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Can you sit on a board there?
Pick a market. You get the residency test, the nationality test, the work-authorisation position, the appointment steps in order, and the frictions that actually delay appointments — each cited to the instrument that creates it.
Choose a market
No residency or nationality requirement applies to a director of a Nigerian company, and foreign directors are common on listed and multinational-subsidiary boards.
- Residency test
- None.
- Nationality test
- None.
- Work authorisation
- A non-resident director attending board meetings travels on a business visa. Executive and resident roles require expatriate quota approval and a CERPAC.
- Board language
- Board process is in English, which removes the language barrier that applies across much of the region.
- Tenure limit once appointed
- No statutory cap. The Code asks boards to assess independence substantively and to address long tenure in the board evaluation.
- Time commitment
- Typically 4–6 board meetings a year plus committee cycles; regulated boards meet more often.
- What a seat pays
- Highly variable and materially affected by exchange rates; banking and telecoms boards pay well above the listed-company norm.
- Tax on your fees
- Directors' fees are Nigerian-source income with withholding for non-residents; repatriation is subject to foreign-exchange documentation.
The appointment steps, in order
- 1Consent to act, and confirmation of eligibility and independence under CAMA
- 2Filing of the change of directors with the Corporate Affairs Commission
- 3For a listed company, disclosure to the SEC and NGX and inclusion in the annual governance report
- 4For a bank or insurer, Central Bank of Nigeria or NAICOM approval before the appointment takes effect
What actually gets in the way
- CAMA restricts the number of public-company directorships a person may hold, which constrains portfolio building
- Foreign-exchange and repatriation considerations affect how directors' fees actually reach a non-resident
- Board process is in English, which removes the language barrier that applies across much of the region
The instruments behind these answers
- Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 s.275 — Every public company must have at least three independent directors, and the Act defines the independence criteria including shareholding and employment tests. (Federal Republic of Nigeria)
- Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 — Also introduced a prohibition on a person holding the offices of chairman and chief executive of a public company simultaneously, and restrictions on the number of directorships in public companies. (Federal Republic of Nigeria)
- Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 — Apply-and-explain across twenty-eight principles covering board structure, assurance, business conduct, sustainability and stakeholder relationships. Companies explain the practices adopted rather than reporting compliance with provisions. (Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria)
- SEC Nigeria and NGX rules — Impose additional board composition, committee and disclosure requirements on listed companies, including a statutory audit committee with shareholder representation. (SEC Nigeria and NGX)
Reviewed against primary sources in September 2026. This is governance decision-support, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and transitional provisions frequently apply — verify against the primary instrument before you rely on it.
Eligibility is only the first question
Being allowed to sit on a board there is not the same as being read for one.
The mobility index answers the second question: whether your record is legible to a board in that market, whether you hold what it is currently short of, and whether you can do the job in the language its board works in.