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September 22, 2005

Ocean and Oil Holdings appoints three new senior management staff

In the drive to further strengthen its Management team and to achieve its goal of being Africa’s premier principal investment firm, Ocean and Oil Holdings has announced the appointment of Demola Gbadegesin, Banke Orimolade and ‘Tokunboh Ishmael to its senior management team with immediate effect.

Demola Gbadegesin and Banke Orimolade have been appointed Head of Corporate Development and Head of Corporate Services for the company respectively, while ‘Tokunboh Ishmael is the Head of Avante Capital Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ocean and Oil Holdings.

According to the MD/CEO of Ocean and Oil Holdings, Mr. Osaze Osifo, “we have set an aggressive expansion strategy for our family of businesses and we are identifying very talented individuals to help deliver superior shareholder returns. The new appointees have a proven track record in various capacities and we are confident of their ability to exceed expectations.”

Below are profiles of the new appointees:

DEMOLA GBADEGESIN, Head, Corporate Development.
Demola Gbadegesin was promoted to Senior Vice President and appointed Head, Corporate Development. Demola holds MBA, Msc and Bsc degrees from Harvard Business School, Stanford University and Howard University, USA, respectively. In his new role, Demola will oversee Business Development and Principal Investing, and will also be responsible for managing Ocean and Oil Holdings’ portfolio of investments in a bid to maximize synergies and enhance value.

Demola joined Ocean and Oil Holdings in 2003. He led the N3.2 billion ($24 million) fundraising for one of the largest high-brow housing estates in Lagos and was part of the team that raised N17 billion (US$130 million) for Oando Plc. He also led the strategy development for Oando Energy Services’ entry into the upstream oil services sector. Demola has held positions at Mellon Ventures, Boston Consulting Group, Hewlett Packard, and Sprint PCS and a startup aiming to build the first credit bureau in Nigeria.

Before his appointment, he was a Vice President, Corporate Development at Ocean and Oil Holdings.

TOKUNBOH ISHMAEL, CEO, Avante Capital Partners
‘Tokunboh was appointed CEO of Avante Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Ocean and Oil Holdings. Prior to joining Avante Capital Partners, ‘Tokunboh was the partner of the Nigerian office of Aureos Capital, a private equity investor focused on emerging markets.

Her previous roles include mergers and acquisition investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, Strategic Alliance Manager at AOL Time Warner in the USA & UK; and Investment Executive at Sussex Place Ventures a technology focused private equity fund in the UK.

She holds an MBA (London Business School), Msc (University of London) and BSc combined honours in Computer Science & Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. ‘Tokunboh is a CFA charter holder and member of the CFA institute.

BANKE ORIMOLADE, Head Corporate Services Unit
Banke Orimolade was appointed Senior Vice President, and Head, Corporate
Services Unit which oversees the Legal, Human Resources and Administrative
Units of the company. Banke has over ten years of legal experience.

She holds an LLB from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife a BL from the Nigerian Law School and an LLM from Kings College, University of London. Prior to joining Ocean and Oil Holdings, she worked for seven years at Asset & Resource Management Company Limited (ARM) where she had primary responsibility for providing legal support to the company's business centers.

For more information, please contact:

Tokunboh Durosaro
Head, Corporate Communications
Oando Plc
Stallion House, 2 Ajose Adeogun Street
Victoria Island, Lagos
Phone: 01 2625857
Email: tdurosaro@oandoplc.com
www.oandoplc.com