Adedayo Olowoniyi

Experienced business leader in Energy, Automation and Packaging with over 20 years experience. My history of success directly relates to extensive experience in conceptualising financial/commercial strategies and directing cross functional teams to stream line operations, improve fiscal/financial health, and propel business growth across Africa.
- Experienced in leading multicultural teams across different countries in delivering stellar results 
- Skilled in business strategy, financial planning, commercial strategy, risk management, business planning and operations management 
- Administering P&L aspects of businesses across multiple countries 
- Spearheading MM$ mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and driving the financial due diligence
- leading and motivating teams to maintain a performance-driven work culture
- Implementing financial and accounting processes 
- Strengthen regulatory compliance 
- Implemented localisation strategies in Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal and Angola.
- International experience: United Kingdom, United States, Nigeria, Switzerland, and South Africa.

Adezgo Limited

Adezgo Limited is a company incorporated in the Federal Republic of Nigeria that provides advisory services to a diversified client base, which includes corporations, government agencies, government institutions and financial institutions in the Sub-Saharan African region and Nigeria with regards to building infrastructure and where desirable, build, manage and secure social and commercial infrastructure.

Energy Consultant                                                                                                                                            01/2022 - 

Adezgo provides advisory services and assistance to its clients in the Power sector in the following areas: 

• Feasibility Studies / Report Detailed Project Reports
• Project Development
• Project Management
• Business Plans Financial Modelling
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Due Diligence
• Procurement Assistance
• Identification and sourcing of technical partners

        Consultant: Lagos State Education and Health Solar Project 

Adezgo in partnership with Bengbu Solar of China participated in the Lagos State Electricity Board and DFID    sponsored first phase of the Lagos State Solar Project to power 172 Public Schools and 20 Health Care Centers winning the bid for the supply and installation of solar panels, cables and batteries for selected sites.

       Consultant 10 MW Solar Project Kano 

        Client: (Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority)

EPC: Green Cells Energy

• Coordinating project development work streams and liaising with NSIA
• Undertaking site visits and community engagement activities
• Prepare, submit and obtain project licenses, permits, approvals and consents from relevant regulatory agencies

Consultant 5 MW COVID-19 & Beyond Project

Location: 100 Sites multiple locations 

• Supervising installation of solar panels, inverters, batteries, and other ancillary equipment.
• Inspection and testing of the system to ensure it meets safety and performance standards.
• Monitoring the performance of the solar hybrid system and ensuring that it is running at maximum efficiency
• Undertaking site visits and community engagement activities

Feasibility Study Solar PV Dangote Senegal Cement plant

• Desk top review of available information
• Site evaluation
• Soil investigation
• Topographical Survey
• Investigation of associated site parameters (Road access, spacing requirements)
• Energy yield study and simulations
• Equipment Review, Evaluation and Ranking
• FEED & Conceptual design

Greif Inc

Greif Inc. is a world leader in Industrial Packaging, focusing on Rigid, Flexible and Paper packaging.   

Greif in Sub-Saharan Africa has over 200 employees across 5 manufacturing plants in (South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya) and a distributor network (Togo, Gambia, Guinea, Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Angola, Zambia, Ghana, Ethiopia). My role as the Regional Director is to grow the business and manage the overall business success.  Provide leadership that promotes The Greif Way and to ensure the customer is at the center of every decision taken to provide customer service that will realize the Greif vision. 

Commercial Director Middle East and Africa.  (South Africa)                                                                        11/2020 – 2022                                                                                           

Formulate/execute commercial strategy within the Middle East and Africa that support strategic decision-making based on understanding of market, industry, company situation, and dynamics. Lead a cross-functional team (sales managers, customer experience teams, and internal sales) to streamline commercial operations, provide best-in-class customer service, and boost organisational sales. Create pricing strategies by understanding material costs in collaboration with the supply chain team. Identify growth areas by conducting comprehensive market research. Strategically positioned as a Board Member to discuss future business roadmaps and plans.

