Kikanwa Akpenyi is a Senior Director in charge of Audit and Advisory at Ha-Shem Limited and a seasoned transformation consultant. With over two decades in banking and other regulated sectors, she specializes in CX Optimisation (Service Quality Management, Contact Centre, Complaints Management, Customer Insights & Analytics), Capacity Development, Process Improvement, Internal Controls and Audit across the banking and other regulated industries. She is known for translating strategy into measurable outcomes through hands-on leadership, skill development, effective resource management and technology-enabled process optimisation.
Her career includes senior leadership roles at Skye Bank (Now Polaris Bank Limited) and Heritage Bank, where she served as Group Head, Customer Experience & Analytics; Group Head, Internal Control; and Chief Audit Executive
Previously, as Lead Consultant at Yashua Cares Limited, she successfully led business transformation projects for several clients.
A notable achievement includes leading initiatives that significantly improved her bank’s KPMG Customer Experience ranking in 2020. She was also instrumental to the launch of Financial Literacy for Schools in Nigeria, one of the key Financial Inclusion strategies by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
She holds Bachelor's and Master’s degrees in Economics, an MBA from Bangor University (Wales), and is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA, UK). She is an active leader within the Association of Professional Women Bankers, the female wing of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN), having held several Executive Committee roles, including Social and Publicity Secretary (2019-2023), Financial Secretary (2023-2025) and Honorary Secretary (2025-2027).
Recognised as a collaborative and hands-on leader, she is passionate about people empowerment, continuous development, and innovation, earning a reputation as a mentor, role model, and pioneer in her field.
How I help mentees
- Assist Mentees in identifying what they want out of their present career
- Develop leadership capabilities
- Help the mentee understand what it means to operate in a team for success
- Encourage the mentee to develop and improve their knowledge and skills to remain relevant
Key accomplishments
Led Maiden edition of a number of initiatives- 1. set up new departments in existing and new banks (Customer Experience & Analytics), Contact Centres, 2. Championed service culture integration for 2 bank mergers 3. Improved KMPG ratings of a bank through realignemnt of service design and people empowerment. 3. Led automation initiatives to drive process improvements and operational efficiencies e.g Complaints Management platform and the expense approval systems to name a few. 4. People empowerment- Developed talent at very junior level to take up critical responsibilities for organisations. 5,Championed contract staff recognition for their contributions and worked with HR to develop a career path for this staff category. 6. Collaborated with other stakeholders within the organisations i worked to execute projects working on various committees. Developed award initiatives to acknowledge support and adminstrative staff e.g Drivers, security, cleaners, etc
No upcoming sessions scheduled
