With effect from Monday, August 26, 2024, President Bola Tinubu has nominated Mr. Rotimi Akinde and Mrs. Ifeoma Uz’Okpala as Executive Directors of the Bank of Industry (BOI), respectively, in the areas of Corporate Finance & Risk Management and Large Enterprises Directorate.
Akinde is a financial expert with more than 20 years of expertise in corporate banking and investments. She has raised capital in a variety of markets, including debt, equity, and hybrids.
According to a statement released by Theodora Amechi, Head of the BOI’s Public Relations Division, he is also skilled in corporate finance, which includes project financing, privatisation consulting, and mergers and acquisitions.
He worked on the UKNIAF program as an Associate Partner, Project & Corporate Finance at Infrastructure Delivery International (IDI) before joining the bank. There, he pushed structured loan solutions for sub-nationals and green finance.
According to the bank, he was formerly employed as the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility’s (NIAF) Corporate Finance Advisor, where he provided financing initiatives, models, and funding structures for the infrastructure team.
Formerly Vice President of Corporate Finance & Advisory at UBA Global Markets, now known as United Capital, he worked in corporate banking as the Group Head & Assistant General Manager of multinationals at UBA Plc.
The statement reached by the BrandSpur banking and finance news desk stated that Akinde worked for the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) as a Privatisation Adviser and Head of the Oil & Gas Team. He closed the sale of the federal government’s equity stake in eleven oil services companies and succeeded in selling all of the government’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) assets.
It further stated that he worked at Lead Bank Plc as an Assistant Manager in the Corporate Banking and Investment Groups. He had previously worked as an analyst at Barclays Funds, London, in the financial industry in the United Kingdom.
In addition, he has an Executive MBA from INSEAD, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, and a Master of Arts in International Securities, Investment & Banking from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.
However, it also said that Uz’Okpala was appointed Chief Risk Officer of the Bank before her appointment, having joined BOI in September 2014 as Group Head of Large Enterprises Credit.
According to the statement, she was the bank’s Chief Risk Officer and was instrumental in managing and reducing operational risks as well as providing support for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) concerns.
The statement holds: “She offered invaluable ESG support within transactions and provided the roadmap for attracting impact investments. Uz’Okpala is a seasoned Credit and Risk Management Professional, with a career spanning over 30 years in the financial sector.
“She commenced her career at International Merchant Bank (IMB) and progressed through key roles at MBC International, First Bank, Stanbic Bank, and UBA. Her versatile expertise includes Internal Audit, Corporate Finance, Credit Evaluation and Origination, Foreign Operations, and Risk Management.”
Continuing, it reads: “She is an alumna of the University of Nigeria, where she attained a BSc. In Accountancy and a graduate of the prestigious Lagos Business School.
“Uz’Okpala is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), an Honourary Senior Member (HCIB) of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and Member of the Chartered Risk Management Institute,” it added.
