A major achievement of hers during her eight years at the DMO was the introduction of Benchmark Bonds to develop the domestic bond market in order to improve liquidity and to create a sovereign yield curve which created opportunities for State Governments, Multilaterals and Corporates to raise long term funds. The purpose behind this drive was to create a debt capital market where the public and private sectors can access long term funds to finance Nigeria’s growth and development.

For sustainable development of the debt capital market, she actively engaged with local and foreign investors, regulators and other stakeholders to develop a large and diversified investor base for FGN Securities and Bonds issued by other borrowers.

Ms Oniha managed the successful issuance of Nigeria’s debut USD500 million Eurobond in January 2011. The debut Eurobond opened a new source of funding for the Federal Government and Corporates. In 2013, she also managed the issuance of the dual-tranche USD1 billion Eurobond which was subscribed to the tune of about 400%.

A number of Nigerian banks also tapped into this funding window by issuing Eurobonds. She was also responsible for the inclusion of FGN Bonds in the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets (GBI – EM) in October 2012 which made Nigeria the second country in Africa, after South Africa to have its local currency sovereign bond included in the Index. The inclusion of FGN bonds in this Index attracted foreign investors to the domestic bond market as a whole. This was followed by the inclusion of FGN Bonds in the Barclays Capital Emerging Markets – Local Currency Government Bond Index (EM – LCBI) in March 2013.

Ahmed is a professional accountant who graduated in 1981 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna state. She obtained her master’s degree from the Ogun state University, Ago Iwoye in 2004. She did her National Youth Service in Kaduna State from 1981 – 1982 after which she was employed in 1982 as an Accountant in the Ministry of Finance, Kaduna State. After several promotions in the Ministry, she resigned in 1985 to join the Nigerian Telecommunication Ltd (NITEL). In 2010, Ahmed was appointed as the Executive Secretary and National Coordinator of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Ms. Oniha obtained a B.Sc. Economics, First Class Honours from the University of Benin in 1983 and went on to earn an M.Sc. Finance from the University of Lagos in 1985. She is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 1990 and a Fellow in 2008. She is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.