• Oversaw production of sustainable plastic packaging for a beverage company by securing a $10M investment.
• Drove 5% improvement in profit margins by optimising the supply chain and reducing the cost.
• Improved working capital from 19% to 11% by managing commercial strategies and initiatives.
• Maintained a performance-driven work culture by promoting feedback and knowledge sharing among teams.
• Implemented a pricing strategy in the region to control additional raw material costs created due to COVID (such as increasing shipping cost and scarcity of raw materials).
• Timely communicated the price raise to customers for maintaining and improving profit margins.
• Met evolving market demands by overseeing successful execution of two new plastic projects within Middle East.

Regional Director South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa -  (South Africa)                                             02/2017 – 10/2020

Responsibilities:  

• Responsible for the Sub-Sahara performance (Profit & Loss) 
• Responsible for the commercial growth strategy in the region 
• Developing and maintaining relationships with customers in the region. 
• Establishing a culture of performance management and people development
• Board Member

 Achievements:   

• Implemented a change management process to establish a strong leadership team in the region, aligned to performing in a matrix system 
• Grew the business in the first 12 months by 8%   
• Conducted a strategic review of the business to determine investment priorities and capacity optimization
• Proposed product diversification investment in South Africa which was approved by the global management team.

MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa        

MAN Diesel & Turbo SE, based in Germany, is the world’s leading provider of large-bore diesel engines and turbomachinery for marine and stationary applications. MAN in sub-Sahara has approximately 198 MUSD in revenues and 320 employees, with 1 factory and 3 service centers. My main objective was financial leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa and being a business partner to the business leaders in the region.

Vice President Business Development Sub-Saharan Africa/Managing Director                          01/2015 – 02/2017

Provided direction on commercial strategy in the region while fostering productive relationships with existing

customer base in both public and private sector. 

• Managing relationships with the country offices of multilateral agencies, such as World Bank and Africa Development Bank, within Sub-Sahara Africa. 
• Driving regional sales conference for networking, ideas exchange, and employee development.
• Managing tender process for public and private sector projects.
• Established the company’s operations across multiple countries by conducting market analysis and building

relationships with local partners.

• Grew revenues by ~15% (generating $198M) through implementation of localization strategy in Nigeria, Kenya,

and Senegal.

•  Spearheaded $15M acquisition and Integration of ELCA engineering, South Africa. ELCA engineering provided

services for rotating turbo machinery in Africa (compressors and turbines)

• Involved with discussions with Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) with stake holders interested in building a power plant
• Responsible for building relationships with regulators and government agencies in the power sector in each

country.

       − NERC in Nigeria

− KENGEN in Kenya

− SENELEC in Senegal

• Led the improvement plan for power plant performance in the region, with the management team for each power plant.
•  Delivered year-on-year improved power plant performance and revenue generation
• Steered overall operations and maintenance across geographically dispersed power plants, including:

− 95 MW Thika power plant, Kenya ($100M)

− 90 MW Tobene power plant with Matalec ($95M)

− 80 MW power plant with Sino Hydro, Niger ($90M)

− 24 MW power plant LADOL, Nigeria ($30M)

Chief Financial Officer Sub-Saharan Africa -                                                                                          02/2013- 01/2015     

Responsibilities:  

Reporting to the Group CEO as the Africa strategy was high priority in terms of execution.   

