LBS women hit double, with two profs

Professor Enase Okonedo is the Dean of Lagos Business School (LBS) where she teaches courses in decision making, corporate financial management and financial strategy. Okonedo sets the strategic direction for the School and oversees its academic and administrative affairs, as the chair of its management board.

As LBS Dean, Okonedo refocused the School’s vision from addressing the Nigerian business environment to addressing Africa through the research agenda, programme structure and forging international alliances that has led to high-level collaboration with renowned institutions

With over 30 years’ experience in the financial services and management education sectors, Okonedo serves as Secretary-Treasurer of AACSB International Board of Directors (The Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business) and is a member of the academic advisory board of the Global Business School Network (GBSN). She is also a member of the Panel of Advisors, Africa Initiative for Governance, a member of the International Advisory Board of Porto Business School, as well as a member of the Academic Advisory Board, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.

Okonedo is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) as well as a Fellow of the International Academy of Management (IAM). In November 2015, she became a Fellow of the Society of Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN) in recognition of her exemplary leadership and contributions to good governance in the Nigerian education sector.

When she started her career as an intern with a bank during her sophomore year at university, she knew from that moment she was destined for greatness.

Driven by a vision for excellence at Lagos Business School (LBS) and being consistent in following that vision till date, Okonedo is certainly championing the course for the propagation of the importance of quality education in Nigeria.

She will readily tell you that Dr Christopher Kolade has had the greatest impact on her career. “I started my career in the School working with him. I think he’s very focused and has an unwavering commitment to the values and principles he stands for.” She speaks convincingly about him.

Ever busy Okonedo never misses the opportunity to create time for family. “I spend time with my family. When I’m with them, I shut out the world because I’m a strong advocate of work-life balance. Then again, I’m a bit of a bookworm so I also relax with books on management and human psychology.” Okonedo said.

Ever passionate about Nigeria, her views are truly intriguing. She says “I think we need to build our system of governance and strengthen our institutions. If this is achieved and our governments can be accountable to the people they’re meant to serve, the continent will be a lot better off.”

Her views on Nigeria’s potential to become a higher education hub for Africa is truly enlightening. In her words, “There is a great deal of potential. There are currently more private universities than public ones, and the number is constantly growing. Foreign universities are also interested in coming here; however, there are currently certain constraints in the regulations preventing foreign universities from setting up stand-alone campuses.

Foreign universities are inclined to come and partner with a local university in Nigeria and that has the potential to strengthen the quality of the offering in the country. There is great potential, especially given that, by 2050, Africa will have the largest population of college-age students in the world.” Okonedo revealed.

Professor Enase Okonedo holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Benin, Nigeria; an MBA from IESE Business School, Barcelona, an Executive MBA from Lagos Business School and a Doctorate in Business Administration from International School of Management (ISM), Paris. 

Professor Olayinka David-West,

Academic Director, Lagos Business School (LBS)

Professor Olayinka David-West is the Academic Director and a Senior Fellow in the Operations, Information Systems and Marketing Division of Lagos Business School (LBS). She is also a member of the LBS Management Board.

With a career in the information systems industry spanning nearly three decades; she has engaged in various roles in systems/technology consulting, systems development and integration and electronic banking management.

Professor David-West currently directs the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative of the Lagos Business School. Under her leadership, SIDFS has in the last three years conducted research; convened stakeholders from the financial services ecosystem across the operators and regulatory segments; articulated policy amendments all with an aim to enhance the creation and delivery of Digital Financial Services in Nigeria. SIDFS also works with development and philanthropic agencies such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth on initiatives to enhance the creation and delivery of Digital Financial Services as well as enhancement of entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

Her research interests are centred around the managerial practices in support of information systems in business including, but not limited to systems planning, development, management, governance and effective use.

Prof David-West is the author of numerous academic papers and case studies. She has also presented her research findings in local and international conferences.

Prof David-West combines her teaching and research interests with industry consulting engagements in the areas of strategic IS planning, IT personnel selection, IT assessment & review/due diligence, e-business, business planning, software selection & management, systems implementation, project & change management, business process improvement and systems design.

She has been vocal on her views about enhancing Financial Inclusion with Technology, for instance, through taking banking to the grassroots.

When Lagos Business School (LBS) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partnered on how best to provide financial services to the poor through multiple channels and technology, Professor David-West was actively involved.

In the first part of the project, they decided to do an in-depth consumer analysis to profile who the consumers are for digital financial services and mobile money.

According to her, the purpose of the research was to unravel who the customer is. “We, therefore, took data from all the financial inclusion data that have been done previously. We looked at researches by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) and the World Bank Global Index study that we ran in 2011 and 2013. So, taking all those data, we began to ask the same questions on what the data says about the Nigerian consumer,” she said.

For David-West, “one thing we want is to have 80 per cent target on financial inclusion by 2020. However, we are lagging behind in achieving those goals.”

Professor David-West holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Manchester Business School; an MSc in Business Systems Analysis and Design from City University, London; and a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Lagos. She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), and the academic advocate to the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). She is also a qualified practitioner of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), and a digital money specialist certified by Digital Frontiers Institute and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Professor Olayinka David-West is a governing council member of the Fintech Association of Nigeria.

 Kemi Ajumobi