Board of Directors

MANAGING DIRECTOR, JNC INTERNATIONAL NIGERIA LTD | BOARD CHAIR, LEAP AFRICA

Clare Omatseye, is the Founder and Managing Director of the international award-winning company, JNC International Limited (JNCI). She obtained a B.Pharm from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 1990 and an MBA from the prestigious IESE Business School, Barcelona and the Lagos Business School (LBS) in 1999.

JNCI, a company she founded 15-years ago, is a leading Turnkey Medical Equipment Solutions Company, which exclusively represents 26 Global Medical Equipment Manufacturers; like Canon Medical Systems-Japan (formerly Toshiba) for Radio-Diagnostics, Elekta-Sweden for Radiotherapy, Olympus-Japan for Minimal Invasive Surgery and Endoscopy, Getinge-Sweden for Operating Theatres and Medtronic-USA for life saving Cardiovascular Devices to name a few.

Clare (as she’s popularly known) is an avid advocate for Healthcare Reform and has used her vast 30-year experience in Public Health, Pharma, Clinical Service Provision and Medical Devices to influence strategic policy formulation, through multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration. This has been in the areas of Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP’s) for Healthcare, Sustainable Childhood Immunization, Public Procurement Reform and policies to Incentivize Private Sector Investments in Healthcare to unlock the potentials of the Nigerian Health sector and beyond.

She serves as the:

• Vice President Africa Healthcare Federation (AHF)
• President of the West Africa Private Healthcare Federation (FOASPS/WAPHF) with Headquarters in Dakar, Senegal
• Pioneer and former President of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), a non-profit advocacy group that brings all stakeholders in the Nigerian private health sector under one umbrella with the aim of influencing healthcare policy and practices in the country and public procurement reforms

She is a:

• Honorary Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS)
• Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN)
• Senior Fellow of the Nigerian Leadership Academy (SNLI)
• Fellow of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN)
• Associate Member of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN)
• Member of the Society of Quality in Healthcare in Nigeria (SQHN)
• Member, WISCAR (Women in Successful Careers);

She sits on the Board of several reputable organizations as:

• An Independent Director, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN)
• Director, Aspire Coronation Trust (ACT) Foundation (the Foundation of Access Bank Plc)
• Director, Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN)
• Director, LEAP Africa
• Chairman of the Board, Vaccipharm Limited, a cold chain Vaccines, Pharma & Medical consumables distribution company that she also founded in 1999

Clare is passionate about improving access to quality healthcare and driving Universal Health coverage (UHC) in Nigeria. She continues to offer her time to activities that leverage on innovation and building strategic Public Private Partnerships (PPP’s), attracting and increasing access to finance in healthcare, drive improved service delivery, raise healthcare standards and push the adoption of Global Best Practices and Governance.

She has a special interest in reversing the unfortunate and unnecessary death of women and children and reversing the plight of the upsurge of Cancer in West Africa via increasing the Radio-Diagnostic, Interventional and Oncology Services in the sub-region. She also enjoys engaging and mentoring the Youth, empowering them with knowledge to embrace the mantle and responsibilities of steward leadership.

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF BARRACUDA CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED

Larry E. Ettah is the Executive Chairman of Barracuda Capital Partners Limited, (an Investment firm) he founded in 2018 after his retirement as the Group Managing Director (GMD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN).

Ettah holds degrees from the University of Benin, University of Michigan, Stanford University, Harvard Business School and University of Oxford. Before his retirement, Etta chaired the Board of UAC Property Development Company Plc (UPDC), Chemical & Allied Products Plc (CAP), Portland Paints & Products Nigeria Plc, among others. Mr. Ettah currently serves on the Advisory Board of Chi Limited.

FOUNDER, BELLANAIJA

Uche Pedro is founder of BellaNaija.com, a company that develops and delivers exciting online content aimed at Nigerian and Pan-African audiences. Uche’s savvy grasp of media trends has led to BellaNaija.com becoming the go-to lifestyle, entertainment and fashion portal in Africa.

Her website has established a loyal following amongst the young, cosmopolitan, upwardly mobile set in Nigeria, with over 1 million unique visitors and 9 million page views each month.

CEO, AFRINOLLY LIMITED

Chike Maduegbuna is a consummate entrepreneur and the CEO of Afrinolly Limited: a mobile app that enables African movie enthusiasts to watch movies and music videos mobile devices. The app won Google’s Android Developers Challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa in September 2011.

Afrinolly is the first African company to build Facebook Surround 360 camera. In 2016, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Afrinolly Creative Hub to tour the facility and interface with Nollywood. Afrinolly Creative Hub caters for filmmakers, mobile technology developers, animators and other creatives. It functions as “Where Technology Meets Art”. www.afrinollyspace.com.

