FBN Holdings announces new board appointments

THE FBN Holdings plc has announced the appointments of Seni Adetu and Mrs. Juliet Anammah as Independent Non-Executive directors. The bank also appointed Otu Hughes as a Non-Executive director.

The appointments are however subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Disclosing the appointments, the Group Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc, Dr. Oba Otudeko, CFR, said, “On behalf of the board, management and staff of FBNHoldings, I am delighted to welcome the trio of Seni Adetu, Mrs. Juliet Anammah and Otu Hughes to the FBNHoldings board as they bring on board their combined professional experience and expertise of over 97 years, cutting across various industries and institutions of global repute.”

“I am certain that these rich experiences will have immediate and long-term impact on the group and its subsidiaries across Africa and beyond,” he added further.

Adetu, a former Managing Director/CEO Guinness Nigeria Plc, has 35 years of private sector experience garnered at the highest levels primarily with John Holt Plc, Coca-Cola International and Diageo (Guinness) Plc in various countries within and outside Africa. He holds a first degree in Chemical Engineering and Master’s in Business Administration (with specialisation in Marketing), both from the University of Lagos. He was at various times Marketing Director Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd, Managing Director of Coca-Cola, and the first African Managing Director/CEO and Executive Vice Chairman of Guinness Ghana Plc.

In 2009, Adetu was appointed Group Managing Director/CEO East African Breweries (EABL), the biggest company in East Africa, based in Kenya, during which time he was named Runner-up Forbes/CNBC CEO of the Year 2012 in East Africa.  He was subsequently appointed MD/CEO of Guinness Nigeria Plc and Executive Chairman Diageo Brands Nigeria thus, again becoming the first Nigerian in nearly 20 years to lead that company. Adetu has had working stints in Hungary and the UK and has been exposed to various high-profile leadership courses globally including at the prestigious Harvard Business School.

He has served on the boards of various multinational companies in both Executive and Non-Executive capacity in Nigeria and abroad and was until recently an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Fidelity Bank Plc and Non-Executive Director at APT Pensions Ltd among others.

Anammah, also appointed Independent Non-executive Director,  is Chairwoman Jumia Nigeria & Head of Institutional Affairs Jumia Group. Jumia is the largest eCommerce platform in Africa and the first African Tech start-up to be listed on the NYSE

She is an experienced executive with over 28 years of professional experience including over seven years at Partner/Chief Executive level.

Before her current role, she was the CEO of Jumia Nigeria. Prior to joining Jumia, Juliet spent 16 years at Accenture and was the Partner managing Accenture’s Consumer Goods Practice in West Africa.

Juliet also serves on Corporate and non-profit Boards in a non-executive capacity. She is currently on the Boards of Flour Mills of Nigeria and APT Pensions as Independent non-executive member, and an EXCO member of Consultative Action Group for the Poor (CGAP) a not for profit agency funded by the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and several Bilaterial/ Multilateral agencies. 

Hughes, also, has over 25 years’ experience in operations and strategy, principal investment, mergers and acquisition as well as capital raising in both the US and Sub-Saharan Africa. He started his career in 1993 with Lehman Brothers, providing strategic and financial advisory services to government entities and companies in privatisation and empowerment issues, notably Brazil (power and mining), Ghana (mining), South Africa (empowerment programmes), amongst others.