Obinna Chima
In the annals of Nigeria’s financial landscape, it is rare to find individuals who possess a track record of monumental achievements and yet remain humble and self-effacing. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede is one such leader, propelled by unwavering principles and a deep sense of purpose, he has demonstrated that African professionals can build wealth whilst remaining principled and ethical in their business conduct.
Behind his considerable achievements is a life journey that began in the late 1960s, one of four siblings born to notable Nigerian public servants. He was privileged to grow up at a time when in his words ‘merit and excellence were Nigeria’s default setting’. The quality of leaders that held sway in Nigeria’s government and business affairs left him with the belief that Nigerians could operate at the highest global levels of professional excellence a belief which clearly guides him even to this day.
It is a journey that I, as a business-focused journalist, have followed with a keen interest for the last two decades. Aig-Imoukhuede’s formative years laid the foundation for his keen commitment to Nigeria’s progress and the empowerment of its people. His career is full of instances when he went beyond the expectations of his career responsibilities to take on assignments focused on improving Nigeria.
Notwithstanding the added burden of taking on challenges and assignments in the national interest experiences, he was blessed to enjoy a remarkable and unblemished career that would significantly impact Nigeria’s financial landscape.
From his early banking days at Guaranty Trust Bank, where between 1991 and 1999 he quickly rose to become the Bank’s Treasurer and subsequently an Executive Director, Aigboje has consistently been a flagbearer of excellence in the nation’s financial markets. He was part of the team of Money Market of Nigeria treasurers who worked with the CBN to set up the NIBSS (Nigeria Interbank Settlement System) the foundation of Nigeria’s globally celebrated automated payment system which has enabled Nigeria’s fintech revolution.
A turning point in Aig-Imoukhuede’s journey was his 2001 decision to buy his own bank a story which he chronicled in his bestselling book ‘Leaving the Tarmac – How to buy a bank in Africa’. This journey which he embarked on with his friend and partner Herbert Wigwe, saw them acquire Access Bank a small ailing bank in 2002. With Aig-Imoukhuede in the saddle as Managing Director and Herbert as his able deputy, they took Access Bank on a journey of transformation that has had a profound and long-lasting impact on the Nigerian banking sector. In March 2002, when Aigboje was appointed MD/CEO, the bank was ranked in the bottom quartile of a field of 90 banks, by 2012 barely 10 years later Access Bank ranked amongst Nigeria’s top five banks with subsidiaries in the UK and nine African countries. Under his stewardship, Access Bank grew its customer base from 10 000 to 6.5 million, with more than 10,000 employees and an asset base of USD $12 billion. These major achievements did not go unnoticed.
In 2011 at the age of 45 Aigboje received Nigeria’s Commander of the Order Niger national honour, the following year he received the prestigious African Banker of the year award from African Banker magazine. In 2013, he took the decision to retire as CEO of Access Bank ahead of the end of his tenure and handed over to his partner Herbert Wigwe in a much applauded and celebrated CEO succession process. Under Herbert’s leadership Access Bank maintained its enviable growth and is now Nigeria’s largest bank. Aigboje left the Banking sector when the ovation was loudest with his record at Access Bank as his most memorable legacy. However, during his final years as a bank professional, he made three key contributions at the national level which today are notably celebrated for their impact. The first was his role as Chairman of Nigeria’s Banker’s Committee subcommittee on economic planning. Where he led the banking sector’s’ voluntary adoption of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles, an initiative that has since been emulated by several countries across the world. The second was his role as Chairman of the 2012 Presidential Committee on the verification of Fuel Subsidies, the work of the Aig-Imoukhuede Committee is credited with saving Nigeria from making billions of dollars of fraudulent fuel subsidy payments, even though it came at great risk to the safety of him and his family. His third outstanding contribution was the Founding of FMDQ OTC Exchange in 2013 as its pioneer Chairman along with its CEO and other key FMDA stakeholders. Just like NIBSS, FMDQ Plc has become one of the fundamental pillars of Nigeria financial system
After retiring from the banking industry, Aig-Imoukhede drew inspiration from the Rockefeller Family Office and established the Tengen Family Office. His ambition, alongside Herbet Wigwe, was to create a lasting legacy of wealth transfer and business succession across multiple generations. Aigboje then accepted an invitation from Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) at the time, to become the first Vice President of the NSE’s National Council.
