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The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity investment arm of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has appointed Emmanuel Assiak as Chief Executive Officer. The role, effective 15 December 2025, marks a leadership transition designed to sharpen the institution’s drive to close Africa’s yawning equity financing gap and accelerate export-led industrialisation across the continent.
The announcement places Assiak at the helm of a fund that has already deployed more than $1.3 billion into companies and projects spanning manufacturing, agro-processing, financial services, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. His appointment arrives at what FEDA describes as a pivotal stage in its growth; one made more pressing by severe capital flight from African markets, and by mounting pressure on the continent to diversify its export base and build domestic industrial capacity.
Assiak is no stranger to the institution. He has been part of FEDA’s story from the beginning, serving successively as Pioneer Director, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for over six years, and most recently as Interim CEO since November 2025. In that trajectory, he played a central role in constructing FEDA’s investment platforms, shaping its portfolio, and driving its institutional development from the ground up.
“FEDA is contributing significantly to mobilising long-term capital for Africa’s export and industrial sectors, and we will build on the established strong foundation,” he said. “Together with our partners, FEDA will deepen its impact by scaling investments that unlock value, strengthen intra-African trade, and support the continent’s industrialisation agenda,” said Assiak.
Beyond FEDA, Assiak brings more than three decades of financial services experience to the role, including approximately 20 years in private equity. He has led large-scale investments across multiple African sectors, served on several corporate boards, and executed complex transactions and investor exits.
Before joining FEDA in 2019, he served as Vice President and Principal at African Capital Alliance, a pan-African investment group, and held senior positions in the Nigerian banking sector at Zenith Bank Plc and Continental Trust Bank, now part of the UBA Group.
His academic credentials include an MBA from Manchester Business School, an MSc in Economics from the University of Lagos, and a BSc in Economics from the University of Uyo. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and holds an executive certification in Private Equity from the Coller Institute at London Business School.
“Mr. Assiak’s leadership, deep institutional knowledge, and understanding of Africa’s private equity market are critical to strengthening Africa’s private sector, a key driver of Africa’s intra-African trade and economic transformation,” said Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Boards of Afreximbank and FEDA.
Assiak will be based in Kigali, Rwanda, as he steers a fund that operates across financial services, technology, manufacturing, agribusiness, transport and logistics, and trade-enabling infrastructure such as industrial parks, all sectors sitting at the heart of Africa’s ambition to trade more with itself and export more to the world.
