Finalists announced for RMB's Africa's Fearless Thinker Award 2025

MEDIA RELEASE

16 October 2025

Celebrating Africa’s fearless thinkers

The Gender Mainstreaming Awards recognise remarkable individuals who are advancing gender mainstreaming in the private sector across Africa. These awards celebrate those who lead with purpose, inspire through action, and challenge the status quo to build more inclusive workplaces.

As a proud category sponsor of the RMB Africa’s Fearless Thinker Award, RMB celebrates pioneering individuals across Africa who have demonstrated exceptional creativity, innovation and courage in addressing pressing societal challenges.

We celebrate the human stories behind the statistics – the role models, inclusive leaders, and fearless thinkers who are moving the dial.

The winners will be announced in February 2026.

The top five finalists for the RMB Africa’s Fearless Thinker Award category for 2025 are:

Olawunmi Adelusi

Olawunmi (Wunmi) Adelusi is a fearless systems thinker who offers a rare blend of technical depth and human-centered leadership. She is a Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank Group – delivering strategic advisory and technical support to Nigeria’s financial sector programme. She leverages data and policy dialogue to make financial services more accessible and inclusive to micro, small and medium enterprises.

Her expertise in financial policy, regulatory reform, inclusive finance and gender equity is reshaping how central banks, development banks and financial services providers in Africa think about access, stability and transformation to unlock inclusive growth.

She is the technical lead for Nigeria’s implementation of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code (We-Fi Code) – a landmark initiative that uses gender disaggregated data to bridge the financing gap for women-led businesses. Under her leadership, the initiative is not just being adopted, but it is being institutionalised, with measurable commitments from banks and regulators.

Global voice on gender-lens regulation

Wunmi’s journey began in Ogbomosho, Nigeria, where she witnessed first-hand how women in small businesses were locked out of formal finance systems. This personal awareness matured into a professional mission when she joined the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBA). Her efforts to promote financial inclusion gained international recognition, establishing her as a global voice on gender-lens regulation.

She is also blazing her own trail as a community builder and mentor. Through her women’s platform, Forge Forward, she has nurtured a growing network of female professionals who are overcoming career stagnation and self-doubt to pursue lives of purpose and bold action. Similarly, she has a community of working professionals – The Millennial Employee (6 000+ followers) that inspire and equip employees to thrive at work.

Wunmi is a thought leader on financial system stability. She co-authored a widely referenced article on ‘Balancing Monetary Policy, Price Stability and MSME Growth’ and won the Toronto Centre Essay Competition for her work on applying SupTech to enhance financial supervision.

She has been recognised for her work ethic and strategic leadership with awards such as the Positive Role Model (West Africa); Top 100 Women Making Impact in Africa (2023); and Top 100 Career Women in Nigeria.

Dr Kemi DaSilva Ibru

Dr Kemi DaSilva-Ibru is a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology – dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls through medical practice, social activism and public advocacy against gender-based violence.

She has over 30 years’ experience in medical practice spanning three continents. She is the founder of the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) – an NGO that addresses gender-based violence, rape and the trafficking of young girls and women. She founded WARIF to change the alarming statistics of sexual assault against women and girls in Nigeria. WARIF empowers women and girls to speak up against violence through free post-incident health care counselling at the WARIF Rape Crisis Centre.

Her work with WARIF has been recognised internationally, including becoming a member of the Forbes 50 over 50 list – featuring women who are making their greatest impact in life’s second half. She is also the founder of the Women in Healthcare Network (WIHCN) – the first female healthcare platform in Nigeria.

Dr DaSilva-Ibru is a recipient of numerous regional and international awards: CNN COVID Heroes and Newsmaker; winner of an Award of Excellence by the National Council of Women Affairs in Nigeria; Gold Award for Thought Leader of the Year and a Silver Award by the Women Changing the World organisation.

She was nominated in 2020 as one of the 50 African Women in Development and received an Award of Excellence by the National Council of Women Affairs, Nigeria.

She serves on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria; the American Medical Association; Medical Women Association of Nigeria; the Association of Public Health Physicians Nigeria; the Faculty of Public Health UK; and the American Public Health Association. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors, Nigeria and a board member of the Health Committee of the Institute of Directors in Nigeria.

Khethiwe Nkuna

Khethiwe Nkuna is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, author and social impact leader who combines strategic insight, systems thinking and human empathy to address some of Africa’s most complex social and economic challenges.

Khethiwe is the CEO and Founder of SkillQuest – a 100% Black female-owned consulting firm that offers Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), skills development, transformation and CSR advisory services to corporate, non-profit and public sector organisations.

She believes that DEI is not just a compliance exercise, but a competitive advantage. She is consistently pushing the boundaries of what responsible business can look like in the African context. Her innovations include launching Africa’s first video-based DEI learning hub to make high-quality African-contextualised training accessible at scale. She is a strategic disruptor who challenges outdated systems and brings uncomfortable but necessary truths to the table.

