CEO Lazarus Angbazo quits General Electric

Lazarus Angbazo has resigned his position as president and CEO of General Electric Nigeria, a position he has held since 2012, BusinessDay has learnt from an insider source.

The widely admired CEO’s decision to quit General Electric comes as a rude shock to many players in the power sector, especially given General Electric’s aggressive expansion into some major sectors of the economy under Angbazo’s leadership.

BusinessDay could not get an official comment from General Electric on the matter. However, a staff of the company who simply identified himself as Lucky said he could neither deny nor affirm that Angbazo has resigned. He suggested that our correspondent call back tomorrow (today) or reach out to Angbazo’s personal assistant.

Angbazo joined General Electric in 2004 and held several leadership positions within the GE Capital business in the US.

Under his leadership as president and CEO of GE’s business operations in Nigeria, Angbazo doubled General Electric’s revenues in Nigeria to exceed $1 billion annually, tripled employment to 600 employees with over 80 percent Nigerians, kicked off GE’s $1 billion direct investment in Nigeria anchored by a multi-modal manufacturing and service hub for Africa in Calabar, and also created a landmark Country-to-Company Development Partnership Agreement with Nigeria.

On the rail front, GE under the management of Lazarus Angbazo supplied the Nigeria Railway Corporation with 25 locomotives. The company continues to research other ways to support the Federal Government in its revitalisation of the rail industry.

In the aviation sector, General Electric is working with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Aviation in the areas of private sector-led investments in aviation infrastructure development including airport upgrading and facilities development.
Angbazo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics (First Class), a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in Corporate Finance from New York University.

Between 1992 and 1997, he was assistant professor of Finance at Purdue University, and also served as research director at Fannie Mae in 1996.

From 1997 to 2004, he worked for JP Morgan Chase, New York, where he held senior positions in corporate mergers & acquisitions, strategic planning, and credit portfolio management.