In 2014, on the invitation of then Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) President Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Aigboje joined the Nigeria Stock Exchange’s National Council as its first Vice President. In 2014, he was elected President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, this has uniquely placed him as the first African to have the honour of chairing two national exchanges in a lifetime. After decades of focus on the banking sector, Aig-Imoukhuede turned his attention to endeavours aimed at strengthening the Nigeria’s capital markets and the broader financial ecosystem.
First in assuming the mantle of NSE President his trademark of transparency and integrity helped to foster investor confidence and foreign direct investment in Nigeria’s capital markets. Most importantly, through his leadership the Council and management where able to instil much higher standards of market practice and conduct amongst operators. He was and remains an advocate for much stronger and better capitalised capital market operators and challenged the capital market community to build formidable investment groups that would match their banking sector contemporaries in capacity and relevance. In 2017, as outgoing NSE President he pledged to put his money where his mouth is by establishing his own formidable capital market operator. I will come back to this promise later. You can trust Aig-Imoukhuede to leave a lasting impact at the Exchange. He orchestrated the steps that culminated in the demutualisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2021.
As President of the NSE, Aigboje was appointed co-chairman of the UK-Nigeria Emerging Markets Task Force along with the Lord Mayor of London to catalyse trade between both nations. In 2021, he was appointed Chairman of Enterprise NGR—a member-led advocacy group that promotes the growth and development of Nigeria’s Financial and Professional Services sector (FPS). Aig-Imoukhuede passionately believes in Nigeria’s potential to become Africa’s premier financial centre, stressing the need for greater collaboration between the private sector and government to promote Nigeria internationally and domestically.
His commitment to societal impact extends beyond the realm of finance. Through the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, which he co-founded with his wife Ofovwe, they partner with the government and private sector to build the capacity of public servants (through its partnership with Oxford University) and provide funding and technical assistance for civil service reform initiatives. The Foundation also strives to improve the lives of Africans by transforming public service delivery and increasing access to healthcare. The Foundation spends billions of Naira every year on these laudable programs. Aig-Imoukhuede’s dedication to uplifting communities has been recognised locally and internationally. Only last month the Aig-Imoukhede Foundation was a recipient of the National Productivity Order of Merit award and the man himself was conferred with the nation’s third highest honour Commander of The Federal Republic for his contributions to public sector transformation. In the impact philanthropy space, his contributions towards universal health care for all Africans led to his appointment in 2011 as the first African co-chairman of the New York- based GBC Health, a private sector coalition against HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis (GBCHealth). As a board member of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, he facilitated a partnership with GBC Health that birthed the African Business Coalition for Health (ABCHealth).
In 2012, together with Aliko Dangote and Jim Ovia, he co-founded the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN), and as vice-chair of Global Citizen Nigeria, he co-founded the Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF). In January 2020 whilst championing the Global Citizens global goal live campaign in Davos Switzerland, Aig-Imoukhuede conceived of the Adopt a Health Care Facility Program which PSHAN officially launched last year. The Adopt-A-Healthcare-Facility-Programme (ADHFP) aims to establish at least one global-standard Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in each of Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), so far funding for over 120 LGAs has been secured.
Let me come back to his promised contribution to Nigeria’s capital market through the establishment of a formidable African capital market player. Aig-Imoukhuede regularly shares his vision for lifting millions of Africans out of poverty through the democratisation of opportunities for wealth creation.
From 2017, he begun to build an investment management conglomerate modelled on Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. He deployed the Family Office resources to establish the Coronation Group an investment management conglomerate encompassing most aspects of investing, lending, and insurance with offices in Nigeria and other African countries. Today the Group operates with $200 million of its own capital, placing it amongst the continents largest privately owned players. This emerging Financial Market powerhouse has the potential to expand its capital to a staggering $500 million by 2033. Aigboje the self-effacing investor has spent the last five years quietly building an integrated financial platform encompassing almost every aspect of investing, lending, and assurance, employing some of Africa’s most talented individuals in technology and finance. Guided by a mission to provide transformational solutions to Africa’s unique challenges, Aigboje spends his working hours as Coronation Group Chairman orchestrating the building of Africa’s leading financial ecosystem. Some of his contemporaries have been described as emperors, Aigboje prefers to be described as an orchestrator. I applaud this gentle giant of Africa.
