Managing Director / Chief Executive
Abubakar A. Bello
— Managing Director / Chief Executive
Abba Bello has over 30 years’ experience in banking, where he has held senior management positions in corporate banking, regional and commercial banking, and public sector banking in more than a decade. Abba also had a brief stint in auditing.
Until his appointment as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export-Import Bank in April 2017, he was Executive Director, Unity Bank Plc, in charge of Corporate Banking, Agriculture and North Directorate.
Abba has cognate experience in international banking. He was the pioneer Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa Plc’s subsidiaries in the Republic of Chad and Zambia for several years.
Abba has attended several courses in Nigeria and abroad in leadership, advanced management, and executive management. He is a member of Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria, a Fellow, Institute of Credit Administration, and a member of the Institute of Directors. He is an Alumnus of the Advanced Management Programme of the Havard Business School, USA.
Executive Director (Corporate Services)
Dr. Bala M Bello
— Executive Director (Corporate Services)
Dr. Bala Bello has more than two decades experience in the financial services industry, spanning through banking, capital market and pension fund management. He has worked in senior executive level in the last seven years prior to his appointment as Executive Director at the Nigerian Export Export-Import Bank in 2017.
Dr. Bello holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting, and an MBA, both from The Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He began his banking career with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc; and later joined the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2005, he joined Sigma Pensions Ltd, and was appointed the first Nigerian Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer in 2011 and later Executive Director Operations from 2013 to 2014. In this capacity, he had direct administrative responsibility for over N260 billion ($1.5 billion) funds/assets under management (A-U-M).
Dr. Bala established and served as the founding CEO of Marine Capital Limited, a real estate development and business/pensions advisory firm in February 2015; and subsequently joined Apricot Investments Limited in March 2016 as the pioneer Managing Director/CEO.
Dr. Bala has completed the High Potential Leadership Program at Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts and Executive Development Program at Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania both in the United States of America. He also holds a certificate in Operations Leadership from the prestigious Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada, as well as Portfolio Management Academy Certificate at the New York Institute of Finance. He has also successfully completed modules 1 & 2 of the highly sought-after GMP programme at the Harvard Business School in March 2020.
He is an honorary senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, a Fellow of the Institute of Credit administration, a member of the Institute of Directors, a member of the Certified Pension Institute of Nigeria, and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management. He was conferred with Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in Leadership and Management by ESAE University, Republic of Benin, and Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa) by Commonwealth University in conjunction with London Graduate School.
Executive Director (Business Development)
Hon. Stella Okotete
— Executive Director (Business Development)
Hon. Stella Okotete possesses significant experience in public policy design and implementation, public-private partnership management, international development and general administration.
A graduate of the Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, from where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy, Stella also holds a Diploma in Law from the Rivers State College of Arts and Sciences.
Until her appointment as Executive Director, Business Development, Stella had a rich mix of professional experience in both the public and private sectors. In 2015, she founded and led a start-up company where she was responsible for providing local and international clients with expert advice, scalable industrial solutions, and opportunities to utilise turnkey solutions for various industrial needs and requirements.
Between 2011 and 2015, she served as the Special Assistant and Adviser to the Executive Governor of Delta State on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where she provided leadership in establishing and executing programmes with agency groups to ensure that the goals as well as targets of the United Nations Millennium Declaration were met. In this regard, she championed the Review and effective management of the Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) business policy to tackle poverty and create employment in line with MDGs mandate. She also supported the M&E team of the State’s CCT Scheme and Social Development Policy that aided the growth and expansion of business clusters in the state.
Prior to leading the Delta State MDGs, Stella had a brief stint in politics, having served as an elected Councillor in Ughelli North Local Government Area, a position that helped sharpen her understanding of the socio-economic needs of neglected communities. She was able to deploy this knowledge to ensure that neglected communities in the state were positively impacted by the state’s MDGs strategic intervention programmes.
