Ayodeji Gbeleyi is the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in Nigeria, the government agency responsible for the reform and optimisation of public enterprises. He was previously the Managing Partner/CEO of GA Capital Limited, a boutique financial advisory firm. He is an award-winning Chartered Accountant, a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), an MBA holder from the University of Navarra (IESE), Spain, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD), and a registered Capital Market Operator by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

He is an alumnus of executive programmes at the prestigious London Business School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and Lagos Business School. He has over 30 years of post-qualification hands-on experience in diverse sectors and multi-cultural work environments, including manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods, investment & commercial banking, project finance, telecoms, infrastructure, and public administration. He has led a series of large-ticket and complex infrastructure project transactions.

He is an adviser on Public Finance Management, Project Finance, Regulatory Compliance Matters, and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects to both private and public sectors. He undertakes training and capacity-building programmes and advocacy in the same space, in addition to serving on the governance & oversight boards of certain privately-owned companies, government-owned enterprises, publicly quoted companies, and an educational institution.

Extensively involved in attracting much-needed Foreign Direct Investments into Nigeria, he led the finance team of Vmobile as the Chief Treasury Officer, that spearheaded the deal negotiation culminating in the successful raising of over US$1.1 billion in project finance in 2005—a blockbuster in the annals of project finance in Nigeria. This transaction was voted the “Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Telecoms Deal of the Year 2005” by ProjectFinance Magazine, a publication of Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc, UK. He also played a pivotal role in the US$1 billion investment in 2006 for the acquisition of a 65% equity stake in Vmobile by Celtel International B.V.

He is a former Honourable Commissioner for Finance in the Lagos State Government Executive Council and the pioneer Director-General of the PPP Office. Lagos State is the industrial and commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, accounting for approximately 25% of national GDP.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Northwest Quadrant Development Limited (Alárò City Development FZC in Lekki Free Zone). He was previously Chairman of the Board of Directors of Axa-Mansard Health Limited, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, and Yola Electricity Distribution Company Plc. He has also served as a Member of the BusinessDay Editorial Advisory Board, Council Member, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Chairman, Board of Governors of Baptist College of Theology Lagos, Member, Board of Directors of Volkswagen of Nigeria, Chairman, Board of Directors of Lekki Concession Company Limited (LCC), Member of the Statutory Board Audit Committee of Stanbic-IBTC Bank Plc, Director, Med-View Airline Plc, Chairman, Lagos State Mortgage Board (LagosHOMS), Chairman, Board of the Development Office, College of Medicine (University of Ibadan), and Member of the Lagos Innovation Council.