Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc has announced changes in its board of directors as it appointed Mrs Bolarin Okunowo as Managing Director and Dr Zitus Ezinwa as Non-Executive Director.
The announcement, which is to take effect on March 21, 2020, was made known in a statement signed by Ayomipo Wey, the Company’s Secretary/Legal Adviser and made available to the investing public.
Okunowo’s profile: Mrs Bolarin Okunowo had previously served as a Non-Executive Director of the company. She is a seasoned finance and investment specialist with over 15 years of experience in a range of finance roles including debt advisory, debt finance, corporate finance, principal investments and financial management.
Okunowo joined UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN) in October 2018 and served as UACN’s Investment Executive responsible for managing the company’s investments in its industrial businesses (Paints, logistics and real estate). In her role as an Investment Executive, Okunowo was responsible for working with management teams to shape strategy and deliver commercial outcomes.
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She has also worked as Stanbic IBTC Capital‘s Head, Energy & Infrastructure Finance where she handled oil and gas, power and infrastructure debt finance portfolio, among many other responsibilities.
Before joining Stanbic, the new MD worked at Asset & Resource Management Company (ARM). Okunowo worked with an investment banking team at ARM, pioneering work on the company’s Hospitality & Retail Fund, as well as executed a host of financial advisory mandates across multiple sectors including infrastructure, government (PPP), aviation, real estate, and many other vital sectors.
Prior to joining ARM, Okunowo worked at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), providing audit services to the firm’s financial service clients.
Okunowo’s qualifications speak for her. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant, with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Birmingham UK and a Master’s degree in Information Systems from the prestigious London School of Economics.
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Ezinwa’s profile: Dr Vitus Ezinwa is currently the Group Human Resources Director at UACN. He is a seasoned business manager and human resource professional with experience in leading multinational corporations.
Prior to joining UACN, Ezinwa worked as Group Human Resource Director for Promasidor Africa; Human Resources Director for Coca-Cola Nigeria & Equatorial Africa with responsibility for 10 countries and Human Resources Director for British American Tobacco, West & Central Africa covering Ghana, Benin, Niger & Togo.
Ezinwa was until recently the Group Human Resource Director for Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Afterschool Graduate Development Centre, member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) UK. He is a co-founder and Director of HR Network Africa and was until 2014, a member of the Lagos Business School’s Advisory Board.
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The new Non-Executive Director holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Anthropology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and an MBA in Management from Lagos Business school. He also holds a Masters Degree in Applied Business research and a Doctorate in Business Administration both from Swiss Business school, Zurich, Switzerland. He joined UACN in November 2018 as the Group Human Resources Director. In addition to sitting on the board of UACN, Ezinwa is a Non-executive Director of Grand Cereals Limited.
