Pascal Dozie: Huge feet in corporate Nigeria

Dr. Pascal G. Dozie, Chairman, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, is a seasoned economist, econometrician, consultant and banker. He was a key contributor to the development of the Nigerian economy, both in government and in the private sector. A former Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, former President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, and former Chairman of Nigeria Business Support Group, Dozie was also Co-chair of the Commonwealth Business Council and Chairman of Diamond Group Advisory Board. Currently, Dozie is the Pro-Chancellor of Pan Atlantic University, Chairman of Kunoch Limited, Chairman, Diamond Bank De Benin, Chairman of New Nigeria Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of African Development Foundation that founded the Pan-Atlantic University where he serves as a member of the Governing Council. He is a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Lagos Business School, a founding partner of Africa Capital Alliance, the first Nigerian private equity fund manager. He also serves as the Co-Chairman of the Nigeria Business Coalition Against HIV/ AIDS. In 2000, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria honoured Dozie with the National Honour of the Order of the Niger (OON) and, in 2011, with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). Dozie holds an M.Sc. Degree in business administration from the City University, London and a B.Sc. degree in economics from the London School of Economics. He also holds honorary doctorate degrees in law, management technology, and business administration from three universities. He is married to Chinyere Dozie and they are blessed with five sons. Dozie has come a long way not just in corporate Nigeria, but in life generally. From his rural Egbu community in Imo State, South East Nigeria, “a boy from the village”, as he calls himself, born to the family of the late devout Catholic Catechist, Charles Dozie, and his wife, Janet, on April 9, 1939, Dozie had a normal primary and secondary school education at Our Lady’s School Emekuku, Holy Ghost Juniorate Seminary and Holy Ghost College Owerri, during which he was in the school choir and school band. After secondary school education, PGD, as he is fondly called in corporate circles, taught for three years, before leaving for the United Kingdom to do his tertiary education. He studied economics in the London School of Economics and later took a master’ s degree in administrative science, specialising in operational research and industrial engineering from City University London. He would later tell of his memorable stay with his older brother, Aloy, who was engaged in real estate business in England, and the social and academic environment which sculptured him an excellent pedigree of prudence and trust in business. At the London School of Economics and City University, Dozie learnt the ropes that equipped him as a renowned specialist in development economics and planning. He had worked as an economist at the National Economic Development Office and at the Greater London Development Council in the United Kingdom as well as taught part-time at the North Western Polytechnic, London. Through his professional consultancy activities in several African and European countries, Dozie demonstrated sterling capability in project preparation, co-ordination and management. Between 1970 and 1971, he served as a consulting economist at the African States Consulting Organisation in East Africa where his major tasks included the construction of an input-output model for Uganda. In 1971, Dozie visited Nigeria from Uganda to see his mother, his father having passed on in 1959. This visit opened up another phase in his life as he had to stay back seeing opportunities in the green economy. He founded the African Development Consulting Group (ADCG) that became the fore-runner of many enterprises that would follow, including Diamond Bank. He consulted for the Central Bank and other commercial banks and ended up becoming the Chairman of one of the banks and, in 1990, he fulfilled the CBN terms that got Diamond Bank into operations in 1991. Several other achievements in corporate Nigeria as well as social services, giving back to the society in humanitarian engagements, have made Dozie eminently qualified