NASD Appoints Arese Ugwu Acting CEO

By Adedapo Adesanya

The board of NASD Plc has announced the appointment of Mrs Arese Ugwu as acting chief executive of the exchange, subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Mrs Ugwu succeeds Ms Chinwendu Nwabueze Ekeh, who served as acting Managing Director of the organisation following the retirement of Mr Eguarekhide Longe.

The board said the appointment forms part of NASD’s efforts to advance innovation, market development and new opportunities within Nigeria’s capital market.

Speaking on her vision for the exchange, Mrs Ugwu said she aims to position NASD as a platform where high-growth Nigerian businesses can access capital while investors participate in the value created by such businesses.

“My vision is to make NASD the market where Nigeria’s great growth businesses find the capital they need to scale and where investors can participate in the value they create,” she said.

Mrs Ugwu holds an MSc in Economic Development from University College London and a BSc in Business and Management from Aston Business School, Birmingham.

She is also an alumna of Lagos Business School, INSEAD Abu Dhabi and The London School of Business executive education programmes.

With a background in wealth management and an interest in storytelling, she has developed media products focused on investment, wealth, entrepreneurship and employment.

The bourse is positioning for its next phase of growth by expanding beyond traditional securities trading into a broader capital-formation ecosystem, with the aim of creating diversified and recurring revenue streams while delivering sustainable long-term value to investors.

The strategy is designed to respond to the growing need for private capital to finance Nigeria’s economic development across sectors including agriculture, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, real estate and the creative economy.

Mrs Ugwu’s appointment comes against the backdrop of a five-year suspension imposed on her by the SEC in 2017, when she was a director at Partnership Investment Company Plc. The sanction, which included a five-year ban from holding directorship positions in any public company, was imposed over a capital market regulatory breach. The suspension period has since expired.