Arunma Oteh joins World Bank as vice-president

Arunma Oteh, former director-general of the Security Exchange Commission (SEC), has joined the World Bank as vice-president and treasurer.

Her appointment was confirmed by the president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, in a press statement.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Arunma Oteh as VP and Treasurer of the World Bank,” he said.

“Arunma, a Nigerian national, was most recently the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria. Appointed to a five-year term by the President of Nigeria in 2010, she led the transformation of the country’s capital markets industry into a major global presence. She was a member of the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Chairperson of the Africa Middle East Regional Committee of IOSCO.

“Prior to joining the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria, Arunma was Group Vice President, Corporate Services, at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). In this role, she oversaw a number of departments, including human resources, information and communications technology, and institutional procurement. From 2001 to 2006 she held the role of AfDB Group Treasurer, where she led AfDB’s fundraising and capital market activities across the world. Earlier roles at the AfDB, which she joined in 1992, included trading room management, investment portfolio coverage, and public sector lending. She also held other positions in capital markets and lending during the course of her career at the AfDB. Arunma began her career in 1985 at Centre Point, where she executed debt and equity offerings in the Nigerian capital markets.

“She earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Nigeria and her Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University.

“As VP and Treasurer, Arunma will manage and lead a large and diverse team responsible for managing more than $150 billion in assets. Her top priorities will be to: (i) maintain the World Bank’s global reputation as a prudent and innovative borrower, investor and risk manager; (ii) manage an extensive client advisory, transaction and asset management business for the Bank; (iii) engage, in her capacity as one of the World Bank’s key representatives, with outside stakeholders including global private sector financial institutions, the financial media and the sovereign debt and reserve managers in client countries, as well as ratings agencies; and (iv) collaborate extensively with the Finance Partners throughout the WBG, including with IFC and MIGA, expanding shared approaches, in particular around innovative financing for development and for key new projects.

“Ms. Oteh was selected to this position through an international competitive search. Her appointment is effective on September 28, 2015.”

Expressing joy on her appointment, Oteh wrote on Twitter: “A great time to join the World Bank given the innovative solutions it is deploying to end extreme poverty and ensure shared prosperity.

“Thanks for your kind messages for my appointment as VP and Treasurer World Bank. Such an honor, so grateful to President Kim and the Board of World Bank.”

In Nigerian circles, Oteh is most remembered for her long-winding battle with the federal house of representatives committee on capital market, whose members he accused of seeking financial inducements from SEC during a probe of the market in 2012.

The lower chamber then demanded her sack by President Goodluck Jonathan – a decision that was subsequently backed by the Senate.

Jonathan refused to sack Oteh, and the lawmakers responded by refusing to approve funds for the commission. After completing her five-year tenure, Oteh left office in January 2015.