The Board of Transcorp Hotels Plc have accepted the resignation of Mr. Omoniyi Fagbemi. The Board appointed Mrs. Saratu Umar as Independent Non-Executive Director and Dr. Bakari Wadinga as Non-executive Director of the Company, effective October 7, 201 6.
Brief Profile Of Hajiya Saratu Umar
Saratu Umar is a 1989 graduate of B.Sc. Economics from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and also holds an MBA degree with specialization in Finance and Banking.
She was appointed the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) on May 1 9, 201 4, the first female to hold that position since the establishment of the Commission in 1 995.
A well-rounded Banker, Strategist, Economist, notable Change Agent and Change Manager, who constantly aims for the ultimate goal of improving the Nigerian Economy, She has over twenty-four [24] years working experience, with twenty-two [22] of them spent in Development Banking at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), where she started as a pioneer staff on April 8, 1 992. She traversed and headed all strategic and key departments of the Bank, including; Trade Finance, Project Finance, Business Development and Advisory Services, Strategy, Credit Insurance and Guarantees, Human Resources Development, Administrative Services, and also worked in the Board Secretariat/Legal Affairs Department. During this period, she was equipped with indispensable knowledge of Credit Analysis and Administration encompassing Project Finance, Trade Finance and Guarantees; Business/Export Development and Diversification; Financial and Business Advisory; Building/Optimizing Organizational Processes; Chance Management; Sustainable Development Strategies; Strategic Planning; Negotiation; Strategic Human Resource Management; Measurement Systems and Policy design aligned with corporate objectives and stakeholder engagements, as well as Risk Management, amongst others. She started engaging in Investment Promotion assignments for Nigeria, at least eleven [l l ] years before being appointed to lead the NIPC, during which she served as speaker in several Trade Missions in Europe, America and Asia aimed at seeking investors for the Country.
Vastly trained, locally and internationally in all core aspects of her Banking career, as well as in Leadership, Strategy and Management, she has also worked on various projects with a number of world-class Management Consultants aimed at corporate transformation/re-engineering/restructuring. She in membership/chairmanship capacity of various committees within and outside NEXIM Bank and served on many technical committees outside NIPC, amongst them, as Member/Secretary of the Nigerian President’s Honorary International Investor Council (HIC).
She is deeply passionate about the socio-economic development and transformation of Nigeria. Hence, while at the NIPC, she embarked on unprecedented Reforms with a Vision to transform the Institution into ‘l a gold standard of excellence on the African Continent and a world-class Investment Promotion Agency, comparable to any, in the world”, to enable NIPC effectively deliver its mandate, as well as provide effective Leadership to the Investment Eco-
system
Saratu is a Fellow of the American Academy of Financial Management (FAAFM); a certified Chartered Wealth Manager [CWM], a Certified Risk and Compliance Management Professional (CRCMP), a Fellow, Institute of Chartered Economists (FCE); a senior Associate of the Risk Management Association of Nigeria and a senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, amongst others. She is also a recipient of local and international awards, amongst them, the 2012 International Distinguished Leadership Award.
