Our Story
Green Africa is a value airline based in Lagos, Nigeria. We are a new carrier that offers safe, reliable and affordable air travel to a much broader group of customers. This positions us as a significant contributor to the economic development of Nigeria and the African continent.
How It Started
Growing up in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Babawande Afolabi was always fascinated by transportation. The journey to where we are today started in 2011/2012 when Babawande was an Investment Banker at Morgan Stanley where he had an exposure to the transportation sector. This experience further galvanized his interest in the space, which led to the idea of exploring a Pan African value carrier based in Nigeria. He wanted everyone, including his teachers at Ambassadors College, Ile-Ife, to be able to hop on a plane at an affordable fare and chase their dreams. In view of this idea, he dedicated his time as an MBA at Stanford GSB to learning more about the airline industry and took up a Summer Associate role at American Airlines in Dallas, TX.
Taking Actions
During his time at Stanford, he had the opportunity to spend time with some of his professors in the industry including, Prof. George Parker, former Board Member, United Airlines, Prof. Joel Peterson, Former Chairman, JetBlue Airways and an alumnus, William Shaw, Founder and Former CEO of Viva Columbia. As an associate at American Airlines, he was introduced to Thomas Horton, Former Chairman & CEO and Virasb Vahidi, Former CCO of American Airlines Group. All of these senior industry leaders supported Babawande in bringing his vision to life with William Shaw, Thomas Horton, and Virasb Vahidi later becoming early investors and founding members of the Board of Directors.
December 2013, Babawande sent a cold email to Oby Ezekwesili, former World Bank Vice President for Africa. Surprisingly, she responded and became the first senior leader in Nigeria to believe and throw her weight behind the vision of a new value airline in the country. During the same period, he came up with the name for the airline – Green Africa Airways while celebrating the holiday with his family in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.