Jobs/Appointments
Three New Directors Join UAC of Nigeria Board
By Dipo Olowookere
Three new directors have been appointed into the board of directors of UAC of Nigeria Plc. The new appointees are Mr Folasope Babasola Aiyesimoju and Mrs Olufunke Ighodaro, who are Non-Executive Directors; and Mr Peter Benedikt Mombaur, who will serve as alternate Director to the new Directors.
A statement issued by the firm disclosed that the three directors are expected to bring into the board their wealth of experience.
A brief profile of the appointees shows that Mr Aiyesimoju is a finance professional with experience spanning corporate finance, principal investing and private equity.
Over the course of his career, he has lived and worked in Sub-Saharan Africa’s most important economies gaining experience of the operating landscape in the region.
He holds a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Estate Management from the University of Lagos, where he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Real estate development and finance, and earned the right to use the CFA designation in 2006.
Mr Aiyesimoju is the founder of Themis Capital Management, an investment firm focused on concentrating capital and talent on high-potential opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior to founding Themis, he worked with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a leading global investment firm with $168 billion in assets under management.
His experience also includes working with the Standard Bank Group, where he led mergers and acquisitions in Nigeria.
Mr Aiyesimoju spent the early part of his career with Ocean and Oil Holdings Limited, a principal investment firm in Nigeria and ARM Investment Managers, one of Nigeria’s leading investment advisory and wealth management firms. He co-founded Foodpro Limited, a nutritional snacks business focused on edible nuts, where he currently serves as a non-executive director.
On her part, Mrs Ighodaro is a commercially astute and experienced business leader with considerable experience in executive, as well as, non-executive leadership positions with some of Africa’s most successful companies.
She holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Operational Research from Salford University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She is an independent non-executive director and audit committee member at Datatec Limited, an international information and communications technology business with a market capitalization of $500 million and independent non-executive director and audit committee chair at Transaction Capital Limited, a $900m business, which operates in highly specialised and under- served segments of the South African and Australian financial services markets.
She also serves as an independent non-executive director for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Members’ Advisory Board for Africa. She was recently appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission and a syndicate of 13 lenders to the Interim Board of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited where she serves as Executive Director & Chief financial officer focused on stabilizing the business ahead of a third-party sale. Her prior work experience includes serving as CFO at Tiger Brands Limited, Africa’s leading food producer with more than $2.5 billion in sales and operations across Africa and Latin America.
Prior to Tiger Brands, she was CFO at Primedia Limited and Executive Director at Kagiso Trust Investments. Funke spent the early part of her career working with the Standard Bank Group in Johannesburg and PricewaterhouseCoopers in London.
For Mr Mombaur, he is an investor and entrepreneur with professional experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe and North America. He has lived and worked in Nigeria for seven years and overseen investments for over a decade.
He holds University degrees in Mechanical Engineering (specialising in Energy and Automation), as well as Law and Economics. His work experience spans fast moving consumer goods, telecommunications, financial services and education. He is the co-founder of Themis Capital Management, an investment firm focused on concentrating capital and talent on high-potential opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He is also chief executive officer and cofounder of Terra Education, a leading travel company based in San Diego, USA.
Prior to assuming an executive role at Terra Education, Peter was co-managing director at Tana Africa, an investment company with an open-ended investment horizon backed by the Oppenheimer family and Temasek.
His experience includes close to a decade as a management consultant with Mckinsey & Company, as well as, an independent consultant. Peter started his career with RWE Group, one of Germany’s largest utility companies. He is co-founder of the African Leadership Academy, an institution based in Johannesburg, South-Africa and focused on developing Africa’s future leaders.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Limited, Mr Fola Adeola, has been appointed by President Bola Tinubu as chairman of the newly formed Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation task force.
The team has Mofoluwasho Fadayomi as secretary, while the members are Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye and Seyi Bella.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Friday disclosed that the task force would be responsible for the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
The initiative, the statement said, reflects the President’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s petroleum industry into a more competitive, transparent, and value-maximising sector capable of driving long-term economic growth, macroeconomic resilience, and industrial development.
It will operate as a technical reform body rather than a representative committee, engaging industry operators, regulators, investors, and civil society as consultees while focusing on actionable policy design and implementation strategies.
The task force will report directly to Mr Tinubu and provide monthly progress memoranda. An interim report will be submitted after three months, while the final outputs are expected within six months of inauguration, and he expects the team to deliver three major reform blueprints.
