John Ajene
John Ajene: Adding Value To Living
John Ajene, chairman/chief executive officer of Chartered Aluminium Systems Limited, CASL, is an accomplished accountant and industrialist. He qualified as a chartered accountant in England and obtained a degree from Harvard Business School, USA, in 1987. After his tutelage in public accounting in UK, he worked for the national Westminster Bank, UK, before proceeding to the United States of America where he worked as a senior financial analyst for Polaroid Corporation Inc.
On his return to Nigeria in 1974, he worked for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as head of budget and financial management before joining Peat, Marwick, Michell and Company as a senior management consultant in 1975. In 1977, he joined the First Aluminum Group (then Alcan Aluminium Group) as the group financial controller, and the following year was promoted to the position of group financial director. In 1987, he was again promoted to became the first Nigerian general manager/executive director of First Aluminium Products Plc.
He knows the terrain very well having spent 17 years with first aluminium where he gained considerable experience in all the facets of management in the aluminium industry. During his tenure as general manager/executive director, First Aluminium Products Plc was transformed into a leader in the aluminium building products industry in Nigeria until he left in April 1994 to set up Chartered Aluminium System. A very impatient man, Ajene loves to move ahead, doing one thing at a time and doing it well.
During the first year of its operation, Chartered Aluminium made profit. In the second year, it paid back over $800,000 loan borrowed from World Bank to established the company . In third year, it paid dividend to shareholders. The company has been growing from strength to strength with the establishment of many factories.
CASL has become a dominant force in the aluminium industry within the first five years of its operation. Ajene says youths should make sacrifices now to get the benefit in the future, spend time to gain experience and avoid being in a hurry to arrive. A member of Ikoyi Club, Ajene plays golf and listens to music.
Newswatch June 29, 1998
" Newswatch 1998