Constantine ‘Labi Ogunbiyi

Constantine ‘Labi Ogunbiyi is Chairman of Solad Power Group (Solad). He is a Nigerian-British investor, lawyer, and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in international finance, private equity, energy, and infrastructure development, with a particular focus on Africa. His career spans international legal practice, capital markets, and the development, financing, and scaling of businesses, with a consistent emphasis on creating long-term value for investors and stakeholders.

Before chairing Solad, he helped build indigenous oil and gas businesses, including as a founder of both Afren plc, one of the first Africa-focused independent energy companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, and later First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Ltd., which in 2009 led the acquisition of upstream oil assets from Shell’s Nigerian joint venture. Alongside Seplat’s contemporaneous acquisitions, this marked the first major transfer of onshore oil assets to Nigerian independents.

He holds legal qualifications from King’s College London, the University of Passau (Germany), and the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice. Ogunbiyi began his legal career in 1996 at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, specialising in international finance and banking with a focus on project finance. He later joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he served as Deputy Head of the Africa Practice, advising on cross-border financings, project finance, and capital markets transactions across the infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, and banking sectors.

He has held numerous board and strategic advisory roles across the energy, infrastructure, technology, and financial services sectors. These include serving as a director or strategic adviser to Interswitch, Newrest ASL plc, Panoro Energy ASA, San Leon Energy plc, Viathan Engineering Limited, Century Energy Group, and Petralon Energy Limited, where he has advised on acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, capital raising initiatives, and corporate restructurings. He is the founder of Phoenix Generation Limited, a family investment office focused on strategic advisory and direct investments in energy, infrastructure, and technology.

Ogunbiyi has also been active in philanthropic and educational initiatives. He helped establish the King’s Nigerian Scholars Fund at King’s College London, which provides financial support for Nigerian students pursuing an LL.M. at the Dickson Poon School of Law. He is also a supporter of the King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People, a collaboration between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.