profile of Aisha Ahmad who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the
new Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.
Aishah Ahmad is so young
you would have to conclude she is the youngest person to be so appointed to that
position — and she is so experienced you cannot but admire her resume.
In the last 20 years, she has been a banking executive and an
investment adviser across retail banking, wealth management, consulting and
financial advisory.
According to The Cable, until now the executive
director (retail banking) at Diamond Bank Plc, 40-year-old Ahmad (she will be 41
on October 26) comes to the CBN job with a rich history of promoting the role of
women in the society, even though she will be the first to tell you that she has
never been that conscious about the glass ceiling for the female
gender.
She is the chairperson of the executive council of Women in
Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a Nigerian non-profit
organisation founded in 2001 by 13 women and one man who identified a serious
issue concerning women in the workplace and in business, particularly in the
areas of leadership capacity building and avenues for networking for
growth.
She will be a like-for-like replacement for Sarah Alade, PhD, who
retired from CBN as deputy governor (economic policy) in March 2017. Alade is
from the north-central (Kwara), same zone as Ahmad who hails from Niger
state.
Ahmad shares birthday with Hillary Clinton — who inspires
her
Asked by a newspaper in 2016 on the women who inspired her, she
named quite a few but pointed out Hillary Clinton, the former US first lady who
made an unsuccessful bid to become US president.
She said: “Hillary
Clinton who happens to be my ‘birthday mate’ has been a strong influencer over
the years. I admire her ability to stay focused on making an impact and my
admiration for her has only been validated by her recent nomination as the US
Democratic presidential candidate.”
The mother of two teenage sons also
celebrated the founding trustees of WIMBIZ who have “also been a positive
influence in their many accomplishments across private and public
sector”.
At every turn, she said, they have distinguished themselves as
women of repute and deep impact including founding WIMBIZ “as their contribution
to advancing the cause of women everywhere”.
A rich
resume
Ahmad, whose husband is Abdallah A. Ahmad, a retired
brigadier-general, has worked at local and global institutions, including NAL
Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc (a member of Standard Bank Group) and Zenith
Bank Plc.
She is currently responsible for the consumer Banking Division
at Diamond Bank Plc comprising consumer banking group, privilege banking group,
retail assets group and bancassurance, where she is accountable for a customer
base of over seven million.
Ahmad is a member of the Chartered Financial
Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Associations –
globally recognised programmes for investment analysts and portfolio
managers.
She holds an MSc in finance and management from the Cranfield
School of Management in the UK, an MBA with a specialisation in finance from the
University of Lagos, Nigeria and a graduate degree in accounting from the
University of Abuja, Nigeria.
From a family of ‘accomplished
women’
She comes from a long line of very accomplished women within my
family who have distinguished themselves across sectors – medicine, pharmacy,
accounting and business.
“I was lucky to have very early positive and
visible role models of women working outside the home and making a big
difference in their careers. One of my grandmothers created a distinguished
career in the nursing field being one of the early recipients of an
international education and I have many aunties who are doing great things in
their various businesses and careers,” she told The Guardian in the
interview.
“I must credit my mother for inspiring my strong work ethic –
she’s been successful at diverse careers in pharmacology, accounting and as a
business woman including managing a family.”
She served as a steering
committee member for Cherie Blair Foundation’s Technology for Growth project, a
learning intervention programme for female entrepreneurs developed in
conjunction with Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) at Lagos Business School.
