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Ololade Adesola CMC, FMA, MNIM is the founder of L.A. Consult and serves as its pioneer managing consultant.[1] She spent 25 years in the banking industry where she started her career in Agriculture Finance at Union Bank [2] and later joined Zenith Bank where she rose to the position of Zonal Manager. She led her team to grow from 2 to 10 profitable branches in 10 years, growing total asset from $15M to $150M within the same period.[3] She serves as Country Representative of the United Kingdom Microfinance Association in Nigeria[4] and she writes a weekly personal finance column, FinanceWise, in the Nigerian Tribune newspaper.[5]
Ololade Adesola | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 September 1964 |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Education | University of Ife, University of Ibadan |
| Occupation(s) | Consultant, Entrepreneur, Columnist |
| Years active | 32 |
| Known for | Agriculture Financing, Finance, Risk and Management Consulting, Banking, Personal Financial Planning |
Personal Life and Background
[edit]Ololade was born on September 14, 1964 at the popular Island Maternity Hospital on the Lagos Island, Nigeria to Chief Alexander Olubamiwo Ajayi, an accomplished administrator and public servant and Mrs Adeline Olufunmilayo Ajayi (nee Adeyemi), a nurse and public health administrator. Alexander served in many capacities during his public service career including being the first African and youngest Registrar/ CEO of the West African Examinations Council from where he joined the University of Ife and rose to the position of University Registrar. Olufunmilayo chose to work in the local government service because of her strong desire to work in public health. She initiated the Schools Health Service in the then powerful Lagos City Hall. Ololade went to Mainland Preparatory Primary School and Queen's College, both in Yaba Lagos.
Ololade is committed to the development of young and female entrepreneurs. She provides pro bono advice for young entrepreneurs including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Young Agripreneurs (IYA).[6][1] She serves as pro bono Mentor for WIMBIZ (Women in Management, Business and Government), a Nigeria based women's organization and Guzakuza, a Ghana based women's organization.
Education
[edit]Ololade obtained her bachelor's degree in Agriculture at University of Ife in 1986; and she bagged her master's degree in Banking and Finance at University of Ibadan in 1999. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning from Kaplan University. She is Certified Management Consultant, a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Microfinance Association.[7][8]
Career
[edit]Ololade has 32 years cross-industry experience in banking and consulting for both private and public sector players.[9] She started her career in Agriculture Finance,[2] working with a wide spectrum of farmers across Nigeria - from smallholder farmers to conglomerates farming tens of thousands of acres to produce cotton to feed the Textile Mills. She had a near perfect record of loan recovery. Her customers repeatedly won the Central Bank of Nigeria's Farmer of the Year award at both state and national levels. She went on to join Zenith Bank in mainstream banking and soon excelled there also. She was made Zonal Manager in 2007 and grew her branches from 2 to 10 in 10 years and the zone's balance sheet grow ten fold within the same period. She was rewarded with several personal and group performance awards. She also won leadership awards.
Since founding LA Consult in 2012, she has focused on microfinance, agricultural finance, business process improvement and enterprise risk management.[4][3] She has worked with international organizations; serving as an Independent Consultant for Oxbow Partners, London (a UK based insurance giant) and is an accredited Consultant of AFRACA (Africa Rural and Agricultural Credit Association), a FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) driven pan-African agriculture and rural development agency headquartered Nairobi, Kenya. She also works with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). In the Nigerian private sector, her clients range from MSMEs to publicly traded Blue Chip companies.
She is a regular speaker and panelist at CAADP-PP (Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program - Partners' Platform); the annual forum of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development - an African Union Agency) set up to develop Africa's Agriculture.[10] She has also served in fulfilling the vision of the Africa Development Bank's ENABLE Youth Program. She sat on the finance panel at the program's Design Workshop. Later she helped train beneficiaries and sat on the panel that approved grants for the beneficiaries from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. Her work in Agriculture has taken her to several African countries.
In 2014, she became the Country Representative for the United Kingdom Microfinance Association in Nigeria. In this capacity she helps the Association carry out its strategic objectives of capacity building in the Microfinance sector - both institutional capacity and the capacity of the individual professionals.[3] She regularly interfaces with bank and non-bank microfinance players and the sector regulators.
A regular commentator on economic and banking issues, she has featured in numerous interviews on national and continental television.[4][5]
Since 2018, she writes a weekly Personal Finance column, FinanceWise in the Nigerian Tribune newspaper.[5]
Public Speaking and Media Commentary
[edit]Ololade has written newspaper articles commenting and advising on the Nigerian economy. She is a regular commentator on economic and finance issues on national and continental television. She writes a weekly Personal Finance column in the Nigerian Tribune Newspaper.[11][5]
She has spoken at several fora both national and continental; been a Keynote Speaker and Panelist at several CAADP-PP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program-Partners' Platform) meetings of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development - an agency of the African Union) including Kenya, Gabon and Uganda.
Boards and Advisory Council Memberships
[edit]Ololade serves as non-executive on the board of EKED Estate Developers, a residential real estate development company and Solve Education! Nigeria, the Nigerian subsidiary of the Singaporean Gaming Company. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Living Mercy Voice Foundation; a charity that works to alleviate poverty and runs an orphanage in Ibadan, Nigeria.[12][7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Ms. OLOLADE ADESOLA | Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ a b agra (2019-03-15). "Why proactive measures in agriculture financing are needed for the profitability of Uganda's farmers". AGRA. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ a b c "Technical Development and Delivery". Microfinance Association. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ a b c "CBN moves to strengthen Nigeria's microfinance space". CNBC Africa. 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ a b c d "Financewise Archives » Page 2 of 9 » Tribune Online". Tribune Online. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Youth Agripreneur" (PDF). IITA Youth Agripreneurs (17). April 2016.
- ^ a b "Ololade Adesola CMC, FMA, MNIM". LA Consult. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Ololade Adesola Bio". Wiki Mzansi. 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Meet Our Team". Ekimiks. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "Enhancing Trade and Market Access for Accelerated Agriculture Transformation" (PDF). CAADP. African Union: 34. June 14, 2019 – via African Union Development Agency - NEPAD.
- ^ "'Digital finance key to achieving financial inclusion'". Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics. 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
- ^ "Board of Trustees". Living Mercy Voice Foundation. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
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