Today, Dr. James Orleans – Lindsay ranks among Ghana’s most cherished business leaders, employing hundreds, and engineered corporate accomplishments across construction, advertising, security, supplies, consultancy et cetera.He’s CEO of a dozen companies —most prominently, JL Properties, which is responsible for transforming the one time Achimota dumpsite/ quarry into easily the cleanest estate in the country.

Hailing from Cape Coast, Orleans – Lindsay traces his ancestry to an illustrious family tree of firsts; including Birempong Cudjo, credited with first bringing settlers to a town called Sew Do —where he is said to have tricked European merchants into believing that slaves he was supposed to have brought them had all perished by erecting faux graves at the area (which loosely translates from Fante as “small hill”) to corroborate his alibi. Cudjo’s son is the great Philip Quarcoe (1741 – 1816) —among the first Fante boys to be taken to England for training as missionaries, the first from the Gold Coast to receive formal education, the first to be ordained minister by the Anglican church, and the first to establish a school in the Gold Coast.

Orleans – Lindsay is alumnus of Madonna School (Koforidua), St. Peter’s Secondary School (Nkwatia), St Augustine’s College (Cape Coast), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Master Of Science (MSc) in Construction Management; 2000 (University Of Salford), Doctor of Philosophy in Construction Management; 2004 (University Of Hertfordshire) and Certification Program in Real Estates Finance (The London School of Economics and Political Science – LSE; 2022.

For him, majority of the schools he attended growing up, not only catered to his intellectual capabilities, but also molded him into a green thumb by the sheer beauty of the landscapes they were set in. This peculiar affection for the environment, expresses itself now —in the estates he develops— as it did for him in his university days, when he cultivated vegetable gardens.

He could have been a medical doctor. Indeed, he studied the subject for a bit —mainly to honor his grandfather, who was a doctor, and owned a hospital in Kumasi. The expectation at the time — a peculiarly Ghanaian one at that —was to see him enter a prestigious vocation, and ensure that he had a job for life, as the doors hospital were always open to him to practice in. The fact that he excelled in the Sciences became an even bigger catalyst for him being pressured to read Medicine. But he would quickly learn, that having interest overrides being good, and that doing things for fulfilment, is always the best way—and it’s what he’s done for the past twenty years. Several times, he’s been advised to try this or try that, but he has kept his focus, and will not be moved. “My interest is here!”

The passion has paid off —JL Properties are now “The City’s Favorite Developer,”A well-travelled man who has had stints at High Speed Production Wandswort (London), IBM (UK), J.O.L Limited, and Netlynk Kea Systems, his extensive experience has ensured that he has engaged with wealth —the dogma and the reality.

His portfolio is rich. Aside being Executive Chairman of JL Holdings, Orleans – Lindsay is president of Ghana Association of Young Entrepreneurs, Contributor for Top African Managing Directors selected for the best practice by the United Nations Ref., member of the Ghana France Chamber of Commerce, the Ghana-UK Chamber of Commerce, Commonwealth Business Council, and was personally invited by former Mozambican president, Joaquin Alberto Chissano to the country’s Investment Conference. A CAF Coaching certificate ‘A’ holder, Orleans – Lindsay is a one-time board member of Accra Hearts of Oak.

He holds that entrepreneurship is the key to bringing financial freedom to this country — not government employment, and adamant that everybody who has been entrusted with some wealth, owes it back to the society; a key reason for his fervent activity in philanthropic ventures across football, women, children, among others.

Dr. James Orleans – Lindsay is clear on what his legacy will be. Beyond sharing his wealth equally with charity, and cementing his name further in estate development, he intends to mentor 100, 000 burgeoning entrepreneurs.