Funso Akere heads M&A Advisory for the Africa Regions at Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets. He has over 26 years of investment banking experience spanning M&A, capital markets and financing across key African markets.

He joined Standard Bank Group in Nigeria in 2000 and has held senior leadership roles, including Head of Equity Capital Markets Nigeria, Head of Debt Capital Markets Nigeria, and Executive: Africa Corporate Finance. Before assuming his current role in 2023, he served for eight years as Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Capital, Nigeria’s leading investment bank.

A corporate governance advocate, Funso served as Secretary of the Committee on Corporate Governance that produced Nigeria’s first Code of Corporate Governance, published by the Securities & Exchange Commission in 2003. He holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Lagos and an MBA from Chicago Booth, and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO).