Our Woman Crush Wednesday, Adebola Sanni is the go-to person for your business needs. She is not only a seasoned and innovative business management professional, but one with multi-faceted skills which cut across business analysis, business development, product development, strategy development, sales, and marketing.
Equipped with an analytical and tactical understanding of business needs, Adebola integrates technological solutions to streamline processes, improve efficiency and drive revenue growth. She is pioneering in new product development and solutions designed to meet the demands of the digital age, with sound knowledge of e-commerce, multi-device payment, financial solutions, applications, and emerging new technologies.
Currently, she serves as the Group Head, Business Development and Partnership for Swifta Systems and Services Limited. In this role, she builds, manages, and motivates teams to work collaboratively in contributing to business growth and achieving overall business objectives. With an excellent information technology background, she has a deep understanding of core banking systems, telecommunication systems, mobile financial service systems, and enterprise payment solutions.
Adebola has a rich profile. She is also an in-depth experienced Partner Manager, who can build and maintain strong business relationships at all levels of partner engagement. As an advocate for financial inclusion across sub-Saharan Africa, she recently led the engagement with NoMap (a collaboration between Shell Foundation and USAID) to address the current difficulties faced by Solar Home Systems (SHS) companies in collecting payment from unbanked customers. This is not all there is to Adebola. She led the engagement with Shell Foundation to increase access to electricity for low-income and remote consumers by reducing market barriers in payment which led to job creation for people in the communities and the provision of free wifi within some of the communities during the covid period.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Covenant University and a master’s degree in Information Technology from the University of Lagos. She is a member of several professional bodies including the Project Management Institute, a certified project manager (PMP) and a business analyst (CBAP).
Adebola gives back to society through mentorship on the Women in Management, Business, and Public Service (WIMBIZ) platform. She is also a member of an
invite-only African Women in Fintech and Payments (AWFP); and has been recognized by All-On ( Shell Foundation company), USAID, IFC and World Bank with exclusive invitations to investor forums and industry events including the Women in Power launch by Future Energy Nigeria.
Some of her achievements include being selected as one of the few leaders by the Central Bank of Nigeria to join the Financial Inclusion Working Group (hosted quarterly by the Financial Inclusion Secretariat of CBN) where key decisions and deliberations regarding policies and guidelines are discussed. She was also recognised as a thought leader in technology by TechCabal (a future-focused publication that provides deep insight into startups, innovation, and technology in Africa), and asked to speak at the launch of their second Townhall programme along with other leaders. She also became the WomenTech Global Ambassador and a panelist for the Lagos Fintech Week event and a masterclass speaker at the CommAvenue.
As a serial achiever, Adebola has also pioneered a key technology in the payment space for the renewable energy sector. Her other activities include co-hosting webinars with Google to educate businesses on remote working and other business values. Adebola was selected as part of the team for Digital Startup Accelerator (Nigeria edition) by Forbes. She has also recognised by over 40 news outlets as a major contributor and leader in financial inclusion and energy access space.
From the foregoing, Adebola has so much going for that many ladies would want to identify with. We find her works impressive and impactful that is why she is our ideal woman crush.