Nairobi, Feb. 12 -- To love someone is to want to please them - even when you struggle to do it. For many CEOs, conditioned to think in terms of optimisation, targets and deliverables, Valentine's Day might seem almost antithetical to their wiring. The annual furore can feel like a disruption to carefully laid plans. Yet love, unlike business, resists optimisation.

BDLife reached out to a few chief executives to pry, gently, into their private lives. How are they spending Valentine's Day? Has their definition of love evolved over the years? And if their spouses were to buy them a gift that truly reflects who they are, what would it be?

Each, in his own way, has made plans, because this day matters.

Anthony Mutisya, the executive direct...