Jobs/Appointments
Ecobank Nigeria Picks Babajide Sipe to Head Marketing, Corporate Communications
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An experienced marketing and brand manager, Mr Babajide Sipe, has been chosen to head the Marketing and Corporate Communications department of Ecobank Nigeria Limited.
This department of the financial institution has the responsibility of connecting customers to greater value in banking and ensuring that the innovative products are effectively articulated to the public.
The Marketing and Corporate Communications department, under the leadership of Mr Sipe, has a huge task to position the bank for the future as its goal is to remain the go-to bank for pan-African trade facilitation and payments.
This would mean leveraging the full value of its unrivalled pan-African footprint covering 33 African countries to create greater market access and financing opportunities.
Ecobank Nigeria, under the leadership of Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, has been bolstering its digital capabilities and human capital with the goal of delivering optimum value for clients and shareholders across several value chains.
The pan-African financial institution is making good on its mission to empower Nigerians with all the tools to take control and make the most of their finances, with the recent revamp of its full-stack mobile banking solutions, *326#, Ecobank Mobile app, OmniLite, Omni Plus, EcobankPay and NQR.
Mr Akinwuntan, who is both the Managing Director and Regional Executive for Ecobank Nigeria, has strongly positioned the lender as a key stakeholder and supporter in the growth of the real sector of the Nigerian economy.
Recently, Ecobank announced that it would be empowering MSMEs with N100 billion, a special fund set aside for business growth and to reduce unemployment in Nigeria; and also the Ecobank Female Entrepreneurship Initiative (EFEI) targeted at boosting female entrepreneurship, amongst others.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, has been appointed as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Gbajabiamila won his re-election into the lower chamber of the National Assembly on February 25, 2023, but with this appointment, he will have to lose his seat in the parliament to coordinate the activities of his new boss.
Also, Mr Tinubu has picked the former Governor of Benue State, Mr George Akume, as the new Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF).
He is take over from the former occupier of the position, Mr Boss Mustapha, who served under the administration of the immediate past President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari.
Similarly, the former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, Mr Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, has been chosen by Mr Tinubu as his Deputy Chief of Staff.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Mr Roshan Dharia has been appointed as the interim chief executive of Paxful, a leading global peer-to-peer Bitcoin platform.
In a statement issued by the company’s press team, it was disclosed that the appointment of Mr Dharia became effective on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
Recall that Paxful returned to business some weeks ago after it shut down its operations due to internal issues.
Mr Dharia would be expected to reposition the firm “with the objectives of strengthening operations and exploring strategic alternatives.”
He was most recently a senior executive at TrustToken (now known as Archblock) where he led the DeFi institutional lending business, successfully deploying over $1.5 billion in stablecoin loans to crypto-native companies.
Prior to TrustToken, Roshan founded and built the investment platform PTHL Affiliates, which specialized in the acquisition and turnaround of distressed private companies across multiple industries.
As a seasoned executive, he has held various positions as an investor and investment banker with transactional experience totalling over $30 billion across mergers and acquisitions, financial restructurings, and financings.
The interim CEO, who is highly adept in navigating special situations with complex risk profiles and significant intrinsic value, said he was greatly honoured “to become CEO of Paxful.”
“Over the last eight years, Paxful has been a pioneer in establishing the real use cases of Bitcoin and helping millions of people in the process.
“I look forward to hitting the ground running and building on the innovative technology developed by the Paxful team,” he added.
The Custodian of Paxful, Srinivas Raju, while commenting on the appointment, said, “I’m delighted that Roshan has joined Paxful and will take over day-to-day management of the company. I’m confident under his leadership; the business will keep building a financial system that truly serves the 100 per cent.”
Since its inception in 2015, Paxful has grown to a community of over 12 million users around the world, with billions of dollars traded on the platform over the last eight years.
By Dipo Olowookere
An Executive Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mrs Abidemi Ademola, has resigned from the board of the conglomerate.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, it was disclosed that she would officially exit the board of the organisation on May 31, 2023.
In the statement signed by the Senior Legal Counsel and Company Secretary of Unilever Nigeria, Mrs Afolasade Olowe, the board thanked Mrs Ademola for her service to the firm, wishing her well in her future endeavours.
“This is to notify Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public that the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria Plc has considered and approved the resignation of Mrs Abidemi Ademola as an Executive Director with effect from May 31, 2023.
The Board of Directors wishes Mrs Ademola all the very best in her future career and would like to express their sincere gratitude to her for the many valuable contributions and legal expertise she brought to the company over a distinguished 27-year career at Unilever.
“Mrs Ademola’s replacement on the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria will be announced in due course,” the disclosure said.
