Introducing Adeola Olasewere, NABU’s New Director of Business Development for West Africa

We’re proud to welcome Adeola Olasewere as NABU’s Director of Business Development, West Africa, a strategic leader driving our expansion and partnerships across the region.

Adeola is a dynamic advisor and growth strategist with more than two decades of experience spanning multinational corporations, high-impact startups, and purpose-driven organizations. She’s not only a visionary strategist, but also a builder, a connector, and a passionate advocate for equitable access to opportunity.

In her role at NABU, Adeola would lead our growth across West Africa. She will strengthen partnerships, scale literacy programs, and work to ensure that children across the region have access to free, culturally relevant storybooks in their native languages. Her leadership is instrumental to our mission of creating a world where every child can read and rise to their full potential.

A Track Record of Scaling Impact

Adeola’s career began with global telecommunications and technology leaders, including Ericsson and IHS Towers, where she led marketing strategy, customer intelligence, and innovation initiatives across West and Central Africa. Her consulting work during this time also helped transform organizations in financial services, tech, and telecom through insight-driven strategies and partnership development.

She went on to serve as Director of Sales and Partnerships at PayJoy, a mobile finance company unlocking credit access for underserved populations. There, she established and scaled PayJoy’s presence in Nigeria and West Africa, overseeing strategy, operations, and go-to-market execution.

Most recently, Adeola was Country Lead at Pngme, a financial data infrastructure startup addressing the $5.2 trillion finance gap for MSMEs in Africa. In this role, she aligned growth priorities with product innovation leveraging data and machine learning to drive more inclusive and informed financial decision-making across the continent.

A shared vision

With a career dedicated to expanding access, empowering communities, and leveraging innovation for impact, Adeola’s journey naturally aligns with NABU’s mission to make literacy accessible to every child through culturally relevant, mother tongue books.

"I believe that literacy is the foundation for opportunity. The chance to help children learn to read in the language they understand best while also preserving local culture aligns deeply with my passion for education, equity, and impact. NABU’s mission is not just inspiring, it’s transformational." - Adeola Olasewere

Please join us in warmly welcoming Adeola Olasewere to the NABU family! Her arrival strengthens our creative team and opens exciting new opportunities to inspire children to read and learn worldwide through the power of sport and stories.