Non-Executive Director
Adetola Owolabi earned a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Lagos in 1997 and an MBA from the University of Liverpool in 2009. She spent 17 years in relationship management at Guaranty Trust Bank PLC, specializing in structuring complex commercial credit transactions and international trade finance. Throughout her tenure, she excelled in various roles, managing portfolios across multiple business districts and achieving significant growth in profitability. She eventually served as the Group Head of the Commercial Banking Group, overseeing major commercial banking clients in the Lagos area. Her last position at the bank was Assistant General Manager and Group Head of the Maritime Group.
Mrs. Owolabi has participated in several management courses both in Nigeria and abroad, including at Harvard Business School (Boston, USA, 2005), Columbia University Graduate School of Business (USA, 2008), IMD (Switzerland, 2011), NYU Stern (2016), and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management (2022). She was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Black Pelican Limited (IL Bagno) until June 2012, when she transitioned to an executive role as Executive Director. Her outstanding performance has earned her numerous accolades, and she is recognized for her excellent teamwork, mentoring skills, and high performance. She is passionate about optimizing an organization’s resources to create value for its stakeholders.
Currently, Mrs. Owolabi serves as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Black Pelican Limited (IL Bagno) with responsibilities that include Finance, Operations, Business Strategy Management, Human Resources, Administration, Internal Control, Procurement, Warehouse, and Inventory.
In 2010, she was inducted as an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and became a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration in 2015.
In October 2024, Mrs. Owolabi was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Coronation Merchant Bank, where she is a member of the following Board Committees:
- Board Audit Committee
- Board Governance and Nominations Committee
- Board Credit and Investment Committee
