By Dipo Olowookere
Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Diamond Bank, Mr Uzoma Dozie, has revealed that the tier-two lender in Nigeria has no plan to raise fresh capital from the stock market or anywhere.
Mr Dozie made this disclosure in an interview with Daily Trust last Friday at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos.
The bank chief was speaking on why Diamond Bank, which is listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), closed down its offices in some West African countries.
According to him, with no plans to raise any capital for now, it was necessary to shut down its operations in within the West African region and other parts of the country in order to maximise expenses with a view to focusing on technology driving strategy.
Mr Dozie pointed out that the Nigerian banking system had moved from what it used to be in the last 25 years.
According to him, “Banks now proffer different forms of solutions that make banking transaction easier, so we want to be paperless.”
He said, “To achieve the development within the banking system, we need funds and capital [and] without plan to raise capital from the stock market or anywhere, there is the need for us to maximise what we have to perform bigger in operations than being big without significant impact.”
Diamond Bank is one of the most technology-driven banks operating in the country.
