Celebrating Adenuga As Africa’s Pride

 

Belinda Olubunmi Adenuga Disu, popularly known as “Bella,” is one of the few children of Nigerian billionaires that has continued to wow a lot of people. She started her career and leadership role as the Group Executives Director at the very young age of 18 years in one of the leading telecommunication companies in Nigeria, Globacom, owned by her father, Mike Adenuga. And has not looked back ever since.

Since joining in 2004, she has been able to put the experience she gathered in her 18 years of professional experience across Industries to successfully lead notable projects. 

Bella, as she’s fondly called, was born on May 29,1986, to Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom, and Emelia Adefolake Marquis, a Nigerian entrepreneur. 

 

Growing Up

She started her educational life in Lagos at Corona School on Victoria Island and later attended Queen’s College for her secondary school education. She left Queen’s College for Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Lagos, where she graduated in the year 2000.

Bella holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and went on to acquire a Master’s degree in Leadership from Northeastern University, Boston. She is an associate of Women in Management, Business, and Public Service and a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), Nigeria, and the Nigerian Institute of Management.

Professional Career

In 2004, at the very young age of 18 years, she joined her father’s multinational telecommunication company, Globacom, operating in Ghana and Nigeria, as the Group Executive Director between June 2004 to Jan 2019.

Globacom, which launched its mobile telephony business unit in August 2003 under the Glo mobile brand and is now the second largest mobile operator by customer base and the first single company to build a high-capacity submarine fibre-optic cable, Glo-1, running from the United Kingdom to Nigeria, now accounts for over 26 million active phone connections in the country.

With her vast experience and intellectual managerial skills, she became the Group Executive Director of Cobblestone Properties and Estate Limited, a property development and marketing company that was incorporated in 2011, and later became the CEO in May 2019.

She is currently serving as a Non-Executive director, on the board audit and remuneration committees and the Shareholders Advisory Council at Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, one of the leading construction companies offering integrated construction solutions and related services in and outside Nigeria. A former director and now the chairman of the board of directors at  Albumet Nigeria Plc, a glass and aluminium manufacturing company in Nigeria.

Mrs. Disu is the founder and chairperson of the Bella Disu Foundation (BDF), a non-profit organisation that improves socio-economic outcomes in vulnerable communities.

 

Awards And Recognition

In recognition for her immense contributions toward the development and promotion of French culture, she was awarded the Chevalier dans ‘l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in December 2019.

And in September of 2022, she was selected for the Choiseul 100 Africa ranking among young African leaders set to play a major role in the economic development of the continent.