Stella is the Co Founder E’Girls Right Foundation and an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School certificate program for Emerging Leaders as well as the Lagos Business School’s Enterprise Development Centre program in Entrepreneurial Management. She is keenly involved in volunteer work and has worked with Internally Displaced Persons at IDP Camps in Ughelli, Maiduguri and Abuja.
DGM / Head, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communications Department
Olatayo Omidiji.
— DGM / Head, Strategic and Corporate Communications Planning Department
Tayo Omidiji obtained the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics in 1988 and 1992, respectively from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. He also earned a Master’s degree in Economic Policy Management in 2001 from the University of Ghana, Legon Ghana, an international programme designed by the World Bank Economic Research Institute to train all-rounded economic policy advisors sponsored by the World Bank and the African Capacity Building foundation.
A research professional and business analyst with very deep knowledge of the Nigerian and global economy, his work experience spans over 25 years in the Nigerian financial services sector during which he has served as economic/policy analyst, business information specialist, investment analyst and strategy/ planning manager.
He currently has responsibility for coordinating the strategy crafting and implementation programme in NEXIM Bank, in addition to keeping abreast of developments and providing strategic advice on the domestic and global markets, particularly those that affect international trade and investments. He also coordinates the corporate communications and external relations management in the Bank.
Prior to joining NEXIM Bank, he has worked in various organizations where he held prominent positions, including Research Manager at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Head, Research & Financial Advisory at the Financial Derivatives Company Limited; Head, Strategic Planning in NAL Bank Plc and Head, Research & Strategy in Sterling Capital Markets Limited (then the Investment Banking arm of Sterling Bank Plc.).
Tayo played a prominent role in the strategy team that midwifed the transformation of NAL Bank from a Merchant Bank to a Universal Bank and was a key member of the strategy team that consolidated the five legacy institutions to become Sterling Bank Plc. He was responsible for setting up the research department of Sterling Capital Markets Limited, now SCM Capital Limited, and coordinated the economic and investment research that propelled the institution to become one of the leading firms in terms of the value of transactions handled in the Nigerian Capital Market between 2006 and 2008.
He has attended several domestic and international seminars and training programmes as a participant and as resource person. He participated in the Israeli MASHAV Programme from January to February 1998 and is also an alumnus of the United States International Visitor Programme, having attended the programme on “Privatisation and the US Economy” from July to August 2003.
AGM / Head Finance and Accounts Department
Rani Umar Dansarki
— AGM / Head Finance and Accounts Department.
Mr. Rani Umar Dansarki obtained a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Accounting from Bayero University, Kano in 1991 and Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A) from Usman Dan-Fodio University in 2005.
Mr. Rani started his career as Accountant II with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigerian (FAAN), in 1992 and later joined service of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in 2002.
In January 2008, he joined the services of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) and was posted to the Internal Audit Department and also saddled with responsibility of finance/account officer of the Federal Government of Nigeria five hundred million dollars textile revival funds. In January, 2009 he was redeployed to Finance and Accounts Department of the Bank and in January, 2010 he was made the Head of Department (Finance and Accounts). In 2012, he was made the project manager that successfully led to the conversion of the Bank financial reporting from the local General Accepted Accounting Principle (N- GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). He has skills and competencies in Financial Analysis, Financial Modelling, Treasury Management and Human Resource Management.
He is a Fellow Member, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).He is happily married with children.
AGM / Head of Internal Audit Department
Rasaq Ozemede
— AGM / Head of Internal Audit Department
Mr. Rasaq Ozemede, currently the Head Internal Audit of NEXIM Bank, a financial institution in Nigeria has over 19 years of diversified experience that cuts across financial accounting and reporting, Auditing and Investigation, Risk Management, Financial Management, Information Systems and Management of general accounting functions.
He coordinated the complete migration of financial data from third-party applications to proprietary accounting systems and initiated the streamlined documentation and accounting procedures. In addition, Mr. Ozemede has proven wealth of experience across general accounting, strategic management and business intelligence with practical knowledge and exposure to global financial markets, corporate finance, profitability & cost analysis, investments, tax management, growth and expansion strategies, real estate investment, and GAAP/IAS/IFRS.