• Responsible for all finance, strategy, planning and reporting in the region 
• Establishing Legal entities in the region to increase regional coverage 
• Implementing adequate controls, administrative processes and policies (Compliance/Finance &  Accounting/General Administrative policies)  for the new legal entities
• Managing Joint Venture and Mergers within the Region 
• Compliance champion in the region 
• Board Member

Achievements:  

• Managed the due diligence process for the acquisition of ELCA Engineering South Africa and performed fixed asset analysis of during acquisition to determine the fair value of the assets 
• Set up 4 entities in Africa to expand our business coverage in Senegal/Nigeria/Kenya/Angola.   
• Responsible for hiring the finance and administrative employees for the new entities, and ensuring there was a proper induction for each employee, to understand the values mission and vision of MAN. 
• Supporting the financial close for thermal projects  valued at more than 250 MUSD in the region ( Kenya 95 MW Thika Power plant, 100 MUSD with Matalec Senegal, 90 MW Tobene Power plant (95 MUSD) with Matalec, Niger 80 MW power plant with Sino Hydro 90 MUSD) 

ABB (Nigeria, Switzerland, United States) - 04/2005-02/2013 

ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies, our solutions improve efficiencies, productivity and quality of customers operations, while reducing environmental impact. ABB is head quartered in Zurich with over 130,000 employees globally. I joined ABB in Nigeria to drive the transformation of the company from project business to a sales and service business focused on the sale/installation and commissioning of High Voltage and Medium Voltage products. (Compact Substations, Switch Gear, Transformers, Breakers, and Panels) 

Project Scope Executed:

High Voltage

• Turnkey 330/132 kV Transmission Substation
• Substation Erections supervision to Utility and EPC customers
• Service and retrofit of Air Insulated outdoor and Gas Insulated Substation
• Electrical Balance of Plant to power generating facilities

Medium Voltage

• Turnkey 33/11/kV secondary Distribution Substation
• Substation Automation and protection systems
• Rural, Urban and Town Electrification overhead and underground electric network distribution.

ABB Nigeria & ABB (Oil & Gas Petrochemicals) Managing Director/Country Manager - 05/2011-02/2013 

Responsibilities:  

• Responsible for sales volume of 145 MUSD with head count of 180 employees, growing the business by 30% 
• Develop and implement Commercial Strategy for Nigeria, for the sale of High Voltage (HV) and Medium Voltage Products (MV) (Compact Substations, Switch Gear, Transformers, Breakers, and Panels) 
• Developing a channel strategy for Low Voltage (LV) products through distributors and channel partners.
• Building strong sustainable relationships with customers and partners 
• Drove 15% uplift in service segment revenue through execution of strategic investment of a Turbo Charger service center
• Developed strategy for the sale of medium voltage (MV) Drives and Motors to industrial customers focusing on the cement segment.
• Led the transformation of the organisation from a project-driven business to a front-end sales-driven organisation.
• Supported the privatisation process for the power sector reforms through the Swedish embassy. ABB provided

policies that were in place in other markets where we operated and what was considered best in class structure in

the power sector to attract adequate investments.

• Built strong relationships with successive CEOs of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), as ABB was one of the major suppliers of High Voltage and Medium Voltage equipment to strengthen the transmission and distribution network.
• Developed relationships with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) regarding grid expansion. 
• People development including (Training, role enlargement, special projects) and succession planning. 
• Develop and maintain board level contact with our key customers.
• Board Member

Achievements:  

• Grew the revenues by approximately 30%  
• Grew the workforce by 50% post transformation from project business to a business focused sales and service business and an assembly plant manufacturing MV products 
• Successfully managing a multicultural team of expatriates and local employees 
• Implementation of strategic investment of a Turbo Charger service center, which grew service segment revenues by 15%.   

ABB Nigeria           Chief Financial Officer - 05/2007-04/2011 

Responsibilities:  

• Responsible for the financial and fiscal management aspects of ABBNG operations. Provide leadership and coordination in the administrative, business planning, reporting, accounting and budgeting.   
• Strategic leadership of financial and administrative functions working with other members of the country senior management team to ensure effective application of financial and administrative policies and procedures 
• Create, coordinate, and evaluate the financial programs and supporting information systems of the company to include budgeting, tax planning, real estate, and conservation of assets.   
• Part of the change management team responsible for restructuring the business, from a project focused business to a sales and services business and an assembly plant. 
• Ensure adequate financial accounting and reporting systems are accurate.

