UAC of Nigeria PLC (UACN) has announced the appointments of Mr Folasope Babasola Aiyesimoju and Mrs Olufunke Ighodaro as Non-Executive Directors of the Company while Mr Peter Benedikt Mombaur would serve as the alternate Director to the new Directors.
Mr Aiyesimoju, a finance professional, has vast experience spanning corporate finance, principal investing and private equity in Sub-Saharan Africa’s most important economies. He holds a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Estate Management from the University of Lagos, where he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Real estate development and finance, and earned the right to use the CFA designation in 2006. Mr Aiyesimoju is the founder of Themis Capital Management, an investment firm focused on concentrating capital and talent on high-potential opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to founding Themis, he worked with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a leading global investment firm with $168 billion in assets under management. His experience also includes working with the Standard Bank Group, Ocean and Oil Holdings Limited and ARM Investment Managers, one of Nigeria’s leading investment advisory and wealth management firms. He is a co-founder of Foodpro Limited, a nutritional snacks business focused on edible nuts.
Mrs Ighodaro is an astute and experienced business leader with considerable experience in executive as well as non-executive leadership positions with some of Africa’s most successful companies. She holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Operational Research from Salford University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She is an independent non-executive director and audit committee member at Datatec Limited, an international information and communications technology business with a market capitalization of c.$500 million and independent non-executive director and audit committee chair at Transaction Capital Limited, a $900m business, which operates in highly specialised and under-served segments of the South African and Australian financial services markets.She was recently appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission and a syndicate of 13 lenders to the Interim Board of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited, where she serves as Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer focused on stabilizing the business ahead of a third-party sale. Her prior work experience includes serving as Chief Financial Officer at Tiger Brands Limited, a leading food producer across Africa and Latin America. She also worked with Primedia Limited, Kagiso Trust Investments, the Standard Bank Group in Johannesburg and PricewaterhouseCoopers in London.
Mr Mombaur is an investor and entrepreneur with professional experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe and North America. He has lived and worked in Nigeria for seven years and overseen investments for over a decade. He holds University degrees in Mechanical Engineering (specialising in Energy and Automation) as well as Law and Economics. His work experience spans fast moving consumer goods, telecommunications, financial services and education. A co-founder of Themis Capital Management and Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Terra Education, a learning travel company based in San Diego, USA, Mr Mombaur was co-Managing Director at Tana Africa, an investment company with an open-ended investment horizon backed by the Oppenheimer family and Temasek. His experience includes working with Mckinsey & Company and RWE Group, one of Germany’s largest utility companies. He is co-founder of the African Leadership Academy, an institution based in Johannesburg, South-Africa and focused on developing Africa’s future leaders.