Sheila Azuntaba
Managing Director
- Maintains close working relationships with regulator, financial institutions, top multinationals and government in Africa with institutions such as Citigroup, Ecobank Ghana, Citibank Kenya, Microfinance Institution Ghana and Citibank Kenya .
- As a senior manager in investment banking, she gained extensive knowledge of both the political and corporate landscape across the West African region, the peculiarities and cultural influences, the need for a balanced relationship between the public and private sector.
- Her lobbying skills developed while working with the various government agencies.
Sheila Azuntaba Prior to setting up Innovative Finance Ltd (now Innovative Microfinance Ltd), Sheila Azuntaba was an Assistant Vice President of Citigroup’s Global Transaction Services Unit in Nigeria where she was responsible for the marketing and sales unit. In her role, she developed the various marketing and sales models, new products and services and tailored them to suit the Nigerian market. This meant maintaining close working relationships with the regulator, other financial institutions, top multinationals and the government Right after business school, and before moving to Nigeria, Sheila joined Ecobank Ghana Ltd as a Banking relationship manager in their commercial banking unit before moving on to join Citibank Kenya where she rose to senior manager in their corporate and investment banking.
Having worked as an investment banker in these different African countries, and now as a founder and CEO of a Microfinance Institution, she had extensive knowledge of both the political and corporate landscape across the West African region, the peculiarities and cultural influences, not to mention the importance of ensuring the need for a balanced relationship between the public and private sector. In her current position, she works alongside industry experts, partners, regulators and peers which has further afforded her enormous knowledge/reasons into why developing countries are still grappling with issues with development and job/wealth creation for a continent endowed the best natural resources.
As a former Miss Ghana (1996) and being passionate about empowering the less fortunate helped her develop her lobbying skills working with the various government agencies in charge of women’s human rights issues and children’s especially the girl-child related issues. This together with other charitable causes, led her to work with the office of the then first lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings to roll out a nationwide program for the aged, women and children under the 31st of December women’s movement agenda. Her experience in originating and executing various deals and developing relationships with top tier corporate’s, in West and East Africa has provided her with valuable industry insight and experience. Sheila has an MBA in Finance from The Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow and a BA (hons) in marketing from the University of Westminster, London.