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.

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.

William has a Business Management degree with the University of Surrey and joined the EiA team in 2012.  Since graduation, William has risen quickly through the business, working as a Research Associate and an Associate before becoming a Search Consultant.  He has travelled to Nigeria and Kenya to meet clients and attend conferences as well as being active with Africa focused networking events held in London.

William has successfully executed Searches on a large variety of roles including General Management, Technical, Finance, HR, Sales and Marketing business leaders.  He also has experience across a broad range of industries and sectors including FMCG, Premium Brands, Telecommunications, Agribusiness, Charities, Transportation, Media, and Renewable Energy, especially Solar.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.