Fatoumata Doro

Kemi Ajumobi

March 3, 2026

Fatoumata Doro
Board Member, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Niger

Fatoumata Doro, born in Niger into a modest family, yet she worked her way through all life had for her to get to where she is today. From local to international leadership positions with outstanding global organisations, she has indeed proved her mettle.

Fatoumata, in her rising career became part of the first Francophone African team at Procter & Gamble, and from there proceeded to become the first female African Managing Director at Arla Foods, where she built one of Ghana’s fastest-growing dairy businesses, driving revenue from €100K to €11M in just three years. From there, she moved on to become the first female MD of a textile company. With each position came its challenges but Fatoumata surmounted them all.

Fatoumata is a growth-focused and impact-driven C-suite leader with 15+ years of experience transforming businesses and scaling operations across Africa and the Middle East. She has a knack for driving complex P&L and operational performance, having led organisations of up to 760 employees and €136M in revenue, where she was consistently delivering measurable growth and sustainable turnaround.

Described by Ivania Casco, Director of Innovation, Cheese at Arla Foods as “one of the most market oriented leaders I’ve worked with, always using the customer voice as a compass for both strategic and tactical decision making. This also enabled her growth in Arla Foods, in which she grew into a larger GM role with P&L responsibility and leading end to end functions.” She certainly left her mark on a good note at Arla Foods.

Also, Wilfried ASSI, Director of Communications & Foundation – ExCo Member, Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire, had this to say about her “I worked with Fatou, MD of Vlisco Ghana, and we were together in the global board of Vlisco Group. I was very impressed and satisfied with her level of leadership and skills in business management. One day, I asked myself who among us could replace our manager, the CEO of the group, and Fatou was the person I was seeing. 

I have seen her demonstrating resilience during the economic crisis Ghana was facing in 2022, as well as dealing with tough Ghanaian unions at our factory. On top of that, we share common values: skills, knowledge and value sharing, and authenticity, which I really value with her.” He said.

She is a recipient of several awards and some include: CEO of the Year – Textiles Industry, 2023. Nominated among 100 Most Influential African Women, 2022 and First African Female MD of Vlisco Ghana Cluster & Arla Foods SSA.

She has a Master’s in Management & Financial Mathematics – ISM Dakar, Master’s in Statistics & Econometrics – UCAD Dakar, and Degrees in Mathematics & Finance – Université Paul Sabatier (France), Gaston Berger (Senegal).