Meet Our Team
Aisha Yakubu Bako is the MD-CEO of Onyx Investment Advisory Limited and also the Deputy Team Leader of LINKS/FCDO (The Investment facilitation program of the British Government being implemented by Tetratech), an indigene of Kano State and a Gender, Public policy, and Market Development Specialist with 17 years combined experience in project management, gender mainstreaming and private sector development. She worked in various capacities in FCDO (former DfID) funded programs such as – ENABLE, GEMS 1, Propcom-Maikarfi, GEMS3, GEMS4, and currently the Investment Lead in LINKS and was the most recent consultant for Business Development – Northern Nigeria in the IFC. During her time as Coordinator of AVENIR-NEPAD, Aisha assisted the team leader on Access and Equity – A portfolio for girls’ education and people with special needs during reforms at the Federal Ministry of Education in 2006. In 2007 she was Advisor for women in business at the London Business Development Agency. Two years later, she moved to Oceanic Bank where she headed the PSG (Public Sector Group) marketing team in her branch until 2010 when she joined Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS) as the Project Manager – Gender Democracy Rights. In 2013, Aisha began to provide technical support to ENABLE/ DFID in building the capacity of the Leather and Allied products association before moving to GEMS3/DFID in 2015 as the Investment Promotion Coordinator where she facilitated the set up of KADIPA and successfully facilitated over $250m worth investments at the exit. Aisha also supported the state in its application to achieve USD350million Program-for-Results financing from the World Bank based on work done. After GEMS3, Aisha moved to GEMS4 where she supported an investment-focused closeout of the program with a special lens on the rice sector called the Rice Revolution which contributed to Nigeria’s rice policy. In early 2018, Aisha supported Kaduna state in developing the FRILIA (Framework for Responsible and Inclusive Land Intensive Agricultural Investment) for Kaduna State. She carried out a mapping of the North East to identify investment sectors for IFC Nigeria, the World Bank Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation (FCI) Global Practice, and DFID/ UKAID via Palladium before taking over as the business development lead for Northern Nigeria in the IFC.
Aisha is an alumnus of Maastricht School of Management, Netherlands Ahmadu Bello University, and Nigerian Defence Academy with a degree in Agric Engineering, Master’s in Financial Economics, and Diploma in Business Dynamics. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Banking, a recipient of the Ambassador for Peace award, and the former Director of Memberships – World Association of NGOs (WANGO).
Yusuf is a consultant with vast experience in developing and implementing interventions for donors such as DFID, CIDA, and GEF in the facilitation of private sector development programs. He has about 15 years of experience working in social, private sector, and market development to enhance investment and ensure the growth of an enterprise. He earned a Bachelor of Technology in Agricultural Economics and Extension as well as a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Development with a Ph.D. in the view from the American University of Nigeria.
His interest has been in designing and implementing interventions through market approaches and facilitating a partnership with the private sector in Nigeria and he has the relevant skills and experience in developing strategies for planning, execution, monitoring, and evaluation as well as financing of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in various sectors such as Agriculture, Construction, Vocational Skills, Livelihoods, and Policy.
In the last few years, he has focused on providing support to businesses that operate in thin markets and post-conflict communities in North-East Nigeria so that business enterprises can begin to function again. He has also been a member of a multi-disciplinary team working together in the provision of service, consultancy, and execution of projects in the areas of needs assessment, project determination, and planning, project management, economic empowerment of women and youths, monitoring and evaluation, technical training of community management systems and community dialogue that ensures project sustainability.
Adesheye is a graduate of Chemical Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State and has notably completed his Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Kaduna State.
He has a combined sixteen years of work experience in the finance industry at First Bank of Nigeria Limited and Oceanic Bank International Plc (which later & now trading as Ecobank Nigeria Limited). At these times, he diligently served in all the branch business departments/units and held leadership responsibilities such as Head, Technical Support, Relationship Manager-Credit & Marketing, Lead Accounts Manager-Domestic Corporates, Team Lead, Commercial Banking –SME (North) to name a few.
After exiting the bank, he was appointed a leadership role as the Business Development Manager to a private sector agri-business firm. Remarkably, he’s carried out these various roles with proven interpersonal, analytical, organizational, customer service, and communications skills while demonstrating product and segment knowledge and referral abilities.
Thereafter, he had a stint at a premier impact Investment and Advisory firm as the Head of, Operations and he worked closely with the CEO to determine the long- and short-term strategic objectives of the firm. He was also responsible for inputs to be delivered by the organizational
He’s provided support as an Independent Consultant to support private sector companies and to several LINKS and USAID programs targeted towards addressing the limitations connected to a business environment.
During work, he has attended several pieces of training. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN), has in-depth training in Project Management, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), an International Driving License (ICDL) certified
Umar is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and has duly completed a post-graduate diploma in Computer Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Kaduna State as well.
He has about 8 years of progressive working experience in the fields of finance, telecommunications, and retail.
Post NYSC he started work as a supply and logistics officer in a contracting firm ASLIM Nigeria for a year. After which he secured a position as a Direct Sales Agent in Stanbic IBTC Bank where he worked closely with the relationship manager under the special project of Non-Interest Islamic Banking (NIIB) for a year then exited to Etisalat Nigeria where he worked as a Contact Centre Executive from 2015 through 2017.
After his service with telecoms, he moved into the field of sales and retailing where he worked as a Manager in the reputable Kanti Plus Supermarket chains where he revolutionized the marketing strategies, improved the company’s daily sales goals, and enhanced customer experience.
He has provided technical support as an Independent Consultant to boost private sector companies such as LINKS, USAID, Catholic Relief Services in partnership with Society for Family Health and World Health Organization in conjunction with Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Agency programs steered towards addressing the gaps in healthcare, business and education sectors.
