Andrew Alli
Chairman – Independent Non-Executive Director
Andrew Alli holds a B.Eng. in Electronics and Electrical Engineering, King’s College London, an MBA, INSEAD Business School and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
He is a business leader and institution builder with 35 years experience, of which 25 years has been investing in, and managing businesses in Africa. An institutional banker and investor that has been involved in well over USD 10 billion worth of investments in Africa.
In 2008, after a stint as the co-founder of a private equity fund, Andrew was appointed President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), which he led for ten years. Under his leadership, the AFC delivered over $4.5 billion in investments across 30 countries, becoming a leading African financier of infrastructure.
Andrew also has an extensive directorship experience, serving on the board of a number of organisations in various jurisdictions across two continents.
Andrew is a ferocious reader, avid traveller and music lover, with a particular interest in classical music and opera.
Patrick Crawford CB
Senior Independent Director
Patrick is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Gridworks Development Partners LLP, which invests in transmission, distribution and distributed renewable energy in Africa and which is wholly owned and supported by British International Investment, the UK Government’s development finance institution. He is a Non-Executive Director of the Private Infrastructure Development Group Limited (‘PIDG’), which is an infrastructure project developer and investor in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia and which is funded by six governments and the International Finance Corporation. He is also a member of the Alternative Investment Board of the Pearson Pension Fund and a Director of the Pearson Pension Property Fund; the Chair of The Caxton Trust, a UK educational charity; and the Honorary Treasurer of the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution.
Patrick has been Chief Executive of Charity Bank, a UK regulated deposit-taking bank with a social purpose, and of UK Export Finance, the UK Government’s export credit agency. Before that he was the managing director of Emerging Africa Advisers, the manager of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (now a PIDG entity). This followed twenty-six years in international export, project and trade finance at Morgan Grenfell & Co. Limited and Deutsche Bank AG London where he was a managing director and the global head of export and project finance.
Mfon Akpan
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mfon is a Big Four trained multi-disciplinary Risk, Assurance and Governance professional with over two decades of cross-border leadership experience spanning the financial services industry and beyond.
She has held specialist and leadership roles in Risk, Assurance and Governance at a number of blue-chip institutions, including: Barclays Group PLC, HSBC Group PLC, KPMG, Arthur Andersen, and in recent years – the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) as a Risk Management Specialist, and Standard Bank Group where she was the Chief Risk Officer and Regional Head of Risk for its operations in Nigeria and across West Africa, respectively, and a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Board Audit Committee for its stockbroking subsidiary in Nigeria. Her Big Four experience covered audit and business advisory, regulatory examinations, and consulting assignments in the financial services industry across sub-Saharan Africa.
Mfon is currently a Director at the UK National Audit Office where her remit includes influencing government’s (and its overseas territories’) financial and risk management practices.
She is a Sloan Fellow from the London Business School (LBS); a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA); a Certified Risk Manager (CRM); B.Sc. Accountancy graduate; a British Chevening Scholar; and has attended leadership and senior management courses at Wharton and Harvard Business Schools.
Catherine Raines
Independent Non-Executive Director
Dr. Catherine Raines is a transformational business leader and former senior diplomat, who has lived and worked across the globe: in the UK, USA, Sweden, and China.
In the first half of her career, she held various corporate leadership roles for AstraZeneca (AZ), starting out in a role as the first ever female production plant manager and culminating 20 years later as Vice President of Corporate Development (China), based in Shanghai (where she was also an executive member of the AZ (China) Board).
She went on to hold senior Prime-Ministerial appointments in public life, firstly as Director-General of UK Trade and Investment for Greater China (UKTI China) based in Beijing – a role in which she led the UK contribution to the so-called “Golden Era” of trade and investment between the two countries, increasing supported trade outcomes 12-fold inside 2 years.
Subsequently she was appointed global CEO of UKTI, leading 2,700 people in 108 countries – and overseeing the digital transformation of operational services. Later, after the Brexit referendum, Catherine supported the formation of the Department for International Trade (DIT), becoming a founder member of the DIT Board. She also sat on the Board of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
After leaving government, Catherine was appointed CEO of the Association of Foreign Banks: she led the AFB through the post-Brexit period, the COVID-19 pandemic and most recently the Russian banks sanctions.
Catherine currently sits on the Board of the State Bank of India (UK) Ltd., where she also chairs the Board Audit Committee. Her previous governance roles include Head of Group Corporate Audit worldwide for AZ; Chair of the Audit Committee and the NomRemCo for HM Land Registry; and Chair of the Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee for the British Army.
Catherine holds a first-class honours degree in pharmacy, a PhD in chemical engineering (both from London) and an Honorary Doctorate from Keele. Catherine is married and has two grown up sons.
Dr. Catherine L. Raines PhD FRSA DUni (Hon. Causa)
Tosin Adewuyi
Non-Executive Director
Tosin Adewuyi is the Executive Director, Corporate Banking Directorate at FirstBank Nigeria. Prior to this appointment, Tosin was FirstBank UK’s Executive Director and Head of Business Development, a role he occupied when he joined FirstBank in 2017. Tosin was also Group Executive, Corporate Banking, FirstBank before his appointment as Executive Director. Under his leadership, the Corporate Banking Franchise at FirstBank has achieved significant growth in assets and net revenue and taken a market leading position. Tosin was able to help reposition the Business and portfolio of FirstBank UK, in line with the FirstBank Group’s revised strategy for the UK Franchise.
Tosin pioneered collaborations between FirstBank, FirstBank UK and the African Subsidiaries via the Global Account Management Program (GAM) and is responsible for ensuring growth across the Bank’s Corporate Client base. Tosin is the Chairman, Synergy Champions Forum, FBN Holdings and Senior Executive Sponsor of the Future Forward Initiative at FirstBank, pulling together all the Millennials’ employed by FirstBank.
