Wakanow appoints Adenike Macauley as chief executive officer

By Business AM

The board of directors and management of   Africa’s leading travel tech company, Wakanow Group has announced the  appointment of Adenike Macaulay as chief executive officer of Wakanow Nigeria effective January 2023.

A statement by the company described Macauley as a transformational leader with several years of experience in the travel industry who has led commercial activities for Wakanow since July 2021 as Chief commercial officer.

Bayo Adedeji, the Group CEO of Wakanow Group, While announcing her appointment, said the company is delighted to announce the appointment of Adenike Macaulay as Chief Executive Officer.

Adedeji noted that she has been an invaluable addition to the management of Wakanow since she joined the company. He also expressed confidence that her vast experience and exposure in the aviation sector will consolidate the company’s growth trajectory in Nigeria.”

“We are expanding into new verticals and Countries in Africa & beyond to take advantage of new business opportunities in the emerging competitive landscape leveraging our deep competence and expertise in the travel tech industry, and I will be leading this venture as Group CEO,” he added.

Adedeji further stated that the company is very excited about the bright future ahead in the African travel and tourism industry by providing end-to-end services easily accessible to every African by leveraging technology and strategic partnerships.

Adenike Macaulay, the new chief executive officer, in her remark, said the past 18 months with Wakanow have been immensely exciting, with the company  recording several milestones and record breaking results.

“I’m excited to take on the new responsibility saddled upon me by the board and management of Wakanow and look forward to leading and building with an immensely talented team,” she said.

Prior to joining Wakanow, Macauley was the first female and first Nigerian to be appointed as general manager of Sales for Lufthansa Group in Nigeria & Equatorial Guinea where she led the teams in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Malabo, driving all commercial and sales activities for Lufthansa Group in the region.

She is the immediate past chairperson of the International Air Transport Association Local Customer Advisory Group (LCAG) and vice chair of the IATA Agency Program Joint Council (APJC).

She holds an MBA from the University of Warwick in the UK, a BSc in Systems Engineering from the University of Lagos, and a Professional Diploma from the Digital Marketing Institute, Ireland amongst other qualifications.

She was recently recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Africa’s travel and hospitality industry. She was also recognized by Leading Ladies Africa as one of Nigeria’s 100 most inspiring women in 2019, by Guardian Nigeria as Woman of the week in March 2019 and by Poets & Quants as top 100 MBAs worldwide in 2020.

The travel tech company is built to cater to all the travel needs of travel enthusiasts from flights, hotels, holiday experiences, visa processing, COVID-19 tests, among other offerings for Nigerian travelers.