NBCC inaugurated Ray Atelly as 18th President.

Chinwe Ifezulike-Odita.

The foremost bilateral Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria Nigeran-British Chamber of Commerce NBCC last night at the Eko Hotels , Victoria Island Lagos, inaugurated it’s 18th President in the person of Ray Chinedum Atelly.

The main hall of the large hotel was thronged by business leaders, policy makers, captains of industry and economic think tanks, who all converged to witness the inauguration.

The event is a biennial one held by NBCC to promote Nigerian -British bilateral business and trade relations and galvanise investments between the two countries with a long bilateral business relationship.

NBCC was established in 1977 and since then, has been at the forefront of promoting trade and investment between Nigeria and Britain. The chamber is affiliated to the British Chamber of Commerce BCC and this has given it access to a network of 53 chambers of commerce across the UK and 71 other international affiliations.

NBCC has a total net worth of about N200 trn and creates value for it’s members .

It  has a very strong membership from all sectors of the economy and is developing a network of local branches in other parts of the country and has a presence in the UK.

The new inaugurated president Ray Chinedum Atelly is the first Igbo man to head the chamber which has had 17 presidents of Yoruba extraction, two of which were women.

Ray is an advertising practitioner and a management consultant who holds  B.sc and M.Sc degrees in Mass Communication. He has also over the last three decades attended and facilitated numerous professional development courses locally and internationally.

He is the chairman of HT GROUP, an indigenous conglomerate of seven companies operating in diverse areas of the economy from consulting to property development and information technology.

Mr. Ray Atelly is also a writer, a nature lover and a sports enthusiast who has at various times functioned as Editor in chief/Editorial Consultant of various Business publications, including the Industrial Leaders Magazine and the NBCC Outlook, amongst others.

With over 38 years entrepreneurship experience navigating through the Nigerian economy as business, owner and an active member of the organised Private Sector, Mr. Atelly is well informed about developments within the economic space. He is also a keen observer of local and global events in Politics and Business .

He mentores and grooms the younger generation in order to help them play key roles and forge a brighter future for themselves.

Dignitaries that attended the event include Alhaji K.Ahmad, OON, who was chairman of the event. Alhaji Ahmad is also the chairman of Polaris Bank and sits on the board of MTN Nigeria. John Baxter, the British  deputy high commissioner to Nigeria also graced the event as did Tony Elumelu who was the guest speaker, though he was represented by the deputy managing director of UBA.

The event which boasted a lot of fun things including drama skits, poetry recitations, dance groups etc, was well attended and lasted well into the night.