Dupe Olusola: An economist, hospitality jewel bags continental laurel

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Mrs Dupe Olusola is certainly a pace setter, sound professional and a woman of excellence with profound passion for her job.

It is therefore not surprising that she has just emerged the only female in the continent that will mount the podium in Namibia later in June, to receive the highly prestigious Hospitality Leadership Award at the Africa Hospitality Investment Forum (AHIF) in the hotel and tourism sector.

Since her appointment in March 2020, Dupe had demonstrated extraordinary level of competence and leadership skills to the satisfaction of her teeming clientele comprising the sophisticated and the mighty in the society.

For her excellence, courage and outstanding achievements in previous assignments, she became the hotels’ CEO during the global COVID-19 pandemic when occupancy fell to only 5percent, a job that was considered very dangerous and challenging for all at the time.

But not with Dupe, who according to the records confronted her latest position with equanimity, diligence and in no time shone like a star and leading Transcorp Hotels Plc back to the path of profitability faster than most of the world’s major hospitality companies at the period, with the share price growing astronomically to over 600percent in 2023.

Also under her exemplary leadership, the company’s flagship property Transcorp Hilton Abuja introduced several customer centred leisure offerings, finding the perfect blend of business and leisure as well as elevated its status as the place to stay and to hold major events in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

Similarly, the highly talented and innovative business executive had taken the hospitality industry unawares when in July, 2021 she launched Aura by Transcorp Hotels, described as an “exciting online platform for booking accommodation, food and experiences” to the consternation of major competitors.

Attesting to her management acumen, Mathew Weihs, Founder of the Africa Hospitality Investment Forum (AHIF), while unveiling Dupe as the winner of the Leadership Award and Alain Sebah, the founder of GTAF, who bagged Outstanding Contribution Award recently, explained that the awardees will be honoured at the forthcoming event slated for the Mövenpick Hotel, Windhoek, Namibia, 25th – 27th June 2024 for their outstanding contributions to the growth of the sector.

The gathering, he pointed out is the most influential assemblage of hospitality executives in Africa, designed to connect business leaders and propelling investment in tourism projects, infrastructure, and hotel development across the continent.

According to him: “It will be an enormous pleasure to see two exceptionally impressive individuals receiving African hospitality industry ‘Oscars’ at AHIF. Alain is one of the great statesmen of the sector, who has achieved consistent success through a brilliant mix of charm, dynamism, flexibility and commercial nous. The operational excellence his team has achieved in Cotonou is fantastic, as was the deal he signed in Abidjan at the height of the pandemic.”

Continuing, he noted that Dupe’s track record of service has been outstanding, adding that “she became the first female CEO of a N1 trillion company shortly after Transcorp ended the year as the best performing stock on the Nigerian Exchange. One has to admire her ability to inspire people and the innovative way she fought to retain guests when other hoteliers would simply have said they were fully booked. In November 2023, with banqueting enquiries exceeding capacity, Dupe set up marquees within the grounds of the hotel rather than turn away business”.

Commenting on the well deserved continental laurel, an elated Olusola said: “I am deeply honoured to receive the Leadership Award at AHIF. This recognition is a testament to the incredible dedication and hard work of the entire Transcorp Hotels team. Together, we have navigated challenging times and emerged stronger, continually pushing the boundaries of excellence in hospitality. I am proud of what we have achieved and excited about the future as we continue to innovate, expand and deliver outstanding experiences for our guests.”

Truly, the CEO whose tremendous passion for her craft has left no one in doubt about her determination and commitment to be properly focused on the company’s vision and mission as well as lead highly skilled professionals from the front in rendering cutting edge services to the hotels’ teeming customers in their preferred destination for relaxation.

Dupe attended Queen’s College, Lagos, where she obtained her GCE O-levels in 1991, attended the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, graduated in 1996 and went on to obtain a Master’s degree (MSc) in Development Economics from the University of Kent in 1997.

Recall that after her Masters, Dupe worked in different roles with Bloomberg and Northern Trust in the United Kingdom before returning to Nigeria. In her father land, she has worked in SecTrust (now Afrinvest) and thereafter with Africa’s leading Private Equity Firm SME Manager/African Capital Alliance, joined the Investor Relations Department of the UBA Group in 2008 before her deployment to Transcorp as Director of Resources in January 2010.

In addition, she served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria-based agricultural company, Teragro Commodities Limited, the agribusiness subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp Plc). She was appointed to the position in 2014 and later named on Ventures Africa’s 10 Most Influential Nigerian CEOs.

Furthermore, it is worth noting too that as CEO of Teragro Commodities too, Olusola was responsible for the acquisition of two farmlands measuring 10,000 hectares in Benue State for citrus farming and spearheaded a partnership with Coca Cola to produce Five Alive Pulpy Orange Juice making Teragro the sole local material source for the juice.

She returned to the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc as the Group Head Embassies, Multilaterals, and Development Organizations (EMDOs) and Global Investors Services (GIS) before her elevation in 2018 as Group Head, Marketing for United Bank for Africa Plc.

Discharging her role creditably, she was responsible for the development and delivery of the integrated strategy for all UBA Group Bank and non-bank subsidiaries.

Her numerous recognitions include having been listed in the Leading Ladies Africa/YNaija’s “100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria” List for her passion in Women Affairs and Empowerment, Economic Development of under-developed countries and financial inclusion.

Again, in 2021, she was listed as one of the top four women in Africa in the Strategic Women in Leadership Award (SAWIL) while in 2022, she emerged as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Africa Hospitality by the International Hospitality Institute.

She is also an active member of the Advisory Board of the Africa Hospitality Investment Forum (AHIF) – the continent’s leading hospitality investment conference that connects business leaders from the international and local markets. Dupe is happily married to life coach, Lanre Olusola and they have two children.

Though the second woman to lead the Transcorp Hotels Plc, the CEO has become an acclaimed role model to young African entrepreneurs who are determined to excel in their chosen endeavours as well as build a corporate culture of excellence, create organizational capacity and lead employees of the hotels to greater heights to the satisfaction of customers and shareholders.