Aishah Ahmad
Aishah Ndanusa Ahmad is a Nigerian accountant and finance professional. She is a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria having been appointed on 6 October 2017, replacing Sarah Alade, who retired in March 2017. She was confirmed by the Nigerian Senate on 22 March 2018. On 6 December 2022, Ahmad was reappointed deputy governor for a second five-year term and subsequently confirmed by the Senate on 14 December 2022. However, on 15 September 2023, she was removed from office by President Bola Tinubu alongside three other deputy governors for alleged corporate governance failures at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Background and education
Ahmad was born in Lagos, to a Nupe Muslim family from Bida, on 26 October 1976. She attended St. Catherine's Primary School, Surulere Lagos, and Zarumai Primary School, Minna Niger State, before proceeding to Federal Government Girls’ College, Bida, for her secondary education. Ahmad graduated with a BSc degree in Accounting from the University of Abuja and went on to obtain an MBA in Finance from the University of Lagos and an MSc in Finance and Management from the Cranfield School of Management. She is an INSEAD Certified Board Director and a recipient of the Economic Development Certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.Career
Prior to her appointment at the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2018, Ahmad was an accomplished banker, investment manager, financial expert and corporate executive, having served as Executive Director of Retail Banking at Diamond Bank Plc.Ahmad started out in the private sector as an auditor at Z.O. Ososanya & Company, and then as Chief Financial Officer at Manstructs Group Ltd.
Her banking career started in 2001 at First Interstate Bank Plc., where she was recruited as Executive Assistant, Treasury Group, after which she proceeded to NAL Bank Plc as Head of Private Banking where she worked till 2005. Later, she was Head of Retail Banking and Group Head at Zenith Bank Group. From 2009 until 2014, she served in various capacities at Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc including as Head, Private Clients/High Net Worth Individuals, before leaving for Diamond Bank to lead its retail business. She retired as Executive Director of Retail Banking at Diamond Bank Plc following her appointment to the CBN. Other assignments in the past have included stints at the Bank of New York Mellon and at Synesix Financial Limited.
Ahmad served as Chairperson of the Board for SOS Children's Villages, an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization she has volunteered for since 2017. She also served as the chairperson of the executive council of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a Nigerian non-profit organization where she was part of the establishment in 2001.
Ahmad was the Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability at the Central Bank of Nigeria. She was a member of the CBN Governing Board, Monetary Policy Committee, Financial System Stability Committee and the Committee of Governors. She also served as Chairperson of the boards of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, the Nigeria Commodity Exchange and the Financial Institutions Training Centre.