One of the deliverables is the Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes – including draft legislative amendments, executive instruments, and institutional restructuring proposals.
The second deliverable is the Capital & Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, aimed at unlocking $5–10 billion in sectoral liquidity while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.
The third blueprint will focus on the National Energy Transformation Strategy – a ten-year roadmap with measurable targets for production, foreign exchange earnings, GDP contribution, and cost competitiveness.
As constituted, the taskforce is a time-bound, high-level executive working group tasked with producing execution-ready reform blueprints that will consolidate ongoing reforms, unlock capital within the petroleum sector, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a leading global energy investment destination. It will automatically dissolve upon submission and acceptance of its final report.
President Tinubu has directed all Ministries, Departments, Agencies, regulators, and relevant institutions to provide full technical support to the Taskforce and to submit inventories of ongoing initiatives to ensure alignment with the emerging reform framework.
In furtherance of this directive, he has also directed all existing committees, teams, and working groups established under various reform initiatives within the sector to align their activities, reporting structures, and work programmes with the new taskforce.
The streamlining will ensure coordination, avoid duplication of mandates, and provide institutional clarity, thereby ensuring coherence in the petroleum sector reform architecture.
Mr Tinubu has also directed that all relevant documentation, institutional knowledge, and ongoing workstreams should be made available to the task force to support the development and implementation of its comprehensive reform framework.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The appointment of Mr Wilson Agu to the board of Wema Bank Plc as an independent non-executive director has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement signed by the company secretary, Mr Johnson Lebile, it was disclosed that the appointment became effective on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
The board welcomed Mr Agu into its fold, noting that it “looks forward to the valuable contributions his extensive experience in engineering, technology, and project development will bring to the bank.”
The new board member is a distinguished polymath and serial entrepreneur with over 35 years of professional experience spanning engineering consultancy, information technology, cybersecurity, and business development.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil/Structural Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1990. His engineering career includes notable leadership roles, particularly as Partner and Resident Engineer at Project Development Consortium (PDC) between 1993 and 2007, where he managed major projects, including the structural design for Orient Bank and the National Maritime Resource Centre.
In 2000, he founded I-Sixty Nigeria Limited, a diversified enterprise that has delivered several landmark projects, including the NIMASA Maritime Museum, the Nigerian Navy Dockyard Museum, and the beautification of eleven renovated airports across Nigeria.
Mr Agu has also contributed significantly to Nigeria’s technology governance ecosystem, especially during his service on the Governing Board of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) from 2013 to 2015, where he chaired the Committee on Standards, Guidelines and Regulations and supported the implementation of the National IT Policy and COBIT 5 framework.
He later collaborated with Precise Financial Systems (2018–2020) on banking automation solutions. He currently leads Eagle Industrial and Energy Limited, focused on industrial parks and free trade zone infrastructure, including the Enugu Tech Market project.
In recognition of his contributions to corporate and public administration, he was awarded a Professional Fellowship Doctorate (PFD) by the Institute of Corporate and Public Administration of Nigeria in 2021. He is also a member of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON).
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the most reputable rating agencies in Africa, GCR Ratings, has appointed Mr Saul Sassoon as its interim group chief executive.
In a statement on Friday, it was disclosed that Mr Sassoon will be in charge of the organisation after the exit of Mr Marc Joffe at the end of this month.
Mr Joffe is stepping down from the role after 25 years with the company, having joined GCR in 2001.
Over the past two decades, he has overseen the firm’s transformation into Africa’s leading credit rating agency, recognised for its deep market expertise and commitment to strengthening financial markets across the continent.
His tenure included landmark achievements such as the sale of GCR to Moody’s Corporation, positioning the company for sustainable long-term growth across Africa.
“Leading GCR Ratings has been a privilege. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a truly pan-African rating agency.
“I step down with profound gratitude, respect, and lasting appreciation for the trust, support, and collaboration of colleagues and stakeholders throughout this journey, and am confident in GCR’s future,” he stated.
The board thanked him for his exceptional leadership and vision, noting his role in building GCR’s reputation as the undisputed leader in African credit ratings.
It also welcomed the interim CEO into his new role, expressing confidence in his ability to guide the organisation through this transition period.
Mr Sassoon, who before his appointment served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the organisation, is expected to drive GCR’s growth, extensive capital markets expertise, and deep relationships with its customers and investors during this transition period.
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