I’m a product of LSE’s generosity. But not only me, I am close enough to know. We are uncountable.

I was always with him after office hours in his office twenty years ago when he was constructing a church in his place of birth, he was so committed to details and beauty that when the church was roofed and he went for inspection and discovered some misalignment, he instructed the contractor to remove the roof and redo it, without minding the extra cost coming from his pocket.

There was this physically challenged fellow that LSE bought a car for plus a driver to make life easier for her.

During one of his birthday celebrations, he told me, “Tim, I am not inviting my friends for any birthday party this year, all the money I would have used in buying expensive wine, I am donating everything to charity”.

LSE & I

He actually looked for when I started New Horizons. He read my interview in the Vanguard news paper and asked his staff to look for me.

Prayer:

May each of us receive a telephone call before the end of 2025 that will change our life’s trajectory for good for ever in Jesus name. Amen.

I did!

Our conversation on that fateful Friday went like this:

LSE: Tim, I read your interview in the newspaper. I will like us to meet.

Tim: You are our LEADER in the Technology ecosystem, Sir.
I can come to your house tomorrow Saturday morning for a breakfast.

LSE: Tim, that’s good, I will be expecting you by 8am tomorrow in my house.

By 8am the following day, I was in his . massive, intimidating house.

As I entered the premises I said a simple prayer: The God Almighty who is blessing LSE, please Daddy God be kind to me also in my entrepreneurship journey. Amen.

That day the breakfast meeting went well. He wanted to see the man behind the ambitious vision of transforming the ICT education in Nigeria.

He saw tomorrow!

1. LSE First Intervention: Two years after I started my company, New Horizons, I ran out of cash, even to pay salary was a prayer item every 30th of the month. That was May, 2027 it remained just 72 hours for Heaven to fall on my head, metaphorically speaking, that is!

I needed N10M to stop HEAVEN FROM CRASHING ON MY HEAD!

Banks in Nigeria are irrelevant to Startups, except and until you START WALKING, banks will not come to your assistance in Nigeria.

It is O.Y.O (On Your Own) for every Start-up. If you don’t have God 100% on your side, don’t dabble into entrepreship in Nigeria!

This is why over 80% of Start-ups failed in Nigeria. In America, it is about 50%.

LSE was in Abuja on this particular Thursday. I called him and requested to see him. He told me to come.
Our conversation went like this:

LSE: Tim, I know you are keeping well.

Tim: My chairman, I am strong in faith, but in reality, heaven is hot on my side o! I need help, Chairman.

LSE: What is the matter, Tim?
Tim: I need N10M soft loan to keep afloat. It is urgent, critical and time- bound.

LSE: Ok, Tim, see me on Monday (that meeting took place on a Thursday).

Tim: My chairman, I am not exaggerating the criticality of my situation. by Monday it would be too late because Heaven would crash on my head in another 72 hours without the N10M! And it would be all over.

LSE adjusted himself, he breathed in , he looked me straight in the eyes. I wouldn’t know what LSE saw in my eyes that day.

But he stood up, went to the inner room and he came out with his cheaqe book. He gave me an Access Bank cheaqe for N10M, which I later refunded 3 months later without interest.

I survived, heaven didn’t fall that day, glory be to God and thanks to LSE.

LSE intervention 2:

This time we had grown, having survived the ABIKU YEARS (The first 5 years of Startup are the ABIKU YEARS; years of premature, sudden death. If you survive the first 5 years, your chances of living to celebrate your 20 years in business are bright. We did, all gratitude to God.

I got a business that required huge capital to execute- very big money, which was beyond my capacity.

I went to my destiny- helper again. He is never tired of seeing me. He picks my calls on the first ring. But I don’t abuse the access, too. No frivolous conversations. No irrelevant calls. Every call is about matter and mission critical

This particular day LSE was looking extremely tired that day, having over flogged his body.

He told me he had been sleeping in the office for about 3 days, busy putting his papers together to enable him close a massive business deal, which he eventually got, after fighting like a lion whose cub was taken by a lone leopard!

LSE overwhelmed every opposition.

He fought like Mohammed Alli, the world’s greatest boxer of all time. LSE won. And that changed everything for him, too, forever. Fortune favours the Brave. 

Our conversation that day went like this:

LSE: Tim, congrats you are doing well, I can see. Indeed I instructed all my staff to make sure they read any article you published (“I felt flattered”).

Tim: Chairman, I need your help, KONGA is not ready to give me the products I needed on credit and I don’t have cash to pay and the client will not pay me until after 9 months.

Tough one, indeed.

LSE: Tim, I will be honest with you, there is no way KONGA would give you products worth N500M (10 years ago money!) on credit.

Indeed, we held a meeting on Monday over your matter, the resolution of the Zinox Group is that you must look for cash before you can get the products.

Let me tell you, my staff made to sign-off on our resolution that as the Chairman of Zinox , I, LSE will not go behind to do the opposite of what we all agreed to. And I signed. Tim, I am sorry, my hands are tied!

As of that time, some of the young people LSE helped disappointed him badly. So bad, some souls are ungrateful.

Tim: Chairman, I know some of the people you helped even went to the extent of wrongfully blackmailing you in the media. I know that for a fact.

But Chairman, I am different. I am Tim Akano, I won’t disappoint you.
I will remain eternally grateful if you can still think out- of -the box and help me out.

