The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has appointed Fola Fagbule as its first Director and Head of Region for a newly strengthened Nairobi office, a move aimed at expanding its reach across East and Central Africa, a region the corporation sees as increasingly central to infrastructure development, industrialisation and capital mobilisation on the continent.
Fagbule brings a long history inside the institution to the role. He joined AFC as an associate in 2009 and has spent much of his career there since, leading its financial advisory practice since 2017 and helping originate and execute transactions worth more than twelve billion dollars across natural resources, infrastructure and industrial projects. His experience spans power, transport, telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, heavy industry, technology and financial services, and has put him in advisory rooms with governments, sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions and pension funds alike. Before AFC, he worked in investment research and corporate finance; he holds a physics degree and an MBA, has completed executive programmes at Harvard and Stanford, and co-authored a 2020 book examining Nigeria’s formation from jihad to amalgamation.
AFC President and Chief Executive Samaila Zubairu said the appointment reflects both the region’s strategic weight for the corporation’s growth and its longstanding preference for developing leadership from within its own ranks, calling Fagbule’s grasp of the business and judgment well suited to the role.
In practice, that means originating investment opportunities, deepening partnerships with governments and financial institutions, and expanding AFC’s project pipeline across the region, building on work already underway: a recent equity investment in Dhamana Guarantee Company, involvement in the expansion of Dangote Group’s fertiliser and refining operations in the region, and support for the proposed expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Fagbule called the role a privilege at an important moment for both AFC and the region, and said he is looking forward to working with colleagues and partners to unlock investment and deliver lasting impact. AFC itself was established in 2007 to combine specialist industry expertise with advisory, project development and risk capital in pursuit of infrastructure and industrial growth across Africa.
