Few figures command as much respect and admiration in global financing and development as Arunma Oteh. With a distinguished career spanning the public and private sectors, Arunma has earned a reputation as a visionary leader, an advocate for transparency and accountability, and a trailblazer for women in finance.
Background
Arunma Oteh (OON) is an economist of Nigerian and British descent hailing from Abia State. She graduated with a first-class honours degree in Computer Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1984 before pursuing a master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, which she obtained in 1990.
Arunma started her career in 1984 while she was serving in the NYSC. She worked as a Computer Science Lecturer at the University of Benin. After completing her service year, she joined Centre Point Investments in 1985 as the Corporate Finance Officer (CFO) and Acting Head of the Management Information Systems Unit.
She worked there for two years before becoming a consultant at Irving Skinner in London, United Kingdom. In 1990, she became a research associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development in Cambridge.
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Working at AfDB
In 1992, Arunma was hired as a Senior Financial Analyst at the Public Landing Sector Department of the African Development Bank. From 1993 to 1997, she was Senior Investment Officer/Senior Capital Markets Officer. She became Division Manager of Investments and Trading Room from 1997 to 2001. In 2001, she was appointed the Bank’s Group Treasurer and was responsible for fundraising and investments in major international capital markets.
Arunma became the vice president for Corporate Management at the AfDB in March 2006. In this role, she was responsible for Language Services, General Services and Procurement, Human Resources, and Information Management and Methods.
Moving to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria
Arunma was appointed Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria after leaving the African Development Bank (ADB). Late President Umaru Yar’Adua nominated her for the position in July 2009, and the Nigerian Senate confirmed her in January 2010.
Arunma played a crucial role in rebuilding the Nigerian capital markets after the global financial crisis during her five-year tenure as the SEC DG. She was also a member of Nigeria’s Economic Management team. Her tenure ended in January 2015.
Aruma’s Stint at the World Bank
In July 2015, Arunma was appointed as the Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank by the 12th president, Jim Yong Kim. As treasurer, she led a team that managed assets totaling USD200 billion for the World Bank Group, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and other financial institutions.
Additionally, her team maintained the World Bank’s reputation as a reliable borrower in over 50 currencies, executing well-prepared transactions and carefully coordinating credit rating and capital market relationships for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). In late 2018, Arunma left the World Bank to join St Antony’s College, Oxford University, as an academic scholar and an executive-in-residence at Saïd Business School.
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FSD Africa
In October 2022, FSD Africa, a development agency focused primarily on African financial markets, announced that it had appointed Arunma to its board of directors.
Achievements
Arunma was honored with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) award in 2011 in recognition of her contribution towards the development of the Nigerian capital markets. Additionally, that same year, she was presented with the “Distinction In Public Service” award by the Commonwealth Business Council/African Business.
Arunma won the CNBC Africa All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) Business Woman of the Year category for West Africa in 2014. In 2020, Forbes listed her among “Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women.
In 2019, Arunma became a non-executive member of Ecobank’s Board of Directors. The 2020 Powerlist recognized Arunma as one of the most influential people of African/African-Caribbean heritage in the UK.
She is the co-editor of the 2004 book African Voices African Visions. Arunma is the godmother of Nigerian reality television star, businessman, and pundit Leo DaSilva.