By Dipo Olowookere
Ecobank Nigeria Limited will in 2022 have a new Regional Executive/Managing Director as a result of the retirement of the current occupier of the seat, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan.
Mr Akinwuntan, a respected banker with many years of experience, will reach his retirement age in January 2022, a statement from the financial institution disclosed.
In view of this, the leading pan-African banking group and parent company of the Nigerian lender, Ecobank Group, has chosen Mr Jubril Mobolaji Lawal as his successor.
However, the appointment of Mr Lawal is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the regulatory body of the banking industry in Nigeria.
It was disclosed that Mr Lawal was favoured for the position after a keenly contested selection process, which included both internal and external candidates.
He joins Ecobank having been a versatile senior banking executive and digital transformation specialist for over 28 years with GTBank. He has deep involvement and experience in digital and retail banking, corporate and commercial banking, credit risk management and corporate finance.
His previous experience includes being Executive Director at GTBank, and Non-Executive Director roles at both GTBank Ghana Limited and Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems Plc.
Mr Lawal led the team that envisioned and implemented GTBank’s retail and digital banking strategy to achieve industry-wide leadership over a 10-year period and he introduced new products and solutions that have helped to deepen payments and access to digital financial services in Nigeria.
He boasts of a Bachelor of Law degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; B.L. from the Nigerian Law School and a Master of Business Administration from Oxford University, United Kingdom.
He has also attended several executive management and banking specific developmental programmes at leading educational institutions including Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD).
“We welcome Mobolaji Lawal to the Ecobank Group and we stand to benefit from the extensive experience that he has acquired in various fields across banking, which will play a major role in continuing to rebuild our franchise in Nigeria.
“Nigeria is a key market for us, in which we have seen significant improvement over the past three years as we reposition and leverage upon our pan-African strengths in digital products and services, payments and as the go-to-bank for businesses seeking to grasp the growth opportunities being created by the AfCFTA, across all our markets on the continent.
“I wish Mobolaji the best and assure him of both my support and that of the entire Ecobank Group,” the CEO of Ecobank Group, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, stated.
On her part, the Chairman of Ecobank Nigeria, Mrs Bola Adesola, said she looks “forward to working with Mobolaji and assure him of the full support of the board, management and all the staff of Ecobank Nigeria. The business in Nigeria is on the path of transformation and we are confident that Mobolaji will have a significant impact in advancing our positive trajectory.”
