Samaila Zubairu appointed President, CEO Africa Finance Corporation

Africa Finance Corporation AFC has appointed Samaila D. Zubairu as the Corporation’s 3rd President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Andrew Alli who comes to the end of his tenor, having successfully served in the position since 2008. Samaila Zubairu is a distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an accomplished Infrastructure development finance specialist with over 29 years of professional experience. He is the CEO of Africapital Management Limited, in which position he established a joint venture with Old Mutual’s African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) to develop the Nigerian Infrastructure Investment Fund1(NIIF1) for infrastructure private equity across West Africa. 

He also recently coordinated the $300 million acquisition of Eko Electricity Distribution Plc.  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 actualize the Obajana Cement project and managed the watershed unbundling of Dangote Industries Limited to listed subsidiaries on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He has led finance transactions for over US$3 billion covering: green-field project finance facilities, acquisitions, corporate transformation initiatives, privatisation and equity capital market transactions.

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 is the Chairman of MDSA Nigeria Limited, a fintech company providing micro loans 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. 

The appointment of Mr. Zubairu follows a six-month search process that saw over 100 candidates apply for the role. Mr. Zubairu will formally take up the post imminently. Dr. Okwu J. Nnanna, Chairman of AFC said: “On behalf of the Corporation, I am delighted to welcome Samaila Zubairu to AFC. In Samaila, we have identified an individual with the exceptional qualities across deal origination, execution, and capital raising that will continue to facilitate AFC’s ability to deliver transformational change through infrastructure investment as it moves into a new era. 

“His track record of operational excellence will be of huge benefit to AFC and all its stakeholders as we build on a decade that has seen AFC become a market leader in Africa’s infrastructure space, positively impacting millions of lives every day. I would like to thank Andrew Alli, who over the last decade has turned AFC from a start-up into the world class institution that it is today. His departure is truly our loss, and I am confident in saying I speak for all stakeholders to AFC in wishing Andrew the very best in his future endeavours.”