Meet the expert...
Tayo Ajayi
Head, Agriculture Investments at Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA)
Tayo Ajayi is an investment professional with over 17 years experience in the origination, development, funding and execution of greenfield and brownfield projects across the Energy, Agriculture, Transport and Oil & Gas sectors, with a focus on capital raising, deal and debt structuring, as well as the provision of general financial advisory and project development services.
He is currently the Head of Agriculture Investments and Portfolio Manager under the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority’s (“NSIA”) US$920 million Nigeria Infrastructure Fund and is responsible for leading the origination and development of large-scale integrated agriculture projects, with focus areas ranging from the installation and operation of machinery, irrigation systems and storage facilities, to the production and processing of grains, livestock, fruits, vegetables and other agriculture commodities.
Under his role as Head of Agriculture, Tayo also manages an Agriculture Development Fund, established under a joint venture between the NSIA and Old Mutual of South Africa, which has deployed US$30 million towards the development of a fully integrated animal feed production project, which is now fully operational. He also manages the US$1.8 billion Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, where he is overseeing the funding and implementation of three strategic national road projects namely: (i) Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, (ii) Second Niger Bridge and (iii) Abuja – Kano Expressway.
Prior to joining NSIA, Tayo was an Assistant Vice President with Africapital Management Limited and part of the transaction team responsible for the $300 Million acquisition and rehabilitation of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company during the privatisation of the Nigerian power sector.
In his earlier career, Tayo was with PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria, providing audit, financial and accounting services to multinational corporations such as Oando PLC, Emirates Airline Nigeria and Rolls – Royce.
Tayo also spent eight years in the United Kingdom, where he was part of the founding team of British Gas Trading Limited’s retention and debt management unit, improving the company’s customer turnover rate and reducing consumer debt by over 30%. Over a period of 4 years with British Gas Trading Limited his team led the implementation of new technology and strategies to help improve customer relations and competitiveness in the UK power sector.
