Adesola Sotande-Peters, our Woman Crush Wednesday, is a high-flying career woman who has etched her name in gold in different world-class industries, including banking and finance, telecommunications and information technology, maritime and FMCG/manufacturing.
In her current role as the Vice President, Finance Unilever Nigeria Plc and Unilever Ghana, she is responsible for the optimal allocation of the company’s resources in the planning and execution of the business strategy to create and maximise shareholders value across both markets. She achieves this through proactive strategic finance leadership.
As a thoroughbred professional, she sits on the board of Unilever Nigeria as an Executive Director and the boards of Unilever Ghana and Lonadek Nigeria Limited as a Non-Executive Director. Adesola lives by the mantra of leaving people and places better than she met them. This is visible in all her life associations. Not only has she kept a track record of excellence but she has broken records that earned her more recognition.
Her exceptional leadership skills changed the narratives of Unilever’s financial control agenda in Ghana and Nigeria. Being a people’s person, she uses her influence and position to mentor and coach her protegees. She is keen on raising the next generation of business leaders and pursues this as one of her life’s purposes.
One major highlight of her career is standing as the first Nigerian and first female Vice President, Finance in Unilever Nigeria’s almost centurial existence. When the manufacturing sector was adversely affected during Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis in 2015, Adesola led a series of strategies, chief of which was a ₦58.85 billion ($187 million) rights issue which was oversubscribed by 120%, and which was key in helping Unilever Nigeria Plc successfully navigate a crisis that drowned many other manufacturing companies and led to severe job losses. This singular move during the crisis earned her commendations from Unilever’s global CEO, Paul Polman. This multi-award winning career professional won the Great Place to Work Exceptional Female Leader Award 2019, CFO Awards – CFO of the Year (FMCG Category) 2017, and Unilever Finance Recognition Award 2016 to mention a few.
Adesola studied Business Administration & Economics at The American University in London (Richmond College) in 1995. She later obtained an MBA for Finance Professionals from the Manchester Business School, UK in 2008. Adesola is also an alumnus of programmes by the Lagos Business School, IE Business School, and INSEAD. She became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 2019 and is also a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Credit Administration (ICA).
Adesola is passionate about equal opportunities for women in the public and private sectors. To this end, she serves as an Advisory Board Member of Women on Boards (WIMBOARD) – an organisation committed to supporting women to achieve their full potential and making a significant contribution to national development. She is also on the board of Women in Manufacturing, Africa (WIMAFRICA) – an NGO that inspires women to grow, learn, share and inspire each other for the growth of the manufacturing sector and to promote female participation in manufacturing.
She is the Founder and Chairperson of Women Empowered for Leadership Advancement and Development (WELEAD), a non-profit aimed at empowering women to aspire and attain strong and influential leadership positions in the private and public sectors. WELEAD has recorded massive success under her leadership and has focused on programmes aimed at developing entrepreneurial and character capacity in girls and boys for the betterment of the society at large.
When she is not in the board room and not working, Adesola is either travelling, gardening or spending time with family. She is married with two children.
Adesola has proven that a woman can aspire and use her leadership position for problem-solving. As she continues to make a positive impact, she is a big inspiration to many and for this reason, we celebrate her all the way.