NOVA Bank Limited has announced the appointment of Jude Anele as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, following the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment in the Bank’s evolution, following its transition from merchant banking to commercial banking and the successful completion of its recapitalisation programme ahead of the March 31, 2026, regulatory deadline.
Anele brings more than 33 years of banking experience across West and Central Africa, with deep expertise in retail / commercial banking, corporate banking, risk management, institutional transformation and executive leadership. Over the course of his career, he has led complex banking operations, strengthened governance frameworks, delivered sustainable revenue growth and built high-performance teams.
The appointment reflects the Board’s strategic commitment to consolidating NOVA Bank’s commercial banking platform while accelerating growth across its Corporate, Commercial and Retail segments, as well as priority markets.
Speaking on his appointment, Anele said he was honoured to assume leadership of the Bank at a defining stage of its growth.
“Nova Bank has built a strong institutional foundation defined by regulatory compliance, capital strength, disciplined governance and a clear commercial mandate. Our focus now is execution — deepening customer relationships, expanding responsibly across priority markets, strengthening risk discipline and delivering sustainable value to our shareholders,” he said.
The Bank’s Chairman, Phillips Oduoza, also expressed confidence in the new leadership.
“The Board is pleased to welcome Mr. Jude Anele as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. His depth of experience, strategic clarity and proven leadership record align strongly with NOVA Bank’s growth ambitions,” Oduoza said. He added that with recapitalization completed ahead of the regulatory timeline, the Bank is entering a new phase defined by scale, stability and structured expansion.
NOVA Bank also confirmed that it has met the recapitalisation requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria ahead of the regulatory deadline, reinforcing its capital adequacy and long-term financial stability. The capital raise, supported by new and existing shareholders, further strengthens the Bank’s balance sheet and positions it for disciplined growth.
In 2025, Global Credit Rating reaffirmed NOVA Commercial Bank’s national scale long- and short-term issuer ratings of BBB(NG) and A3(NG) respectively, while Agusto & Co. reaffirmed the Bank’s “Bbb” rating with a stable outlook, reflecting its strong capital base, sound liquidity position and resilient asset quality relative to its risk profile.
NOVA Bank currently maintains operations in Lagos, Abuja, Owerri and Port Harcourt, with plans to open eight additional branches across key commercial hubs in 2026 as part of its expansion strategy.
The commissioning of the Bank’s regional office in Owerri marked a significant milestone in its South-East and South-South growth strategy. The event attracted government officials’ business leaders and Nigerians in diaspora and underscored NOVA Bank’s commitment to supporting enterprise development and economic growth.
NOVA Bank Limited is a commercial bank licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Commencing operations in 2018 as a merchant bank, the institution transitioned to a commercial bank in 2024 and provides retail, SME, corporate and commercial banking services through its Phygital model—an integrated approach combining physical branch presence with digital banking infrastructure.
Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigeria’s foremost Development finance institution and a globally recognised organisation specialising in international development cooperation with countries, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), on Wednesday April 15, 2026, signs a Partnership Framework Agreement to drive sustainable innovation and economic development for large enterprise, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector in Nigeria.
The partnership is hinged on delivering coordinated interventions across key strategic pillars including access to finance, entrepreneurship development, capacity building, and market access; and integrates focused support for climate finance and renewable energy investments; and a robust alignment with global sustainability priorities that enables MSMEs to be engines of economic development.
With this landmark agreement, BOI and GIZ are positioned to mutually ensure that capacity building efforts for businesses focuses on strengthening the technical and institutional capabilities of BOI’s Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs), equipping them to deliver higher-impact advisory services to the Bank’s customers; as well as enshrine a structured vocational training provided under the ICSS (Inspire, Create, Start and Scale) entrepreneurship programme to enhance productivity, workforce quality and overall business competitiveness to MSMEs.
The central pillar of this year’s partnership framework is its women’s economic empowerment through targeted financing initiatives; agribusiness development and rural enterprise growth; and climate-focused investment imperative to scale its renewable energy and energy efficiency financing portfolio.
BOI will strategically deepen its efforts to secure endorsement with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) with support from GIZ, a German-led development agency.
Speaking at the announcement ceremony, MD/CEO, Bank of Industry (BOI), Dr. Olasupo Olusi, said “This partnership is about closing the gap between enterprise potential and enterprise reality. Too many Nigerian businesses, particularly MSMEs, have the ideas, the drive, and the market opportunity, but lack the financing, technical capacity, or market access needed to scale. This partnership reflects our unwavering commitment to constantly form new partnerships to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria. By combining our financing expertise with our partner’s international development experience, we are building a comprehensive framework that will directly translate into jobs, innovation, affordable, long-term financing and sustainable growth for MSMEs in Nigeria.”
In his remarks, Country Director, GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dr. Magnus Wagner, said, “This partnership demonstrates our joint commitments to strengthening Nigeria’s private sector and to advancing sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
“Through this partnership, we aim to support small and medium enterprises. We are trying more to look at SME, formalized business, which is the resilient backbone of Nigeria’s economy. So, we would like to work, we have decided in areas such as climate and sustainable finance, renewable energy and energy efficiency, entrepreneurship and innovation, women’s economic empowerment, agribusiness and rural transformation, and digital trade and market access.
“We look forward to a close and successful collaboration with the Bank of Industry, one that delivers tangible results for business, communities, and the country and the population as a whole”.
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