DBN appoints new Executive Director, Non-Executive Director
By Olusegun Obisanya
The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Nigeria’s primary wholesale development finance institution, has announced the appointments of Mrs. Ijeoma Ozulumba and Mr. Kyari Abba Kyari as Executive Director and Independent Non-Executive Director respectively on the board of the Bank.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Shehu Yahaya, who made the announcement recently noted that the appointments of Ozulumba and Kyari would further strengthen DBN’s vision to provide adequate and sustainable financing to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises across the country.
He maintained that the organization would continually uphold the highest standards of corporate governance, which have kept the Bank on a steady trajectory of progress.
The chairman was credited in a statement to have said, “We are thrilled to have Ijeoma and Kyari join the Board and we look forward to them applying their knowledge, experience, and expertise in helping to deliver DBN’s core mandate as Nigeria’s primary wholesale development finance institution, providing sustainable financing to MSMEs across the nation.”
The Managing Director of the Bank, Mr. Tony Okpanachi said, “I am particularly excited by the depth and quality that both appointees are bringing to the Board and ultimately, the institution. Together, they bring a combined reservoir of knowledge and expertise in the financial services sector that will add immense value to the Bank and significantly contribute to the Bank’s development impact.”
Mrs. Ijeoma Ozulumba, a graduate of the Universeity of Benin, Nigeria, and fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, once served as Financial Controller at Continental Trust Bank Ltd (Now part of UBA Plc) and MBC International Bank Ltd (Now part of First Bank). She was also Chief Financial Officer at FinBank Plc and Basel Risk Consultant and Finance Manager at Bank of Montreal and Scotia Bank, both in Toronto, Canada. Mrs. Ozulumba also managed corporate budgeting and management reporting for Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, the largest independent E&P company in Nigeria.
Mr. Kyari Abba Kyari, former Managing Director/CEO at Central Securities Clearing System Plc, Lagos, newly appointed Independent Non-Executive Director, is the Managing Director/Co-Founder of Trans Sahara Investment Corporation, a Private Equity firm based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Kyari Bukar was the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and currently serves on several other Boards.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, and a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA.
Development Bank of Nigeria Plc is a wholesale development finance institution, established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with multilateral development partners (The World Bank, AfDB, KfW, AFD, and EIB) to address the major financing challenges facing Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. DBN carries out this function by providing financial institutions, predominantly Deposit Money and Microfinance Banks with on-lending facilities.
