Renaissance Capital Appoints New CEO

Renaissance Capital, a unit of Russia-based Investment Fund Onexim Group has appointed Temi Popoola Chief Executive Officer of its Nigerian business.

A statement by Renaissance Capital said Popoola would focus on equities and growing the investment banking side of the business, as well as overseeing a 25-strong team in Lagos.

Popoola, who joined the investment bank in July 2015, is to report to the CEO, Renaissance Capital, Mr. Igor Vayn, and the bank’s Chief Business Officer, Ruslan Babaev, among others.

The statement said he had been working closely with the sales team, traders and research analysts both locally and across the firm’s network of offices to drive the Nigerian equities business.

Vayn was quoted in the statement as saying, “We are very pleased to have appointed Temi as CEO for Nigeria. He brings a wealth of experience to the role and his expertise will enable us to further strengthen our offering there.

“Nigeria is a crucially important market for the Firm and has vast potential. Therefore, we are committed to building our presence in the country and the wider sub- Saharan region, and Temi’s appointment will allow us to continue our strong progress over recent years.”

On his part, Popoola said he was excited to lead the next phase of Renaissance Capital’s growth in Africa’s largest economy.

He added, “While frontier markets globally are currently facing cyclical headwinds, the long-term investment case for Nigeria has never been stronger.