The Federal Ministry of Finance on Thursday, named a 10-man board led by Dr. Shehu Yahaya, former Executive Director of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Tony Okpanachi, former Deputy Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Managing Director/Chief Executive for the newly licensed Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN).
Okpanachi is to be supported by Mrs. Ijeoma Ozulumba, the Chief Financial Officer and Olu Adegbola, Chief Risk Officer.
Other members of the board are: Uche Orji, Chairman; Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority; Mohammed Kalif, of the African Development Bank.
Independent directors of the DBN include: Philips Oduoza, immediate past Group Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa (UBA); Andrew Alli, President/CEO, African Finance Corporation; Alhaji Bello Maccido, Chairman, FBN Merchant Bank; Mrs Clare Omatseye, Founder/Managing Director of JNC International Limited; and Oladimeji Alo, Managing Director, CEO Excel Professional Service Limited and former chief executive of the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC).
Okpanachi, a seasoned banker with over 26 years’ experience, was also Managing Director, Ecobank Kenya and Cluster Managing Director for East Africa (comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Ethiopia). At various times, he was Managing Director of Ecobank Malawi and Regional Coordinator for Lagos and South West of Ecobank Nigeria.
He holds a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Manchester Business School, UK and a Master of Science degree in Economics from University of Lagos.
A statement by Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, Director of Information, said “the Finance Ministry, on Wednesday received notice from the regulator that it was free to commence operations of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) focused Development Bank of Nigeria.”
Dambatta recalled Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Finance Minister as reaffirming to participants at a recent strategy retreat with the management team, board members, and other key stakeholders of DBN, the importance of its mandate.
She assured them of government’s support to ensure the DBN succeeds in its mandate. She lamented that “despite limited access to financing, MSMEs contribute a significant 45% to the national economy. If these institutions could have reliable access to working and investment capital at low cost, the multiplier effect on economic growth and job creation would be significant”.