Bain & Company appoints two partners in Johannesburg office

Bain & Company has appointed two new partners in its South African office. Onyinye Ibeneche Avbovbo and Stephen York were both promoted to Partner level over the course of last year, in one of two rounds that ran in June and in December. 

Ibeneche Avbovbo has been at Bain & Company’s Johannesburg office since 2013, contributing her expertise in the Consumer Products industry, not only in South Africa but across the broader region of Sub-Saharan Africa as well. Her focus areas include business unit strategy, operating model design & implementation, results delivery and leadership development.

A Harvard Business School graduate, Ibeneche Avbovbo has a wealth of professional experience. She completed her MBA at Harvard before joining multinational conglomerate General Electric (GE) in 2005 as an Edison Engineer. She spent nearly five years at GE, eventually leaving the firm when she had been Sales Manager for nearly three years. She spent more than a year as Managing Director at Agricultural Production startup Alim Udo before joining Bain seven years ago.

York has been at Bain in Johannesburg for well over 9 years, and focuses on private equity. He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Cape Town and began his professional career as a Consultant at global management consultancy Burlington Strategy Advisors. He joined Bain & Company in 2010.

Ibeneche Avbovbo and York are two of 94 executives that have been promoted to partner across Bain’s global operation over the course of 2019. The majority of these promotions came in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region, followed by promotions in the Americas and the Asia Pacific region.

“We congratulate these next-generation leaders and celebrate their accomplishments, including both extraordinary client results and standout examples of coaching, mentoring and building great teams within our firm,” said the firm in the press release.

The duo enters the leadership ranks at a turbulent time for Bain in South Africa, where the firm’s reputation has been dented recently. In July last year, Bain appointed an African Oversight Board to help beef up its quality assurance and risk controls across the continent.

Globally, Bain & Company is one the leading strategic consulting firms, with offices in some 40 countries.