When Ayodeji Razaq assumed leadership of RED | For Africa as its first non-founding Group CEO in 2022, it marked more than a management change; it signalled a generational shift. A quiet, deliberate passing of the torch from the energy of the founders to the endurance of the institution.
For twenty years, RED has stood at the intersection of media, governance, and culture, telling Africa’s stories with conviction and courage. Its founders, Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams, transformed youthful defiance into an industry-defining movement that gave a generation the language to name itself. Two decades later, that vision, to tell, build, and transform African stories, endures under new leadership, one committed to preserving the flame while building a system to keep it alive.
Ayodeji’s story is not that of an outsider brought in to steady the ship, but of an insider shaped by its tide. His journey began over a decade ago when he volunteered during the BlackBerry University Tour, a youthful campaign that captured RED’s signature blend of creativity, culture, and audacity. That experience imprinted on him the spirit that has defined RED since its earliest days: bold ideas, human stories, and an unshakable faith in young Africans.
From that moment, Ayodeji’s path through the RED ecosystem mirrored the company’s own evolution, from impulse to intelligence, from inspiration to infrastructure. He led experiential engagements under Riquesa Africa, co-founded Duo Agency, oversaw X-Holdings, and built a reputation for fusing creativity with structure. So when the founders began to design RED’s next chapter, the question was not just who could lead, but who understood its rhythm deeply enough to reimagine it.
His appointment was both symbolic and strategic, serving as proof that succession could be a story of continuity rather than rupture. “The founders built the rhythm,” Ayodeji says. “My task is to sustain it and score new melodies for a different time.”
For him, the REDefined era is a shift from belief to blueprint, from conviction to capacity. “RED was built on faith,” he reflects. “Now, faith must translate into systems. Conviction built RED. Systems will sustain it.”
Under Ayodeji’s leadership, RED has retained its trademark dynamism while deepening its impact. His vision goes beyond growth metrics; it’s about innovation with intention, ensuring every creative leap strengthens the bridge between brands and the people they serve. In just a short time, he has revived the company’s rhythm, fortified its culture, and rallied its people around a shared sense of purpose. The result is a new chapter of stability and expansion, one that balances RED’s bold spirit with business precision.
“REDefined,” Ayodeji explains, “is about building the frameworks that make creativity sustainable, influence measurable, and purpose repeatable.”
The same energy that once propelled RED’s founders into history is now being channelled into systems that will sustain the next twenty years. Yet for all his focus on innovation and integration, Ayodeji remains clear-eyed about where RED’s true power lies.
“Technology is an amplifier,” he says. “But culture is the engine. RED’s real strength has always been its humanity, how we tell stories, build teams, and connect with communities.”
He believes empathy will define the next era of competitive advantage and is embedding it into RED’s leadership DNA. The new RED is being built on distributive leadership, a model that decentralises authority and allows creativity and decision-making to flow freely across the organisation.
“Leadership today is not possession,” he adds. “It’s stewardship. Power must circulate if institutions are to last.”
This philosophy is shaping both RED’s internal governance and its external posture. The company is transitioning from a hierarchical structure to a network, from a centralised organisation to a hub. “A house is static,” Ayodeji explains. “A hub is dynamic. The next RED must be fluid, a connected space where creativity, data, and insight move together.” Lagos will remain the company’s heart, but its reach will be continental, with hubs that allow talent to work anywhere and contribute everywhere. It is a model built for agility, collaboration, and longevity.
The transition from founders to a first non-founder CEO is rare in Africa’s creative landscape, where many institutions fade once their founders step aside. Ayodeji calls it “the second act of the same vision”, the phase where audacity learns endurance. “The founders believed stories could change nations,” he says. “Now, we are ensuring the systems behind those stories can last generations.”
Ayodeji maintains that the essence of RED will never change. “The colour RED has never been about a logo,” he says. “It has always stood for courage, conviction, and community. Those values will guide every evolution.” He sees this new chapter as an act of preservation through progress, ensuring the spirit of RED endures by allowing it to adapt.
For him, the true measure of success is not how loudly an organisation grows, but how long it lasts. “The founders built the house,” he reflects. “My task is to future-proof it. Legacy is not what you inherit; it’s what you renew.”
In that single line lies the quiet brilliance of this transition; a story of continuity without complacency, transformation without disruption.
As RED steps into its third decade, the rhythm changes, but the melody remains the same. The same courage, the same conviction, rendered through new tools, new systems, and a new leader.
In Ayodeji Razaq, RED has found not just a successor, but a translator, someone fluent in both the language of its past and the architecture of its future.
