Nigerian Breweries has announced the appointment of Dr. Obadiah Mailafia as a director in the company. The announcement was confirmed in a press release issued by the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Dr Mailafia boast of a remarkable resume spanning several international organizations, private and public as well as handling several official advisory positions in the Nigerian government. Even though stunning CV’s don’t necessarily guaranty a positive profitability growth for a company, it at least assures one of sound adherence to corporate governance. Here is an excerpt of his stunning CV.
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 20142020.
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.
