Richard studied at Kingston University in Accountancy and Finance and initially worked in a Chartered Accountancy practice before moving into financial recruitment.

He has over 25 years’ professional recruitment experience, operating and managing businesses recruiting at the most senior level across Commerce and Industry, Sales and Marketing, IT, HR and Finance. Richard has previously held Managing Director and Director roles within UK-based international recruitment companies.

Having covered the African market since 2007, he brings specialist experience in the Telecoms, FMCG and Energy sectors. He has been personally involved in multiple Executive level searches over the last ten years including placing a full CXO team for a leading telecoms provider in Chad, Group CFO for a FTSE250 FMCG company in Nigeria, Group CFO for a Mining Services company in Ghana, COO for an Oil Services Company in Nigeria as well as several CEO/MD/ Country Manager roles.

Graham Palfery-Smith has been involved in the recruitment industry for over 35 years. He is an accomplished and highly experienced strategic senior manager who has run a wide range of specialist recruitment businesses internationally, including HW Group, Robert Walters, Faro and FiveTen Group. Presently he is working with a small portfolio of businesses in, or allied to, the recruitment sector in the UK, Europe, US and Far East, as a Non-Executive Director or Board Adviser, helping them achieve strategic success.

A highly effective communicator and a team creator, Graham is considered a superior motivator with exceptional leadership skills. He brings an energetic, enthusiastic and passionate approach, international contacts and an excellent market intelligence network.

Having studied Law at Liverpool University, Jon qualified as a chartered accountant with Grant Thornton in 1999. He moved from public practice into commerce progressing his career within industry within various sectors including marketing, media, film and sport. Whilst at Tiger Aspect Television he oversaw the finances for films such as Billy Elliot and Kevin and Perry Go Large, and as Finance Director at Ska Films oversaw the financial production of the film Layer Cake. Jon was also responsible for running the takeover of the Football League club Peterborough United in 2006 for one of his high net worth clients.

Utilising his experience Jon is now Finance Director for Executives in Africa as well as for a portfolio of organisations providing a balance of financial rigor and commerciality to the Finance function.

Adam graduated with a Master’s Degree in Philosophy before working in International Executive Search & Selection for over 5 years in the Construction, Mining and Oil & Gas sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Here, he worked with leading international companies and indigenous SMEs on high-profile Director and C-level mandates.  Adam has since developed his specialist sector knowledge to include the Agribusiness, Financial Services and Manufacturing sectors.

Since joining Executives in Africa in 2016, Adam has delivered on over 50 senior Search Assignments across Africa including an MD for a Manufacturing Business, CFO for an Agribusiness, Global COO for a Technology Company, Head of Remedial for a Pan African Bank, Multiple General Managers for an Agribusiness and a Business Development Manager for a Global Mining Company.  Adam has worked on mandates across multiple African countries including Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

Ryan holds a Higher National Diploma in Business and Finance and after a short stint working as an accountant, began his twenty-five-year career in recruitment, working firstly in professional Finance recruitment for six years before establishing a Search and Selection business for the UK market.

For the past fifteen years, Ryan’s area of expertise has been within Financial Services internationally, with a particular specialist focus on all areas of Risk and Compliance within this.  He adopted a research methodology to map, track and attract candidates in niche areas across risk within Capital Markets, Retail & Corporate Banking, Wealth and Asset Management.  Ryan’s keen interest in the development of financial inclusion for individuals and microenterprises on the continent of Africa led him to join Executives in Africa, where his specialism remains in Financial Services along with Banking, Wealth Management and Fintech.

Recent examples of completed mandates include: Credit Risk Quant Manager and Digital Transformation Director for a Financial Services organization; Risk Management Consultant for a Management Consultancy; Structural Reform Manager within a Financial Services organisation; Senior Compliance Manager for a Boutique Bank; Legal Analyst for a Fintech and Compliance Manager for an Asset Management organisation.

Andrea joined Executives in Africa after re-patriating to the UK from South Africa in June 2018 bringing valuable local knowledge of Southern and South African culture and a passion for empowering and uplifting the local African talent.  She has over 25 years’ Sales and Management experience including 10 years in Freight Forwarding and Clearing and 15 years in Recruitment and Executive Search having owned her own recruitment firm in South Africa.

Andrea focused mainly on the Financial Services sector and was awarded a substantial contract with a blue-chip insurance company in Johannesburg as a result of her thorough approach and commitment to delivering results.  She was responsible for all levels of Recruitment throughout their entire Policy Services Division from Call Centre through to Director Level hires.  Since joining Executives in Africa, Andrea has been involved in a number of Director and MD Level Searches within Financial Services and Real Estate.

Colleen holds an honours degree in Psychology and Linguistics obtained at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. After 16 years’ working for a privately owned recruitment consultancy and later running her own business recruiting for small and medium-sized companies, she joined EiA in 2014 to cover Executive Search in Africa.

Colleen is passionate about Africa, assisting the professional development of candidates and contributing to a lasting and positive impact on the continent of her birth. She has worked on C-level mandates in Banking, Microfinance, Property, Telecoms, Commodities and FMCG. Working across Senior Management, HR, Engineering and Finance functions, Colleen has delivered on multiple mandates including a CEO, CFO, HRD and other Executive and Operational roles covering Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Egypt.

