CEO Today Africa Awards

NIGERIA 33 www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today Africa Awards 2017 ADE AYEYEMI Group CEO of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated www.ecobank.com Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a public limited liability company, was established as a bank holding company in 1985 under a private sector initiative spearheaded by the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry with the support of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In the early 1980’s foreign and state-owned banks dominated the banking industry in West Africa. Commercial banks in West Africa owned and managed by the African private sector were a rarity. Its founders created ETI with the objective of filling this vacuum. The Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce promoted and initiated a project to create a private, regional banking institution in West Africa. In 1984, Ecopromotions S.A. was incorporated. Its founding shareholders raised seed capital for feasibility studies and the promotional activities leading to the creation of ETI. In October 1985, ETI was incorporated with authorised capital of US$100 million. The initial paid up capital of US$32 million was raised from over 1,500 individuals and institutions from West African countries. The largest shareholder was the ECOWAS Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development (ECOWAS Fund), the development finance arm of ECOWAS. Ecobank signed a Headquarters’ Agreement with the Government of Togo in 1985, which granted it the status of an international organisation. This status came with the rights and privileges necessary for ETI to operate as a regional institution, including the status of a non-resident financial institution. ETI commenced operations with its first subsidiary in Togo in March 1988. FIRM PROFILE Ade Ayeyemi, was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank in June 2015 and assumed office on September 1, 2015. He is an experienced banker, who before joining Ecobank, had a long and successful career with Citigroup, where he was CEO of Citigroup’s sub-Saharan Africa division based in Johannesburg. Ade is an accounting graduate of the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with First Class Honours. He also studied at the University of London and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme. A Chartered Accountant, he is also a trained UNIX Administrator and Network Operating Systems Manager. His many interests include business strategy, economics, process engineering and technology. ETI Board Committees: In attendance in the FinanceandRegulatory Requirements Committee, Social, Reputation and Ethics Committee and Risk Committee ABOUT ADE AYEYEMI