BY COBHAM NSA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso has been appointed as the new new Chairman of the Board of Directors. Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
The continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider announced the high-profile leadership transition on Wednesday, marking a significant shift at the helm of Africa’s primary development vehicle.
The announcement said Cardoso steps into the role to succeed Ireti Samuel-Ogbu, who concludes her tenure as chair but will maintain her seat as an active member of the board.
Cardoso’s sweeping financial reforms have officially earned him global recognition, cementing his status as the architect of Nigeria’s economic turnaround and since taking over at the helm of affairs at CBN in September 2023, he has aggressively dismantled old financial structures to restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild investor confidence, and claw back policy credibility.
Recently, the AFC lauded Cardoso’s decisive leadership and highlighted a rapid-fire series of systemic overhauls, noting also that under his watch, the CBN has successfully: Revolutionised the FX market by eliminating distortive multi-tier windows; Cleared billions in backlogged foreign exchange obligations, erasing a major investor red flag; Sharpened monetary policy transmission to combat inflation head-on; and Enforced strict corporate governance and institutional transparency.
Considered as promoting a resilient banking sector to to support sustainable growth, Cardoso’s reform agenda culminated in a aggressive banking sector recapitalisation programme, an initiative that mandates higher capital thresholds to shield local banks from external shocks and position them to fund sustainable, long-term national growth.
Before joining the CBN, Cardoso spent 12 years as Chairman of Citibank Nigeria and served as Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget. He holds a degree from Aston University in the United Kingdom and a master’s in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where he also sat on the Alumni Board.
AFC said his experience in financial sector reform, institutional governance and capital markets will inform its strategy as it mobilises investment to close Africa’s infrastructure gap, speed up industrialisation and deepen regional integration.
AFC President and CEO, Samaila Zubairu, said the Corporation was delighted to welcome Cardoso, saying: “He shares our conviction that Africa’s lasting stability depends on its productive capacity.”
Zubairu further said his leadership will help advance The Africa We Build 2050 agenda while also appreciating Samuel-Ogbu for her dedication and contribution.
In his acceptance remarks, Cardoso said: “A more productive Africa is a more stable Africa”, even as he expressed readiness to work with the board, management and member states to delivery on the AFC’s mandate
Crucially, he said true success cannot be measured by mere numbers or short-term gains, maintaining that instead, the ultimate verdict hangs on something far more tangible: the raw productive capacity created, the new industries successfully brought to life, and the thousands of livelihoods actively supported by these jobs.
Meanwhile, AFC’s recent milestones include supercharging its continental footprint by securing financial close on the massive US$753 million Lobito Corridor Railway Project in Angola as well as acting as a critical catalyst for regional integration, the multilateral lender successfully structured the financing to rehabilitate, upgrade, and manage the long-term operation of a vital 1,300-kilometre brownfield rail corridor.
This strategic trade route, linking the Atlantic coast directly to the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is set to fundamentally reshape Central and Southern Africa’s logistics map.
Also, the Corporation is aggressively driving industrial and digital transformation across sub-Saharan Africa with two other blockbuster investments. In Nigeria, the corporation is backing a staggering US$600 million facility for the Dangote Group’s ambitious US$7 billion fertiliser expansion programme, a move aimed at drastically scaling up agricultural manufacturing and securing food equity on the continent.
Further cementing its infrastructure legacy, the AFC has teamed up with Vision Invest to inject a combined US$300 million into the WIOCC Group, an aggressive capital deployment designed to rapidly expand cutting-edge digital infrastructure and connectivity across multiple African nations.
