Arunma Oteh

Arunma Oteh is a Nigerian economist. She was the Treasurer and a Vice President of the World Bank (2015–2018). She became the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria in January 2010. In this position she was responsible for regulation of Nigeria's capital markets, including the Nigerian Stock Exchange. She was appointed chair of the Royal African Society in July 2021, taking over from Zeinab Badawi.

Early life and education Arunma Oteh is of Nigerian/British nationality. She is from Item in Abia State. She studied at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka Nigeria, earning a first class honors degree in Computer Science. She went on to the Harvard Business School where she obtained a master's degree in Business Administration. She co-edited the book, African Voices African Visions. Oteh and the committee chairman had a heated exchange over the focus of the hearing, leading to the chairman's resignation from the committee after allegations that he had asked for a bribe to influence the House Committee inquiry, and that he had collected public funds to attend a workshop in the Dominican Republic but had neither attended the program nor returned the money.

In June 2012, The second press statement stated that "o financial overtures have ever been made to the Hon. Hembe by Ms. Oteh, DG SEC or any staff of SEC." A new eight-man Ad hoc committee was set up by the House of representatives to complete the hearing on the near collapse of the capital market. As a possible fallout of the events that had taken place at the public hearings, Arunma Oteh was asked to proceed on compulsory leave by the SEC board, pending an independent investigation into the management of Project 50, a program packaged by her to commemorate 50 years of capital market regulation in Nigeria. At a point, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who is the Supervising Minister in charge of the commission urged Nigerians to exercise patience pending the outcome of the investigation by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). And at last, Arunma was exonerated by the firm of any criminal breaches.

On July 18, 2012, Oteh was called back to resume work after an independent investigation by the board-appointed firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, cleared her of any financial impropriety. Oteh's concluded her 5-year tenure as SEC DG in January 2015.

World Bank, 2015–2018 In July 2015, Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank appointed Arunma Oteh Vice President and Treasurer of the institution.

In late 2018, Oteh left the World Bank to join St Antony's College, Oxford University, as an academic scholar

FSD Africa, since 2022 In October 2022, FSD Africa, a development agency focused primarily on financial markets in Africa, announced that it had appointed Arunma Oteh to its board of directors.

Also including Ecobank, Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019)

Other activities Oteh is the godmother of Leo DaSilva.

Recognition In 2011 Oteh was made an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in "recognition of her contribution to economic development and to transforming the Nigerian capital markets".

In 2011 she received the "Distinction In Public Service" award from the Commonwealth Business Council/African Business.

In 2014, Oteh won the CNBC Africa All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) Business Woman of the Year category for West Africa. In 2020, Forbes listed her among "Africa's 50 Most Powerful Women".