Chike is also the founder of FansConnectOnline (FCO) Limited: a Mobile Application, Digital Marketing and Social Media start-up. The company built one of the largest football-based social networking website in Nigeria and also developed a geo-location application that won Samsung Mobile Application Developers contest in 2010. Prior to starting FCO Limited, Chike worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers before moving onto GRID Consulting Limited where he served as technical director. His wealth of experience cuts across Project Management, Financial Management and Human Resources. He holds a B.Sc in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and M.Sc. in Development Management from the UK Open University.

CEO, OUTSOURCE GLOBAL

Amal Hassan is the Founder and CEO of Outsource Global – Nigeria’s leading business process outsourcing giant, servicing countries in Africa, the United States, UK and Japan.
Her passion to unlock Nigeria’s developmental potentials through technology-driven innovation and value addition led her to build, capitalize and restructure a series of technology-related businesses that succeed in developing talents and creating employment for young Nigerians.

In 2013, she founded Outsource Global and currently leads a team of 850+ staff in 3 locations across Nigeria. Outsource Global is a gender-balanced company focused on inclusion and empowerment: over 50% of senior management staff are female, and over 65% of staff are women – all driving a relentless vision to increase staff to 6,000 in the next 5 years.
Amal’s entrepreneurial prowess and business acumen continue to set her apart as a highly regarded emerging business leader in Nigeria. In 2018, Amal was named one of the 16 women business leaders by Fortune-US Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. She has also been recognized as one of Nigeria’s star by the US Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria for her outstanding impact to nation-building.

Over the years, she has participated in local and international business missions and attended various professional and leadership courses, conferences and seminars both locally and abroad. Widely regarded as a role model for the girl-child and women especially in northern Nigeria, she has continued to mentor young leaders across her industry.
Amal earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administrations from Bayero University Kano, Nigeria and a Master degree in Business Administration from the same university. Amal is a partner in Bluetag Group the holding company for Parkway Projects, HealthStation, Bluetag Technologies, Bluetag Synergy and Outsource Global.

Adesola Sotande-Peters is a seasoned finance executive with over two decades of experience leading global organisations including the BBC UK, Diageo and Unilever, in multinational markets. She has been the recipient of multiple awards including the Great Place to Work Exceptional Female Leader Award 2019, CFO Awards – CFO of the Year (FMCG Category) 2017, and Unilever Finance Recognition Award 2016.

She is currently the first Nigerian and first female Vice President, Finance in almost 100 years of Unilever Nigeria and Unilever Ghana. Adesola oversees the Controls and Governance agenda in Unilever Africa, providing strategic financial leadership. She is also the Executive Board Director of Unilever Nigeria; Non-Executive Board Director of Unilever Ghana, LONADEK Nigeria, Sygen Pharmaceutical, and sits on other committees.

Adesola is passionate about lifelong professional education and has a Business Administration and Economics degree from the American International University, London and an MBA for Finance Professionals from Manchester Business School. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), the Association of Chartered Certified

Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Credit Administration (ICA). She is also an alumna of the IE Business School, Lagos Business School and INSEAD programmes.Her passion for professional development extends into mentoring future leaders through her website www.hearadesolaout.com and social media (#Hearadesolaout). She was an Advisory

Board Member of Women on Boards (WIMBOARD) and Women in Manufacturing, Africa (WIMAFRICA) and is the Chairperson at Women Empowered for Leadership Advancement and Development (WELEAD).

BUSINESS ADVISOR, STANFORD INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES (STANFORD SEED)

Micheline Ntiru has an extensive working experience spanning two decades with private sector, international NGOs, and development finance leaders such as Care International, the International Finance Corporation, and Nokia.

Her roles have included leading and managing teams worldwide. She has also led policy development and programme design and evaluation in agribusiness, education, health, and youth empowerment. Micheline is currently focusing on SME development, impact investment, and financial inclusion.

Her areas of interest in board governance include programme strategy and impact, financial management, global operations, and technological efficiency. Micheline has an MBA from the University of Cambridge (UK), a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Public from Tufts University, Boston (USA), and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Mount Holyoke College (USA). She is fluent in French, Swahili, Portuguese, and Spanish among other languages.

PRESIDENT, LAAN

DLM is a multiple award-winning idea strategist, startup builder and investor with key interest in entrepreneurship and technology. He is highly skilled in start-up development, brand strategy, disruptive strategy, and fundraising. Lanre is committed to raising disruptors to create wealth and jobs through entrepreneurship and over the years, he has developed over 250 thriving business ideas and has raised over $10million investment for small businesses.

His works have been recognized by the World Economic Forum, Global Shapers Community, World Bank, Taking IT Global, African Business Leadership Forum, and European Research Council. Lanre has spoken in over 100 conferences on key economic and social topics, some of which are the Grow Africa Investment Forum and World Economic Forum on Africa.

He has also received some recognitions and awards. In 2006, he was recognized as one of 100 Best Authors of the World Bank International Essay Competition. In 2007, he became one of the 101 ABLF Young African Leaders and in 2008, he won the LEAP Africa/Nokia Youth Leadership Award.

