Dapo Oyewole is a multi-skilled public policy, international development, global affairs, communications and strategy execution expert with over 20 years’ experience working in Africa, Europe and the US.
He is also a seasoned policy analyst, adviser, speaker, author, conference moderator/chair, trainer and media commentator. He also mentors promising young people for careers in public policy, governance and international development.
Dapo has held senior positions in the international development and public sector consulting sector as Director of Public Sector Development (EMEA region) at the Palladium Group – the international development consulting firm and also as Senior Public Sector Adviser at McKinsey & Co., where he spearheaded engagement with government and donors on public sector and development-centered projects. In public service, he has also served in appointed government positions as Special Adviser on International & Interparliamentary Affairs to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and previously as a senior Adviser to two Nigerian government Ministers at the ministries of Finance as well as the Presidency’s National Planning Commission – with donor coordination, development policy, international affairs and strategic planning as his primary portfolios.
Prior to these, he headed the Research, Policy and Strategy Team of SPARC – the UK’s Department for International Development’s (DFID) public sector technical assistance programme in Nigeria; and was Executive Director of the policy think tank the Centre for African Public Policy & Strategy (CAPPS). He also headed the Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD) both in the UK. He started his career at the policy think tank the Institute for Security Studies and Amnesty International both in South Africa, and has since served as a senior consultant to several multilateral and bilateral agencies, such as UKAID/DFID, several United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat etc.