic landscape.

Beyond the boardroom, Nonso is driving the Chude and Ego foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming low-income communities through access to world-class education and quality healthcare. Nonso always believe that more opportunities translate to more victories and successes in an environment and the society at large hence his passion to foster more opportunities through his foundation. He recently raised over 200 million naira to build the Osnon Academy, a world class educational facility in Anambra. Nonso Okpala is the Chairman of VFD Tech and VFD Group Plc. and Anambra’s most Inspiring Man of 2021. The cap perfectly fits.