Christian Ngan

Christian Ngan (born 23 December 1983) is a Cameroonian businessman, entrepreneur, music producer, songwriter and author. He is best known as the founder of Adlyn Holdings and Madlyn Cazalis Group,   a cameroonian conglomerate concentrating on designs, manufactures, agribusiness, Finance, Services, Entertainment, and transports natural beauty products that operates mainly in Central and West Africa.

In 2014 and 2015, Ngan was listed in Forbes magazine's "30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa".

Early life and education
Christian Ngan, was born in Douala, Cameroon on 23 December 1983 into a middle-class Christian Cameroonian family, and spent his childhood in Yaoundé.In 2002, after his baccalauréat, he went to study in France. He studied economics at Panthéon-Assas University, then received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, a master's degree in management, and a master's degree in International Affairs from Pantheon-Sorbonne University. In 2010, he received a master's degree in Financial Engineering from EMLYON Business School in Lyon. In 2017, he attended the Global Strategic Leadership Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Agribusiness Program at the Harvard Business School in 2018.

Career
Ngan worked as an Associate at Findercod, an Investment Banking firm in Paris where he dedicated himself to the long-term financing and Private Equity areas. In 2010, he worked within the Corporate Finance division of Quilvest Group, a Family Office and Private Equity fund held by the Bemberg family, with $7 billion assets under management. Ngan worked on mergers, acquisitions, and fundraising assignments across various sectors, including Cleantech, Technology, Media, Telecom, Financial Services, and Luxury. He previously worked at Société Générale Credit and Investment Banking in Paris as a Leveraged Buy-Out Analyst and spent several months at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance in Cameroon as an Economic Research Assistant.

In July 2012, aged 28, Ngan returned to Cameroon to start his own cosmetic company, Madlyn Cazalis, Ngan founded Madlyn Cazalis with the aim of preventing young Africans from using skin-whitening products by promoting the use of natural alternatives.

Ngan is an international guest speaker who promotes African entrepreneurship, On 23 February 2013, he took part in TEDxAkwa in Douala, which was the first TED (Conference) in French-speaking Africa.

On 25 April 2014, Ngan was invited to Libreville by Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon He participated in workshops with government members and private sector leaders, discussing social and economic issues and finding solutions to encourage entrepreneurship among young Africans.

On June 23, 2014, he spoke at the 3rd Islamic Development Bank Youth Forum, held during the Islamic Development Bank's 40th Anniversary event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He addressed the theme "Youth Entrepreneurship: From Job Seekers to Job Creators."

In September 2014, Madlyn Cazalis founder won "The Get in the Ring – Investment Battle" Competition in Cameroon and was listed as one of "The 10 Most Promising Startups of Africa" by BiD Network and the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. The African Final was held in Kigali (Rwanda) and hosted by BiD Network. In October 2014, Ngan was elected Member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Lyon (France).

In October 2014, Ngan was a temporary lecturer for ISCOM a leading French communication school in Paris where he taught a Business Model class. He was also a temporary lecturer for the Paris School of Business (previously known as ESG School of Management) where he taught Management Science class. that same month on October 2014, he was elected to a three-year term on the Youth Advisory Board of Brand Africa in South Africa. The Youth Advisory Board comprises influential youth of African heritage involved in public, private, or civil society initiatives aimed at accelerating Africa's socio-economic development. He prepared the Africa Youth Prize for Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation under the High Patronage of the African Union Commission.

On 8 November 2014, he was a speaker at the 2nd edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Marrakech (Morocco).

In January 2015, Ngan was one of the 9 young African entrepreneurs selected by ALN Ventures, an African Leadership Network accelerator, created by Fred Swaniker and Acha Leke. Madlyn Cazalis was selected as one of the 8 Most Promising Young companies in Africa, among 277 African start-ups to participate in a 9-month program held in Johannesburg (South Africa). In June 2015, ALN Foundation purchased a 5% equity stake in Goldsky Partners SARL, the parent company of Madlyn Cazalis at a half-million dollars valuation.

In February 2016, Christian Ngan was a speaker at the 4th Forum International Afrique Développement in Casablanca, Morocco.

On 27 and 28 August 2016, he was invited by United Nations University to the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) in Nairobi, Kenya, where he met Akinwumi Adesina, Group President of the African Development Bank. In October 2018, the university invited Ngan to Tokyo, Japan, to initiate dialogue between young African entrepreneurs and African researchers promoting sustainable industrial development.

In 2018, Madlyn Cazalis invested $3 million in the construction of a new factory in Yaoundé.

On December 23, 2023, on his 40th birthday, he published the book "40 Principes de l'entrepreneur en Afrique." In this biography, he shares his journey and experience, along with various business principles for operating in Africa.

Music
In 2023 Christian Ngan released his two first albums Like Shuga et Séquoia.

Honors and awards
In 2014 and 2015, Ngan was listed in Forbes magazine's "30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa".

He was twice listed in The Choiseul 100 Africa: Economic Leaders for Tomorrow, listed by Young People in International Affairs (YPIA) in the "Top 35 Africans under 35 in 2014", listed among the 3 Most Influential Entrepreneurs in Cameroon, one of the Top 40 African Visionaries, Top 100 African Doers and nominated for CNBC Africa's West African Young Business Leader of The Year in 2014.

On 8 September 2014, Ngan was Country Winner of Titans Building Nations Award for Best SME CEO delivered by CEO Communications. The ceremony was held in Accra (Ghana).

Institut Choiseul for International Politics and Geoeconomics, in its first edition of The Choiseul 100 Africa:Economic Leaders for Tomorrow, which was released in September 2014, listed Christian Ngan among "growing business leaders, successful entrepreneurs, investors, etc.," that "embody the dynamism and renewal of a whole continent and carry the hopes of an entire generation." The list "identifies and ranks the young African leaders of 40 years old and under, who will play a major role in the development of Africa in the near future."

In October 2015, Christian Ngan was listed among the 25 African Leaders in 2015 by Diva Magazine.

In December 2017, during the 60 years celebration of the Groupement Inter-Patronal du Cameroun, he received an "award" from André Siaka, former CEO of Brasseries du Cameroun and former president of the organization, to represent the new generation of Cameroonian Entrepreneurs.

In October 2019, he was a judge for the Anzisha Prize in South Africa. A business competition supporting entrepreneurs between 15 and 22 years old.