•Why RABIU OLOWO Is So Popular In LAGOS
Who is the youngest Commissioner in Lagos? Many don’t know. We can tell you. He is Dr. Rabiu Olowo, the Finance Commissioner. Ranked as the youngest and brightest commissioner in Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet, Dr. Rabiu Olowo is the 22nd Honourable Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, managing the fiscal policy strategy of the 5th largest economy in Africa with GDP and he is committed to making Lagos the best city to live, work, and do business.
He is a Professor of Practice in Business, Finance & Accounting; a Lecturer/Executive-In-Residence at Lagos State University MBA and DBA Programmes.
The 37 year old is the go to guy at Alausa, simply because his ministry, finance which is the bony framework in which other ministries is hinged on. The young chap is not just young but well read to lead that powerful ministry. He is very close to Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Governor also does not joke with him. He is very sound when it comes to what he does and recently he was in the news when he got another mind blowing international award where he was celebrated home and abroad.
The commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo recently emerged as the winner of the governance category of 40 Under 40 Africa Awards organised by Black White Hover Law Practices in South Africa. The Black White Hover Law Practices, which celebrates the continent’s most influential and accomplished young business leaders under the age of 40 who are committed to business growth, professional excellence, and community service, selected Olowo for his work across revenue, expenditure, debt, and investment management, for the 5th largest economy in Africa.
For Dr. Rabiu Onaolapo Olowo, living his dreams at a very young age is in fulfilment of destiny. While growing up, he aspired to become an accounting and finance giant with a business conglomerate that will consult for top firms across the world. It did not take long for providence to grant him his heart as he achieved a feat most of his peers would not have achieved in many years. It never came easy but with hard work and consistency, armed with intelligence and grace, he was able to climb the ladder of success up high within a short time.
With less attention, the highly cerebral graduate of Accounting from Kogi-State University loves to let his achievement speak more volumes of him. The tennis lover, who holds a Ph.D. in Forensic Accounting & Auditing loves to give back by sharing his God-given knowledge with others. With his burning passion for academics, he heavily supports research & learning by offering his services at the Lagos State University as an Associate Lecturer/Adjunct Professor and Executive in Residence where he teaches finance and accounting pro bono.
Under the leadership of Rabiu Olowo, the Lagos State international rating attained an unprecedented height of triple A (AAA) as issued by Fitch, an International Ratings Agency – a reflection of the State’s improved accountability, transparency, and integrity especially in the management of public funds for the purpose of delivering infrastructural projects through deficit financing.
Olowo spearheaded the raising of the N100 billion Series III Bond at 12.25 percent – the biggest bond issuance ever embarked upon by any sub national entity in the country. He also enabled the raising of N150 billion syndicated loan at a competitive rate of 14 percent in his first three months in office as a timely intervention to finance gaps in funding state’s infrastructure
He has also demonstrated his commitment to making Lagos State the best city to live, work and do business by providing strategic collaboration through the arrangement of the financial and technical close of West Africa’s first metro line – Lagos Blue Line which will move hundreds of thousands of people as an intermodal option daily in Lagos State.Olowo also worked with Ministry of Agriculture to deliver Imota Rice Mill, the biggest rice mill on the African continent.
He championed the ministry towards increasing the state’s revenue by double digits, evidenced by a CAGR of about 12 percent.
Olowo, who was also recently named the 2022 Public Finance Administrator of the Year at the Leadership Excellence awards, has contributed immensely to public policy development and the implementation has impacted several sectors like Education, Agriculture, Transportation, Health and all other areas of Governance.
Under Olowo leadership, there was a review of a new law towards delivering a more liberal tax regime to promote voluntary compliance, among many others.
Before entering mainstream public sector, Dr. Olowo has been an experienced Chief Audit & Finance Executive, having worked for top-local and multinational organizations including Zenith Bank Plc; British Pharmaceutical Giant’ GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); Dutch Global Diary Leader’ FrieslandCampina; Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA UK); Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (Texas, USA); Club of Global Development Finance Organizations etc working in multiple geographies; with project immersion across Africa, Europe, Middle East, USA.
He has significant experience in evaluating and developing Internal Control Systems for organizations that cuts across multiple industries from Banking & other Financial Services, Public Sector Organizations, Manufacturing, FMCG Commercial & Supply Chain Operations, Start UPs etc.
A sought after speaker on business, development finance and professional fraud issues; Dr. Olowo offers his knowledge at business schools, company’s in-house training, local/global conferences. He was the first Nigerian invited to present a paper at the ACFE Global Fraud Conference in Baltimore, USA and had over 2000 international delegates in attendance.
Dr. Olowo is a life-long learner. He holds a PhD in Forensic Accounting & Auditing. His numerous research works, including #The Future of Finance; #Whistleblowing Culture in Africa #Sustainable Finance Options in Agric Value Chain; etc have been recognized as major contribution in the field of Business, Accounting and Public Policy.
Rabiu Olowo, PhD– a Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA, CGMA), Registered Accountant (ICAN), Certified Internal Controls Auditor (CICA), ACCA Certified in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) & International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), Chartered Tax Practitioner (ACIT), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE); with an MBA from the University of Lagos, MSC Accounting & Finance from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. He is an alumni of Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
-TAYO OYEDIJI
(08111811219)
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