Louis Adande is a banker with over 20 years of experience in structuring financing transactions and managing businesses in West Africa. Louis is a Senior Associate of 6 Sigma Training and Development and the Managing Director of Saoti Finance France.

Louis began his corporate banking career in 1983 with Citigroup in Gabon, West Africa. He held a series of roles in Customer Relationship Management, Risk Management and Business Leadership at country and regional levels. He worked in most of the countries making up the West Africa area including postings in Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Nigeria. Louis gained an extensive exposure to the Financial Institutions businesses through his management roles on both country and regional manager.

In his various positions Louis was responsible for structuring and negotiating large, often innovative financing transactions for local as well as foreign industrial and financial institution clients. He had also the responsibility of managing businesses for growth and performance.

This extensive corporate banking experience with Citigroup helped Louis develop an understanding of the dynamics of the financial markets in the geographical areas of CEEMEA with a special focus on West Africa as well as a hands-on familiarity with best practices in the areas of risk, customer and business management.

In 2006, having left Citigroup, Louis established Saoti Finance a Corporate Finance and Business Development consulting firm focusing on the sub-Sahara Africa markets. The firm assists its clients, whether local or foreign companies and financial institutions, in efficiently raising debt or equity capital in the local financial markets. Saoti Finance also contributes to the enhanced competitiveness of its clients by strengthening their internal processes including risk management and Basel II compliance processes for banks as well as cash management and financial control processes for all businesses.

Louis has been delivering training programs in the areas of Credit and Relationship Management with 6 Sigma Training and Development since he left Citibank and has had very successful deliveries in Beirut, Manama, Jeddah, Dakar, Douala, Lagos and Abidjan.

Louis Adande holds a Bachelor Degree from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (IEP), an MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Paris, France and a Master Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, in Washington.