DLM has worked as an International Partner of World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF), a global advisory board member (West Africa) for Innovate Africa and Scalable international advisor (Africa) and now the WBAF Senator (Nigeria).

He is a Harvard Business School credential holder and Nexford University alumni where he studied Disruptive Strategy and Marketing Strategy respectively. He is currently leading a technology solutions and incubation company based in Lagos, Nigeria.

PARTNER KPMG

Tola Adeyemi is a Partner and Head of Audit Services for KPMG in Nigeria. He has over 33years of Professional experience providing Audit and Business Advisory services to a wide range of local and international companies and organisations across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.

In his current role, Tola is amongst other matters responsible for the Firm’s Audit strategy and quality including identifying and monitoring trends and disruptions that will shape the future of the accounting and audit profession and for ensuring his Firm is appropriately positioned in relation to these changes.

An astute business leader with a keen eye for Corporate governance and values based leadership. He is a member of the Audit committee of Redeemers University of Nigeria and current Chairman of the BIPORAL Audit Committee.

Tola has a first class honours degree in Accounting from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and a member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria. He is an alumnus of various management and leadership programmes of the Harvard Business School, Wharton, INSEAD and the Lagos Business School.

FORMER EXECUTIVE SECRETARY NEITI

Waziri Adio is a renowned journalist and policy strategist. He is the lead consultant on public communication, policy and public strategic management and serves as the chief strategy officer of Think-Tank Consult.

He has held senior positions in different organizations, ranging from editor and columnist at This Day Newspapers, special adviser to the senate president, communication specialist for UNDP, and director of communications at Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI. He is the publisher of Metropole, an Abuja-based magazine, which he founded in 2012.

He was educated at the University of Lagos, Columbia University, and Harvard University, where he earned a BSc in mass communication, a MS in journalism, and an MPA in public administration respectively. At different times, he was also a Fellow of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and an Edward S. Mason Fellow in public policy and management at Harvard University. Waziri is a Fellow of the fifth class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-West Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

HEAD OF STRATEGY AT FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA.

Sadiq Usman is the Head, Corporate Business Development, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. He has also served as a Special Assistant to the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, as a Vice-President with JPMorgan Plc, and an analyst with both JPMorgan Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. one of Nigeria’s largest food and agro-allied companies. As part of the senior management team, he is responsible for identifying and exploiting organic and strategic growth opportunities for the conglomerate. He is also a Non-Executive Director of NNFM Plc. and a Board Member of the Nigerian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to this role, Sadiq worked with the previous Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the capacity of an adviser on Economic Development. While at the CBN, he gained significant experience in crisis resolution, banking reform, and policy development. Sadiq also served on the Bankers’ Committee sub-Committee on Economic Development and Sustainability for 5 years with 4 Bank CEOs.

Before taking up the role at the CBN, Sadiq was a Vice-President at JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., where he worked in a variety of roles serving the financing needs of sub-Saharan African clients.

COUNTRY DIRECTOR DAI

Joe Abah gained extensive experience in the governance sector, working on public sector reform programs for the U.K. Prime Minister’s Office. He has spent more than 10 years managing governance programs in Nigeria for the U.K. Department for International Development, including on the DAI-led State Partnership for Accountability Responsiveness and Capability project.

From 2013 to 2017, Joe took a post with the Government of Nigeria as Head of the Bureau for Public Sector Reform. He has now returned to DAI to serve as Country Director for Nigeria, where he provides technical and strategic inputs to DAI’s existing portfolio of projects, in addition to supporting business development initiatives. He holds the following degrees, Ph.D., Maastricht University, The Netherlands; M.A., business law, London Guildhall University, United Kingdom, Bachelor of Laws, University of Calabar, Nigeria

CEO WILD FUSION

Abasiama Idaresit is a Nigeria-born technology entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Wild Fusion Limited, a digital marketing agency with offices in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Forbes Magazine named him among “Ten African Internet Millionaires To Watch” in 2013.

Idaresit started his business with $250 seed funding and built it into a multi-million company across three African countries. He has worked to empower businesses and enable African startups to succeed using technology like Baby M. He was listed among the top 100 African economic leaders of the future in 2015 by Choiseul Institute

DIRECTOR OF NIGERIA PROGRAMS, MSD FOR MOTHERS

Iyadunni Olubode is the Director of Nigeria Programs, MSD for Mothers. In this role, she collaborates with stakeholders across sectors to identify and promote innovative solutions to increase access to high-quality, respectful maternity care for all Nigerian women.

She left the private sector to pursue an interest in the development sector, serving first as Executive Director of LEAP Africa, a youth leadership development non-profit. In addition to working the program design & implementation angle, Iyadunni has supported strategic development consulting efforts for multilateral organisations.

Iyadunni strives “to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics…to find the best in others and to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition.”