Aku Odinkemelu

Lagos, Nigeria

Aku Odinkemelu is a highly skilled and experience Executive Director, Non Executive Director, Board Member, Audit, Risk & Finance Committee Chair, Credit Committee Chair and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIarb), Nigeria & Uk with over fifteen years of board level experience with expertise in the Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Oil & Gas and Education sectors.

Successfully led and managed organizational change and renewal including mergers and acquisitions in three (3) key financial institutions while simultaneously driving corporate governance compliance and growth.

Currently serving as a Non Executive Director and Chair of Board Credit Committee at

Polaris Bank Ltd; an Independent Non Executive Board Member and Chair of Board Risk and Audit Committee at Librod Energy/ Nord Oil APS & Energy Services; Board of Trustees Member at Spiritan University Nneochi and Board Member and Chair, Audit and Finance Committee at Jesuit Memorial College Port Harcourt.

Key Transactions

I was a member of the Board Audit and Risk Committee representing my organization at the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System and Member of the Board Credit and Risk Committees at Guaranty Trust Assurance. In an executive capacity, as the Executive Director, South Directorate at Fidelity Bank, I led it to become the most profitable in the bank, contributing over 23% of the total bank profit and I was a key member of the team that raised $400M Euro bond at investor roadshows in London & the USA.
I was a General Manager at Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Here I developed effective business planning, successfully steered my directorate out of very dire environment and socio-political upheaval/challenges that totally disrupted our business, grew the business in over ten states, and increased the balance sheet size to N100B.
As the Deputy General Manager at Access Bank, I grew the business in my region from N200M to N2.5B and expanded the network from one to seven branches.

Qualifications

Women on Board: Succeeding as a Corporate Director, Executive Education, Harvard Business School.
Cyber Security Programme, Bank Directors Association of Nigeria
Training on Robotics, Cryptocurrency, Artificial Intelligence, Microsoft
New development in the FINTECH ecosystem
NSEAD's Leading Digital Marketing Strategy
Contemporary issues in AML/CFT and Sustainable Banking Principles
McGill Executive Leadership Experience, McGill University, Canada
CBN/FITC's Continuous Education Programme for Bank Director
Dual Executive MBA, IMD Business School, Switzerland and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China
Executive Education, Women in Leadership, Colombia Business School
Mastering Innovation: From Idea to Value Creation, Wharton, University of Pennsylvania
Advanced Management Programme (AMP174), Harvard Business School
B.L – Nigerian Law School
LL.B. Hons, University of Nigeria

Certifications & Memberships

Member - Chartered Institute of Bankers UK & Nigeria
Member - Society for Corporate Governance of Nigeria (SCGN)
Member - Institute of Directors of Nigeria (IoD)
Member - Bank Directors Association of Nigeria
Member - Nigeria Bar Association (NBA)
Member - Ladies of Knights of Saint John International (KSJI)
Member - International Federation of Women Lawyers