Follow Us on Google
Seven years ago when Mrs Ibukun Awosika was appointed the first female Chairman of First Bank Nigeria Plc, it was hailed as a game-changer. At that time, women were still struggling to break into blue chip company boardrooms across the developed world. But Awosika’s choice to head the board of Nigeria’s biggest and largest financial institution at that point in time was seen as a landmark. Awosika paved the way for more banks to repose confidence in more female high-flyers to sit at the driving seat of many banks’ boards.
Since then, she has had a lot of success as a member of the Nigerian Corporate community. While proud of her achievements as entrepreneur and investor, Awosika is prouder of her work off the boardroom— helping people, especially those at the lower end of the pyramid, to enhance their lives. And she has been deliberate about choosing the organisations she works with. Few years ago, the social visionary made a decision that any of the boards she will serve must fall into those she sees as developmental boards. This must have fuelled her decision to accept to be on the board of ‘d.light’, one of the leading innovators in the distribution of solar energy.
In 2019, Awosika became the Chairman of the 16 year-old global company founded by two young men —a Canadian and an American who met at Stanford Business School— to create solutions that are sustainable and earth-friendly. As part of her responsibilities as the chair of the board, the Nigerian boardroom maven —deeply admired for her work as an advocate for women’s rights and social change— has been leading the company on its mission of impacting millions of lives in over 70 countries around the globe.
Awosika has been a catalyst in accelerating d.light’s future impact of finding solutions that would change people’s lives. And as of last year 2021, the company has hit 125 million impacts especially in the area of alternative energy.