Achievements:  

• Successful management of employee relations including discussion with trade unions during transformation process 
• Disposed of assets to finance part of the transformation process. 
• Planning and execution of building the assembly plant, including fixed asset evaluation 

Global Markets and Technology, ABB Inc. (US)   Financial Controller                                                                       04/06 – 05/07

Responsibilities:             

• Preparing monthly Board and Executive Committee comments
• Preparing monthly analysis of group results for CEO reviews
• Preparing regional performance analysis Monthly and Quarterly
• Detailed analysis on the financial reporting lines: Orders, Revenues, EBIT, SG&A, OCF, Functional Cost, and Service Business Volumes
• Discussions with various country CFO’s regarding deviation from budget and probability of achieving forecasts
• Certified US Central Project Office SOX Tester (multiple sites tested)
• Re-writing test plans and ensuring all related risks are covered by the key control
• Preparing and Consolidating the 5 year financial plan for ABB Inc 
• Managing the financial planning tool
• Liaising with Head Quarters regarding changes to the financial plan

Month-end reconciliation of general ledger accounts for US ABB

Group Function Accounting and Reporting (USGAAP), ABBZH (ZURICH)                                                               10/05 – 03/06 

                                (Senior Analyst)

Responsibilities: 

• Researching into USGAAP developments
• Updating the Accounting & Reporting Guidelines and Chart of Accounts
• Managing the footnote process
• Reviewing the footnotes to the Group financial statement
• Ensuring that notes are appropriately documented and referenced
• Preparing the Exchange rate section of the annual report 2005 for the Group
• Preparing fair value analysis on disposals with Mergers and Acquisition Department
• Managing the SOX documentation process and ensuring process owners sign off on the global SOX tool. 
• Part of the joint trainers between ABB and PWC on SOX documentation
• Part of the research team on Revenue Recognition Project and Research and Development Project
• Researched into the split of Real Estate revenues from Total Revenues

ABBNG (Nigeria) Financial Analyst                                                                                                                        04/05 – 09/05

Responsibilities:                           

• Involved in project controlling such as revenue recognition, analysis of cost on the project's, future cost, project cash flows, and problems faced on the projects
• Preparing reports to compare actual gross margins to pre-calculation gross margins, to ensure that project managers were aware of the financial performance of their projects and do not exceed the pre calculation costs
• Invoicing clients based on POC (Percentage of Completion) 
• Liaising with project managers to determine work done in order to raise invoices acceptable to clients
• Reviewing contracts to ensure they fit to International Federation of Consulting Engineer and ABB requirements
• Preparing controllers comments on the monthly management report, and preparation of key data analysis for CFO
• Review of sub-ledger accounts, and reconciling differences to the general ledger control accounts ●     Reporting of financial data
• Member of the SOX implementation team and process owner for provision and accruals
• Ensuring that SOX implementation was in line with the global timetable
• Part of the budget team 
• Creating service level agreements for cost centers
• Preparing a 5 quarterly forecast and documenting the process

Deloitte UK - Qualified Assistant 08/02 - 04/05         

EDUCATION & COURSES 

• 2020                              Thayer Leadership ( Value – Driven – Leadership)
• 2019                              GREIF Advanced Coaching Training, Amsterdam 
• 2015                                   MAN Leadership Training, Dubai 
• 2014                               Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants
• 2011                                   Institute for Management Development (IMD) Switzerland   
• 2011                                Country Management Development Program (ABB), Abu Dhabi 
• 2010                               Risk Management Training (ABB) Dubai 
• 2007                               Duke University (Leading for Results) US 
• 2006                               Sarbanes Oxley Management (ABB/PWC) US 
• 2003                                   ACCA 1st time passes (Full Membership) UK 
• 2003                               BSc  (Hons) in Applied Accounting Oxford Brookes University UK 
• 2001                               Webster University MA Finance UK 
• 1999                                   BA Economics Richmond University UK