Our Executives

Folasade Femi-Lawal
Country Manager, West Africa

Folasade Femi-Lawal is the Country Manager and Area Business Head for West Africa at Mastercard. In this role, she is responsible for driving the company’s strategic vision, innovation, and growth agenda in West Africa. She is dedicated to strengthening partnerships with key stakeholders and advancing the company's mission of building a more connected and inclusive digital economy in the region.

With over 25 years of multifaceted experience across financial services, management consulting, telecommunications, and business advisory services, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role.

Folasade is a trusted senior executive, having consistently achieved business growth objectives in start-up, turnaround, and rapidly changing environments. She has successfully led initiatives in Mobile Financial Services and Digital Banking Strategy at First Bank, Nigeria, over the past decade, significantly growing the card subscriber base and market share as the Head of Cards & Messaging Business. Before her banking roles, she also excelled as a consultant at PwC and played a pivotal role at Airtel, managing the Regional Balanced Scorecard for eight regions.

She also served as Vice Chairman of the Committee of eBusiness Industry Heads (CeBIH) and represents the industry on the Board of Financial Service Innovators (FSI), supporting the development of technology talent in the banking industry.

Recognized for her contributions, Folasade has received global awards for her work, including being honored with the Outstanding Women in Management award by the United Nations Association in Nigeria and named one of the Top 50 Women in Management Africa by Women in Management Africa, empowering women in management roles across the African diaspora.

Folasade is a fellow of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants, Chartered Institute of Taxation & Association of Enterprise Risk Managers of Nigeria.