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Beyond legal excellence: Olaniwun Ajayi brings in 'exceptional leader' Adenike Adeyemi as CEO
Olaniwun Ajayi has announced renowned business leader Adenike Adeyemi as its CEO, as it looks to harness her experience of scaling FATE Foundation across Nigeria and into other African countries to strengthen the leading African law firm's operations and deliver its growth strategy.
Leading African law firm Olaniwun Ajayi is looking beyond legal expertise to build the institution it wants to become, as it announced yesterday the appointment of former FATE Foundation chief Adenike Adeyemi as CEO to bring what Managing Partner Dr Tominiyi Owolabi calls “world-class business leadership” to its next phase of growth.
“To build the institution we envision for the future, we must complement our legal excellence with world-class business leadership,” said Owolabi. “We believe that Adenike's experience in executive-level leadership will enable us to execute the next phase of the Firm's strategy with greater focus, pace, and discipline. We are excited to have her join us.”
Adeyemi brings more than 23 years of experience across the private, public, and development sectors in sub-Saharan Africa. Her career combines advising organisations on strategy and transformation with leading an institution through sustained expansion.
At FATE Foundation, she grew the entrepreneurship organisation’s operations from three Nigerian states to all 36 and extended its footprint into Kenya, South Africa and Ghana. She also led a major digital transformation and developed funding partnerships with international businesses and development finance institutions.
Alongside that geographical expansion, Adeyemi strengthened FATE’s entrepreneurship research and policy work, broadened its programmes and introduced digital tools to reach wider audiences. These included AI learning assistants and a WhatsApp-based learning management system. Earlier this year, at the FATE Foundation Business Outlook and Annual General Meeting, Adeyemi was honoured by leaders and all in attendance for her "years of visionary leadership, unwavering commitment, and lives transformed".
Before joining FATE, she was a manager and team lead in KPMG’s management consulting division, directing projects covering strategy, operational restructuring, organisational design and institutional reform. Her work included strengthening corporate governance and helping clients improve their business and operating models.
That advisory experience spanned regulated entities, owner-managed businesses, development institutions and corporate foundations, exposing her to a range of organisational structures and growth challenges.
Adeyemi also serves on the International Finance Corporation’s Nigeria Business Council and is a trustee of Youth Business International. She co-chaired the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit and is a Senior Fellow and faculty member at Lagos Business School, teaching executive leaders on sustainability, strategy and financial effectiveness.
She holds master’s degrees in public administration and diplomacy and international relations from Seton Hall University, and a BA in linguistics from the University of Ibadan.
Olaniwun Ajayi said her leadership would support its continued evolution as a strategic partner to clients navigating African and global markets, as Adeyemi brings her experience of building institutions to the business behind its legal advice.