Prior to his joining NEXIM Bank, he served as the Chief Risk Officer of the Nigerian Exchange Group formally The Nigerian Stock Exchange from April 2019 – September 2021 and as the Group Head, Internal Audit of the same organization from October 2010 – March 2019. As a Chief Risk Officer, he was responsible for providing direction and oversight over the Risk Management, Internal Control, Compliance, Information Security, and Business Continuity functions of the organization. Under his leadership, The Nigerian Exchange Group achieved ISO 27001:2013 recertification without a single non-conformity exception recorded.
Mr. Ozemede is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (ACTI) a Senior Associate, Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) and a Member of the Information System Audit and Control Association (ISACA, United States). He served the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in a number of capacity including as a Board Member, Tax Faculty of ICAN and ICAN Examination Assessor.
Mr. Ozemede has attended several executive management and specific development programs in leading institutions including Senior Management Program (LBS- SMP72, Audit & Investigation Certification workshop, ISO 27001-2013 Lead Auditor Training, UK, ISO 22301: 2012 Lead Implementation Course 10.ISO 22301: 2012 Transition Training Course. Mr. Ozemede has a history of consistently delivering business results.
AGM / Head, Information Technology Department
Eric Erenam Sambo
— AGM / Head, Information Technology Department.
Mr. Eric Erenam Sambo obtained B.Tech (Hons) in Computer Science (Second Class Upper) from ATBU, Bauchi in 1990 and MSc. Financial Mathematics, a Joint Higher Degree Programme (JHDP), from National Mathematical Centre / Abuja University, Abuja in 2010.
Mr. Sambo started his career as Graduate Assistant with Oyo State University of Technology, OSUTECH (now LAUTECH), Ogbomosho in 1991 and later joined Inlaks Computers, Lagos, as Programmer/System Engineer. Thereafter, he worked with Commercial Trust Bank as System/Database Administrator before joining Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) in 1996 as IT Application Specialist/Database Administrator. His current position is Assistant General Manager / Head, Information Technology Department at the Bank.
Eric Erenam Sambo is an IT specialist with very deep knowledge and experience that cuts across many disciplines; academics, professional practice in value-added IT Services and Financial Services sector. He has been involved in the development of many be-spoke applications software and served as project manager in the implementation/customization of many key turn-key IT projects such as Accounting software, Core Banking software, 3rd party application development, integration / interface with Core application, etc. in many corporate organizations.
Mr. Sambo has attended several seminars and courses on Information Technology, Project Management and Leadership both locally and internationally with various certificates/certifications.
He is a member of Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria), MCPN and Nigeria Computer Society, MNCS.
Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of the Bank.
Sherif Umara Gubio
— Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of the Bank.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Mr. Sherif Umara Gubio graduated with B.Pharm degree from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and obtained an MBA (Finance) degree from the University of Maiduguri. His work experience cuts across the Academics, Pharmaceutical Marketing and Banking.
He commenced his banking career with the erstwhile FSB International Bank Plc from 1997 to 2004. While with FSB, he was a member of the Bank’s transformation team responsible for the execution of its Change Management initiatives across its platforms.
Upon leaving FSB in 2004, Mr. Gubio joined Guaranty Trust Bank Plc in 2004 as Group Head of the Advantium (Retail) Banking Group with responsibility for the North-West region.
In 2006, Mr. Gubio made a career change to take up a Risk Management role, first as a Credit Manager with UBA Plc Group Office, and, subsequently, as Head, Risk Management, UBA Sierra Leone Ltd, saddled with the responsibility for establishment of the Brand’s subsidiary and gaining a foothold in the banking sector of the West African country. In the course of his stewardship, he also doubled as Head, Compliance Unit, of the Bank.
Mr. Gubio joined the services of the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank in October, 2011 and is currently the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of the Bank.
Company Secretary, Nexim Bank
