By Dipo Olowookere
A foremost local energy company, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, has taken a huge step to strengthen its board of directors with the appointment of the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2010 to 2015, Ms Arunma Oteh.
A statement issued by the company stated that Ms Oteh joins the board as an independent non-executive director of the company with effect from October 1, 2020. She was appointed to the board alongside Mr Xavier Rolet in the same capacity.
According to the Chairman of Seplat, Mr Bryant Orjiako, the appointment of the two “distinguished international business leaders” will be of great value to the company because of their expertise.
“Both Arunma Oteh and Xavier Rolet bring extensive expertise in the fields of regulation, capital markets and business governance and their knowledge and wisdom will be a great addition to our board.
“Seplat has a great future ahead and I look forward to the immense contribution they will make towards the continuing success of the company,” he said.
Seplat is an oil and gas firm listed on both the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Ms Arunma Oteh, who started her career in 1985 at Centre Point Investments Limited, a Nigerian investment bank, is a seasoned C-suite executive with several years of experience operating at the highest levels at major multilateral agencies, global financial institutions and in government.
She has been an academic scholar at University of Oxford since January 2019 and a member of the London Stock Exchange Africa Advisory Group since January 2020.
She served as Treasurer and Vice President of the World Bank from 2015 to 2018, leading a global team that managed the World Bank’s $200 billion debt portfolio as well as an asset portfolio of $200 billion for the World Bank Group and several public sector clients including 65 central banks.
She was responsible for a $600 billion derivatives portfolio used for hedging and risk management purposes.
Ms Oteh had oversight over a treasury operation with an annual cash flow of $7 trillion and led an extensive public sector financial advisory business, pioneering a number of innovative solutions such as the world’s first-ever pandemic bond in 2017 and blockchain public bond in 2018.
For Mr Xavier Rolet, he is an experienced CEO, co-founder, and entrepreneur named as one of the 100 Best CEOs in the World in the 2017 Harvard Business Review.
In his decade at the helm of the London Stock Exchange, the LSE’s market valuation rose from £800 million to more than £15 billion, transforming it into one of the world’s largest exchanges by market capitalisation.
He is currently the Chairman, board of directors at Phosagro PJSC, a member of the board of directors of the Saudi Stock Exchange Tadawul as an appointee of the Public Investment Fund and an Expert Adviser to the Shanghai Institute of Finance for the Real Economy.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale