Comercio Partners, the Lagos-based investment banking firm, has appointed Mrs. Ronke Sokefun as its first female Chairperson, marking a significant milestone in the firm’s governance evolution and reinforcing its commitment to boardroom diversity.
Sokefun, a distinguished legal practitioner and boardroom leader, brings nearly four decades of experience spanning corporate law, governance, public policy, financial services, and strategic leadership. She began her legal career at Ighodalo & Associates before joining Aluko & Oyebode, where she rose to Partner. In 2002, she moved to Ocean & Oil Services Limited as Head of Management Services, later becoming Group Chief Legal Officer of Oando Plc in 2007.
Her transition into public service saw her serve the Ogun State Government from 2011 to 2018 as Special Adviser/Director-General of the Bureau of Lands & Survey, and subsequently as Commissioner for Agriculture and Commissioner for Urban & Physical Planning. In December 2018, she was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the first woman to hold that position in the corporation’s history, serving until December 2022.
The appointment comes as Comercio Partners, founded in 2016 by former treasury bankers Nnamdi Nwizu, Stephen Osho, and Tosin Osunkoya, enters its second decade with ambitious expansion plans across Africa. The firm, which specialises in fixed income trading, equities, asset management, and financial advisory, recently marked its 10th anniversary with the launch of a women-focused investment initiative backed by over N100 million.
Speaking at the firm’s anniversary event, Sokefun outlined the strategic direction ahead: “The next growth phase would be anchored on strong corporate governance and sound oversight to sustain the confidence of clients, regulators and shareholders”. She also emphasised the firm’s institutional ambitions: “The first decade was about building a firm. The next decade must be about building an institution whose influence outlives all of us and whose impact extends across Africa”.
Sokefun’s appointment follows the firm’s earlier move to appoint Morenike Agbe-Davies as its first female Non-Executive Board Member in March 2025, underscoring a deliberate push towards gender-inclusive leadership. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria, where she chairs the Women’s Group, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria. She also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Oando Plc.
With Sokefun at the helm, Comercio Partners is positioning itself to compete globally while reshaping the narrative of African finance. The firm’s leadership believes her governance expertise and institutional experience will be instrumental in navigating the next phase of growth across the continent.
