DEAP Capital Management & Trust Plc has appointed Mr Lamon Rutten, the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Mining Exchange and the Mumbai Commodity Exchange, to its Board of Directors, effective Tuesday, 17 February 2026.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public, the company revealed that Rutten is an internationally respected commodities and capital markets executive with over three decades of experience in commodities exchange development, structured commodity finance, and market infrastructure.
He served as Chief of Energy at the United Nations agency UNCTAD before being seconded to lead the establishment of the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India as Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, the exchange expanded to become the world’s second-largest commodity bourse in 2011, recording a turnover of $2.9tn.
During his tenure, he successfully concluded the initial public offering of $1.5bn and played a pivotal role in the establishment of India’s largest collateral management firm, NBHC. Rutten was also the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Indonesia Commodity and Derivative Exchange between January 2017 and July 2022.
Rutten also served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mining Exchange as well as a member of the Advisory Board of Ajlan and Bros Metal Corporation, a diversified Saudi group with investments and assets under management in excess of $50.0bn.
Aside from Rutten, the company also appointed Dr Israel Ovirih, a certified finance and investment banking professional with over three decades of experience in banking, private equity, and capital markets, as a Non-Executive Director effective 17 February 2026. Ovirih sits on the board of various minerals and natural resource-based businesses, including Jos, Plateau State-based Continental Lithium Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Critical Minerals Inc. of the Cayman Islands. He also chairs the Board of Banklink Africa Group, reputed for having raised (with its global partners) over $1.0bn for Nigerian banks and companies. Dr Ovirih’s extensive experience also covers structured finance, mergers and acquisitions, and recapitalisation transactions.
Other appointed directors include Mr Tope Oduseso, a top banker and the Group Chief Executive Officer of RichGreen Masters Group, effective 17 February 2026. Oduseso has over three decades of combined experience in the Nigerian financial sector. He was recently appointed to the board of Tantainment Limited, Tantalizers Plc’s entertainment subsidiary. His background includes financial management, internal control and regulatory compliance. He brings financial discipline, governance oversight, and operational experience to DEAP Capital’s Board.
As part of the corporate repositioning, Mr Francis Ekeng also joins the board as Non-Executive Director effective 17 February 2026. He is a seasoned business executive and serial entrepreneur with experience in real estate development, financial technology, telecommunications, and commercial asset management across Eastern and Western Africa. Mr Ekeng pioneered telecom cell-site expansion across Africa in the early 2000s and, most recently, launched Numoni, a regulated reward-technology platform within the financial ecosystem.
The appointment of Rutten, Ovirih, Oduseso and Ekeng comes at a critical juncture as DEAPCAP moves forward with its recapitalisation and strategic repositioning drive to emerge as Africa’s leading private-sector minerals finance institution.
The chairman of DEAPCAP, Dr Kenneth Olise, commenting on the appointments, said, “We are honoured to welcome Lamon Rutten, a seasoned veteran of global repute, to our Board. His unparalleled experience in global commodities exchanges, structured trade finance, and market infrastructure development brings strategic depth to our transformation journey.”
Commenting also, Rutten said, “Africa stands at the centre of the next global natural resource revolution, particularly in critical minerals essential for continued digitalisation, energy transition and advanced technologies. I am pleased to join DEAP Capital at this defining moment as it builds a structured, transparent, and institutionally aligned platform to connect global capital with high-quality mineral extraction and development opportunities across the continent.”
The PUNCH reports that DEAP Capital Management and Trust Plc recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Banklink Africa Private Equities Limited and RGM Material Solutions Ltd to reposition DEAP Capital as a specialised financing institution for the mining and critical minerals sector.
