HEINEKEN Africa Foundation appoints Nigeria’a Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola as Chair of Board of Trustees
The HEINEKEN Africa Foundation has announced the appointment of Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola as Chair of the Board of Trustees, as of 1 January 2022, taking over an organization that is committed to building sustainable communities since 2007.
Born and raised in Nigeria, Ms. Adebiyi-Abiola brings to her position as Chair a distinguished track record in waste management and recycling in the developing world, with 14 years of experience in social entrepreneurship, public sector leadership and software development. In 2012, she co-founded and was the CEO of Wecyclers Corporation, a recycling company in Nigeria serving densely populated urban neighbourhoods. From 2017 to 2019, she was General Manager of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency. She is currently the Director General of the Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau.
Ms. Adebiyi-Abiola succeeds Guus Lubsen, who since January 2014 successfully scaled up and accelerated the Foundation’s activities. In 2020 and 2021, the Foundation executed the largest grant-making program in its history, committing €5 million euro to support water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects in 8 African countries as part of its COVID-19 Response Program.
In 2020, this enabled more than 30 million people to be reached with crucial life-saving hygiene messages. More than 1,000 handwashing facilities were installed in critical locations, including public marketplaces, giving 1.5 million people the ability to wash their hands. The Foundation is currently finishing the second phase of WASH programs in 8 countries.
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation: “It’s an honour to lead an organization that shows such a strong commitment to positively impact communities in Africa. Living in Nigeria I see the great opportunities that can be unlocked for people when we work with local communities to find sustainable solutions to everyday challenges.
I am delighted to see the great work the Foundation has done in the last two years with the Covid-19 Response Program. This shows the ambition and I am looking forward to work with my fellow Trustees to see how the Foundation can increase its impact even more in the years to come.”
Suzanne Giele, General Manager of the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation: “The appointment of Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola is an exciting moment in the history of the foundation as she brings to the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation an impressive combination of entrepreneurial and public sector leadership in Africa. Guus Lubsen was instrumental in taking the foundation to new heights and leaves the organization in great hands for the future.”
