Waziri Adio, Joe Abah appointed board members of LEAP Africa

LEAP Africa, a youth-focused leadership development organisation, has announced the appointment of six new members to its board of directors. 

According to a statement by LEAP Africa, the new board members include Larry Ettah, Tola Adeyemi, Sadiq Usman, Joe Abah, Waziri Adio and Abas Idaresit. 

LEAP Africa said the new board members came from diverse backgrounds and sectors and would bring years of experience to its work across the continent.

“Waziri Adio is a renowned Journalist and Policy Strategist. He is the Lead consultant on Public Communication, Policy and Public Strategic Management and serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of Think-Tank Consult. He was the editor and columnist at This Day Newspapers and Director of Communications at Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI. Waziri earned degrees from the University of Lagos, Columbia University and Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management at Harvard University,” the statement reads. 

“Larry E. Ettah is the Executive Chairman of Barracuda Capital Partners Limited, (an Investment firm) he founded in 2018 after his retirement as the Group Managing Director (GMD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN). 

“Ettah holds degrees from the University of Benin, University of Michigan, Stanford University, Harvard Business School and the University of Oxford. Before his retirement, Etta chaired the Board of UAC Property Development Company Plc (UPDC), Chemical & Allied Products Plc (CAP), Portland Paints & Products Nigeria Plc, among others. Mr Ettah currently serves on the Advisory Board of Chi Limited.

“Tola Adeyemi is a Partner and Head of Audit Services at KPMG Professional Services. He is a member of the firm’s executive committee. He has served various companies across various industry sectors, including Power & Utilities, Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Consumer/Industrial Markets, Public Sector, Financial Services and Development Agencies. Tola has over three decades of extensive experience in providing Audit and related Advisory Services, Process Reviews, Due Diligence Reviews, Sox Implementation, working as Reporting Accountant and IFRS Conversion Services. Tola has worked in the UK, South Africa and Nigeria and is a regular speaker on contemporary accounting and governance.

“Sadiq Usman is the Head, Corporate Business Development, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. He has also served as a Special Assistant to the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, as a Vice-President with JPMorgan Plc, and an analyst with JPMorgan Plc. and Zenith Bank Plc. Before this role, Sadiq worked with the previous Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as an adviser on Economic Development. He is also a Non-Executive Director of NNFM Plc.

“Joe Abah is the Country Director for Nigeria, DAI, Nigeria where he provides technical and strategic inputs to DAI’s existing portfolio of projects, in addition to supporting business development initiatives. He has gained extensive experience in the governance sector, working on public sector reform programs for the U.K. Prime Minister’s Office. In 2013, Joe took a post with the Government of Nigeria as Head of the Bureau for Public Sector Reform. He holds a PhD in Maastricht University, The Netherlands; and other degrees from London Guildhall, University, London and University of Calabar, Nigeria.

“Abasiama Idaresit is a technology entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Wild Fusion Limited – a digital marketing agency with offices in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Idaresit started his business with $250 seed funding and built it into a multi-million company across three African countries. He has worked to empower enterprises and enable African startups to succeed using technology like Baby M. He was listed among the top 100 African economic leaders of the future in 2015 by Choiseul Institute.” 

Last year, the non-profit organisation (NGO) had appointed three members to its board of directors, including Adesola Sotande-Peters, Micheline Ntiru, and Amal Hassan.