Louis Difo, former vice president in charge of strategic planning for David Rockefeller at the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, died on November 11, 2021 at the age of 74.
Born in Cameroon, Difo came to the United States to attend Princeton University, where he earned a degree magna cum laude in mechanical and aeronautical engineering in 1973.
Difo joined and went through the credit department. After working with Rockefeller, Difo became the regional head of Chase West Africa, based in Senegal. Below is a photo of Difo walking with David Rockefeller and Fierce, to the island of Goree where slaves were incarcerated.
According to an article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Seattle Times from January 1, 1990, Difo was then living in a bomb shelter south of Livingston, Montana, and gathering with about 1,000 members of the Church Universal and Triumphant in the group's commune on the edge of Yellowstone National Park "for what they say could be the world's last New Year's."
"[Difo} says that along with thousands of fellow followers of Guru Ma, he is convinced the Earth is about to enter a decade of looming nuclear war, earthquake, famine, pestilence and economic collapse. That foreboding, said Difo and other devotees of the matronly mystic, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, sometimes called Guru Ma, grows worse each hour as turbulent events sweep through Eastern Europe, China and Central America," the article reported.
Joel Epstein got to know Difo in the mid 1980s, when they both worked for Chase Personal Financial Services (PFS) – Difo as chief strategist.
They were last in touch in 2010, when Difo sent him a resume. At the time, Difo was Managing Director and CEO of AFRA Capital LLC, a U.S.-based Strategy Advisory and Finance firm focused domestically on Real Estate Finance and internationally on Trade, Natural Resources and Commodities, Strategy Advisory and Finance, with focus on Africa. At some point, Difo was knighted with Highest Civilian Honor by the Presidents of Senegal and Guinea, for innovation in banking and his contribution to the economic development of their countries.
Epstein reached out to invite Difo to a PFS reunion that was held in 2018. "Louis did not attend the reunion but I received an email from him a few months later with an update on his activities. He wrote that he was living in South Africa and was involved with building a platform for Montessori schools. The platform was called Lanto Montessori International Schools Trust and at that time had 150 students with plans to expand to 300 the following year. Louis did not explain his specific role in this effort nor when he relocated to South Africa."
Anyone who has more information about Difo's post-Chase caraeer or survivors should contact
news@chasealum.org.
