First HoldCo appoints former Afreximbank executive Gwen Mwaba to board

First HoldCo Plc has appointed Gwen Mwaba, a former managing director at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), as a non-executive director, bringing extensive experience in trade finance, corporate banking and credit risk management to the financial services group.

The appointment took effect on October 15, 2026, following approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), according to a regulatory filing by the company.

Mwaba’s appointment adds an executive with nearly three decades of experience across major African and international financial institutions to First HoldCo’s board. Her career has covered trade finance, structured lending, corporate banking, portfolio management and financing for businesses operating across emerging markets.

At Afreximbank, she served as managing director of Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking, where she oversaw a portfolio valued at $19.5 billion. The portfolio covered sovereign borrowers, financial institutions and corporate clients across different markets.

Her responsibilities included assessing major credit transactions, managing portfolio exposures and contributing to decisions on lending strategy and country risk limits. She also participated in the bank’s pre-credit and credit committees.

Before taking the managing director role, Mwaba served as Afreximbank’s regional head for Anglophone West Africa. In that position, she oversaw regional strategy and credit origination across Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia and Cape Verde.

Her experience also extends to Standard Bank, where she served as executive vice president of Structured Trade and Commodity Finance in London. Her work involved complex commodity financing, export credit agency-backed facilities and pre-export financing transactions across Africa.

Earlier in her career, Mwaba held senior positions at Stanbic Bank Zambia and Standard Bank South Africa, including roles in corporate banking and vehicle and asset finance.

Beyond her executive responsibilities, she has contributed to industry discussions on trade finance through professional and advisory engagements, including the International Trade and Forfaiting Association’s Multilateral Institutions Board Advisory Panel.

Mwaba holds a Master of Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom and a bachelor’s degree with honours in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University. She is also a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

The appointment was disclosed in a regulatory filing signed by First HoldCo Group Company Secretary Abiola Baruwa, which stated that the company had complied with the relevant Nigerian Exchange Limited rules.