By Uche Amunike
Mobolaji Jubril Lawal has been appointed as the new Ecobank Nigeria MD designate, Monday, with the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
His appointment, according to a statement released by the Central Bank of Nigeria became necessary as a result of the upcoming retirement of the current MD, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan whose retirement age will be attained in January 2020.
According to the statement, the new Ecobank Nigeria MD has been a versatile senior banking executive and digital transformation specialist for over 28 years with Guaranty Trust Bank PLC. He has also being deeply involved and experienced in digital and retail banking corporate and commercial banking corporate finance and credit risk management.
His previous experience includes being Executive Director at GTBank Plc, Nigeria and Non-Executive Director roles at both GTBank Ghana Limited and Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems Plc. He led the team that envisioned and implemented GTBank Plc’s retail and digital banking strategy to achieve industry-wide leadership over a 10-year period, while introducing new products and solutions that have aided in deepening payments and access to digital financial services in Nigeria, the statement said.
According to the bank Lawal was appointed as the new Ecobank Nigeria MD designate after a keenly contested election process that included both internal and external candidates.
He bagged 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.
The new Ecobank Nigeria MD designate has also been properly schooled in several executive management and banking specific developmental programs at top educational institutions like Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires(INSEAD).
The CEO Ecobank Group, Ade Ayeyemi had this to say about Lawal’s new appointment: ‘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.’
On his part, Ecobank Board Chairman, Bola Adesola, looks forward to working with Mobolaji and assured him of the full support of the Board, Management and entire staff of Ecobank Nigeria. He cited that the banking business in Nigeria is undergoing transformation and they had confidence in Mobolaji in significantly impacting in the advancement of the positive trajectory of the bank.
The new Ecobank Nigeria MD, Mr Lawal will take over his new position as soon as he receives the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria upon Patrick Akinwutan’s retirement in January 2020.
