Mahama Confers Ghana’s Highest Honour on Adenuga

One of Africa’s most illustrious investors, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr, has been awarded Ghana’s highest civilian honour, the Companion of The Star of Ghana (CSG).

Adenuga who also holds the highest civilian honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) in Nigeria, was decorated by the Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama, at a state ceremony in Accra on Saturday.

President Mahama said Adenuga was awarded the CSG, “in recognition of your unique and outstanding contribution to business enterprise both in Ghana and the continent of Africa at large.”

Mahama said through Adenuga’s creative business exertions, “you have touched many lives in Ghana. You have provided employment for our teeming youth, artists, footballers and many more. I am particularly proud of you. This award is our way of saying a simple Thank You.”

The citation on Adenuga commended his “transformational achievements in the telecommunications industry”, chief of which was the laying of the Glo 1 optic fibre cable linking several African countries including Ghana with Europe and America.
Mahama commended Adenuga’s association with telecommunications in Ghana since Glo Mobile’s launch and praised the massive capital investment injected into the project.
The Ghanaian leader noted that Adenuga’s investment forays and his strong and affirmative support for sports had earned him honours from far and near. This, President Mahama noted, recommended Adenuga for Ghana’s highest civilian honour.

In his acceptance remarks, Adenuga said President Mahama’s “recognition and support of my modest contributions to the development of Ghana’s economy have come as a great source of pride and encouragement to me. This is more so as it is coming from Your Excellency, whose sterling qualities of leadership I admire greatly.”

Adenuga remains one of the finest pillars of investment in Africa with multi billion dollars interests in telecommunications, oil, banking and real estate among others. His telecommunications investment footprint spans across Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic, Senegal, Gambia and Cote d’Ivoire.

He set up Globacom in Nigeria in 2003, coming two years behind other multinational operators. But with an Africa-focused entry strategy which sought to ensure that people got billed for only the exact time consumed, the brand turned into a household name and quickly rose to become the second biggest network in Nigeria. His vision to run Africa’s biggest and best network saw the expansion into Benin Republic and Ghana and the conception of the world’s first and only private optic fibre cable which runs from Europe to Lagos with dedicated link to the United States and spurs across West African countries.

Adenuga is no stranger to state awards. In 2012, he was decorated with Nigeria’s equivalent highest civil award, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON). During the celebration of Nigeria’s centenary, Adenuga was also one of the 100 distinguished and eminent Nigerians honoured with the Centenary Awards.