Iyiola Alokolaro-Oyefeso is a general counsel with 16+ years of legal, compliance, and transactional experience. As a trusted advisor to executive leaders and boards, she provides legal and compliance support to organisations to achieve business growth and sustainability.
In her current role as the Group Head of Legal Services, she directs the legal team and oversees local and international commercial transactions including joint ventures, corporate finance, acquisitions and divestment. Her role as a business partner revolves around strategic business advisory, legal strategy development, risk management, contract negotiation and management, stakeholder management, corporate governance advisory, dispute resolution, and compliance management.
Leveraging her legal knowledge and experience across various sectors, she has developed insights into dynamic businesses and offered forward-thinking legal solutions that identify opportunities for growth, strategic advantage, and business integrity.
Iyiola is knowledgeable in business finance and has advised on acquisition transactions with total values exceeding millions of dollars. By overseeing contract negotiations and post-acquisition integrations, she guides executive leadership teams in ensuring cost optimisation, risk management, and financial profitability.
Alokolaro-Oyefeso oversaw the development of a compliance framework for the legal services unit in AA&R and its operating companies to provide a structured, auditable, and transparent protocol for operations, and fostered a company culture of accountability. By serving as the company secretary and legal representative of the group, she interfaces with federal agencies and regulatory bodies to advocate for the organisation’s interests and influence policy decisions.
Furthermore, Iyiola negotiated and reviewed the governance documents in the acquisition of a stake in a marginal field valued at millions of dollars and saved the organisation thousands of dollars in legal fees. She was the sole legal advisor on the acquisition of a fourteen seater aircraft, saving the organisation thousands of dollars in legal fees. She also improved legal and compliance support accessibility by establishing and optimising a fully functional legal services unit.
As a former legal associate at Banwo & Ighodalo, she was part of a larger legal team that provided effective legal advisory services to issuers and financial institutions in respect of various capital market transactions, including private placements, rights issues, initial public offerings (IPOs), mergers and acquisitions (M&As), collective investment schemes, and corporate bonds.
Alokolaro-Oyefeso is a recipient of the following awards- 2021 ESQ Law 40 Under 40 Lawyers, 2021 9to5 Chick Top 100 Career Women in Nigeria, 2021 Thought Leader 9to5 Chick of the Year, and 2023 Top 50 Women in Management Africa. She is passionate about building the next generation of lawyers, and regularly provides thought leadership articles and mentoring for general counsels and younger legal professionals.
