LEAP Africa appoints Clare Omatseye as board chair

LEAP Africa, the youth-focused leadership development nonprofit organisation, has appointed a new board chair, co-chair, and an acting executive director.

In a statement on Thursday, the organisation announced Kehinde Ayeni as the acting executive director.

It also appointed Clare Omatseye and Larry Ettah as board chair and co-chair respectively.

According to the statement, Omatseye and Ettah are astute business leaders of great repute who have led and managed many successful projects and organisations with a track record of success, innovation, and scaling.

Omatseye succeeds Udeme Ufot (MFR) who retired from the board after completing his two tenures.

Omatseye is the managing director/founder of JNC International Ltd. (JNCI), a leading Turnkey medical equipment solutions company. She also held top positions in the organisation.

She has worked in various companies, including, May & Baker Nig. Plc, Aventis Pasteur Nigeria, and Huntleigh Healthcare Limited. She is also an independent non-executive director of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and Beta Glass Plc; and the chairman of Vaccipharm Ltd. (a company she also founded in 1999).

Ettah is the executive chairman of Barracuda Capital Partners Limited, an organisation he founded in 2018 after his retirement as the group managing director (GMD)/chief executive officer (CEO) of UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN).

Before his retirement, Ettah chaired the board of UAC Property Development Company Pic (UPDC), Chemical & Allied Products Plc (CAP), Portland Paints & Products Nigeria Plc, among others.

Omatseye and Ettah will work with other members of the LEAP Africa board which includes Joe Abah, country director at DAI Global, LLC, and Tola Adeyemi, managing partner at KPMG.

Other members of the board are Uche Pedro, founder of BellaNaija, and Sadiq Usman, head of corporate business development at Flour Mills Nig. Plc.

Ayeni, on the other hand, is a 13-year LEAP veteran, who has also served as the chief operating officer in the last three years.

According to the statement, “Ayeni’s passion, loyalty, drive, and excellence have contributed greatly to the growth of LEAP Africa. She is a skilled facilitator and has led impact-driven sessions in LEAP Africa’s core leadership programmes within and outside Nigeria.

“In 2020, Kehinde was recognised among 50 African Women Making a Difference in Development by Donors for Africa and a 2021 Praxis Non-profit Accelerator Fellow.”