U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has named a Nigerian businessman to his newly established Strategic and Policy Forum. According to a statement from American private equity firm Blackstone, Adebayo Ogunlesi will join 15 other business leaders from the private sector who will advise Trump on how to spur job creation and bring jobs back to the country.
“The forum is expected to advise the U.S. president on economic growth and employment creation, by fusing members’ business experience with public policy,” reads the statement.
Ogunlesi is the chairman and one of the 13 managing partners of Global Infrastructure Management, LLC, a U.S.-based private equity firm.
The firm, which has more than $35 billion in assets under management, invests worldwide in infrastructure assets in the energy, transport, water, and waste industry sectors.
Like Father, Like Son
Ogunlesi is the son of Theophilus Ogunlesi, the first professor of medicine in Nigeria, according to Ventures Africa.
Ogunlesi was born 63 years ago in Nigeria, and like his father he was a bright student who earned three degrees from some of the world’s top universities.
He received his undergraduate degree from Oxford University and later got his law degree and his MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, respectively.
Between 1980 and 2006, Ogunlesi practiced as an attorney and investment banker with the U.S. Supreme Court and global financial services company Credit Suisse.
Ogunlesi is a well-respected and savvy businessman who led his firm in the acquisition of the London-based Gatwick Airport in 2009 despite stiff competition.
