LA SUITE APRÈS LA PUBLICITÉ

FMDQ Group Plc has appointed financial markets veteran Zeal Akaraiwe as its new Chief Executive Officer, marking a major leadership transition at Nigeria’s foremost over-the-counter financial market infrastructure group.

The regulatory-approved appointment follows the retirement of Bola Onadele Koko, the pioneer Group Managing Director and CEO, who concluded a transformative 12-year tenure. Onadele’s highly successful founding era saw FMDQ evolve from a nascent platform into a vital institution within Nigeria’s financial market ecosystem, with his exit package notably including approximately 1.3 billion Share Appreciation Rights.

Akaraiwe steps into the role with more than 25 years of extensive financial markets experience across West Africa, Southern Africa, and the United Kingdom. Prior to this appointment, he founded and led Graeme Blaque Advisory, a boutique risk and derivatives advisory firm.

His impressive career also features a defining six-year stint at Standard Chartered Bank as Head of Global Markets Sales for Nigeria, where his treasury sales franchise generated over 40% of the bank’s total global markets revenue in the country and achieved triple-digit annual growth in corporate sales.
Widely regarded as an African derivatives market pioneer, Akaraiwe has spent years advising central banks, regulators, and market participants on the legal, operational, and technical frameworks necessary to develop modern risk-transfer markets. Beyond his corporate achievements, he is a prominent voice in public policy and governance, well-known for hosting the weekly Critical Thinking program on LagosTalks 91.3 FM and authoring the book It Is Time.
This strategic leadership transition signals FMDQ’s intent to deepen its focus on market innovation, risk management products, and capital market development. As Nigeria seeks to broaden its financial infrastructure and attract greater domestic and foreign investment, Akaraiwe is expected to usher in a new phase of growth. He will build upon Onadele’s legacy of major market innovations—such as the USD/NGN Non-Deliverable Forwards and Exchange Traded Derivatives—alongside established senior executives like Group Chief Operating Officer Tumi Sekoni.