The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon recently announced the appointment of Bola Adesola as a member of the board of the United Nations Global Compact.
Launched in July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) is a leadership platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices.
Endorsed by Chief Executives, the UNGC seeks to align business operations and strategies everywhere with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With over 8,000 corporate participants in more than 150 countries, the UNGC is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative.
Adesola brings to the position a wealth of experience and passion, coupled with extensive knowledge and understanding of strategic leadership and implementation of corporate sustainability through building partnerships with key stakeholders.
She is the only Nigerian and one of two Africans on the board. Other board members include Marilyn Carlson-Nelson, CEO Carlson Holdings, owners of the Radisson Hotels brand, Paul Polman, Group CEO, Unilever and Colbus De Swardt, CEO, Transparency International.
Bola has been the Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited since March, 2011. Prior to joining Standard Chartered, she served for five years as Executive Director of First Bank and as Managing Director of Kakawa Discount House Nigeria from 1999.
After graduating with a degree in Law from Buckingham University in the United Kingdom in 1984, Bola worked in corporate legal practice, then began her banking career at Citibank Nigeria in 1990, subsequently advancing through several leadership and management positions including Country Treasurer of Citibank Tanzania. Her executive educational experience includes the Advanced Management Programme of the Harvard Business School and Chief Executive Programme at Lagos Business School.
She is a Trustee of Nigeria’s Financial Markets Dealers Association and has served in various capacities in developing the Nigerian Money Market, the Interbank Settlement Systems and the Discount House subsector. She serves on the board of Fate Foundation, Nigeria’s leading not-for-profit SME incubator and is a member of the Nigeria National Competitiveness Council, a private-public effort aimed at enhancing the productivity of businesses operating in Nigeria supported by the Federal Government.
She is passionate about, and actively promotes the economic development of women. She is a co-founder of Women in Business and Management (WIMBIZ), Nigeria’s foremost women-oriented network in addition to chairing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s committee on Economic Development, Sustainability and Gender.
Bola Adesola is an Honorary Fellow and member of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and recipient of the 2013 Africa Business award for Most Outstanding Woman in Business.
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