She is the author of ‘Tear Her Down: Unpacking Scarcity, Insecurity & Sisterhood in the Workplace’ – a groundbreaking book that dismantles the unspoken power dynamics and internalised bias that hold women back in leadership. Through this work, Khthiwe is shifting culture, advancing gender equity and creating spaces for authentic dialogue and healing in leadership circles.

Future-facing

Her work is future-facing – integrating ESG, digital inclusion, mental health, and youth empowerment into models that challenge outdated paradigms. Fluent in six languages and deeply rooted in African values, she brings cultural fluency to every room she enters and makes bold thinking accessible, practical and scalable.

She is the Co-founder and Chairperson of the Mwelase Foundation – an NPO focused on youth development, rural digital inclusion and community-led transformation. She led the launch of South Africa’s first robotics and coding club for rural learners through this initiative.

She is also the Director: Brand and Reputation and Executive Board Member of the Africa Women Financial Inclusion Initiative (AWFII) – a pan-African organisation that champions the financial inclusion and leadership advancement of African women in finance and investment.

Stefan Schuett

Stefan Schuett is the CEO of BMW Group Financial Services South Africa. He has been instrumental in driving transformation and embedding diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging into the organisation’s core business strategy.

His leadership has enabled initiatives that challenge traditional norms such as creating platforms for underrepresented voices, accelerating gender equity at leadership levels, and fostering an inclusive organisational culture.

Having joined the BMW Group in the early 1990s, he has held leadership roles in the US, Germany, Spain and now South Africa. Across these diverse markets, he has consistently championed leadership models that empower women and value diverse perspectives. His unwavering commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where every employee feels respected, valued and able to thrive has enabled him to influence not only local transformation, but also the broader BMW global leadership culture.

Gender equality

Under Stefan’s leadership, BMW Financial Services South Africa has made notable strides in advancing gender equality. BMW Financial Services South Africa has achieved a B-BBEE level 1; female representation within designated groups in Senior Management reaching 47.06%, surpassing that of males at 35.29% (well above the organisational target). In professionally qualified roles, women represent 52.08% compared to 39.58% for male counterparts.

Recognising that long-term gender equality depends on a healthy leadership pipeline, Stefan introduced: GIBS Women in Leadership Programme – combining academic rigour with practical leadership insights; Women Rising – a curated programme for personal and professional growth, supported by targeted financial investment; Mentorship, Sponsorship and Coaching Frameworks – pairing senior leaders with emerging female talent to build influence, confidence, and readiness for senior roles.

During his tenure as CEO of BMW Bank GmbH, Sucursal en España, Stefan played a pivotal role in transforming an all-male board into a well-balanced leadership team that included three women. In 2024, 90% of the BMW Financial Services South Africa board was female-led.

By embedding gender equity into governance, leadership development, and everyday decision-making, Stefan has demonstrated that real change happens when strategy, culture and leadership values align. Beyond his professional responsibilities, Stefan demonstrates a long-standing commitment to community upliftment and CSR.

Parmi Natesan

Parmi Natesan is the CEO of the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) where she leads the national voice on ethical leadership and governance. She is a trailblazer for women in business and a catalyst for change. Her courage, clarity and conviction continue to shape the future of leadership in Africa.

Through her leadership, the IoDSA influences legislation, shapes governance codes and drives national conversations on ethical leadership. She is the first person of colour and youngest CEO to lead the IoDSA. She has built a reputation for challenging the status quo, speaking truth to power and driving governance reform.

Good governance

She has taken her expertise directly into the halls of power, presenting to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee, shaping legislative amendments and representing the IoDSA and King Committee in engagements that influence the future of corporate governance in South Africa.

Parmi led the IoDSA’s entry into the 30% Club – a global, business-led campaign founded in the UK in 2010 to achieve gender balance on boards and senior leadership positions by setting a target of at least 30% female representation.

She challenges entrenched norms while offering viable, innovative pathways forward – whether advocating for the professionalisation of directorship, greater gender diversity in leadership or governance models that integrate ESG.

Parmi is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of the Free State; a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa; a board member of the Integrated Reporting Committee; a member of the Global Network of Director Institutes; a Steering Committee Member of the 30% Club; a Member of the International Women’s Forum South Africa; and the first female Chair of the Board of St Peter’s College.

She has been recognised with numerous accolades, including Business Leader of the Year (Top Empowerment Awards 2024); Global Woman Achiever (2022); and SAICA Difference Maker for Ethical Leadership (2022).

Parmi is deeply committed to mentorship and developing the next generation of leaders, particularly young women who aspire to board and executive roles through her involvement with the Women on Boards Foundation Programme; the Director Mentoring Programme and her own personal guidance to young professionals.