President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mrs. Eyitope Kola-Oyeneyin and Mr. Muhammad Hadi Mutallab as chairpersons of the governing boards of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), respectively.
The appointments were announced on Monday in a statement by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), which said the selections were based on merit and are intended to strengthen the governance of key investment and industrial development institutions.
Kola-Oyeneyin is an independent non-executive director at MTN Nigeria and a systems transformation expert with more than two decades of experience spanning public policy, private sector leadership and development across Africa. As chair of the NIPC governing board, she will provide strategic oversight for the agency responsible for promoting and facilitating domestic and foreign investment into Nigeria.
Mutallab, a member of the board of Jaiz Bank Plc with extensive corporate governance experience, has been appointed to chair the governing board of NEPZA, the agency responsible for developing, regulating and promoting Nigeria’s export processing and special economic zones.
According to the ministry, the newly constituted boards are expected to strengthen institutional oversight, improve accountability and support the effective delivery of the agencies’ statutory mandates. The appointments form part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to improve the investment climate, accelerate industrialisation and expand non-oil exports as Nigeria seeks to diversify its economy.
NIPC plays a central role in attracting and facilitating investment into Africa’s largest economy, while NEPZA oversees export processing and special economic zones designed to encourage manufacturing, value addition and export-oriented industries through regulatory and fiscal incentives.
The appointments come as the Federal Government continues to pursue reforms aimed at improving investor confidence, increasing private sector participation and positioning Nigeria as a more competitive destination for local and foreign investment.
