Etisalat Nigeria’s debt crisis has been in the news over the past few weeks. The parent company, Etisalat UAE has finally exited the Nigerian market, the chairman of Etisalat Nigeria, Hakeem Belo Osagie resigned and several other members of the board have also stepped down. In light of these developments, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is currently in charge of the company and it has been restructured. A new board has been constituted to run the company pending when it finds a buyer. The members of the board include members of the CBN, KPMG, PwC and Dangote.

Meet the members of the new board

Dr Joseph Nnanna – Chairman

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

Nnanna is an economist and a Deputy Governor (Financial System Stability) of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He 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,

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.

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.

Seyi was a member of the Trade and Investment Committee of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, 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. He plays an oversight-coordinating role in KPMG’s delivery of professional services to companies in the countries comprising the Gulf of Guinea (an oil and gas zone) including Nigeria, Cameroun, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

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 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

Funke was the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Tiger Brands Limited. She is also a 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. She has a BSc (Honours) from Salford University and is 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.

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