NIGERIAN BREWERIES APPOINTS TWO DIRECTORS

 

 

Nigerian Breweries

WorldStage Newsonline-- Nigerian Breweries Plc has notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange of the appointment of Dr. Obadiah Mailafia and Mrs. Ndidi O. Nwuneli (MFR) as directors.

Mailafia is a career economist, banker and international development specialist with over 25 years’ experience; currently Chief of Staff of the 80-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States based in Brussels, Belgium. Also an Associate Fellow of the United Nations University Institute for Regional Studies in Bruges, and a Visiting Scholar/Professor at the Faculty of Applied Economics of the Frije Universiteit Brussels (The Free University of Brussels). In his capacity as Chef de Cabinet, he is the most senior advisor to the Secretary-General and coordinates the mainline departments and portfolio of €22 billion of EU funding for ACP countries under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) and €31.5 billion for the 11th EDF covering the years 2014-2020.

He began his career as an academic, teaching in Nigeria, Oxford and London before joining the African Development (ADB) Group in Abidjan and, later, Tunis. He is a recipient of the President Mamoun Beheiry Prize for outstanding contributions to the Bank’s strategic management turnaround and was later appointed Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, with responsibility for economic policy, comprising monetary policy, foreign exchange operations, capital markets, management of foreign reserves, research, statistics, and international institutions.

In addition, Dr. Mailafia was responsible for coordinating with the Federal Ministry of Finance and other MDAs on issues of fiscal policy, budgeting, revenue mobilisation and tax administration. He was later transferred from CBN to the Presidency as Special Adviser to the President on Economic and Policy Matters; being also a member of the Economic Management Team (EMT). After he left government he was appointed UNDP Technical Adviser to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, in which capacity he designed a new financing framework for the agricultural sector, including structuring the $500 million bond for the agriculture sector. Dr. Mailafia was also the Founder/Chairman of the Centre for Policy and Economic Research (CEPER), an independent macroeconomic policy think tank. Graduated top of his class with a B.Sc. Social Sciences Honours degree in Economics, Politics and, Sociology from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1978. Won a scholarship to France, where he earned the Diplôme (M. Phil equivalent) in International Economics from the IIAP-École national d’administration, Paris. He was subsequently Foreign and Commonwealth Officer Scholar at Oriel College, Oxford University, where he completed his DPhil (doctor of philosophy) specialising in Economics of Development/International Relations. Dr. Mailafia has excellent analytical, leadership and administrative skills and speak fluent English and French, with elementary Portuguese, Arabic, German and Spanish.

Mrs. Nwuneli on the other hand graduated from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania at 20 and got her MBA at 23 from the Harvard Business School. Following her early years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, Ndidi returned to Nigeria to fulfil her passion of promoting entrepreneurship and leadership development. She served as the pioneer executive director of the FATE Foundation from 2000, and then established LEAP Africa and NIA in 2002 and 2003 respectively. NIA empowers female university students to achieve their highest potential in life while LEAP Africa provides leadership, ethics and management training and coaching for youth, business owners, social entrepreneurs and the public sector. LEAP also conducts leadership research and has published numerous books including: Defying the Odds: Case Studies of Nigerian Companies that have Survived Generations, A Toolkit for Business Leadership, Get on Board: A practical guide to building High-impact Boards of Directors, Rage for Change: A Practical Guide for Young Nigerians who Desire to Make a Difference and Building a Culture of Ethics: A Practical Guide for Leaders in the African Public, Private and Non-Profit Sectors.

Ndidi is also the managing partner of the African Alliance for Capital Expansion (AACE) and has provided policy, start-up and advisory services to the World Bank, IFC, DFID, Ford Foundation, Oxfam International, UCAD, and the Center for Middle East Competitive Strategy, the Nigerian Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Development.

Ndidi has received numerous honors and awards. In 2003 she was recognized as a Global Leader of Tomorrow and Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Ndidi was recognized as the Young Manager of the Year 2005 by THISDAY Newspapers. She has also received a National Honor, Member of the Federal Republic, from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and an Excellence Award from the Africa Business Club at Harvard Business School in 2007.