The Executive Director, Corporate Services of NEXIM Bank, Bala Mohammed Bello, has been conferred with Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in Leadership and Management by ESAE University based in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
The investiture ceremony which took place at the head office of NEXIM Bank on Thursday, May 2, 2019, is in recognition of his impressive academic and professional credentials, as well as selfless service to the development of humanity.
The representative of ESAE University stated that Bala was one of the most outstanding change agents in Nigeria given his dogged pursuit towards the creation of an enviable corporate environment in the Nigerian financial sector.
“You are a man who is honest, God-fearing, straight forward and sincere,” the university said in a statement.
Bala Bello successfully completed the High Potential Leadership Programme at Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts and Executive Development Programem at Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. In addition to a Certificate in Operations Leadership from the prestigious Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada, as well as Portfolio Management Academy Certificate, New York Institute of Finance, he holds a BSc in Accounting and an MBA from ABU Zaria, Nigeria.
He started his banking career with GTB and has since then worked in various institutions, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Sigma Pensions, where he was appointed the first indigenous Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer in 2011.
Aside his professional calling, Bala has also been involved in philanthropic activities in his immediate community and beyond for more than a decade, where he embarked on many projects, including provision of water, empowerment to IDPs, scholarship awards to over 200 indigent students and sponsorship of several orphans up to graduate level in the last few years.
Bala was recently awarded the Ambassador for Peace by the Universal Peace Federation, an award for individuals whose lives exemplify the ideal of living for the sake of others.
With over 20 years meritorious service (the last nine at executive level) in the financial sector, he was the pioneer CEO of Marine Capital Limited from where he joined Apricot Investments Limited in March 2016 as the pioneer Managing Director/CEO. He is presently the Executive Director (Corporate Services) of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), having been appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on April 20, 2017.