Profile
He is INSEAD France’s first African certified Corporate Governance Director and its Ambassador for Nigeria since 2016. A former member of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) committee that authored the 2010 Nigeria Code of Corporate Governance. He also served as a member of the Vision 20-20-20 Federal Government of Nigeria Strategy Group.
Mallam Yahyah holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and Politics of Development (Mphil) from Cambridge University, England, and a First Class Honors degree in Economics from Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. He is an alumnus of Churchill College, Cambridge.
In 1987, Mallam Yahyah started his career as an investment banker with CHASE Manhattan/Continental Bank of Nigeria. He qualified as a Chartered stockbroker and a specialist in debt securitization with experience in Primary and secondary Capital Market Issues, Capital Market regulation and Arbitration.
In 1994, Mallam Suleiman Yahyah served as a member of the 30-man- led Federal Government of Nigeria’s delegation to South Africa to assist and support the 1994 CODESA negotiations that ushered in a free democratic nonracial South Africa. He actively promotes Nigeria- South Africa regional and bilateral cooperation at the highest levels.
Mallam Suleiman Yahyah served as a pioneering director that turned around the distressed NUB International Bank Plc for six years until its successful consolidation driven merger with Finbank in 2006. He also served as a director on the boards of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), FCMB Group, and FCAM from 2003 to 2014.
He joined the Board of Nahco PLC in 2005 as Vice Chairman and participated in its turnaround post privatization transformation, expansion, and diversification. He retired from the board as chairman in 2016. He also served as Director and Chairman of Ashaka Cement PLC, a publicly listed LAFARGE AFRICA subsidiary, from 2010 to 2017.
As part of strategic support for business development and synergy, Mallam Yahyah founded the Abuja Business Council in 2015 to promote sustainable investment in Nigeria and serve as a think tank for business and economic policy.
Mr. Yahyah is the founder of Rosehill Group Limited (RHG), established in 1999 and involved with investment in aviation handling, telecommunications, agribusiness, infrastructure development, real estate, and hospitality. The Group supports management development initiatives and is the master developer of the Asokoro Island Project in Abuja, Nigeria.
Rosehill Group has been appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to partner with the Nigeria Climate Change Council (NCCC) to develop the Carbon Market Framework in 2023.
Mr. Yahyah is a member of the Nigeria Institute of Directors and the London Institute of Directors. In 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan, in recognition of Mallam Suleiman Yahyah’s entrepreneurship excellence and significant contribution to employment and development of the Nigerian economy, conferred on him the Nigerian National Honours of Order of the Officer of the Niger (OON).
RHG Advisory, a subsidiary of Rosehill Group Limited, is assisting the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) towards establishing an African Energy Transition Bank. Mallam Suleiman Yahyah supports several charities and philanthropic endeavors across Nigeria. For further information, please follow @sulyah and link up www.suleimanyahyah.com