Shaping Futures: Driving Reform, Mentorship, and Leadership

By Ugo Aliogo

In Nigeria’s evolving financial landscape, governance, inclusion, and education are often spoken of as abstract priorities. For Folake Bankole, they are practical imperatives, and they have shaped her journey as one of the country’s most dynamic finance leaders.

By 2022, Folake’s impact stretched well beyond her CFO role. She had become a reformer, teacher, and role model, working at the nexus of corporate leadership, regulatory advocacy, and talent development.

As Treasurer of CFA Society Nigeria, Folake was at the forefront of industry-regulator engagement. She worked closely with the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory bodies to push for reforms that strengthened compliance, investment standards, and reporting transparency.

Her approach was collaborative, she convened roundtables that brought practitioners, auditors, and regulators together to identify gaps and propose solutions. Colleagues recall her insistence that reforms must serve both investor confidence and practical implementation by industry participants.

“Good governance is not just compliance, it is the bedrock of trust. Without trust, there is no participation, and without participation, the system cannot grow.”
Recognition soon followed. In 2021, she was named among Nigeria’s Top 100 Career Women and received the ACCA “Most Inspiring Story” Award. Both accolades highlighted her role in breaking barriers as one of the youngest CFOs in the financial services industry and as a woman thriving in a male-dominated industry.
Folake did not stop at personal success. She became a visible advocate for women in finance leadership, speaking on panels, mentoring young professionals, and pressing for more inclusive corporate cultures.

“Being the only woman in the room never defined me,” she said. “What defined me was the value I brought and my responsibility to open doors for others.”
Teaching has been a constant in Folake’s career, expressed in many forms. Within the workplace, she is known for her willingness to coach colleagues and employees, sharing best practices, breaking down complex concepts, and introducing new tools to help teams deliver at a higher standard. Beyond the office, she has carried this passion into broader platforms. Through the Skillup Initiative, she has helped entrepreneurs grasp the essentials of business finance, equipping them to run stronger and more sustainable ventures. At First Quartile Professionals (FQP), she has tutored more than 100 young professionals preparing for the CFA exam, guiding them through one of the most demanding journeys in finance. And through her platform at the CFA Society Nigeria, she has consistently advanced financial literacy programs and women-in-finance initiatives, ensuring that the next generation of leaders is more skilled, more diverse, and more confident. For Folake, teaching is not an extracurricular activity, it is an extension of leadership itself, a way to multiply her impact through others.
From her perspective, financial education is not a side project, it is part of nation-building. She has consistently argued that sustainable development requires equipping both businesses and individuals with the skills to make informed financial decisions.

Her programs for SMEs combined technical finance with practical business strategy, helping owners understand that sound financial management is as important as sales or operations.

“Every SME that thrives strengthens the economy,” she noted. “And every professional I mentor is one more person building systems people can trust.”
By the end of 2022, Folake had become more than a finance executive, she was a thought leader shaping conversations on governance, diversity, and education. Her speaking engagements spanned Women in Finance panels, financial due diligence roundtables, and sustainability forums. Each time, she used her platform to bridge technical finance with broader societal impact.

Folake’s story challenges the traditional image of a CFO as someone confined to ledgers and ratios. Her leadership encompasses advocacy, teaching, mentoring, and reform.

In an industry where public trust and long-term security are paramount, her message is clear:

“Finance is not only about managing numbers, it is about building systems people believe in, creating opportunities for growth, and carrying the next generation forward.”

Whether reforming pension governance, mentoring professionals, or advocating for women in leadership, Folake Bankole embodies a broader definition of what finance leadership should be.

She is not only shaping the institutions of today but also equipping the leaders of tomorrow, a legacy that blends technical excellence with human impact.