Our Team
Our Team
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.
Sarah graduated from Oxford University in 1992 and worked in professional recruitment for ten years before moving into Emerging Markets Search in 2003 initially covering Financial Services in Russia and CIS. Having travelled extensively throughout East, West and Southern Africa, Sarah took the opportunity in 2008 to focus purely on the African markets. She co-founded Executives in Africa with Richard Putley in 2010 and has since worked on nearly 100 Search mandates across a range of C-level, Senior Management and Technical roles. Sector agnostic, she has worked with clients across FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Media, Financial Services, Business Services, Charities, Manufacturing, Property, Energy and Oil & Gas Services in countries right across Africa.
Sarah travels regularly to visit clients on the continent and is passionate about delivering the very best talent, both African and expatriate where required, to contribute to the successful growth of businesses in Africa. As part of this, Sarah is one of the three founding members of the ‘Professionals for Africa’ network in the UK which now boasts over 1500 members and which organizes UK-based networking events for Africans based in the UK as well as individuals with an interest in doing business in Africa.
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.
Kiera graduated from University of Sussex and spent five years working in recruitment before moving into senior executive appointments in early 2007. Kiera began her career with Executives in Africa in 2010, heading up the In-House Research Team.
Kiera is now responsible for Business Services, HR and Quality Assurance. With experience spanning the UK, European and African markets, Kiera’s experience working as a Search Consultant gives her an in-depth understanding of the industry, thus providing relevant support and Quality Assurance which is critical to the success of every mandate.
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.
Simon has over twenty years’ experience of recruitment successfully filling positions with European & African operations of global blue chip companies, often managing large teams to provide recruitment solutions to multiple hiring challenges.
Having been with Executives in Africa since the first year of operations, he has managed diverse Searches across Africa including roles in Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Quality Assurance, Technical, & Human Resources mainly within the FMCG, Oil & Gas and Business Services sectors. The majority of these positions have been “decision making” predominately at Operational Board level where individuals have been recruited to effect the strategic goals of the business.
James has a background of over 16 years’ experience working for specialist consultancies in the UK where he recruited professionals from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria into a range of roles within UK-based organisations.
Since joining Executives in Africa, James has developed specialist sector experience in the Agribusiness, Industrial, Transport & Logistics, Development Finance, Oil & Gas and Construction sectors, working on a range of senior searches across General Management, Sales & Marketing, Human Resources and Finance as well as delivering on some highly technical and specialist positions. These include a Head of Logistics and Distribution Africa based in Morocco for a multinational industrial company, Head of Marine & Aviation for a multinational downstream Oil & Gas company based in South Africa, a GM for a commercial real estate business in East Africa, a GM for a multinational shipping company in Nigeria; and Country Managers for a multinational industrial company in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, DRC, Ethiopia, Benin and Angola.
Fiona began working in International Search & Selection in 2005, when she joined an emerging markets specialist search firm in London. She subsequently moved to Moscow for two years working on senior roles within the FMCG, Professional Services and Financial Services sectors.
Having returned to the UK in 2008, she started building her networks in Africa, developing sector expertise within Mining and Oil & Gas as well as Media. She now leads C-Level Searches across Africa, her continent of birth, returning whenever the opportunity arises.
Tim started his career with a leading finance recruiter in the UK assisting Finance professionals fulfilling recruitment assignments of both an interim and permanent nature for both listed companies and small businesses in the UK.
Since Joining Executives in Africa, Tim has delivered on over forty-five senior Search Assignments including mandates to find CEOs, CFOs/FDs, COOs, Technical Managers and General Managers in diverse industries including Renewable Energy, Financial Services including Development Banking, Agriculture, Mining, Logistics and Manufacturing and has visited clients in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Recruiting in Africa is of particular personal interest to Tim as he has family on the continent. Recently Tim has delivered on mandates for a CEO in Ethiopia for a drinks business, a Regional Head of Africa for a premium drinks brand, a Head of Risk & Compliance and an HR Manager for a Development Bank in Uganda, and a General Manager for an Agriculture group.
Gary studied law at the University of Zimbabwe, then spent the first 2 years of his working career working for the Zimbabwe Ministry of Justice where he rose to the position of Registrar of the Supreme Court. After this, Gary was appointed as Head of Contracts at Old Mutual Zimbabwe where he successfully migrated the entire Zimbabwe contracts creation and maintenance portfolio from South Africa to Zimbabwe.
Gary was headhunted to join ICL Limited in Zimbabwe and within two years was headhunted by NCR Corporation. He went on, through rapid promotions, to hold a Marketing Management post at NCR’s Middle East/Africa Headquarters in Cyprus and then on to be the Managing Director and Chairman of NCR East Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
After returning to Zimbabwe in 1998, Gary and his wife, Barbara, set up their own recruitment company, which they jointly ran successfully for 17 years recruiting a range of positions based in multiple African countries as well as the Middle East. Gary recently immigrated to the UK to join the Executives in Africa team bringing with him a wealth of Pan-African experience.
Adam joined Executives in Africa in 2016 having previously worked in International Executive Search & Selection for over 5 years with a core focus on the Oil & Gas, Mining and Construction sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here he worked with leading international companies mainly covering Director and C-level mandates.
Recent Searches he has delivered include Regional CFOs and Regional Heads of IT for an industrial manufacturing company, Country CFOs for a construction company and Project Directors for a mining company. He has worked on mandates across a number of African countries including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Steve has over 20 years’ experience in Recruitment having been responsible for the Global Centre of Excellence for Talent Acquisition across Africa, Asia and Europe within FMCG. He has developed and introduced recruitment processes, profiling tools and recruitment skills training, aligning the recruitment strategy and processes to change programmes, resulting in controlling costs and improving retention.
Most recently working for PZ Cussons Plc, Steve’s focus for the last 10 years has been specifically on sourcing local talent for operating units, especially in Africa, always aiming to grow senior talent pipelines for the businesses, not just delivering on single critical hires. He also brings over 15 years’ experience in coaching HRBP’s & Line Managers globally to deliver a strong end-to-end candidate experience and improve Employer Brand and EVP. Now working as an Executive Search Consultant for Executives in Africa, Steve continues to work within his sectors of strength, being FMCG, Agribusiness and Industrial Manufacturing.
Having studied Politics and Economics at Loughborough University, Julian started his career at Deutsche Bank in Amsterdam, trading Dutch Government Bonds before returning to the UK as a broker in the Bond and Interest Rate markets. He entered the banking recruitment market in 1998 recruiting for private equity and financial services businesses and, in recent years, the fast developing fintech arena.
Having spent two years assisting a number of African companies to raise capital, Julian’s interest in the continued development of commerce on the continent led him to joining Executives in Africa. Julian’s area of specialism remains in banking, financial services, fintech and private equity and includes running Searches for senior roles in PE-backed operating companies.
Sarah graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2002 with a joint honours degree in Biology and Business Management. Her career in HR/Resourcing began within the Telecom/Digital sector with a primary focus on psychometric assessment and job profiling. She completed training with the British Psychological Society and is also a qualified NLP practitioner.
After six years in the Tech sector, she moved into the FMCG sector with a UK-wide remit, resourcing for Commercial, Manufacturing, Procurement, HR and Marketing roles which gave her experience across a wide range of functions. She went on to spend a further four years working in the Drinks industry with responsibility for roles across Europe, Middle East and Latin America including Europe Country Managers, Commercial Managers in Latin America, Brand Directors as well as Senior Sales and Category roles.
Sarah’s passion lies in really understanding a Client’s talent needs, from a business and cultural perspective, and matching that to both skill set, but more importantly, an individual’s character, in order to deliver the right overall fit to the opportunity.
William has been part of the EiA team since 2012, initially joining on a year-long work placement as part of his Business Management degree with the University of Surrey. Since graduation, William has continued his career with EiA, rising quickly through the business, working as a Researcher and an Assistant Consultant before becoming a Search Consultant.
William has successfully executed Searches on a large variety of roles including General Management, Technical, Finance, HR, Sales and Marketing business leaders. He has also had experience across a broad range of industries and sectors including FMCG, Premium Brands, Telecommunications, Agribusiness, Financial Services, Media, and Renewable Energy, especially Solar.
Reece spent the first 4 years of his career working in the retail and customer services sectors before joining EiA in 2015, initially as an Intern before being made a full Research Associate in March 2016. His natural talent in interviewing and identifying the best candidates for a role has led to his rapid development to become a Consultant within our Delivery Team.
Reece has successfully delivered Searches across a wide range of locations and sectors in Africa including CEO roles in South Africa and Sudan within the telecoms sector, Regional Sales Director covering Francophone West Africa for a satellite giant and Chief Digitalisation Officer, Regional Head of Credit Risk, Head of Legal and Company Secretarial, Head of Consumer Banking and other specialist roles based in West Africa for a Financial Services Organisation.
