- The Hook has appointed its first Board of Directors, featuring top leaders from finance, marketing, technology, and governance to guide its expansion and strategic growth across Africa.
- The Board includes Wole Abegunde as Chair, alongside Dunke Afe-Morgan, Foyinsola Akinjayeju, Toyosi Odukoya, and Mohammed Usman Abdul-Razaq, each bringing decades of experience and global expertise.
- With subsidiaries like BAIT, Sentimita, HookEnt, and Shelf Collective, The Hook now operates as a pan-African creative-commerce platform serving major brands across six countries.
The Hook, one of Africa’s fastest-growing creative and innovation firms, today announced the appointment of its inaugural Board of Directors, marking a major milestone in its evolution from a single creative agency into a multi-subsidiary creative-commerce platform shaping the future of marketing, influence, and innovation across the continent.
The newly constituted Board brings together distinguished leaders with expertise spanning finance, marketing, technology, and governance. Collectively, they will provide strategic oversight and guide The Hook’s next phase of growth as it strengthens its structure, expands into new markets, and deepens its commitment to building Africa’s most connected ecosystem for creativity and commerce.
Wole Abegunde, who serves as Board Chair, is the former Group Chief Executive Officer at Meristem Securities Limited. A seasoned investment executive and capital-markets strategist, he brings over two decades of experience in corporate finance, governance, and investment management.
Dunke Afe-Morgan, Non-Executive Director, is a Board Member at BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust in the United Kingdom. She previously served as Global Marketing Executive at Estée Lauder, Kimberly-Clark, and Unilever, and has more than 20 years of leadership experience in brand strategy, marketing, and business transformation.
Foyinsola Akinjayeju, Non-Executive Director, is the Chief Executive Officer of EFInA. An executive leader with over 20 years of multi-industry experience spanning consulting, education, and oil and gas services, she specializes in strategy, organizational design, and new-venture development. She has cross-border experience across West Africa and Japan promoting “Into-Africa” investments and is fluent in both English and French. She is also a skilled facilitator known for driving strategic transformation and engaging boards and leadership teams for impact.
Toyosi Odukoya, Non-Executive Director, is the Senior Director for Program Operations and Planning at Mastercard Foundation. She is an experienced technology and development professional with a background in computer science and strategic operations, leading large-scale program delivery across Africa.
Mohammed Usman Abdul-Razaq, Non-Executive Director, is Senior Vice President and Head of Capital Mobilization at the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). He is an experienced economist and finance professional with extensive exposure to capital markets, investment structuring, and development finance.
Speaking on the appointments, Akinwale Muse, Chief Executive Officer of The Hook, said:
“This Board represents more than governance, it reflects our ambition to build a platform where creativity, commerce, and technology intersect. Their combined expertise will guide us as we expand across markets and continue to demonstrate that African companies can be both creative and disciplined, both imaginative and well-governed.”
Wole Abegunde, Board Chair, added:
“The Hook’s transformation into a creative-commerce platform is a defining moment in its growth journey. The Board is committed to providing the strategic oversight, governance depth, and financial discipline required to ensure the Group’s long-term success and sustainable impact across Africa’s creative economy.”
Founded in 2018 by Akinwale Muse, Adebayo Owosina, Sam Ochonma and Toheeb Dele-Balogun. The Hook has evolved into a pan African creative-commerce platform that connects creativity, data, influence, and innovation to drive business growth for clients and partners.
The Group’s ecosystem includes The Hook Creative (advertising and brand innovation), BAIT (PR, influence and reputation), Catch & Splash (experiential and activations), Aquarium (content and IP studio), Sentimita (data and insights engine), HookEnt (entertainment and talent platform), Vish (Digital Transformation), and Shelf Collective (venture studio).
With footprints across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, and Cameroon, The Hook partners with some of the continent’s most respected brands, including Moët Hennessy, Coca Cola, Malta Guinness, Smirnoff, Lush Hair, Leadway Group, Meristem, Kellogg’s, Airtel, and Fidelity Bank.
