Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso has been appointed chairman of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) board, extending an unbroken run of Nigerian leadership at the pan-A
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso has been appointed chairman of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) board, extending an unbroken run of Nigerian leadership at the pan-African infrastructure financier since its establishment in 2007.
AFC President and Chief Executive Officer Samaila Zubairu disclosed the appointment on Wednesday on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, which first reported the development, according to Nairametrics. AFC had yet to issue a formal announcement at the time of reporting.
Cardoso succeeds Ireti Samuel-Ogbu, who became chair of the board in April 2025 after Emeka Emuwa’s tenure.
CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso
The previous chairs were Charles Soludo, Sarah Alade, Joseph Nnanna, Kingsley Obiora, Emeka Emuwa and Samuel-Ogbu.
Soludo, who served as CBN governor from 2004 to 2009, was AFC’s founding board chairman. He was succeeded by Alade, a former CBN deputy governor, who held the position until 2015.
Nnanna, also a former CBN deputy governor, chaired the board from 2015 to 2020. Obiora, who was deputy governor for economic policy at the CBN when he became AFC chairman in April 2020, succeeded him.
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Emuwa, a former chief executive of Union Bank of Nigeria, became chairman in February 2024. Samuel-Ogbu, a former Citi executive who led the bank’s institutional businesses in Nigeria and Ghana, succeeded him in April 2025.
Cardoso’s appointment makes him the second substantive CBN governor to chair the corporation, after Soludo. Three other previous chairs, Alade, Nnanna and Obiora, served as CBN deputy governors.
Nigeria’s connection to AFC extends beyond the nationality of its board chairs. The corporation is headquartered in Lagos and counts the CBN among its institutional shareholders.
However, the succession pattern alone does not establish that the CBN’s shareholding or AFC’s headquarters determined the nationality of its chairs. The corporation’s board appointment process and shareholder arrangements would be needed to explain why the position has consistently gone to Nigerians.
Established in 2007, AFC finances infrastructure and industrial projects across Africa, with investments spanning power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport and telecommunications. The corporation says it has invested more than $15 billion in 36 African countries.
Cardoso’s appointment places the CBN governor at the head of the board overseeing the corporation’s strategic direction and governance as it continues financing infrastructure projects across the continent.