Darlington has over 20 years’ recruitment experience including 10 years’ experience operating in Nigeria having run successful recruitment businesses there.   He joined Executives in Africa in February 2020, bringing valuable local knowledge of Nigerian and West African culture as well as extensive networks across the continent.   Darlington has a strong commitment to delivering the best outcomes for his clients through identifying high quality local African candidates, those in the Diaspora and Expat candidates seeking opportunities to have a positive impact on businesses Africa wide.

Darlington has delivered on multiple mandates in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. He has recruited at various levels from Middle Management up to C level across various industries such as FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Telecoms, IT, Retail and the Extractive Industries.  Having run his own business, Darlington brings a strong commercial approach to understanding his clients’ needs and is excited about how the Executives in Africa Search Process will add significant value to his network.

James studied at Southampton Solent University and then spent 5 years working in the retail, hospitality and logistics sectors. Here he developed strong telesales skills as well as gaining management experience.

A keen sportsman, James brings his naturally competitive nature to the team, as shown in his previous role as Managing Associate.

James is now responsible for technology within EiA as well as developing Social Media and supporting the Business with Statistics and Analytics.

Heba was born in Morocco and moved with her family to Paris at the start of her secondary education.  She went on to achieve a Master’s Degree in International Trade and Arabic at the Sorbonne and Dauphine Universities in Paris. Being trilingual, (Arabic, French and English) has enabled Heba  to live and work in several countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe before settling in the UK in 2010.

Heba’s broad-based work and life experience, together with qualifications in psychotherapy, enhances her natural ability to understand and communicate with people at all levels.  A natural team player, Heba’s deep personal interest in Africa, resourcefulness and emotional intelligence together with her keen sense of fairness and objectivity makes her a highly focused and valuable addition to the EiA Team with a specific focus on Francophone Africa.

Barbara was born in Zambia and educated at St. John’s Diocesan School for Girls in South Africa. After matriculating she went on to study an ITEC Diploma and then set up her own beauty therapy business in Harare, Zimbabwe mainly catering for the diplomatic community in Zimbabwe. With her husband, Gary, taking up various expatriate positions, she lived in Cyprus and Kenya for the next 5 years, during which time Barbara travelled extensively throughout Africa, Europe and the USA.

On returning to Zimbabwe in 1999 Barbara helped Gary set up their own Pan-African recruitment company, one of the top 5 Zimbabwe recruitment companies. Barbara migrated all the Recruitment systems onto a world-leading, state-of-the-art multimedia cloud-based recruitment system. She has enjoyed a 17 year career recruiting into multiple African countries as well as the Middle East market.

Barbara and Gary recently immigrated to the UK to join the Executives in Africa team.

Ian gained a BA in Marketing and Advertising and began his career with the Sunday Times in London where he worked for 21 years in a variety of roles, culminating in a high profile job as Editorial Production Editor with the newspaper.  Since then, Ian has worked within the Public Sector, Retail, PR, Research & Marketing Insights, Information Technology and the Marine industries both in management and entrepreneurial roles.

Having spent 3 and a half years living on the beautiful island of Lefkada in Greece, Ian has recently worked directly with business leaders helping to develop their businesses through supporting their marketing, branding, social media and general operations.  He also lived in Spain and Hong Kong, thus bringing an international outlook combined with wide commercial experience to the Executives in Africa Research Team.

Yafet has a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Finance from Arbaminch University. He was involved in an International professional work experience opportunity representing Ethiopia as a Global Volunteer with AIESEC. He spent his early career working for a Trading Industry Construction & Services Company as a Sales Associate.

Yafet has interest in Sports and Travelling.

Louise completed her Global Diploma in Personal Training back in 2003, initially starting her career as a Fitness Instructor and developing the ability to build relationships to support the people she was working with. Moving into recruitment in 2007, Louise initially worked as an Internal Recruiter setting up new staffing processes for one of the UK’s first financial broker pioneers in Bournemouth. Since then, Louise has gained over 10 years’ professional recruitment experience across diverse sectors, including Hospitality, Education and Medicine.

Louise’s role at Executives in Africa requires excellent organisational & project management skills as well as attention to detail in order to deliver every Search on time and with high quality documentation. Her excellent interpersonal skills allow her to work across all levels within the organisation as well as internationally with our Ethiopia team to ensure resources are managed effectively to fulfil deadlines and meet Client and Candidate needs to our exceptional standards.

Meareg Hailu has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science form Addis Ababa University.  As part of the Executives in Africa team in Ethiopia, Meareg works very closely with our QA Manager in the UK and works on assuring the accuracy of documents.  He also works on Research Projects including database integrity.

Meareg plays soccer and is a devoted Manchester United fan.  He loves travelling around the country and visiting the different “Ethiopian Treasures” like Axum and Lalibela.

Johannah brings over four years’ of progressive administrative experience gained within diverse sectors, including recruitment. Her self-driven motivation and excellent organisational skills, ensure that an effective secretarial and administrative service is provided to the Managing Directors, Senior Management and the Consulting team.

Johannah supports the EiA Search Process by making travel and visa arrangements, scheduling appointments and interviews, as well as supporting our Quality Assurance Managers with Search documentation.