Full Name: Enyinna Nkem-Abonta
Position: COO of Bicacon
Main Activity of the Company: Engineering consulting, construction, maintenance and infrastructure asset management
Place of Birth: Akwete, Nigeria
Education: BSc (Hons) (mathematics); MBA (finance and banking); DEA (diplome d’Etudes approfondies) (international finance and economics); PhD (economics), University of Paris-Dauphine, Paris; junior degree in French literature and civilisation, University of Grenoble III, France; certificate in public-sector management and budgeting, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, US
First Job with Present Group: COO
Value of Assets under Your Control: R93-million
Number of People under Your Leadership: 112
Management Style: Visionary leadership
Personal Best Achievement: Developing a belief in self-government and in the primacy of the individual
Professional Best Achievement: Successfully motivating for change in policy direction and strategy in government and politics
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: Bertrand Russell (the late British philosopher and mathematician)
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Cato the Younger (Cato Minor)
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Nelson Mandela and Bertrand Russell (deceased)
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Bill Gates
Philosophy of Life: Stoicism and adherence to the Golden Rule laid down by Jesus Christ
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Heading up the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism of the Eastern Cape government
Biggest Ever Disappointment: The defeat of Biafra in the Nigerian civil war
Hope for the Future: That black people claim equality through knowledge-based entrepreneurship and the creation and development of world-class industrial firms
Favourite Reading: Philosophy (Bertrand Russell), political and libertarian philosophy, Puritan writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in England and scholarly works against extra-Biblical Christian orthodoxy
Favourite TV Programme: Africa’s largest Christian television network, Emmanuel TV
Favourite Food/Drink: Fish and avocado/whisky
Favourite Music: Classical music and Wesleyan and Puritan hymns of the eighteenth century
Favourite Sport: Martial arts
Favourite Website: Google
Hobbies: Writing and reading works on political economy, collecting antiques and metaphysical contemplation
Car: Daimler-Jaguar XJ8, long-wheel-base, diplomatic edition
Pets: Pure-bred German Shepherds
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Popular modern culture, hypocrisy and control of other people’s lives
Favourite Other South African Company: South African Breweries
Favourite Foreign Company: Google
Married: Divorced
Children: Amara, 18; Emeka, 10