Bola Adesola is the Senior Vice-Chairman, Africa at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to this appointment, she was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and West Africa. Bola was an Executive Director at First Bank of Nigeria Plc and Managing Director of Kakawa Discount House, Nigeria. She also worked in Citibank in senior leadership roles in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Bola has over 31 years banking experience and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School, where she is the immediate past-President of the Alumni Association. Bola holds a Law degree from the University of Buckingham, UK and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, U.K. and Nigeria.

She is an Honorary Fellow and former Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria, a founding Trustee of Financial Markets Dealers Association, and has served on the boards of Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems Plc and the Financial Institutions Training Centre. Bola is also past Chair of the Bankers’ Committee sub-Committee on Economic Development, Sustainability and Gender (Nigeria). She is also a member of the Institute of Directors and of Women Corporate Directors.

Bola’s keen interest in FinTech led to her appointment on the Board of Trustees of the FinTech Association of Nigeria.
In 2001, Bola co-founded Women in Management, Business and Public service (WIMBIZ), now Nigeria’s foremost and highly respected gender-oriented network for women, with global affiliations and she currently serves on the WIMBIZ Board of Trustees.

In 2015, she was appointed to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Board by the UN Secretary General and as Co Vice-Chair of the Board in February 2018.

Bola is married and is the proud mother of twin girls. She is an avid reader, extensively travelled, and an art enthusiast.