AUN pushes for peace, development at banking sector launch

Margee Ensign, president, American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, will be the keynote speaker at the Afrinvest 2015 Nigerian Banking Sector Report launch and 20th anniversary celebration on October 6, 2015.

The event will take place in Lagos, and Ensign will be speaking on the theme, “Peace, Development and Reconstruction: A Way Forward for Northeast Nigeria.”

Ike Chioke, CEO, Afrinvest, who made the disclosure, said, “as a socially responsible company, we have great admiration for Dr. Ensign and her work with internally displaced persons in the north-eastern state of Adamawa through the Adamawa Peacemakers Initiative, which she chairs.

“We believe that her experience and insight on development projects across Africa will be invaluable as we seek to galvanize the private sector to support the efforts of government in rehabilitating those adversely affected by the violence in the north-eastern states of Nigeria.”

Margee M. Ensign, the third President of the American University of Nigeria, earned her BA from New College in Florida, and her PhD in International Political Economy from the University of Maryland.  She began her administrative career at Columbia University, in New York City. There she combined roles of Professor of Politics & Economics with Director of the International Political Economy Program.

Ensign has worked in and on the continent for fifteen years and has served as an advisor to the governments of Uganda and Rwanda. She currently leads the Adamawa Peacemakers Initiative (API), a local response to the escalating violence, which has successfully promoted peace in the area through education, empowerment and community development. API has provided food assistance to approximately 300,000 IDPs during the past 18 months.

Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited is a wealth advisory firm involved in investment banking, securities trading, asset management and investment research with a focus on West Africa. The Afrinvest Annual “Banking Sector Report” has come to be recognized as the leading and most incisive report on Nigeria’s banking industry, as well as a valuable reference for local and international investors in the Nigerian economy.