Mr. Bernhard Vester, based in Germany, has frequently visited Nigeria for the past 20 years, to consult with several Microfinance Banks and Institutions across the country (LAPO, Accion, Hasal, Umuchinemere, DEC Bauchi, Grooming, …). For AFOS Foundation he was one of the initiators of the Nigerian Microfinance Platform (NMP) as well as the Microfinance Learning and Development Centre (MLDC). And in October 2023 he was appointed MD of AFOS Foundation. After his studies in the United States, France and Germany, Mr. Vester received his Master´s degree in Business Administration. He has 3 children and 6 grand-children. He started his professional career in 1981 as a Management Trainee with BMW Corporation where he stayed for 11 years. There he worked in various roles, most notably serving as HR Manager and guiding the corporate Kaizen change management process. Then he worked for the Japanese computer & communications corporation NEC as General Manager for Central Europe, and thereafter worked for a high-end fashion company in Germany and Italy. For the past 29 years, Mr. Vester has been a management consultant for strategy, value-based organizational development and HR, as well as change implementation management paired with management coaching. His consulting focus outside of Africa has been on the global chemical industry and larger family businesses.