Chief Financial Officer
Richard is a seasoned finance leader with over 25 years of experience across banking, fintech, and financial advisory. He specializes in financial strategy, enterprise planning, risk governance, and performance optimization, with a strong track record of driving growth and financial transformation.
Richard is a transformational finance leader with over 25 years of experience across banking, fintech infrastructure, and financial advisory. He brings deep expertise in digital finance, enterprise financial planning, capital optimization, risk governance, and performance reporting. He is highly skilled in leveraging financial insights and advanced analytics to support executive decision-making, improve operational efficiency, and drive sustainable growth.
Throughout his career, he has consistently strengthened financial controls, optimized capital allocation, and deployed innovative financial management systems aligned with strategic business objectives. His expertise spans financial strategy development, regulatory compliance, cost optimization, financial modelling, investor relations, balance sheet management, and digital platform unit economics.
He most recently served as Financial Controller at Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), Lagos, where he led enterprise financial planning, risk analysis, investment portfolio oversight, and performance reporting. He also developed a Finance Business Partnering model that enhanced collaboration across teams and contributed to a 60% growth in transaction volumes and value. Prior to this, he was Senior Financial Advisor at Dasot Capital Partners Ltd, where he pioneered the firm’s Virtual CFO service model, and earlier served as Head of Corporate Budgeting and Performance Analytics at First Bank of Nigeria. He spent over a decade at Diamond Bank Group (now Access Bank) as Deputy Financial Controller, leading key financial transformation initiatives, and began his career at Fidelity Bank Plc in operations, later moving into inspection and audit.
He holds an MSc in Finance from the University of Leicester, an MBA from Ambrose Alli University, and a BSc (Second Class Upper Division) in Finance and Banking from the University of Port Harcourt, where he graduated as the best student with multiple academic awards. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), UK, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), as well as an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (ACIT). He is also a Designated Compliance Professional (DCP), a member of the International Project Management Academy (MIPMA/MPM), and an alumnus of the Senior Management Programme at Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University.