Mr. Saleh Usman Gashua graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in 1981 in Plant and Soil Science from Tuskegee University, Alabama, U.S.A. In addition to his post graduate qualification he has attended several high profile courses which include but not limited to: Leadership Training and Development Management from Helta Institute for International Development, New York; International High Level Training on Mastering SMEs Credit Appraisal and Lending Decisions - AADFI; The development of SMEs in the era of globalization – Israel, Negev Institute for strategies of Peace and Development; The Senior International Bankers Course - Manchester Business School. Mr. Gashua has a wealth of experience in rural and agricultural finance. He joined the service of the former Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank (NACB) Limited in December 1982 as Operations Officer and rose in 2009 to the rank of Deputy General Manager and Head of Credit, Bank of Agriculture (BOA) limited, Nigeria. The post he held until his election as the AFRACA Secretary General in November 2010. In addition, Mr. Gashua has gained considerable practical/hands on experience in rural development by participating and organizing many workshops and conferences across the Continent on rural and agricultural finance. Mr. Gashua has travelled widely within and outside the African continent. He is an active member of many Government and non-Governmental Committees and Networks. He was a onetime, Chairman, Heads of Federal Government Establishments, Adamawa State, Nigeria and a Board member of the Nigerian Beverages production company (NBPC) and presently a Board member of a sub regional body, the East African agricultural Finance Network (EAAFN) and a lead partner in the newly formed Africa wide Agricultural finance Stakeholders working group (AFSWG) under the auspices of AFRACA and the Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) partnership. Mr. Gashua’s aspiration is to see greater collaboration and more congenial working relationships especially in an effort to take workshop/conference recommendations to a practical level.
