Kemi Adeosun (born 9 March 1967) is the former

Finance Minister of Nigeria The Minister of Finance of Nigeria is a senior cabinet official in the Nigerian Federal Executive Council. The Finance Minister's directs the Nigerian Ministry of Finance and ensures that it operates in a transparent, accountable and efficient ma ...

and former chairman of the Board of

African Export–Import Bank African Export–Import Bank, also referred to as Afreximbank, is a pan-African multilateral trade finance institution created in 1993 under the auspices of the African Development Bank. It is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Afreximbank's visi ...

(AfreximBank).

Early life and education

Adeosun Kemi was born on 9 March 1967 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

parents, both who hails from

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

.Her Father was government civil Engineer and she was the third child of her father out of four children. Adeosun Kemi earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from a public university locate in Borough, Newham, London called the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

and a

Postgraduate Diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

in Public Financial Management from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and also attended various Executive Management programmes for her professional career courses such as Leadership training at the prestigious Whartin Business school and she also attended Institute of Chartered Accountant of England and Whare in 1994, which make her qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Career

Kemi Adeosun began her career as an accounting assistant at

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

, from 1989 till 1990, after which she moved to Goodman Jones, London, working as a senior audit officer from 1990 till 1993. Kemi then became the manager of Internal Audit at

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

, London and Prism Consulting from 1994 till 2000 before joining

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

, London as Senior Manager from 2000 till 2002. In 2002, She became financial controller at Chapel Hill Denham Management and subsequently, Managing Director in 2010. After working with Quo Vadis Partnership as Managing Director from 2010 to 2011, she was then appointed

's Commissioner of Finance 2011. Kemi maintained this role from 2011 to 2015. She was a key part of Governor Ibikunle Amosun's Mission to Build, which turned around economic fortunes of the state. In November 2015, Adeosun Kemi was appointed Nigeria's Minister of Finance by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

. During the annual general meeting of Afreximbank in Abuja to commemorate its 25th anniversary, Adeosun was elected chairman of the board of the bank. Kemi Adeosun succeeded the outgoing chairman Ndagijimana Uzziel, Minister of Finance of the

Republic of Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

NYSC certificate scandal

On 7 July 2018, Nigerian online newspaper ''

Premium Times ''Premium Times'' is a Nigerian online newspaper based in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory. It was launched in 2011. The online medium is notable for investigative journalism and Reports among other fields. Awards and nominations In 2013 ...

'' alleged that Kemi Adeosun had illegally obtained her NYSC exemption certificate to get into public office. On 9 July, NYSC Director of Press and Public relations Adeyemi Adenike released a statement that confirmed that Adeosun legitimately submitted a request for an exemption certificate, but also stated that investigations were still ongoing to verify the approval of the exemption certificate. On 14 September 2018, Adeosun resigned as Minister of Finance in a written letter to the President due to the alleged NYSC Certificate forgery scandal. On 7 July 2021, the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court cleared Adeosun, holding that, as a British citizen, she had not been qualified to take part in the NYSC as at the time she graduated at the age of 22 and that when she returned to the country and became a Nigerian citizen aged over 30 she was not eligible for youth service.

Political association

After officially being non-partisan throughout her career, Kemi Adeosun joined

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

's ruling party, the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

(APC), on 5 May 2018.

Other activities

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2015-2018) * United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, Member of the Investment Committee (2018) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2015-2018)Board of Governors

Professional memberships

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of July 2022, it has over 198,000 members ...

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is a professional accountancy body in Nigeria. It is one of the two professional accountancy associations with regulatory authority in Nigeria, the other being the Association of National A ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adeosun, Kemi Living people 1967 births Buhari administration personnel Politicians from London English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent Finance ministers of Nigeria Nigerian bankers Nigerian accountants Alumni of the University of East London British Telecom people PricewaterhouseCoopers people Yoruba women in politics Yoruba bankers Alumni of the University of London Black British people British financial analysts Nigerian financial analysts Female finance ministers 21st-century Nigerian politicians 21st-century British women politicians Women government ministers of Nigeria British emigrants to Nigeria Nigerian chairpersons of corporations Women corporate directors