Who Is Bimbo Roberts Folayan?
Bimbo Roberts Folayan is the executive director of J Williamz Limited, promoter of the Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit (NDDIS), an organization that is geared at mobilizing Nigerians in the Diaspora and other British and international investors to invest in Nigeria and help facilitate trade and business development between British (and other foreign) companies and Nigeria.
He sits on the advisory board for the creation and development of the Nigerian Diaspora Investment Trust Fund inaugurated in Abuja in August 2020.
Bimbo as fondly called by many was a past Chairman of the Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom, (CANUK) a position he held for two terms. He is a highly revered community champion in the British, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community.
Bimbo Roberts Folayan Background
Bimbo Roberts Folayan was born in August 1962 to a royal family which originated from Ijero Ekiti, Nigeria. Hence, this makes the 58-year-old business executive a crown prince. Aside being a royal by blood, he also holds chieftaincy titles as Sarkin Yakin (King of War) of Kagara and Garkin Kowan Pada (Member of the Emir’s Palace) of Kotangora, all in Niger State. Bimbo is the Otunba Babaloja of Ilodo kingdom, Ijebu Mushin, Ogun State.
Bimbo Roberts Folayan Educational Background
Bimbo is a graduate of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) with a degree in English and Literary Studies. He later participated in the MSc Information Systems and Computing course at Greenwich University, United Kingdom.
Bimbo Roberts Folayan Professional Background
He started his career as one of the pioneer staff of the People’s Bank of Nigeria and worked closely with its Chairman and Managing Director Pa Tai Solarin and Mrs. Maria Sokenu respectively in disbursing small-scale loans to Nigerians in the early 1990s while in Nigeria.
He later worked as a financier and midwifed the creation of Treasury and Finance Company/Mortgage Bank after the liberalization of the banking sector in 1992.
Bimbo also worked with the Guardian Newspapers and was a publisher of a UK based tabloid called ‘The Main Issue’.
His IT consultancy has seen him participate in several bank and telecommunication merger projects in the UK and Europe. Bimbo has a clientele portfolio that includes Nationwide Bank, Ulster Bank, IBM, Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest Bank, Halifax Bank, the Bank of England, Luminor Bank, and many more.
He was part of the team that completed the harmonization and re-branding of NTL, Telewest, and Virgin Telecoms (Virgin Media) and also the merger of Nat West Bank with other financial institutions with the Royal Bank of Scotland brand.
Bimbo Roberts Folayan Honors And Awards
He has received hundreds of awards due to his assiduous devotion to the social and economic cause of the Africa/ Nigerian communities. Some of them include Nigerian British Merit Award (2020), Nigerian Diaspora Global Hall of Fame (2018), UPF-Nigeria’s Ambassador of Peace (2017), GAB Awards (2018), and many other awards in his cart.
As a friendly media personality, he has been featured in many TV channels and radio both in Nigeria and abroad.