Sam studied Law at Oxford Brookes University, then spent the first 3 years of his career working in hospitality before joining EiA in 2016. He initially worked in the Research Team, quickly demonstrating his strength in identifying and assessing candidates which has resulted in him being promoted to be a key Consultant within the Delivery Team.
Sam is sector agnostic having managed Searches within Financial Services, Technology, Retail, FMCG, Private Equity, Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Construction and Agribusiness. He has successfully delivered on senior level roles including CEO & Group COO for Microfinance, Franchise Manager for a multinational FMCG Drinks business, Technical GM Milling for an Agribusiness, Head of Operations for a Technology business, Cluster CFO for a Nutrition business and CEO & CCO for a Utilities business.
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.
Dan graduated with a BA in History from University of Winchester and joined Executives in Africa initially as a Researcher. He worked on a range of senior level mandates in Africa across General Management, Sales & Marketing, Human Resources and Finance positions as well as delivering on some specialist senior Technical and Quality Assurance roles.
Dan then followed his passion for emerging technologies working for boutique international consultancies for four years where he placed senior technology professionals into strategic positions globally. Now that Dan has re-joined Executives in Africa as a Consultant, he is keen to apply his experience in this exciting and disruptive area of advanced technology to the growing opportunities across the Africa markets and add value in the Telecommunications, IoT, Financial Services, Media, Entertainment and broader Technology sectors.
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.
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.
Nicki graduated from University of Central Lancashire University in 1996 with an HND in Business Management and Marketing. Her career within Recruitment began in 1999 in the Commercial Industry before specialising for 15 years in Finance and Accounting, Financial Services and General Insurance. Most recently she has focused on the niche mobile space within the Tech industry, headhunting candidates worldwide on behalf of her clients.
Mandates that Nicki has previously completed include the Tech Team Lead at Hubspot, a Marketing Sales and CRM company; Senior Software Developer with Artificial Intelligence with Babylon, a Healthcare organisation part of Babyl Rwanda and; placing the entire team of Android Developers at The Floow, an Insurance Connected Car Company. Since joining Executives in Africa, Nicki has completed Searches for a CDO for a Pan African Bank, a COO for a Microfinance business in Nigeria, a CFO for a Charity based in Ethiopia, an Executive Director for a Pension Management organisation in Nigeria, an MD for an Asset Management business in Nigeria and a CFO for a Membership Association based in Nigeria.
Louise Coggins
Head of Research and Professional Development
+44 (0)7833 258424
Louise graduated from University of York in 1988 with a degree in Music. She has over 25 years’ experience working within Global and Boutique Executive Search, having started her career as a Researcher with Russell Reynolds, focusing on Financial Services. During her career, Louise has worked with specialist global Retail, FMCG and B2C Search Firms as Head of Research and also as a Delivery Consultant.
Louise has worked extensively at Senior Divisional and C Suite Level for Search Mandates based across the world. Whilst raising her family, she operated as a freelance Research and Delivery Consultant as well as extending her experience to Career Performance and Leadership Coaching. As Head of Research and Professional Development with Executives in Africa, Louise oversees the Associate Team as well as driving professional development and growth at all levels through coaching and training.
Khadija (Heba), was born in Morocco and moved with her family to Paris at the start of her secondary education. She went on to achieve Master’s Degrees in International trade and Arabic at the Sorbonne and Dauphine Universities in Paris. She is therefore trilingual, Arabic, French and English. Heba has lived and worked in several countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe before settling in the UK in 2010.
Heba’s broad-based work, together with counselling qualifications and life experience 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 makes her a highly focused and valuable addition to the EiA In-House Research Team who is keen to further enhance our northern Africa and Francophone reach.
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.
Matt spent the first 4 years of his career working for companies such as McLaren and the National Rifle Association and is a determined and meticulous individual who can adapt to working effectively within a team or individually. He went on to study History at Swansea University, graduating with First Class Honours in 2018 before joining Executives in Africa as a Research Associate.
Having completed his Gold Duke of Edinburgh in Nepal working alongside charitable organisations and travelling through South Asia, Matt brings valuable experience in working with diverse cultures and an international outlook. He has delivered high quality research for multinational FMCG and Financial Services companies as well as for leading Property and Real Estate investors.
Joe spent the first 5 years of his career within the hospitality industry, developing his ability to lead and work well throughout a team environment. He started working for Executives in Africa through a work experience placement and after impressing the team with his natural capability to deliver research to a high standard, Joe was offered a permanent role within the company as a Research Associate.