I added: Chairman, you recall you were the one who looked for me that you would give me a helping hand in life.
I think my last statement touched him.
LSE: Tim, I will give you my personal cheaqe. Here is the cheaqe for you, take it to KONGA and pay for your goods to meet your deadline.

Tim: On getting to KONGA, from my steps and tone, the staff knew something positive had happened.
I confidently presented my cheaqe to Loretta & Co, the lady managing our account in KONGA then
They were shell shocked that God pulled it through for me another time, using Leo Stan Ekeh.

There were many more positive interventions, which I will reserve for my memoir.

Lessons:

1. The reason behind the rise and rise of Leo Stan Ekeh (LSE) has to do partly because of his massive generosity, most of them are done silently.
Yes, LSE is a shrewd business man, but he has a heart of a butterfly.

2. LSE is unconquerable and himself and his lineage will remain so because of several lives he has impacted positively.

3. We are all products of people’s generosity. No one is a self made man .In my own corner through the TIM AKANO FOUNDATION, I am giving back in thousands folds all the kindness I am enjoying from people like LSE & others. I’m not withholding any kindness from people who need it when it’s within my capacity. God saw my heart, too that when he must have helped me to stand, I will light thousands of candles.

It was William Shakespeare who admonished his followers to tell him all the good things they wanted to tell him while he was still alive because tributes written in beautiful prose means nothing to a dead person.

I congratulate LSE children, they have a great father in LSE and his legendary generosity will always speak for them up to the 4th generation, as the Holy Bible puts it. LSE children should be proud of their father; he is a Lion, an Eagle and a butterfly, (LEB) all together at the same time.

@LSE: Sir, if you manage to read this short public appreciation, which I was inspired to write while attending a wedding event (the couple is taking over one hour to come out, instead of joining people who are anxious, I decided to use my idle time to pay you this tribute today), I want you to feel proud of yourself; what you have achieved will take an average person 10 lifetimes to achieve.

Your positive numerous interventions in my entrepreneurship journey have germinated and I am also touching lives- like you- in thousands across Africa, not only in Nigeria, especially with regards to Youth Empowerment.

I am eternally grateful, my chairman, my destiny-helper.

My prayer for you my Chairman, LSE:

The Lion, the Eagle, the Butterfly (LEB) is for God to keep you continuously in sound, divine health, peace and happiness- that you will still remain strong at 120 years of age like the Biblical Moses who miraculously escaped physical depreciation in his eyes, strength and mental magnitude.

Gratitude!
Gratitude!!
Gratitude!!!

The post Leo Stan Ekeh: A “Rare Avis”, an unconquerable Entrepreneur appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Disclosed in a regulatory filing, signed by Erhi Obebeduo, company secretary, the company stated that a total of approximately 2.29 billion new ordinary shares in the Company will be listed in U.S dollar at reference price of 70.00 naira per share, equivalent to $0.0459 per share to raise a gross proceeds of $105 million.

This follows the company’s disclosure of its intention to cancel the listing of its existing Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) in London, United Kingdom, citing low volumes being traded on the LSE Main Market and the listing of the company’s shares on the LSE Main Market. The company believes that investors will benefit from the shares trading on the LSE and will offer more liquidity than the GDRs.

A First in Nigerian Banking History

With this, GTCO becomes the first Nigerian bank to transition from Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) to a full equity listing on the LSE—marking a watershed moment for domestic financial institutions.

Securing Regulatory Capital Requirements

The $105M raise is strategically aimed at recapitalizing GTBank Nigeria to meet the Central Bank’s ₦500 billion paid-up capital threshold by March 2026, ensuring GTCO retains its international banking license.

Strengthened Balance Sheet

Post-raise, GTCO’s paid-up share capital rises to ~₦508 billion, providing a strengthened buffer for loan growth and resilience against non-performing assets.

Access to Global Institutional Capital

The accelerated book-build sold 2.29 billion shares at ₦70 each (~$0.0459), drawing strong interest from investors in the U.S., UK, and beyond—highlighting international confidence in Nigerian banking.

Improved Liquidity & Credibility

Switching from GDRs to publicly traded ordinary shares will likely broaden liquidity, enhance visibility, and cement GTCO’s standing as a world-class financial institution.

Catalyst for Sector-wide Upgrades

GTCO’s move sets a benchmark for peers; other banks will be under pressure to either raise capital, merge, or face license downgrades when complying with CBN’s new rules.

Potential Rerating of Domestic Stocks

The LSE listing may prompt a revaluation of GTCO’s share price on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), aided by foreign investor participation and improved investor perception.

Funding Growth and Diversification

GTCO plans to channel proceeds into retail, SME expansions, digital banking, and non-banking segments such as payments, pensions, and asset management.

Strengthens Nigeria’s Capital Market Narrative

GTCO’s LSE debut strengthens the case for Nigerian financial institutions as globally relevant, well-capitalized, and governance-compliant, encouraging long-term FDI inflows.

Signaling Nigeria’s Global Ambition

This milestone aligns with broader economic goals—boosting Nigeria’s image as an emerging market with mature financial architecture capable of global capital mobilization.

Why This Matters for Nigeria’s Banking Sector

By securing international capital and meeting regulatory demands, GTCO is not just fortifying itself—it’s raising the bar across the banking sector.

This signals greater resilience, competitiveness, and readiness to support Nigeria’s target of becoming a ₦1 trillion economy by 2030.

The post GTCO Raises $105M on LSE: Key Implications for Nigerian Banking appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.