GABRIEL OKOJIE

• Provide strategic leadership and financial expertise to deliver programs that create dignified futures for 10 million youth across key sectors, managing a $1 billion budget.
• Oversee program implementation, financial operations, and internal controls to ensure compliance, integrity, and organizational alignment.
• Enhance the financial capabilities of partners through training, knowledge sharing, and capacity building.
• Lead budgeting, analysis, and reporting to drive informed decision-making and ensure value for money.
• Develop systems to measure financial performance and program impact in collaboration with M&E teams.
• Cultivate strong stakeholder relationships, ensuring transparency and trust in financial management.
• Drive digital transformation initiatives to optimize financial processes and reporting.
• Proactively manage risks through strategic planning and adherence to regulatory standards.

• I advised start-ups, SMEs, and non-profits on financial strategy, compliance, market analysis, cost optimization, FX sourcing, and process improvement, enabling sustainable growth and operational efficiency.

Coordinated the development and execution of business and financial strategies across 34+ countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, covering business operations planning, pricing, new market access, tenders, logistics, distribution, cost optimization, commercial deals, distributor discounts, reporting, and claims resolution.

• Led the development and implementation of a product pricing strategy, achieving a 35% increase in sales across markets.
• Identified and leveraged pricing-to-profit opportunities, resulting in a 29% cost reduction through supply chain optimization.
• Secured $18 million in oncology tenders from the Ministries of Health in Nigeria and Mauritius.

• As Senior Financial Controller for Henkel Nigeria operations, I led a finance transformation, recruited and trained a new team, redefined business controls, and successfully implemented SAP.
• Restructured the balance sheet to improve liquidity and financial stability.
• Optimized the source-to-payment process, ensuring timely vendor reconciliations, payment processing, and controls.
• Defended tax audits with the FIRS (Tax Authority), resulting in a significant $1.2 million reduction in liability.

• As the Nigeria Sales Finance Manager, I ensured that distributors had the financial capability, processes, and controls to meet sales objectives.
• Restructured the Go-To-Market model and distributor financials, driving a 14% increase in sales growth, and achieving 2% cost optimization.
• Developed 3–5-year financial expansion plans, aligning targets with strategic goals.
• Led the cost-to-serve project, resulting in a 4% improvement in PBT.
• Drove operational efficiency with innovative AR solutions, such as mobile collections.

• As the Corporate Finance and Accounting Manager for Nigeria operations, I ensured adherence to accounting policies, managed tax accounting, and optimized cash flow.
• Secured government approval for over $50 million in foreign exchange payments to affiliate companies.
• Successfully transitioned financial reporting from US/NG GAAP to IFRS.
• Exceeded cash flow targets by $0.5 million, and streamlined treasury operations, reducing banking costs.
• Led the defense of the IRS Corporate Tax Audit, reducing liability by 98% ($40 million to $400K).
• Spearheaded the implementation of a $25 million tax holiday for a new diaper manufacturing plant, subject to final approval by the government.
• Delivered accurate and timely financial reporting to local and external stakeholders.

• As FP&A and Forecaster for West Africa business operations, I contributed to the marketing strategy by providing commercial financial insights to drive growth, pricing decisions, enhance profitability, identify opportunities, and mitigate risks.
• Led the restructuring of finance models and processes to ensure accurate sales and cost forecasting, resulting in $1 million in productivity savings.
• Provided financial leadership and actionable insights to support executive decision-making.
• Drove growth through strategic pricing, optimized product/SKU mix, efficient resource allocation, and competitive intelligence.
• Led the execution of the change from the Regional Entrepreneur business model to the Local Entrepreneur model for the Male Grooming, Batteries, and Oral Care divisions.
• Maintained high standards of compliance and control within the commercial business, achieving 99% forecast accuracy.

• I served as a Financial Analyst for three key categories in West Africa business operations, driving over 70% of revenue through strong leadership and collaborative partnerships with marketing and regional teams.
• Led financial analysis and developed competitive response models for the Oral-B paste/brush and premium diaper launches.
• Drove strategic revenue management, optimizing brand profitability.

• Spearheaded and managed the marketing spend activities (MSA) and selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) budgets across West Africa, achieving $2.5 million in savings on marketing support spend through process improvement, analysis, and tracking.
• Developed and deployed budget assumptions aligned with business objectives, submitting and defending the budget to ensure zero over- or underspending.
• Oversaw spending benchmarking against other P&G sites, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and investment projects.
• Ensured accurate vendor payments, actuals proofing, reconciliations, and reporting.

• As the Customer Business Development (Sales) Financial Analyst for Nigeria, I led benchmark and monthly profitability analyses across key regional distributors, developed and implemented new trade terms and pricing strategies, set and analyzed monthly sales targets, and trained distributors' finance teams to enhance financial capabilities.

• Managed customer receivables, overseeing collections, sales reconciliations, bank reconciliations, and AR position reporting to ensure accuracy.
• Reviewed, resolved, and processed distributor claims efficiently.
• Led the successful SAP system integration for inventory and receivables management.

• Coordinated and managed the audit and internal control team across multiple branches, ensuring the enforcement of management policies, fraud prevention, investigations, and accurate general ledger, credit facility, and income reporting.
• Evaluated the effectiveness of internal control policies and drove best practice improvements based on audit results across units, integrating audit risk assessment standards into the firm’s procedures.