The President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government have unveiled the board
and management of the newly-licensed Development Bank of Nigeria, owned by the
Ministry of Finance.
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun
The Federal Ministry of Finance on Thursday, announced details of members of the board and management of the newly licensed Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN.
The management team is led by Tony Okpanachi, a banker and erstwhile Deputy Managing Director/Deputy CEO, Ecobank
Nigeria Limited.
Before his appointment as Managing Director/ CEO of Development Bank of
Nigeria, he was the Deputy Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited. Prior to
that, he was the Managing Director, Ecobank Kenya and Cluster Managing Director for East
Africa (comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Ethiopia)
He was also at various times Managing Director of Ecobank Malawi and Regional
Coordinator for Lagos and South West of Ecobank Nigeria.
A seasoned banker with over 26 years’ experience, 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.
Mr. Okpanachi will be supported by the Chief Financial Officer, Ijeoma Ozulumba, and Chief
Risk Officer, Olu Adegbola.
The board members include: Chairman, Shehu Yahaya (who was the interim MD of
DBN and former Executive Director, AfDB);
the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority,
Uche Orji; and Mohammed Kalif of the African Development Bank.
Independent directors of the DBN are former Group Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Philips Oduoza;
President and CEO, African Finance
Corporation, Andrew Alli; Chairman, FBN Merchant Bank, Bello Maccido; Founder/
Managing Director, JNC International Limited, Clare Omatseye; and the Managing Director, CEO Excel Professional Service Limited, Oladimeji Alo.
The Finance Ministry had 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.
Speaking at a recent strategy retreat with the management team, board members, and
other key stakeholders of DBN in
attendance, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, reaffirmed the importance of the
DBN’s mandate and assured them of the public sector support needed to ensure the
DBN’s success.
According to Mrs. Adeosun, “despite limited access to financing, MSMEs contribute a
significant 45 per cent 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.”
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