Meet The New Members Of The Etisalat Nigeria Board

Following the debt crisis that has rocked the telecommunications company Etisalat Nigeria, there has been a change in management trailing the exit of the parent company, Etisalat UAE, the resignation of CEO Hakeem Belo Osagie and several other members of the board have also stepped down.

The subsequent restructuring of the company by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has seen a new board take over the management, pending the time it finds a new buyer. According to VenturesAfrica.com reports that the members of interim board include members of the CBN, KPMG, PwC and Dangote.

Below are the profiles of the interim board members,

Dr Joseph Nnanna – Chairman

Joseph Nnanna is replacing Hakeem Osagie-Bello as the new chairman of Etisalat Nigeria Ltd.

Dr Nnanna attended William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey and the University of Houston, in Houston Texas, USA. He graduated with B.A, M.A and PhD diplomas in Finance, Public Policy and Economics. He has attended several economic policy-oriented training programs. In 2006, he attended the Bundesbank intensive training program on how to: Conduct Monetary Policy in a Monetary Zone.

He is a life member of the Nigeria Economic Society. He is also a recipient of Dr Nkwame Nkrumah Africa Leadership Award and also an avid tennis player.

An economist and a Deputy Governor (Financial System Stability) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Joseph Nnanna is also the chairman of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). He has served as a consultant to the government of Nigeria, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and, on the Board of the International Monetary Fund.

He worked as the Alternate Executive Director, representing Nigeria and 21 other sub-Sahara African countries on the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington D.C. Prior to being on the board of IMF he worked as a staff economist and desk officer in the African Department of the IMF and participated in multilateral surveillance missions to several African countries including Kenya, South Africa, Lesotho, Seychelles, etc.

Oluseyi Bickersteth – Non-Executive Director

Seyi Bickersteth is the National Senior Partner of KPMG Professional Services, Nigeria; he oversees KPMG West Africa Region and he is a Member of the Global Board.

A member of the Trade and Investment Committee of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Seyi Bickersteth was a director of the Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce and currently a Director of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.

He was also involved in Vision 2010, which prepared a memorandum on the vision for Nigeria by year 2010. He chaired a working group on “Nigerian Tax Reforms 2003 & Beyond” for the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Seyi has BSc and MSc Economics from University of Ibadan and York University, Canada respectively. He is a Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.

Ken Igbokwe – Non-Executive Director

Ken Igbokwe joined worked with Price Waterhouse in London and moved to PwC Nigeria. He became the Country Business Executive Leader of PwC Nigeria and West Africa and was a member of the PwC Africa Executive Committee.

Ken holds a B.Sc. (Eng.) degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London University, and over 36 years’ experience in the provision of assurance, taxation, business advisory, and consulting services.

He is a Member of several groups, which include: the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales, and Nigeria, City and Guilds Institute London, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, and Business Recovery & Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria.

Funke Ighodaro – Executive Director, Finance

Funke Ighodaro takes over from Olawole Obasunloye as the Executive Director, Finance. She was the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Tiger Brands Limited, Director of Dangote Flour Mills Limited and an Independent Non-Executive Director of Datatec Limited.

Funke was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Primedia Limited and Executive Director of Kagiso Trust Investment Company. She is a trained and qualified Chartered Accountant having worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers with a BSc (Honours) from Salford University and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA).

Boye Olusanya – Chief Executive Officer

Boye Olusanya has been confirmed as Chief Executive Officer, to replace Matthew Willshe.

Boye served as Chief Business Transformation Officer at Dangote Industries Limited.

He worked at Econet and Celtel, which are now known as Airtel. At ECONET Wireless, he was Deputy Chief Executive Officer and subsequently the Acting Chief Executive Officer. At CELTEL Nigeria Limited, he was the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He was one of the pioneer staff of Vee Networks. He was also MD at Dancom Technologies Limited.

Boye holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, with an M. Sc in Environmental Civil Engineering from Liverpool University and another MSc. in Computer Science from Manchester University.