Leading infrastructure development finance institution, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), in a press release to Nairametrics, has confirmed the appointment of Samaila D. Zubairu as the Corporation’s 3rd President & Chief Executive Officer. Zubairu succeeds Andrew Alli who comes to the end of his tenure, having successfully served in the position since 2008.
The appointment of Mr. Zubairu follows a six-month search process that saw over 100 candidates apply for the role.
Profile of the new CEO
- Mr. Zubairu is a graduate of Accounting from the Ahamadu Bello University, Zaria, from 1986 till 1989.
- He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
- He was the Head of Investment Banking, Liberty Bank Plc from 1997-2001 and later group head, branch coordination, and risk management for the same bank.
- He was the pioneer CFO for Dangote Cement Plc, during which he launched Africa’s largest syndicated project finance facility for a local corporate to actualise the Obajana Cement project and managed the watershed unbundling of Dangote Industries Limited to listed subsidiaries on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
- Prior to his appointment, he was the CEO of Africapital Management Limited where he established a joint venture with Old Mutual’s African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) to develop the Nigerian Infrastructure Investment Fund 1(NIIF1) for infrastructure private equity across West Africa.
- He also recently coordinated the US$300 million acquisition of Eko Electricity Distribution Plc.
- Samaila is an Eisenhower Fellow and sits on the Eisenhower Fellowship’s Global Network Council as well as the President’s Advisory Council.
- He is also an Advisory Board member for KSE Africa, a leading Operations, and Management provider of captive power plants in the mining sector of Botswana and Nigeria, and he is the Chairman of MDSA Nigeria Limited, a fintech company providing microloans across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Samaila is the Independent Director and Chairman Statutory Audit Committee as well as a member of Finance and General-Purpose and Establishment and Governance Committees of Aiico Insurance Plc.
- He also serves as an Independent Director and Chairman of the Finance Committee for New Nigeria Commodity Marketing Company.
Reacting to his new appointment, Mr. Zubairu said:
“Africa Finance Corporation is one of the most dynamic organisations on the continent. In the last decade, we have seen the organisation grow its balance sheet by a remarkable 400%, produce competitive returns, whilst transforming African economies through innovative infrastructure development and financing. I am therefore, immensely humbled by the distinct honour of this appointment to lead such a distinguished organisation.
“As the incoming President & CEO, I am confident of AFC’s market position as being best placed to surmount Africa’s multi-sectoral infrastructure challenges, and no doubt this success has been achieved in no small part, because of AFC’s outgoing President & CEO, Mr. Andrew Alli and his team of exceptional professionals. I, therefore, look forward to joining AFC’s highly reputable team, and together, enhancing AFC’s position as an extremely capable project partner, able to deliver sustainable development projects across the Continent.”
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is a pan-African multilateral development finance institution established in 2007 to bridge Africa’s infrastructure investment gap through the provision of debt and equity finance, project development, technical and financial advisory services.
AFC is majority-owned by private investors, the bulk of which are African financial institutions, which own 47.6% of the corporation. A further 42.5% is owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
