Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has appointed infrastructure finance specialist Sa’id Alkali Kori as Chief Investment Adviser and pioneer Chairman of the Governing Board of the Borno State Investment Promotion Agency, positioning him at the centre of the state’s push for post-conflict economic renewal.

The appointment follows the enactment of the Borno State Investment Promotion Agency Amendment Law, which transforms the agency into the state’s primary vehicle for attracting investment and driving public-private partnerships. Under the new law, the governing board will serve as the policy-making body on investment promotion, responsible for setting clear procedures for investors, shaping legal and regulatory frameworks, and designing incentives to grow local enterprise.

Kori, an entrepreneur and development finance expert, is Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Thinklab Group Limited, an innovation and infrastructure finance firm credited with structuring more than 200 million dollars in financing for housing, healthcare and transport projects. He previously served as General Manager, Projects, at Family Homes Funds Limited, where he helped negotiate over 100 million dollars in multilateral funding and delivered more than 15,000 affordable housing units through public-private partnership models across Nigeria.

His portfolio extends beyond Borno. Kori is Honorary Special Adviser on International Relations and Investment to the Yobe State Governor and Technical Adviser to the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum, roles that give him a regional vantage point on cross-border trade, climate pressures and security-linked economic challenges in the Lake Chad Basin. He also chairs the Board of the Nigeria Food Corporation, which oversees strategic agro-food investments in the North-East.

Kori’s academic background includes a PhD in Built Environment with a specialisation in Innovation Economics from the University of Liverpool, an MSc in Digital Construction from the University of Salford, and a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Federal University of Technology, Yola. His work has earned him recognition such as the African Construction Personality of the Year award and multiple corporate honours for Thinklab Group.

The new governing board he will lead brings together representatives from ten key ministries and agencies, including commerce, land administration, works, housing and energy, justice, agriculture, livestock, planning, finance, and local government and emirate affairs. It also includes three representatives from Borno’s senatorial districts, with one seat reserved for a woman, alongside two members from the organised private sector. The Director-General of the agency will serve as board secretary.

The chairman is empowered to set up sub-committees on investment, audit, remuneration and other areas to improve governance, and to approve investment proposals and operational matters delegated by the board. Once inaugurated, the board is expected to craft a new investment blueprint and assemble a pipeline of priority projects aimed at shifting Borno from emergency recovery to long-term, private sector-led growth.