Ishmael Yamson

The Group CEO and chairman of the Fidelity Group, Mr. Edward Effah, has been appointed chairman of the Board of Directors of Unilever.

His appointment took effect on November 1, 2016.

He replaces Mr. Ishmael Yamson, who resigns after a successful 12-year run as Non-Executive Chairman of the Unilever Ghana Board, having already served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman for 18 years.

Mr. Yeo Ziobeieton becomes the new Managing Director of the company effective January 1, 2017. He takes over from Ms. Maidie Arkutu who takes up a new role as the Vice President of Francophone Africa, within the Unilever Group, effective January 1, 2017, an official statement from the company said.

Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh, the new Executive Vice President (EVP) of the Ghana/Nigeria cluster and Mrs. Adesola Sotande-Peters, new Chief Finance Officer for Ghana/Nigeria have both been appointed as Non-Executive Directors of Unilever Ghana, effective 1 January, 2017.

Luc-Olivier Marquet, Vice President of Unilever West Africa, also moves into a new role as Executive Vice President of Unilever’s South Africa business, effective January 1, 2017, while Miguel Marquez, Finance Director of Unilever Ghana moves into another role within the Unilever finance chain.

The new directors come with a wealth of experience having served in various leadership and top executive positions within and outside of the company.

Mr. Edward Effah, who is currently Group CEO and Chairman of the Fidelity Group, comes to the job with over 15 years of experience in senior executive positions in finance and treasury management. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors (UK).

Yeo Ziobeieton, has 14 years’ experience with Unilever Cote D’iviore, Dakar, Durban, Kenya and South Africa. He has held a number of general management and marketing positions at the company most recently as the managing Director of the 16 countries of Unilever in Francophone West Africa.

Yaw Nsarkoh, was appointed as Unilever Nigeria’s Managing Director effective January 1, 2014. Until his appointment as the EVP Ghana and Nigeria, he served as the Managing Director, of Unilever Nigeria.

Mrs. Adesola Sotande-Peters, is a Finance Executive (FCCA) with a strong Business Finance leaning and with over 22 years varied professional experience (spanning various organizations such as British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) UK, Informa Group UK, Openwave Telecoms UK, Diageo Plc (Guinness Nigeria Plc, East African Breweries Limited (Kenya), and Guinness Cameroon SA) where she has held various senior finance roles in commercial/strategic finance, financial management consultancy/analysis, with a strong focus on people development/mentoring.