Essien is new Ecobank boss
ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has appointed Mr Albert Essien as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Mr Essien, formerly the Deputy CEO/Group Executive Director for Corporate and Investment Bank of ETI, was appointed by the Board of ETI, following the exit of Group CEO, Mr Thierry Tanoh.
The appointment takes effect from March 12.
Last Tuesday, the board decided unanimously to remove Mr Tanoh as chief executive at a meeting in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, and later announced the elevation of Mr Essien.
Mr Tanoh worked with the Ecobank Group as CEO- designate in July 2012 and commenced his executive role in October 2012 prior to being appointed Group CEO in January 2013.
The new CEO
The new Group CEO, Mr Essien, said he had been working for Ecobank for more than 20 years and was proud of what had been achieved so far.
“I am committed to achieving our vision of building a world class pan-African bank which contributes to the economic development and financial integration of Africa and to our mission of providing our retail and wholesale customers with convenient, accessible and reliable financial products and services,” he said.
He added: “We have faced challenges at the governance level in the recent past, but they are not unsurmountable. We have put in place a detailed governance action plan which will strengthen us to meet these challenges. We have put in place measures to improve our controls and systems as required, further to the completion of all internal and external reviews.”
Prior to becoming Deputy CEO, Mr Essien was the Regional Head for the Anglophone West Africa (excluding Nigeria) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regions.
He started his banking career in 1986 with the National Investment Bank in Accra, Ghana, and joined the Corporate Banking Department of Ecobank Ghana in 1990.
Reasons for Mr Tanoh’s removal
Mr Tanoh, a former vice-president of the International Finance Corporation, has been under investigation by Nigeria’s capital markets regulator since the bank’s executive director in charge of risk and finance accused him of corporate governance breaches last August.
The director turned whistleblower, Laurence do Rego, was first suspended and then fired by the chief executive last year. But last Tuesday, the bank said the board had reinstated Ms do Rego to her post.