By Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli
The Board, staff and beneficiaries of LEAP Africa mourn the sudden death of our distinguished and devoted Board member – Mr Seyi Bickersteth, who passed away on March 3rd 2021.
A legend in the African finance, accounting, tax, governance and compliance landscape, LEAP Africa was honoured to welcome Mr Bickersteth to our Board of Directors in 2017, soon after his retirement as the Chairman of KPMG West Africa.
Over the past three years, Mr Seyi Bickersteth served as a committed and devoted Board member. He was extremely passionate about mentoring young Nigerians and fully embraced LEAP’s commitment to raising the next generation of dynamic, innovative and principled young leaders who will transform Africa.
Early in his tenure, the entire LEAP family was struck by his humility, kind and gentle demeanour, which endeared him to the organisation as a whole, especially the young team in our finance and accounts department. Mr Bickersteth applied his brilliance and wealth of experiences in guiding the Board and staff of the organisation.
A few months into his tenure on the Board, Mr Bickersteth was appointed to serve as the chairman of our Finance Committee. He applied his razor-sharp lens to guide the organisation through its budgeting and auditing process. He coached the team on the appropriate systems and controls for ensuring compliance, transparency and accountability.
He infused world-class standards of financial excellence as the organisation effectively deployed funds from international partners such as the Mastercard Foundation and the Ford Foundation and expanded its work to six African countries.
On March 2nd 2021, he chaired yet another Finance Committee Meeting, reviewing the organisation’s financials, giving feedback and coaching the team. He patiently guided the team, providing thoughtful corrections on the appropriate assumptions for rates of inflation and exchange rates as they finalized their budgets. Who could…
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