… A giant, standing tall in telecommunications industry

Success does not come on a platter of gold, hard work and diligence will help. This illustrates the tenacity of one of African successful entrepreneurs, Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga widely known as Mike Adenuga. He was born in Ibadan on the 29th of April, 1953. He is married to Joy Adenuga and has seven children.

A Nigerian business magnate and the founder of Globacom, Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator, turns 70 on April 29, 2023. He is a self-made billionaire with a net worth estimated at $7.5 billion, according to Forbes.

However, Adenuga’s entrepreneurial journey started in the 1990s when he obtained a drilling license and established Consolidated Oil, an indigenous oil exploration and production company. He then ventured into the telecom industry and founded Globacom in 2003.

Within a few years, Globacom became the fastest-growing telecom company in Nigeria, offering affordable voice and data services to millions of Nigerians.

Adenuga’s entrepreneurial milestones also include his acquisition of the first-ever oil mining license awarded to a private company in Nigeria. He also made history by acquiring the second national carrier license in Nigeria, which allowed Globacom to operate in other African countries.

In addition to his business ventures, Adenuga is known for his philanthropic efforts, particularly in education and healthcare. He has donated millions of dollars to various charitable causes, including the construction of a multi-billion naira cardiovascular hospital in Lagos.

His entrepreneurial milestones are a testament to his tenacity, business acumen, and commitment to innovation. He is a true inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria and beyond.

With investments in Banking, Oil and Gas (upstream and downstream) Telecomms and other strategic businesses, Dr. Michael Ishola Adenuga is no doubt a billionaire par excellence, the man with the Midas touch.

Right from age of 26 when he hit his first million running family business, the bull as he is fondly called has always been exceptional in his deeds and actions. His movement to the top hierarchy of the nation’s entrepreneurship cadre in his early thirties was very swift and done with utmost precision.

Adenuga who holds an MBA from Pace University, USA owned two top banks at barely 36: Equatorial Trust and Devcom and by early forties he had successfully entrenched himself in the nation’s oil industry. Such was the determination and tenacity of the bull, forging ahead with full focus and conquering businesses along the way.

Not only did he own these businesses, he administered them with utmost efficiency that saw each of them becoming success stories over a very short period of time.

In 2001 the NCC licensed three GSM network operators, namely MTN, Airtel and MTel. The fourth operator, Glo Mobile, came in 2002 when it was licensed as the country’s second National Carrier. By 2007, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) introduced the unified licensing regime, granted 3G licences to four operators and also licensed Mubadala Development Company as the country’s fifth GSM Operator (it subsequently started operating under the name Etisalat now 9 mobile).

Meanwhile, Mike Adenuga was firmly entrenched in the Nigeria economy by 2001 when the Obasanjo’s Administration decided to offer GSM licences to businesses to operate and like all top businessmen, he bided for a licence but  lost out. Like a typical bull that he is, he refused to back out, even when his ICL had lost $20m. He returned powerfully later and got a bigger package which today has transformed to a national carrier, Globacom. Glo is the only indigenous GSM Company operating in the country and forging ahead of competitors. It is also operating in Ghana and was until recently in Benin Republic.

Globacom, the telecommunication giant commenced services in Nigeria with panache on 29th of August, 2003 and with a vision to be the market leading service provider in the country. The company from inception to date has demonstrated its commitment to creating value with its products and services, thus empowering millions of Nigerians in the process.

Under Adenuga ‘s astute leadership Globacom has a record of many firsts in 20 years of operation in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry and has remained a pacesetter in spite of rolling out its services two years after other networks have started operations. Some of the record of firsts includes; championing per second billing, first to implement 2.5 G network in Nigeria, first to implement 3G network in Nigeria, first to offer 4 G LTE, first to offer Blackberry solutions in Nigeria and first to launch of submarine cable (GLO 1) which  provides efficient and fast broadband internet services.

Glo remains a leader in the telecoms sector with about fifty three million subscribers including multinational corporations, decision makers in the public and private sector, students, artisans and those in rural communities connected to the network. These subscribers are enjoying access to high quality products and affordable telecom services.

The company has remained very committed to social investments in its areas of operation. It has extensively supported the movie Industry in Nigeria (Nollywood) and in Ghana (Ghollywood) with notable actors and actresses chosen as Glo Ambassadors. This move and many others had empowered African arts and culture.  The sponsorship of several cultural festivals in its areas of operation is another aspect of its Corporate Social Responsibilities which has resonated with the people. In addition to these are countless donations and support by Dr. Adenuga in different parts of the country, thus empowering Nigerians in different areas of human endeavour.

