Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO, Africa Finance Corporation

Mr. Samaila Zubairu was appointed as AFC’s 3rd President and Chief Executive Officer in July 2018, ushering in a new era of leadership in accelerating development impact with the development and implementation of a five-year corporate strategy which at its core, addresses the urgent mandate of increasing energy access for Africans, driving sustainable development of natural resources, transport and logistics infrastructure, heavy industries, and improving telecommunications/ technology access. Key pillars of the strategy include: enhancing the capacity of the team and entrenching a high-performance culture; coherent ecosystem strategy for value-accretive beneficiation and import substitution; proactive risk and portfolio management to improve AFC’s credit profile and diversifying its funding sources.

As a result of the implementation of the strategic plan under Mr. Zubairu, AFC’s total assets have grown exponentially from US$4.1 billion when he joined to $10.6 billion (2022), and Total Comprehensive Income has nearly doubled from US$118 million (2018) to US$214 million (2022) despite the economic shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Zubairu was the CEO of Africapital Management Limited and Chief Financial Officer for Dangote Cement Plc, as well as the Treasurer for Dangote Group. While at Dangote, Mr. Zubairu was a key leader in funding the transformation of the trading group from to a pan African industrial conglomerate. He also worked at Liberty Merchant Bank Plc (banking subsidiary of the Dangote group), FSB Plc (now Fidelity Bank), Denham Management Company and Muhtari Dangana & Co (Chartered Accountants).

Mr. Zubairu is an Eisenhower Fellow and also sits on the Board of Trustees for the fellowship. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Nigeria (FCA). He holds a BSc in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.