Driven by a burning passion to help humanity, Hon. Stella Okotete is a dynamic administrator with disruptive ideas and managerial competence, an Amazon whose professional engagements have provided innovative solutions to complex business challenges in the financial sector and Nigeria as a whole.

She obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from Benson Idahosa University, a Diploma in Law from the Rivers State College of Arts and Sciences, and a Master’s Degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the National Open University of Nigeria and Executive Master’s in Business Administration (EMBA) in view from the University of Abuja.

Her knack and dedication to continuous learning is evident through numerous certificate programs she obtained from prestigious institutions such as Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (USA), the University of Virginia (USA), INSEAD Business School (France), University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School (UK), Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Center (Nigeria), and Columbia Business School in New York (USA).

A result oriented leader, Okotete also holds an impressive array of global certifications, including Corporate Responses to Global Megatrends Programme – Cambridge Judge Business School, Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Programme – University of Oxford, United Kingdom, Professional Fellow Doctorate – Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN), Building Professional Economists as Policies Developers and Implementers – Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN), Political Restructuring in Nigeria to True Federalism and the Implementation of Economic Development – Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN), Advanced Structured Trade Finance Seminar, AFREXIM Bank, and Sustainable Peace and Conflict Resolution Management.

Talking about NEXIM Bank, the Executive Director said the bank was founded in 1991 as an export agency of the Nigeria Government, owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria, with the responsibility of providing export credit guarantee and insurance to exporters, as well as finance in dollars and Naira to exporters in order to help increase the company’s non-oil export, amongst others.

“Our main focus area is around four cardinal products in our sector which we acronym ‘MASS’, that is, Manufacturing, Agro-Allied, Solid Minerals and Services. Our main drive is to see that we export from Nigeria value added products which will, in turn, create more jobs and increase our foreign earnings as a nation”, she told Sunday Vanguard.

Under her watch as Executive Director of the Business Development Directorate in NEXIM Bank, Okotete has initiated various business products and services for the Bank, including Women and Youth Export Facility (WAYEF) tailored towards stimulating and increasing deliberate funding to women and youths, and improve their access to concessionary finance in a bid to expanding and diversifying the non-oil export basket base of the nation.

She has also initiated the Small and Medium Export Enterprise Facility (SMEEF) designed to stimulate and increase deliberate funding for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and support Export-Oriented Small and Medium Enterprises in the non-oil exports value-chain. In a bid to upscale growth of the non-oil exports in Nigeria through knowledge, skill acquisition and empowerment, Okotete developed the Nigerian Export Academy (NEXA) in 2021 as a digital learning platform for all current and potential exporters in Nigeria and beyond, where subject matter experts will host courses and transcribe knowledge about exports. Commenting on what propelled her choice of career, this Amazon disclosed that service to humanity and the nation as a whole has been the major drive. Her words: “Service to humanity, service to our country Nigeria, that is what drives me. I like to see that we have a country that works and creates job for the people and also fights poverty to the barest minimum.

“So if you look at what we do as a bank, we are not a regular bank, we are a development bank, so, the social aspect of what we do is also one of our key motivators, because for every credit we approve or money we disburse, we are putting food on the table of a common man, especially in the agricultural sector.

So what motivated my career choice is all about service to humanity”. The ED advised younger women looking up to an outstanding personality like her to always remember that all that glitters is not gold, saying that what they see today about her is a product of hard work, dedication, sincerity of purpose, integrity, trust and faith in God and discipline.

“So, if they want to get higher, because my prayer and wish is for them to go higher than where we are today, they have to take all these attributes I highlighted very seriously, and I believe that they will excel well in the future, and they must start now because the future is now”, Okotete said.