Who we are

Bola Adesola

Member of the SEforALL Leadership Council

Bola Adesola was appointed as the Chairman, Ecobank Nigeria in July 2021. She is also the Chairman, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund. Bola retired form Standard Chartered Bank as the Senior Vice-Chairman, Africa in May 2021 and as Chairman of Standard Chartered Mauritius. She had previously served on the boards of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, and Cameroon, respectively, and between 2010 and 2019, was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and West Africa. Her banking career, Executive Director at First Bank of Nigeria Plc, and Managing Director of Kakawa Discount House, Nigeria. She also worked in Citibank in senior leadership roles in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Bola has over 32 years banking experience and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School. Bola holds a Law degree from the University of Buckingham, UK and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, U.K., and Nigeria.

She is an Honorary Fellow and former Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria, a founding Trustee of Financial Markets Dealers Association, and has served on the boards of Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems Plc (NIBSS) and the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC). Bola is also past Chair of the Bankers’ Committee sub-Committee on Economic Development, Sustainability and Gender. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors and of Women Corporate Directors.
Bola’s keen interest in FinTech led to her appointment to the Board of Trustees of the FinTech Association of Nigeria. She is a board member of Imperial Logistics Plc, an African focused provider of integrated market access and logistics solutions, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. She is also a trustee of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria.

She has previously served as Board Member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) from 2015, and 2018 she was elevated to Co Vice-Chair of the Board.
An innovative and visionary leader, a skilled communicator and team builder, she remains an exceptional mentor and motivator to many Her overriding passion and purpose is to help others find their voice, and having found it, for them to move from effectiveness to greatness. To this end, in 2001, Bola co-founded Women in Management, Business and Public service (WIMBIZ), now Nigeria’s foremost and highly respected gender-oriented network for women, with global affiliations and she currently serves on the WIMBIZ Board of Trustees.

Bola is married and is the proud mother of twin girls. She is an avid reader, extensively travelled, and an art enthusiast.