Full Name
Mr Ayodeji Balogun
Job Title
Group CEO
Company
AFEX
Speaker Bio
Ayodeji Balogun is the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of AFEX, where he is leading
global teams of experts leveraging technology, innovative finance, and inclusive agriculture to
connect agriSMEs and smallholder farmers to commodity and financial markets. He is a global
executive with a demonstrated history of driving growth and profitability in Africa’s commodities market.
Ayodeji began his stint at AFEX by developing the company’s new market entry strategy in East
and West Africa. He then resumed as the Country Manager for AFEX Commodities Exchange
Limited in Nigeria, and the Business Lead for Africa Exchange Holdings Limited in West Africa.
In both roles, he pioneered the development of a private sector-led commodities exchange
and warehouse receipt system, and doubled as the Product Development Manager, leading
value chain development in the agriculture Sector, and designing physical and derivative contracts for commodities across markets in Africa.
His interest in commodity trading was stoked early when he began learning about trade in the
family business. His first solo run as an entrepreneur was at the age of thirteen when he had to
consummate a transaction worth USD 4,000 (at today’s value), and he grew to manage the
family-owned commodities trading business, with a turnover of over USD15 million, before
joining the MBA program at Lagos Business School. He also founded a haulage business, was
part of a mobile service start-up, and part-owned an agribusiness venture.
He holds an MBA from Lagos Business School and a certificate in Creative Leadership from the
THNK School of Creative Leadership. He has also graduated from the Global CEO – Africa program of IESE Business School, and the Managing Fast Growing Companies Executive Program
of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ayodeji has almost twenty years of experience
trading across West Africa as well as in building and scaling businesses across Sub-Saharan
Africa. He serves on several capital market boards and works with several institutions on food
security and financing agriculture.
global teams of experts leveraging technology, innovative finance, and inclusive agriculture to
connect agriSMEs and smallholder farmers to commodity and financial markets. He is a global
executive with a demonstrated history of driving growth and profitability in Africa’s commodities market.
Ayodeji began his stint at AFEX by developing the company’s new market entry strategy in East
and West Africa. He then resumed as the Country Manager for AFEX Commodities Exchange
Limited in Nigeria, and the Business Lead for Africa Exchange Holdings Limited in West Africa.
In both roles, he pioneered the development of a private sector-led commodities exchange
and warehouse receipt system, and doubled as the Product Development Manager, leading
value chain development in the agriculture Sector, and designing physical and derivative contracts for commodities across markets in Africa.
His interest in commodity trading was stoked early when he began learning about trade in the
family business. His first solo run as an entrepreneur was at the age of thirteen when he had to
consummate a transaction worth USD 4,000 (at today’s value), and he grew to manage the
family-owned commodities trading business, with a turnover of over USD15 million, before
joining the MBA program at Lagos Business School. He also founded a haulage business, was
part of a mobile service start-up, and part-owned an agribusiness venture.
He holds an MBA from Lagos Business School and a certificate in Creative Leadership from the
THNK School of Creative Leadership. He has also graduated from the Global CEO – Africa program of IESE Business School, and the Managing Fast Growing Companies Executive Program
of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ayodeji has almost twenty years of experience
trading across West Africa as well as in building and scaling businesses across Sub-Saharan
Africa. He serves on several capital market boards and works with several institutions on food
security and financing agriculture.
