At a Glance
- Bella Disu leads Globacom’s expansion, boosting rural and urban connectivity across Nigeria.
- She turned around Abumet, achieving 307% profit growth and restoring industrial profitability.
- Disu drives real estate, telecom, and manufacturing innovation while championing women in leadership.
At just 39, Bella Disu sits at the confluence of influence, innovation, and legacy in Africa’s corporate terrain. An executive powerhouse who has carved out her own identity in a family dynasty rooted in enterprise, Disu has not only upheld the Adenuga name but has redefined what it means to lead in today’s fast-evolving African business climate. From her pivotal role at Globacom to her impact across real estate, manufacturing, construction, and philanthropy, Disu exemplifies the fusion of tradition and forward-thinking leadership.
Raised in the shadow of her father, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., one of Africa’s richest billionaires, Bella Disu has stepped into her own spotlight, not as an heiress riding a legacy, but as a tenacious operator turning vision into tangible results. Her ascent began early. At just 18, she entered the business world, and by 2004, she formally joined Globacom Limited, Nigeria’s second-largest telecommunications group, as a young graduate armed with a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She later earned an M.Sc. in Leadership from Northeastern University, shaping her executive mindset with a global outlook and academic rigor.
Disu leads with vision and impact
In her two-decade-long journey, Disu has been at the heart of Globacom’s growth trajectory. Today, as executive vice chairperson, she plays a central role in steering the company’s strategic business units: Glo Mobile, Glo Broad Access, and Glo Gateway. It was during her early tenure that Globacom made history by launching Glo-1, a high-capacity, $800 million undersea fibre-optic cable linking the UK and Nigeria—an unprecedented feat at the time. More than a decade later, Glo-1’s resilience continues to underpin Nigeria’s digital backbone, proving indispensable during the recent wave of nationwide internet disruptions.
Disu’s leadership at Globacom is defined by strategic expansion and a mission to bridge Nigeria’s digital divide. In a groundbreaking move, the company recently extended its network to Kura, a remote village near Abuja, for the first time connecting its 12,000 residents to mobile internet services. Within 48 hours of going live, the network recorded over 81 gigabytes of data usage and 13,000 minutes of call time—a testament to both demand and delivery. Working in partnership with Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Disu has pushed Globacom’s presence into underserved markets, effectively democratizing access to mobile connectivity.
Her vision isn’t limited to rural connectivity. Earlier this year, she led the unveiling of a Gloworld store in Maiduguri, the conflict-scarred capital of Borno State. With upgraded technology and a modern retail model, the store reflects Disu’s commitment to revitalizing underserved urban areas and supporting Nigeria’s broader digital economy. Beyond infrastructure, she is nurturing the next generation of tech entrepreneurs through Glo’s digital innovation hubs. The first of these launched in Lagos, with additional centers slated for Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Abuja by mid-2025. These hubs are poised to catalyze startups, create jobs, and power Africa’s future tech leaders.
Shaping Nigeria’s future, brick by brick
Away from telecoms, Disu’s real estate imprint is reshaping Lagos’s luxury skyline through Cobblestone Properties and Estates, where she serves as CEO. Her projects mirror her dual interests in architectural elegance and functional living. Cobblestone’s portfolio includes Bella’s Place—a seven-story office complex—alongside The Mall and Ilé-Ọjà at Opebi in Ikeja, and Sisi Paris and Ilé-Ọjà on Victoria Island. Each development is a careful mix of culture, commerce, and innovation, embodying Disu’s commitment to reinventing luxury real estate in Nigeria.
Her influence extends into the manufacturing and industrial sectors, most notably through her chairmanship at Abumet Nigeria Limited, a leading glass and aluminum solutions firm and 90-percent subsidiary of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. When she took the helm in January 2021—succeeding Bamanga Tukur—Abumet was battling operational losses. But under her stewardship, the company not only reversed its fortunes by the end of 2022 but has since recorded exponential gains.
In 2024 alone, Abumet’s profit soared by an astonishing 307 percent, marking one of the most impressive turnarounds in Nigeria’s manufacturing landscape. Disu credits the achievement to strong governance, strategic planning, and collective dedication. “This success is the result of strategic leadership at the Board level, the dedication of our management team, and the collective effort of every Abumet employee,” she said in a LinkedIn post.
Disu has also used her board seat at Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to influence the construction giant’s diversification strategy, helping it venture into the agro-allied industry. The results have been measurable. Julius Berger’s revenue rose from N446.1 billion ($296.4 million) in 2023 to N566.2 billion ($376.2 million) in 2024, while profit after tax increased to N14.97 billion ($10 million), lifting its market capitalization to N202.1 billion ($134.3 million). The company now ranks among the top 50 publicly listed firms on the Nigerian Exchange.
Legacy-driven vision with modern impact
A strategist with a flair for cultural advocacy, Disu’s leadership is as holistic as it is effective. She is a devoted patron of the arts, published author, and philanthropist whose initiatives amplify women’s voices in boardrooms and beyond. Her commitment to elevating African women in leadership is as visible as her corporate victories. Through her public speaking engagements and organizational roles, she promotes a workplace culture that prizes diversity, inclusiveness, and productivity.
Despite the breadth of her responsibilities, Bella Disu is not one to be confined by titles. Whether building out telecommunications infrastructure, erecting glass towers, turning around industrial firms, or championing the arts, she consistently brings a results-driven mindset sharpened by integrity and purpose. Her career is less a checklist of milestones and more a narrative of steady ascension, tactical reinvention, and generational continuity.
As Africa prepares for a new economic dawn, defined by digital transformation, industrialization, and creative enterprise, Bella Disu is one of the executives charting that course. In an age when corporate success is often viewed through the lens of disruption and scale, she offers a more nuanced model: leadership anchored in legacy but energized by bold, future-facing decisions. At 39, Bella Disu is not just strengthening her role in Africa’s corporate landscape, she is redrawing its contours.
