Chams founder Demola Aladekomo retires from board after 40 years

Chams Holding Company Plc has announced the retirement of its founder, Sir (Dr.) Demola Aladekomo, from the Board of Directors, effective July 9, 2026. This closes a chapter that spans forty years and shaped much of Nigeria’s modern identity management and digital payments infrastructure.

Aladekomo founded Chams with a goal that was unusual for its time: building world-class, indigenous technology solutions for Nigeria and Africa rather than relying solely on imported systems. He served as Group Managing Director for thirty years before moving to the board, where he provided strategic leadership for another decade, including a stint as Chairman.

Under his leadership, Chams grew from a single business into a diversified technology group spanning identity management, payment infrastructure, card manufacturing, pension remittance services, and digital innovation.

Several subsidiaries emerged from that growth, including ChamsAccess, CardCentre Nigeria Limited, ChamsSwitch, and ChamsMobile. Perhaps the most significant of his contributions was Chams’ role in implementing the Bank Verification Number system, which has since become a foundational pillar of Nigeria’s banking sector and broader financial inclusion efforts.

Following his exit from day-to-day executive management, Aladekomo remained on the board to guide the company through a period of transformation, helping strengthen its position on the Nigerian Exchange and shape its longer-term growth strategy.

Mayowa Olaniyan, Group Managing Director and CEO of Chams Holding Company Plc, credited Aladekomo’s foundational role directly. “Sir Demola’s vision, courage, and unwavering belief in indigenous technology laid the foundation for everything Chams has become today,” he said. “For thirty years, he led the Company with distinction, and for the last decade, he continued to guide us with wisdom and foresight as a Board member and Chairman.”

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The transition has been structured as a planned succession rather than an abrupt exit. Segun Oloketuyi will take over as Board Chairman, ensuring continuity in governance as Chams moves into its next phase.

Chams enters a new chapter after Aladekomo’s retirement

Aladekomo’s retirement lands at a particularly active moment in the company’s corporate story. In 2025, the company raised over ₦7.5 billion from Nigerian investors through a combination of a Rights Issue and a Private Placement, nearly doubling its equity base and marking its largest capital raise since listing on the exchange in 2008.

The company’s underlying financial performance has shown both strength and strain. Group revenue grew 19% to ₦17.65 billion in 2025, but gross margins fell sharply from 29% to 21% as costs grew faster than income. Profit before tax actually declined despite the revenue growth, and finance costs more than doubled to ₦896 million as the company took on more debt to fund its expansion.

There are signs the underlying business has been correcting itself more recently. In the first quarter of 2026, Chams posted a profit after tax of ₦429.4 million on revenue of ₦4.2 billion, a sharp improvement from ₦148.9 million in profit during the same period the previous year. Gross profit rose 71% as cost discipline improved, even though revenue growth itself was a more modest 8.5%.

Much of Chams’ revenue still comes from card manufacturing and biometric hardware, project-based, cyclical income streams, while the company’s more sustainable fintech-facing services, such as payment gateway fees, BVN maintenance, and pension verification tools, remain comparatively small contributors to the overall picture.

As Chams moves forward under new board leadership, the company says it remains committed to the principles of innovation and indigenous technology development that defined Aladekomo’s four decades at its helm, a legacy that, regardless of how the balance sheet evolves from here, is already embedded in the financial infrastructure that millions of Nigerians interact with every day.