By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Board of Directors of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (TRANSCORP) on Thursday announced the appointment of Emmanuel Nnorom as president/chief executive officer (CEO) succeeding Obinna Ufudo, who led the company since 2011.

The conglomerate in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said Nnorom’s appointment will formally take effect from September 01, 2014.

Transcorp said the appointment represents a further important milestone in its transformation, as the company moves from stabilisation; following the acquisition of a strategic stake by Heirs Holdings, to accelerated growth, as investments in power, oil & gas and real estate & hospitality come to fruition.

According to the conglomerate, Nnorom’s key role will be to lead the acceleration and deepening of the company’s investments in its four (4) strategic business sectors — Hospitality, Power, Agriculture and Oil & Gas and to build on Ufudo’s achievements in repositioning Transcorp for growth.

Nnorom is currently President/COO of Heirs Holdings, and served as a non-Executive Director of Transcorp earlier this year.  Previously, he was an Executive Director of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), occupying a number of senior roles leading the Group’s African subsidiaries. He has also held the position of Group Chief Operating Officer at UBA, with responsibility over information technology, operations, corporate services, marketing and corporate communications and regulatory affairs.  He is an Alumnus of Templeton College, Oxford University and a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Tony Elumelu, the chairman of Transcorp thanked out-going CEO Ufudo for delivering on the company’s objectives under Phase 1 of the turnaround programme.

“In his three years as CEO of the Transcorp Group, Obinna Ufudo laid a strong foundation of good governance, achieved significant financial returns for the Company and played a key role in transforming an ailing enterprise, into an emerging investment powerhouse, with a market capitalisation of over US$1.2 billion,’’ he said. 

Elumelu said Ufudo will be handing over a transformed business to Nnorom. ‘’With the implementation of Phase 2 of our strategic intent, we expect accelerated growth in all spheres of our business, with a clear objective of US$1 billion in profits by 2018,” he said.