Tinubu Appoints Akinde, Uz’Okpala As BoI Executive Directors

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Rotimi Akinde and Ifeoma Uz’Okpala as executive directors (EDs) to the Board of Bank of Industry (BoI.

A statement by the Head of the Press and Public Relations Unit at the BoI, Theodora Amechi, said Akinde will serve as ED of Corporate Finance & Risk Management while Uz’Okpala is appointed as Executive ED, Large Enterprises Directorate. Both appointments took effect on Monday, August 26, 2024.

According to the statement, Akinde, a finance professional with over 20 years of Investment and Corporate Banking experience, has an extensive track record covering capital raising (Debt, Equities, and Hybrids) and Corporate Finance (Mergers and acquisitions, Privatization Advisory, and Project Finance).

Before joining the Bank of Industry, Akinde was an Associate Partner in project and corporate Finance at Infrastructure Delivery International (IDI), where he worked on the UKNIAF programme and promoted green finance and structured debt solutions for subnationals.

“He worked previously as the Corporate Finance Advisor at the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (‘NIAF’), providing financing initiatives, modelling and funding structures for the infrastructure team.

“He served in Corporate Banking as the group head and assistant general manager of multinationals at UBA Plc, prior to which he was vice president of Corporate finance and advisory at UBA Global Markets (now United Capital).

The new ED Corporate Services also worked as a Privatisation Adviser and head of the oil and gas Team at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), where he closed on the divestiture and sale of the federal government’s equity interest in 11 Oil Services Companies and achieved the sale of all the federal government’s LPG assets. He was an Assistant Manager in Leadbank Plc, within both the Investment and Corporate Banking Groups.

Prior to this, he worked as an analyst in the financial sector in the United Kingdom with Barclays Funds, London. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; a Master’s Degree in International Securities, Investment, and banking from the University of Reading, UK; and an Executive MBA from INSEAD.

Uz’Okpala joined BOI in September 2014 as Group Head of Large Enterprises Credit and later served as the bank’s Chief Risk Officer before her appointment.

As the bank’s Chief Risk Officer, she played a crucial role in managing and mitigating risks associated with the bank’s operations while also providing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risk support. 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 over 30 years of experience in the financial sector.

She began her career at International Merchant Bank and progressed through key roles at MBC International, First Bank, Stanbic Bank, and UBA. Her versatile expertise includes internal auditing, corporate finance, credit evaluation and origination, foreign operations, and risk management.

An alumna of the University of Nigeria, where she earned 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 a Member of the Chartered Risk Management Institute.