Globacom’s support for sports is legendary, particularly football in Nigeria and Ghana where the company sponsored the national teams for many years as well as the League. The Supporters’ Clubs in both countries are also not left out. It is also remarkable that Glo sponsored without fail, the annual CAF Awards, which celebrates the best footballers and administrators in Africa, (male and female) for a decade. A period in which the award’s  gala changed from a mere event to that of a major global sporting gala, attracting top personalities from different parts of the world.

It was generally estimated that Dr. Adenuga spent over 25 billion to date to support sports in Nigeria in the last 19 years.

In the same vein, there was also the Glo Soccer Academy which trained young footballers to kick-start their career in professional football. The finalists of the academy were trained in Dubai Soccer Academy and Manchester United Academy respectively. Adenuga also sponsored top Golf tournaments known as Glo Golf Tour West Africa which offered millions of naira to winners. There were also different editions of the Glo Marathon with outstanding prizes for winners.

In 2013, Globacom started the sponsorship of English Premier League live matches on Supersport, thus giving footballers in Nigeria and other parts of Africa the opportunity to watch live football matches and also follow their football clubs all through the season. The sponsorship of the matches is still running in 2021, 9 football seasons non –stop.

Globacom  will be 20 soon and it has no doubt grown to become a major player in the Nigerian telecom industry by offering subscribers best value for money through introduction of quality products and services such as Glotxt 4 millions which has seen many Nigerians winning millions of naira. Other offerings  like Glo Infinito, Talk more, Yarn me more and Glo Gista in the past, as well as recent products like My Own Don Beta Promo and Mega Data Packages as well as the popular Berekete which one way or the other help subscribers to pay less while using the Glo network. This encapsulates the network’s philosophy of empowering Nigerians and giving them access to the best value and pricing.

The living legend has through Globacom made a bold statement that all things are possible through determination, focus and hard work. He led the pack, setting the standard for young and upcoming Nigerians to believe in themselves and their country.

The oil business was the first big business Mike Adenuga went into that enhanced his net financial worth. Having good friends is good particularly those who help you in the way to success in life.  Mike Adenuga is lucky to have some of these friends in the military. He was awarded huge contracts to build military barracks and other military installations in Nigeria.

Under the presidency of Ibrahim Babangida, former military head of state, he was awarded an oil exploration licence. Having the licence, he started Conoil Producing Limited, to produce and market petroleum products. The company then discovered crude oil in commercial quantity in Ondo State and explored it in full.

Soon afterwards, in 1990, he received a drilling licence and 1991 the company went into operation to extract crude oil and finally expanded to Delta State where it has up to six oil blocs. The company produced high-quality oil and has been environmental friendly in its oil operations.

In 1990, he ventured into the banking sector and established the Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), a fully indigenous bank. In 2011 the bank had grown to boast of 100 branches scattered up and down the country. Before then, in 2006, ETB had to merge with Devcon bank for consolidation purposes.  Soon after, the ETB was found to be distressed, prompting the Federal Government of Nigeria to bail out the bank and consequently took up a substantial percentage of the share capital.

Mike Adenuga hit his fortune jackpot in the telecommunication business. He was issued the second GSM licence in 2006 after the first licence issued in 1999 was revoked. He set up Globacom Limited and built a telecom company with a submarine cable linking Nigeria to the United Kingdom. Glo provides both GSM and internet services that are very reliable and at the same time cheap.

Glo took the bull by the horn when they introduced per second billings in Nigeria. Other operators quickly followed suit to avoid being left behind. Globacom also added other services such as mobile internet, mobile banking, vehicle tracking while it sponsored Blackberry (a mobile smartphone). It launched its services in the Republic of Benin in 2008 and continued to expand to other African countries.

Today Globacom operates in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Benin. Research shows that Glo has about 43 million subscribers as well as the second-largest telecom company in NIgeria after MTN.

Mike Adenuga has received many awards, including the following: African Entrepreneur of the year, 2007 at the first African Telecoms Awards (ATA); Pillar of Football in Africa; Nigerian National Award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON; Special Golden Jubilee Independence Anniversary Award; Second wealthiest Nigerian, made his wealth from Telecom – Gloabacom and Oil production and marketing.

His GSM telephone network, Glo for short, is the second-largest mobile telephone network in Nigeria, with over 43 million subscribers. And his wealth is generated mainly from Globacom business.

His oil-producing business, Conoil Producing has 6 oil blocs in the Niger Delta.

Mike Adenuga is a graduate, in addition to a second degree, MBA from Pace University in New York

He made his first million at the age of 26, importing lace materials, and distributing Nigerian Bottling company products.

He ventured into banking with the acquisition of Equatorial Trust Bank.