Pascal Gabriel Dozie, founder of the defunct Diamond Bank Plc and a former chairman of MTN Nigeria, has died at 85 from an undisclosed ailment.

Dozie was born in 1939 in Egbu village, Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria. He was born into the family of Charles Dozie, a Catholic Catechist.

Dozie attended Our Lady’s School Emekuku where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC). He subsequently attended Holy Ghost Juniorate Seminary and Holy Ghost College, Owerri, where he obtained his West African Senior School Certificate Examination.

After obtaining his high school certificate, he travelled to London where he studied economics at the London School of Economics and obtained a BSc in economics. Subsequently, he attended City University in London where he studied operational research and industrial engineering and obtained a master’s degree in Administrative Science.

Pascal Dozie began his career as an economist at the National Economic Development Office in the United Kingdom. He was also a part-time lecturer at the North Western Polytechnic, London. Between 1970 and 1971 he served as a consulting economist at the African States Consulting Organisation in Uganda.

In 1971 after he left his job in Uganda, he relocated to Nigeria at the request of his mother. In 1971 after his return to Nigeria, with his experience in Econometrics and Industrial Engineering he launched his first company, the African Development Consulting Group (ADCG). ADCG had worked with companies such as Nestle and Pfizer. He was subsequently hired by Clement Isong, then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to conduct some studies on the Co-operative and Commerce Bank.