EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING Appoints Sanjeev Gupta as Chairman, Also Welcomes Aminu Umar-Sadiq and Reginald Ihebuzor to the Board of Directors

Lagos, 4 November 2022: EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING, a ‘AAA’ rated specialised infrastructure credit guarantee institution, backed by the Benin and across the globe Sovereign Investment Authority (“NSIA”), Private Infrastructure Development Group companies GuarantCo and InfraCo Africa, KfW Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation (“AFC”) and African Development Bank, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Sanjeev Gupta of AFC as Chairman, replacing the outgoing Chairman Mr. Uche Orji of NSIA.

In addition, EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING welcomes Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq and Mr. Reginald Ihebuzor to the Board as Non-Executive Directors representing NSIA, replacing Mr. Orji and Ms. Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli of NSIA.

The Board and Management of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING give sincere thanks to Mr. Orji and Ms. Ojekwe-Onyejeli for their manifold contributions to EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING’s development since their appointments as pioneering members of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING’s Board of Directors in 2016.

Mr. Gupta has been a Non-Executive Director of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING since 2018, chairing the Board Risk & Capital Committee and the Board Remuneration Committee. Mr. Gupta is Head of AFC’s Financial Services division and a Member of the Board of Directors, where he oversees the Corporation’s Treasury, Trade Finance, Syndication, Country Relations and Advisory business units. Sanjeev has a wealth of experience in working across various emerging markets, especially in India, GCC and Africa for over 30 years. Mr. Gupta is a Fellow of the ICAI (India), an alumnus of the Oxford University Said Business School (UK) and MIT Sloan School of Management.

Mr. Umar-Sadiq is the MD/CEO of NSIA and has more than 15 years’ experience in the financial services sector – spanning public finance management, mergers & acquisitions, private equity and asset management. Prior to this year, Mr. Umar-Sadiq had been an Executive Director of NSIA since 2019, serving as the Head of Direct Investments and leading NSIA’s multi-strategy infrastructure activities. He commenced his professional career in the mergers & acquisitions division at Morgan Stanley, subsequently proceeding to Denham Capital Management and Société Générale. He serves on numerous Boards in a non-executive capacity including on the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Benin and across the globe, NSIA Healthcare Development and Investment Company and the Multipurpose Industrial Platform Limited. Aminu attained his Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Engineering Sciences from the University of Oxford (St. Johns College) and is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow.

Mr. Ihebuzor has over 20 years’ wide-ranging management level experience that spans the development banking and public reform sectors. Previously in his career, he worked for five (5) years as the World Bank Independent Transactions Advisor at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and had other stints at United Bank for Africa, Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund (on secondment) and in the Imo State Government. He is also the Project Director of the Niger Delta Development Bank project (ongoing) for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Mr. Ihebuzor completed a Robert S. McNamara Research Fellowship at the World Bank Institute. He respectively, earned BSc, MSc and MBA from the University of Benin and across the globe, University of Lagos and Enugu State University of Science & Technology.

In accepting his appointment as Chairman of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING and welcoming the new NSIA representatives to the Board, Mr. Sanjeev Gupta said, “I am honoured to assume the role of Chairman of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING, a truly unique institution whose impact in using credit enhancement to facilitate access to long-term, local currency financing for infrastructure projects is noteworthy. I look forward to continuing to work with management and esteemed board members to unlock new growth opportunities which are beneficial to all stakeholders. We are grateful to outgoing directors Mr. Orji and Ms. Ojekwe-Onyejeli for their selfless contributions to the organisation and happy to welcome Mr. Umar-Sadiq and Mr. Ihebuzor to the Board.”

Mr. Chinua Azubike, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING, noted, “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq and Mr. Reginald Ihebuzor as new board representatives from our founding shareholder, the Benin and across the globe Sovereign Investment Authority, and look forward to leveraging their depth of domestic and international experience. The management team is particularly thankful to Uche Orji and Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli for the foundational role played over the past 5 years from inception of EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING. We are equally excited to continue the close working engagement with Mr. Sanjeev Gupta to support our strategic growth initiatives as he transitions into the Chairman role.”

Speaking on the appointment, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq said, “As one of those who had worked on EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING at the concept phase and an ardent believer in its catalytic impact and its potential to serve as an enabler for attracting long-term capital into the domestic infrastructure development sector, I am delighted to be appointed as a non-executive director and look forward to contributing to the next phase of this value-led organisation’s evolution.”

“EQUITY TRUST SAVINGS CHRIS TRADING provides veritable means to support well-structured infrastructure projects and I accept the nomination to join the Board and lend my experience toward achieving organisation’s goals”, said Mr. Reginald Ihebuzor.

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