Full Name: Fabrice Nze-Bekale
Position: CEO of Société Équatoriale des Mines (SEM), of Gabon
Main Activity of the Company: SEM is Gabon’s national mining company in charge of managing the State’s shares in mining projects and of developing alone or through joint ventures mining projects in Gabon and internationally
Date and Place of Birth: August 30, 1973, Libreville, Gabon
Education: MSc (corporate finance and financial engineering), University of Paris-Dauphine, France; MBA, London Business School, UK
First Job: Relationship manager, Citibank, Gabon
Size of First Pay Packet: $21 000 gross a year
Value of Assets under Your Control: Assets are privately held; book value of $132-million as of December 2014
Number of People under Your Leadership: 50
Management Style: Empowerment with control
Personal Best Achievement: Right now, my career is more or less where I wanted it to be at this age
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My mother
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Funmi Ogunlesi, my last CEO at Citibank, Gabon, and without whom I would have had a less global and more limited career. She is my mentor and a role model
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: It’s too late for Nelson Mandela, so now it’s Kim Kardashian
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: My former boss, telecoms billionaire Dr Mo Ibrahim, founder of Celtel
Philosophy of Life: Don’t do it if it’s not fun
Biggest Ever Opportunity: My current job. I thought it was a prank call when I got the call. My meeting with the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, definitely convinced me
Biggest Ever Disappointment: My first trading loss at the bank. In the great scheme of things, the amount was small. But it hurt
Hope for the Future: That Gabon reaches its objective to become an emerging economy, thanks to a thriving mining sector
Favourite Reading: The Mystery of the Yellow Room, by Gaston Leroux
Favourite TV Programme: Friends
Favourite Food/Drink: Vietnamese rolls
Favourite Music: Jazz
Favourite Sport: Tennis
Hobbies: Watching TV shows
Car: I drive a 4 × 4 Mitsubishi Pajero. But a Maserati or a Jaguar could also do
Pets: None
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Wasting my time
Married: Divorced
Children: Terence, 29 (I took my nephew under my wing when he was nine, so I consider him my child); Elliott, 1
Clubs: Arsenal, Olympique de Marseille and FC Barcelona