Buhari re-appoints Bala Bello as NEXIM’s corporate services director

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the re-appointment of Dr Bala Bello as the Executive Director, Corporate Services, of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) for the second term of five years.

A statement by the Special Adviser, Media & Communications to the Minister of Finance, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, stated that the re-appointment comprises Abba Bello, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bala Bello, Executive Director (Corporate Services), and Stella Erhuvwu Okotete, Executive Director (Business Development).

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The statement stated that their re-appointment as members of the current management of the bank commenced on 10th April, 2017 and their first five-year term is due to expire on 9th April 2022.

The statement reads in parts: “Section 11(4) of the NEXIM Bank Act specifies that the Managing Director and the Executive Directors shall hold office for a period of five years and shall be eligible for re-appointment for a further period of five years.

“Accordingly, as the expiration of the first term drew near, it became necessary to appraise their performance since assumption of duties across the core mandate areas of the bank for the purpose of their re-appointment or otherwise.”

It stated that the outcome of the appraisal revealed that the current management team with the support of the board had performed well as exemplified by key achievements.

“Evidently, the operating profit, previously in the negative (N8.030billion) at the inception of the current management, has increased to N3.825billion in 2021, and there is an improvement in returns on capital earnings from -15.31 in 2016 to 2.72 in 2021.”

“There is a reduction in non-performing loans from 94% in 2017 to 29% as at December 2021, and there is an increase in the total assets of the bank by approximately N136.132billion or about 222% from the inception of the current management in 2017 to 31st December 2021.

“There is an enhanced liquidity position of the bank through additional funding totallingN103.755billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), N3.936billion from the Federal Ministry of Finance, US$50million from the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) and US$25million from the African Export-Import Bank.”

While adding that the bank has made high growth in recoveries from N40.780million in 2016, it put the current management to an annual average recovery of N1.243billion between 2017 and 2020 and a total collection of N11.903billion for the five-year period.

It added that the bank has made the disbursement of a total sum of N144billion in loans to export-oriented entities in the non-oil sector while accounting for approximately US$375million as export proceeds within the period under review.

“The NEXIM bank has been ranked among the best three Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and best five public institutions surveyed based on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Anti-corruption Assessment Criteria.

“In view of all the achievements, the current executive management team as constituted has turned around the fortunes of the bank and repositioned it on the path of prosperity towards a better realisation of its mandate.”