Minister of Finance
Nigeria
Kemi Adeosun was appointed the Honourable Minister of Finance (FMoF), Nigeria in November, 2015. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Sector Financial Management from the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) and a BSc Hons Degree in Applied Economics from University of East London. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW) and has twenty-two (22) years post qualification experience. She is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Nigeria (ICAN). She has attended various Executive Management Programmes including courses in Strategic Leadership at the prestigious Wharton Business School. She currently serves as a member of the Investments Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.
Kemi was born and brought up in London, where she spent thirty-six (36) years of her life. She is a seasoned finance professional with over twenty-five (25) years of experience gained in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Her expertise spans through Audit, Risk, Management Consultancy, Investment Banking Pensions Administration and Public Sector Financial Management. She has held senior roles in various institutions including British Telecom Plc and PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK. In Nigeria, she joined the Chapel Hill Denham Group in 2002 as Financial Controller and rose to become Managing Director until her resignation in 2010 to start her own consultancy – The Quo Vadis Partnership.
Prior to her appointment as the Honourable Minister of Finance, she was the Honourable Commissioner for Finance, Ogun State, one of Nigeria’s fastest growing States and the first woman to hold that position. She was instrumental to Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s Mission to rebuild the State, which led to its economic turnaround. Kemi is credited with aggressive growth of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by over 500% using a range of innovative structures. Her achievements include pioneering the introduction of the Centralized Treasury System (Treasury Single Account) in 2011, culminating in significant fund recovery and reduced cost of borrowing in the State. She also spearheaded the Residency Rule campaign which resulted in over 100,000 additional taxpayers who worked outside the State, remitting their taxes to Ogun State rather than the State of their employment and was also a key part of the Homeowner’s Charter Project which attracted over 200,000 applicants, increased IGR and supported the State’s Urban Renewal Initiatives.
Kemi is passionate about financial empowerment for women and it is a subject on which she writes and speaks extensively. In 2009, she was invited to speak at the Global Summit for Women in Chile. Prior to her foray into the public service, Kemi authored a popular weekly personal finance column aimed at women published in This Day Style Magazine.