Nigeria's Financial Sector:
The Untapped Potential of Nigeria’s Financial Sector
date
June 2024
by
Research and Intelligence team
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date
June 2024
by
Research and Intelligence Team
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The financial services market in Africa was estimated at US$150 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$230 billion by 2025, according to McKinsey & Company[1]. The industry has experienced tremendous growth, driven by internet penetration, increasing smartphone ownership and a growing urban population. Across countries on the continent, trends toward digitalization were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic as many businesses and consumers increasingly adopted online channels to transact. Changes caused by the pandemic are expected to last longer and will continue to influence the financial service market in the next few years.

Nigeria’s financial services sector is among the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. The sector consists of financial institutions such as commercial banks, micro-finance banks, investment banks, insurance companies, and development finance institutions. In recent years, there has been a significant change in the sector’s structure, especially with the rise of financial technology (fintech) firms, which leverage technology and innovation to provide solutions that address the needs of the Nigerian market…

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Stanley Evans MBE
Director

Stan’s impressive career showcases his global leadership and a strong commitment to establishing successful businesses abroad. With over 20 years of experience in commercial leadership, Stan has effectively overseen assembly, manufacturing, and distribution operations across Africa and Asia.

He is a successful entrepreneur who received an MBE from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 for his contributions to British Business Overseas. A trusted advisor in Africa to private and public sector leaders, for the past 12 years, he has chaired the British Business Group in Nigeria, the second-largest business group globally and the largest networking organisation in Nigeria. He has also established chapters in India.

In 2019, Stan held the position of Chief Commercial Officer and Sales Director for Boulos Enterprises Limited in Nigeria. Before this, he was the Managing Director for Porsche India, leading the market entry strategy and establishment of Porsche dealerships in Mumbai, Chennai, and New Delhi. In 2008, he was MCL’s Operations Director, an ITOCHU Japan division. Before that, in 2002, he was the Operations Director and co-founder of Braylake Car Company.

Stan holds dual citizenship from the UK and Ireland and is fluent in English with working knowledge of Hindi, Welsh, Irish, and French. He thrived in diverse environments and was educated at Heronswood School and Turnford College in Medical Electronics.

Ola Adebowale
Co-founder

Ola is a seasoned energy leader with over 20 years of experience driving success in complex, fast-paced environments across the US, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. His role as CEO & board member of VOE and affiliated companies is built on a solid foundation established at leading Dresser-Rand Siemens (Sub-Sahara Africa Managing Director), General Electric Nigeria (Managing Director), and other Executive positions held with GE in the US.

Ola is a skilled negotiator and an expert in deal structuring; his expertise spans Oil and Gas, Energy, Aviation and industrial business sectors. He has a proven track record of exceeding P&L targets, building partnerships, structuring organisations, incubating new ventures, and managing new service/product lifecycles. His focus on business transformation ideologies continues to translate to lasting values in organisations with which he is associated.

Ola is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt; He holds a BSC in Industrial, Manufacturing, & Information Engineering from Morgan State University and a Masters in Executive Business Management from Liberty University. He was born in the US, with strong cultural ties to Africa; he strongly advocates local content development.

Ola will chair Idyha’s CSR Leadership Engagement committee to ensure they remain a responsible corporate social citizen.

Rob Taiwo
Co-founder &
Managing Partner

Rob is a strategic business leader and board advisor with specialist experience in delivering successful corporate turnaround strategies across Africa and Europe. He has worked with major clients in investment banking, consulting, venture capital/private equity, FMCG, and government. In 2021, The Guardian Nigeria newspaper named him one of the country’s most impactful CEOs.

Until 2024, Rob served as Managing Director of Phillips Consulting Nigeria, the largest independent consulting firm in West Africa, with 14,000 group employees. Under his leadership, the company achieved consistent year-on-year profit and revenue growth. In 2023, he led the $MM international fundraising and due diligence for one of Africa’s most dynamic Startups.

In 2017, Rob was a Director at Diageo Nigeria. In 2009, he founded Whitespace Advisory, a strategy consulting firm in the UK. He also held senior management positions in strategy, transformation, and technology at Capgemini Consulting in the UK and France and Commerzbank Securities in Germany and the UK.

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, with periods growing up in Nigeria, he lectures at Pan African Business School, Nigeria, on Strategy Execution and Leadership in Africa and was a guest mentor on the Warwick Business School Strategy case study.

He graduated from Harvard Business School’s Private Equity and Venture Capital programme and holds an MBA from Warwick Business School.

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