Citi Group Picks Dawodu as Head of Sub-Sahara Africa Unit

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A respected Nigerian banker and financial analyst, Mr Akin Dawodu, has been appointed as the new Cluster Head for Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) of Citi Group, an American investment corporation.

A statement issued by the company disclosed that the appointment of Mr Dawodu, who joined Citibank Nigeria Limited in 2000 as an FX dealer and later became the Country Treasurer, was with immediate effect.

In his new role, he will report to Atiq Rehman, EMEA Emerging Markets Cluster Head.

He will assume overall responsibility for driving Citi’s business in the 11 presence and 21 non-presence countries in the SSA cluster and will continue to serve as the CEO for Nigeria until an approved successor is appointed.

Commenting on the appointment, the company said in the statement that, “We have high expectations for harnessing the potential of our significant product, functional and geographic capabilities in SSA and beyond, and assisting our clients to take advantage of the clear opportunities in the region.”

In 2015, Mr Dawodu was announced as the CEO of Citi in Nigeria, with his role further expanded in January 2019 when he became the Cluster Head for West and Central Africa. SSA is one of the three sub-clusters in the newly formed EMEA Emerging Markets Cluster, led by Mr Rehman.

Mr Dawodu, who once held the position of Chief Operating Officer and Public Sector Head for Nigeria at Citi, holds a Master of Business Administration from Manchester Business School. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.