Joe is a self-motivated and conscientious individual, always keen to impress and work well both within a team and independently. He has previously gained experience with people, cultures and teams having attended a multi-cultural school while living in Qatar for two years. He has delivered research on the search for an HRD for a leading Bank in Nigeria and multiple roles within a high growth Agri group covering both corporate and operational roles.
Joe will be attending Swansea University from September 2018 to complete a degree in Business Management with a year in industry which will be spent working with Executives in Africa.
Louise is a recent Politics and International Relations Graduate from the University of Southampton. Prior to, and throughout University, Louise worked in the corporate hospitality industry. Through this, she developed excellent customer service skills and the ability to build relationships and communicate effectively and confidently with senior corporate clients.
Louise is passionate about learning about new places and cultures which is the motivation for her love of travelling. She has travelled across Indonesia as well as having lived in Northern Ghana for three months whilst working on a placement with a local NGO. Louise developed a real passion for Africa from this experience which, combined with a keen interest in international current affairs, is a valuable contribution to our In House Research Team.
Carla was born in Luanda, Angola, so she is bilingual in Portuguese and English. She graduated from a college in Portugal and obtained an MA in the UK. She has 10 years business experience in the textile manufacturing sector with specific expertise in sourcing, developing and buying fabrics for Marks & Spencer in Europe and Asia.
As a result of working with manufacturing teams from many countries, she brings good understanding to the processes required to raise technical, environmental and safety standards in developing markets to ensure success in international auditable accreditation. With management experience involving regular site visits to Europe, Asia and Morocco, she understands the importance of finding the right person to complement a team in an international environment.
Kalkidan Getachew has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Mekelle University in Ethiopia. Kalkidan also has a Certificate of DevOps Engineering from the Gebeya IT Academy.
Kalkidan spent her early career working for Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa. As part of the Executives in Africa team in Ethiopia, Kalikidan now works on Research Projects including database integrity.
Yared studied Software Engineering at Adama Science and Technology University in Addis Ababa. During his time there, he was involved in a charity group and was also one of the Founders and President of Red Cross Club in the university.
As part of the Executives in Africa team based in Ethiopia, Yared works on Research Projects including database integrity. In his spare time, he undertakes charity work as well as having a keen interest in photography and graphics work.
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.
Carla graduated from the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania, USA) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education in 1997. After spending a short time in private banking with Brown Brothers Harriman on Wall Street, New York she moved to the UK where she taught French and Spanish for 9 years at secondary level.
Portuguese by birth, Carla joined Executives in Africa in 2012 to support Consultants specialising in Portuguese-speaking C-Level mandates, assessing Candidates’ language skills in order to deliver to Clients the very best available individuals who best match the target profile. Now a permanent member of the team as a Quality Assurance Manager, she is a critical member of our delivery team ensuring excellence on every Search.
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.
Wilhelmina has a HND in Business and Finance from Portsmouth University. She has 8 years’ experience in the Financial Services, Investment Banking and Retail sectors before joining Executives in Africa as Quality Assurance Manager.
Previously, she worked as Personal Assistant for C level Managers within large and small organisations which has helped her to gain a clear understanding of company organisational structure, human resources and recruitment processes. She has strong administrative skills and attention to detail, which will help her ensure that the EiA team are able to continue to deliver the best quality standards to Candidates and Clients alike.
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.
April obtained her ATll (CTA) in Taxation Accounting in 1989 and holds Level 3 Diplomas in Business Administration and Customer Service. She has over 30 years’ work experience across Financial Services, Education, Retail and Leisure & Tourism industries before joining Executives in Africa as Office and Events Manager in 2018.
April’s over 20 years of experience in Management and Administration roles ensures that the Executives in Africa teams are well supported to provide exceptional service to our clients and candidates. She has the ability to think quickly and solve problems whilst ensuring details are not missed and standards are consistently high.
Research Team
In addition to the above core personnel, we employ a number of freelance researchers with specific language and sector expertise. If you are approached by any of our freelance researchers and wish to verify that they are authorised to approach you on behalf of Executives in Africa, please do not hesitate to contact Louise Coggins, Head of Research and Professional Development at lc@executivesinafrica.com.
Join The Team
We are continuing to grow and are always interested to hear from talented individuals who would be interested in joining our team, either as a Consultant or an Associate Researcher. We would be particularly interested in anyone with French or Portuguese language skills, as well as any previous exposure to Africa.
Please send your CV in confidence, to Sarah Fitzgerald at sf@executivesinafrica.com