Management Team
(Chairman)
Dr. 'Layi Fatona is a Petroleum Geologist with over thirty-five years of practice, commencing with a seven year stint in the Petroleum Engineering and Exploration & Production Departments at The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC). He obtained both the Master of Science and Doctorate degrees from the Royal School of Mines at the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, University of London, in 1976 and 1980 respectively. He is the Chairman of Geotrex Systems Limited, Nigeria's foremost independent Exploration & Production Consultants, which has provided expertise to all the major oil operators in the country. Dr Fatona is a past President and Fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, (NAPE), and a Certified Petroleum Geologist of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He is the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Aret Adams Award, of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationalists (NAPE) and is also a leading authority on the geology of the Niger Delta Oil and Gas Province.
Dr Fatona recognised for his entrepreneurial skills most notably for promoting one of Nigeria’s most successful local refineries: Niger Delta Exploration & Production PLC., where he currently serves as its Managing Director/CEO. Dr Fatona is the Chairman of the Board of Both Skye Financial Services Limited and SFS Capital Nigeria Limited
(Director)
Dr Yemi Kale holds a First Class BSc. degree in Economics from the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia and a MSc. Degree with distinction and PhD. Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He also worked as an equity analyst at Goldman Sachs and for several years as a quantitative analyst at Merrill Lynch Financial Services from where he was made Group Head of Research and Investment Strategy at Investment Banking and Trust Company Plc. (now Stanbic IBTC Bank plc) In this role which he held for several years, he was also directly responsible for the Funds Management and Registrars Departments, in addition to the Research and Strategy department. He was later appointed Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance on Domestic and International Financial institutions as well as public policy and administration. In this role he advised the Minister of Finance on a wide array of economic, fiscal and budgetary issues. He was later appointed Technical Adviser to the Minister of National Planning on Macroeconomic Policy, Infrastructure development and Trade Policy and regional Integration.
In 2009, he was presented the African Financial Analyst of the year award by Africa Investor. Dr Yemi Kale is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, UK, a member of the World Economics Association and a member of the Royal Economic Society, UK. Dr Yemi Kale is currently The Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer National Bureau of Statistics. He serves as a non-executive member on the Boards of both Skye Financial Services Limited and SFS Capital Nigeria Limited.
(Managing Director, Skye Financial Services Limited)
He attended the University of Lagos where he obtained a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in 1981 and subsequently a Masters Degree in Marketing from the same University. He is a banker with over 20years experience. He worked with NAL Bank Plc where he acquired varied experience in capital markets and corporate banking; he also worked with EIB International Bank where he headed the Corporate Finance Division of the Bank. In his career, Mr Gbenro has led his team successfully in raising over $1 billion dollars in debt and equity capital for private and public entities. While successfully concluding over multiple merger & acquisition transaction.
Mr Gbenro also championed the formation of Nigeria’s First Real Estate Investment Trust (“Skye Shelter Fund”) Mr Gbenro successfully led the Team which undertook the Management Buy-out of Skye Financial Services from Skye Bank Plc Yemi is the Managing Director of Skye Financial Services Limited and also serves on the Board of SFS Capital Nigeria as a Director.
(Managing Director, SFS Capital Nigeria Limited)
Patrick has over a decade of experience in Financial Advisory, Investment banking, insurance and Investment Management, within and outside Nigeria. He was the Top graduating student with a B.Sc in Accounting from the University of Lagos and an MBA from Lagos Business School Pan-African University. Patrick is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) and an Honorary Senior member of the Chartered Institute of Banks of Nigeria (HCIB). Patrick is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (ACIT) and The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (ACS). In addition, he is a qualified stockbroker of The Nigerian Stock Exchange, Registered Bond Trader with SEC and is currently on the final stage of the U.S. based Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification. Patrick worked with Stanbic-IBTC for almost a decade and spent some time pioneering a local joint venture with Fortis Investments of Luxemburg prior to joining Skye Financial Services Limited. Patrick has been exposed to extensive Finance/management related training by IESE Business School (In Spain), Citibank NY (In USA); Commerzbank (In Germany); Fortis Investments (In UK, Holland, Belgium, France), ING Bank (In Holland & Belgium).
Patrick, led the fund management team which has very successfully managed the Skye Shelter Fund (Nigeria’s first Real Estate Investment Trust) from its inception Patrick is the Managing Director of SFS Capital Nigeria Limited and also serves as the Deputy Managing Director of Skye Financial Services Limited.
Executive Director, SFS Capital Nigeria Limited
Dimeji Sonowo is the Executive Director of SFS Capital Nigeria Limited and Skye Financial Services Limited.
He brings on board over a decade of experience in Investment Banking and Asset Management. He serves on the Investment Committee of the Skye Shelter Fund (Nigeria’s first publicly listed REIT) . Prior to this role, he worked with and led the Investment Management team of Investment Banking & Trust Company Ltd (“IBTC”) between 2001 and 2008. At IBTC, he was responsible for managing the portfolios of Institutional Investors and High Net- Worth Individuals. He also managed the IBTC Nigeria Equity Fund (Nigeria’s largest Mutual Fund) and the IBTC Ethical Fund. Dimeji holds a B.Sc in Accounting and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA). He is a registered Fund/Portfolio Manager with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