Tosin is an International Banker with over has over 25 years’ experience covering Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 15 of those spent in Senior Management roles. He joined FirstBank from J. P. Morgan, where he was a Managing Director and the Head of its Nigeria Business for eight years. In this role, he led the execution of J.P. Morgan’s strategy for Nigeria and managed key Client relationships including the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Finance, Debt Management Office, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, and top-tier Nigerian Banks and Corporates. In addition to his role in Nigeria, he was also the Head of Treasury Services (Cash Management and Trade) for Sub-Saharan Africa. Tosin was a member of the J.P. Morgan EMEA Diversity Committee and one of the senior members of the Black Organization for Leadership Development.
Prior to J.P. Morgan, he worked at Standard Bank London Limited for six years and qualified as a Certified Chartered Accountant during the four years he worked at KPMG before the commencement of his banking career. Tosin is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and he has a BA (Hons) in Economics and Accounting from the University of Manchester. He is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and was on the 2012 Power List as one of the Top 100 Influential Black People in UK.
Olukorede Adenowo
Chief Executive Officer
Olukorede Adenowo (K.O) was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria until he resumed his role at FirstBank UK in November 2023. He had previously served as MD/CEO for Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Gambia (with Senegal responsibility), DMD/ DCEO for SCB Cameroon, Managing Director Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking for Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and West Africa. K.O has also served as Non-Executive Director of SCB Gambia and SCB Sierra Leone, Vice President of the Gambia Bankers Association and Trustee of the Institute of Bankers of Gambia.
He has a total of 36 years post-university experience in Banking, Finance and Consulting and was conferred with the 2015 Distinguished Alumni award by Deloitte Nigeria and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 2003.
In his penultimate role as Africa Co-Head Financial Institutions (FI) and Public Sector business for SCB, K.O provided strong leadership in building and managing key strategic FI relationships across West Africa. He worked closely with several Banks and Governments across the region in advising them on accessing international capital markets and ultimately improving the banks visibility in Public Sector for business success and growth in an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. He has served as Managing Director, Origination and Client Corporates for Standard Chartered Bank, West4 and Director in Wholesale Banking in Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria. He was appointed the first Regional Head of Global Corporates for Standard Chartered Africa where he led the Africa Multinational business.
He was a founding staff of SCB Nigeria and has held other positions in Standard Chartered Bank Group in the last 24 years. He has worked in Societe Generale Bank Nigeria and Deloitte Nigeria, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1990.
David Davis
Deputy CEO & CFO
David Davis is an Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of FirstBank UK. He has responsibility for overseeing the Finance, Treasury & Markets functions of the Bank. David performed the role of interim CEO from April to November 2023 with an expanded remit to manage the Bank’s business operations, resources and administration ensuring the right balance between growth and operational resilience in full compliance with all regulatory requirements.
Before joining FirstBank UK, David held senior finance positions whilst working with Standard Chartered for over 16 years at Group Finance in UK and as Country CFO in UAE, Botswana and Gambia. David is an accomplished banker with extensive experience in banking and financial services.
He has built and maintained strong professional relations with regulators, chairman and board of directors in developing and implementing strategic plans, drive and deliver performance improvement, effectively manage capital and liquidity and optimise the Bank’s balance sheet. David has vast experience and exposure to the UK regulatory environment and has led and directed the Bank’s ICAAP and ILAAP processes for several years.
David has over the years developed an impactful leadership style with a reputation of getting things done. He collaborates well with colleagues across the Bank and has built a strong team of professionals across the Finance, Treasury and Markets divisions. David is a Chartered Certified Accountant, holds a BSc (Hons) Economics degree from the London School of Economics, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Henley Business School and an MBA from Oxford Brookes University.
He enjoys traveling, reading and playing golf. He also serves on various charity boards with focus on African art & culture, education and entrepreneurship.
Lekan Adelekan
Executive Director, Head of Business Development
Lekan Adelekan is FirstBank UK’s Executive Director-Business and has the direct responsibility of overseeing and implementing the Business Strategy of the Bank across all its origination and clientele base. Prior to his appointment with FirstBank UK Ltd, he spent the last 10 years of his career with the Parent Commercial Banking Group (First Bank of Nigeria Limited) as a Senior Management Staff where he was responsible for the Oil & Gas businesses of the Bank, covering four key energy hubs (Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bonny and Abuja) and driving business synergies across the Banking Group presence countries in the UK, China, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and DR Congo. Prior to joining FirstBank of Nigeria Ltd in 2011, he had worked with Zenith Bank, Access Bank and First City Monument Bank where he managed various Projects, Structured Commodity Finance and Relationships for Multinational Corporates and Commercial Clients.
Lekan is a seasoned banker with over 24 years’ experience covering Operations, Cash Management, Public Sector, Retail, Commercial and Corporate Banking businesses. His skill sets involve Origination & Client Coverage, Risk Management, Trades & Structured Commodity Finance and Portfolio Remediation. He has led and participated in several Asset Acquisition via Bi-Lateral and Syndicated Financing Arrangements as well as Tombstone Corporate and Project Finance structures in Gas To Liquid (GTL) and Infrastructural Developments within and outside Nigeria.
Lekan is an Alumni of The University of Ibadan, Nigeria where he graduated with First Class Honours in Agronomy. He also holds a Master of Science in Management (MSc) from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He is a Fellow of the Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMA), an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN)- ACIB, an Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)- ACA and a member of the Energy Institute of the UK. He has attended several Executive Management and Leadership courses including “BOS” at INSEAD, University of Michigan Ross and Cornell University.