Mr Ayeyemi, 52, will replace Albert Essien, who retires on 30 June, 2015 after 25 years of meritorious service with the Group. An interim arrangement will be made by the Ecobank Board for the management of the Group during the period 1 July through 31 August, pending the resumption of the new GCEO.
Mr Ayeyemi is a highly experienced banker who has had a long and successful career with Citigroup, where he is currently Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup’s sub-Saharan Africa division, based in Johannesburg. He 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 Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme. A Chartered Accountant, Mr Ayeyemi is also a trained UNIX Administrator and Network Operating Systems Manager. His many interests include business strategy, economics, process engineering and technology.
Ecobank Group Chairman Emmanuel Ikazoboh, said, “After a thorough and extensive search throughout the African continent, we are delighted to have secured Ade as the person to lead Ecobank through the next phase of its development and beyond as a world-class pan-African bank.
“Ade is a truly outstanding individual with deep knowledge of banking across Africa, and we welcome him to the Board. At the same time, I should like to thank Albert Essien for his 25-year career at Ecobank and for his stellar service as Group Chief Executive Officer over the past year. We wish him well in his retirement.”
Ade Ayeyemi said: “I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to lead this great institution, and commend Albert Essien for his legacy work of helping further the premier pan-African financial institution. Ecobank has an exceptional platform, great people, solid strategy and strong momentum.
“I sincerely look forward to working with the management team, the Board of Directors, and the employees of Ecobank as we set new standards in financial services for our clients across the board.”
Incorporated in Lomé?, Togo in 1988, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’) is the parent company of the leading independent pan-African banking group, Ecobank. It currently has a presence in 36 African countries, namely: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Co?te d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Group employs over 20,000 people in 40 different countries in over 1,200 branches and offices.
Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals.