Uche Orji, Former Managing Director & CEO, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority
Mr. Uche Orji is the former Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) having been reappointed by the President of Nigeria for another 5-year term in 2017. A committed professional, Uche brings a wealth of global experience spanning nearly three decades in investment banking and financial services to his role as MD & CEO.
He joined the NSIA as the pioneer MD & CEO on 2nd October 2012 from UBS, where he was Managing Director in the New York branch of its Equities Division. Before then, Mr. Orji had spent 6 years at JP Morgan Securities, London, from 2001-2006, rising from the post of Vice President to Managing Director within the Equities Division.
Mr. Orji had also worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, London from 1998-2001. First joining as an Associate, in time, he rose to become an Executive Director before resigning in 2001. Hitherto, he was the Financial Controller at Diamond Bank Plc., Lagos, Nigeria and previously worked at Arthur Andersen & Co.
Until he assumed the role at NSIA, Mr. Orji was a regular commentator for leading research and asset management publications. In this capacity, he provided strategic advice to the Management of Semiconductor companies such as Intel Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung Electronics and Texas Instruments. He also co-authored more than 200 research pieces in the Semiconductor sector as well as the broader technology investment sectors. He advised several global portfolio management firms and Sovereign Wealth Funds in his role as global coordinator in the Equities Division.
Today, the organisation he leads is a trusted advisor to the Federal Government of Nigeria and has been instrumental to the actualization of a number of national economic transformation initiatives within the remit of its mandate.
Mr. Orji’s visionary leadership has inspired the significant strides recorded by NSIA despite its short existence and nurtured it into one of Africa’s most respected sovereign wealth funds attracting hundreds of million in foreign direct investments.
Presently, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Ltd (InfraCredit) and serves on the Boards of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Family Homes Fund Ltd (FHFL), NG Clearing, and Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) as a Non-Executive Director. Uche also serves on the Board of the USA-Nigeria Council on Trade and Food Security as the Co-Chairman.
Uche studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, graduating in 1990, and subsequently obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1998.