Accenture Nigeria MD appointed as Vice-Chairperson of NESG board
Niyi Yusuf – the Country Managing Director of Accenture Nigeria – is one of two non-executive members of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) board to have now been appointed as a vice-chairperson, the other being the Managing Director/CEO at Siemens Nigeria Onyeche Tifase.
The NESG was founded in 1996, conceptualised as a non-profit and neutral but nevertheless private-sector organisation, with the broad objective of promoting the liberalisation and privatisation of the Nigerian economy to make it globally competitive, building on its current position as the largest economy in Africa. To this end, the group conducts in-depth research, and arranges seminars to promote dialogue around the cause of privatisation.
The group’s primary outlet is the Nigerian Economic Summit, which takes place every year and is attended by senior representatives of the government as well as the private sector. Discussions are essentially comprised of progress reports for economic reforms and solutions to the barriers identified therein.
The senior leadership of the group is now witnessing a reshuffle, as the incumbent Vice-Chairmen of the board Sola David-Borha and Nico Vervelde makeway for Nigerian industry leaders Niyi Yusuf and Onyeche Tifase.
Yusuf has nearly three decades of experience in the professional services sector, having begun as an IT specialist and having been appointed a Semi Senior at then Big Five accounting and advisory firm Arthur Andersen fairly early in his career. He joined Accenture in 1995, and has made his way up the ladder over the last two decades.
Within the project management and delivery domain, Yusuf has been responsible for the implementation of several projects for the strategy consulting firm over the years, spanning the manufacturing, oil & gas, banking, insurance, and public sectors. He was made a senior executive at the firm in 2009 and subsequently Country Managing Director of Accenture Nigeria in 2010.
Of similar calibre, Tifase is currently the Managing Director/CEO at Siemens in Nigeria, where she has worked since 2009. She graduated with an MPhil in Electrical Engineering from Cambridge University, and has also worked with Accenture for a period of three years at the early stages of her professional career.
During her time at Siemens, TIfase has been the Head of Infrastructure and Cities, the Head of the Low & Medium Voltage Division, and the General Manager at the firm, before she was promoted to her current position at the helm of the firm in 2014.
The two senior executives are set to become representative of their industries’ interests, alongside the first Vice-Chairperson Asue Igholado, serving under the Chairman of the BESG board Kyari Bukar. Going forth, the group will focus on how better to achieve economic growth and ensure that its benefits are properly distributed.