New Appointments

Compiled by Alexa Dalby.

Sterling appoints six directors
Nigeria’s Sterling Bank has appointed six board directors with experience in the public and private sectors. The directors include women in line with the gender ratio requirement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The new board members include Tamarakare Yekwe, MON (Member of the Order of the Niger): Dr (Mrs) Omolara Akanji, MON; Asue Ighodalo Raghavan Karthikeyan; Kayode Lawal (Executive Director); and Abubakar Suleiman (Executive Director).

Tamarakare Yekwe, the current principal partner, KareYekwe & Co (legal firm), is a member of the Governing Council, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the Presidential Technical Committee on Housing and Urban Development. She was the pioneer Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Bayelsa State, and director in institutions including the Federal Savings Bank of Nigeria, Continental Merchant Bank of Nigeria, International Merchant Bank and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1981.

Omolara Akanji is a member of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force and started her career with the CBN in 1978 as an Assistant Economist. She retired in 2007 as the Director, Trade and Exchange Department and served as a consultant from 2008 to 2011. She has a BSc and MSc in Agricultural Economics, a Diploma in Statistics from the University of Kent and a Doctorate in Finance from the European-American University, Commonwealth of Dominica.

Asue Ighodalo is a Partner in law firm Banwo & Ighodalo. His core practice areas are corporate finance, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, banking and securities, foreign investments and divestments, energy and natural resources, privatisation and project finance. He has a BSc in Economics from University of Ibadan, an LLB from the London School of Economics and a BL from the Nigerian Law School.

Raghavan Karthikeyan is presently the Chief General Manager, International Banking in State Bank of India, Mumbai, and a certified associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s College, Tirunelveli, India and a Master of Arts from Madurai University, India. Kayode Lawal started his career with NBM Bank, where he worked from 1987 to 2005 and was appointed as the bank’s Treasurer. Following the emergence of Sterling Bank in 2006, he continued in marketing, to head various regions in Lagos.

Ecobank board change
Emmanuel Ikazoboh (below) has been appointed Ecobank Group’s new Chairman. An accountant by training, he has over 35 years’ experience of international business management and corporate advisory roles in both the private and public sectors, having spent much of his career with Deloitte in West and Central Africa.

There has been a significant reorganisation of the Board of Directors. Sena Agbayissah, Kwasi A Boatin, Assad Jabre and Sipho Mseleku have retired as Directors.

The new Board comprises three executive directors: Group CEO Albert Essien; Deputy Group CEO and Group COO Evelyne Tall-Daouda; and Laurence do Rego, Executive Director, Finance. Its nine non-executive directors, in addition to the Group Chairman, include: André Siaka, representing shareholders in CEMAC; Dr Adesegun Akinjuwon Akin-Olugbade, representing Nigeria and Anglophone minority shareholders; André Boboé Bayala, representing UEMOA and Francophone minority shareholders; Tei Mante, representing WAMZ; Kadita Tshibaka, representing the IFC; Hewett Adegboyega Benson, representing AMCON; Bashir Mamman Ifo, representing EBID; and Dr Daniel Matjila, representing the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

Former CBN governor crowned Emir
Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was crowned the Emir of Kano, succeeding his late great-uncle Dr Ado Bayero. A career banker, he had served as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2009 to 2014, winning numerous awards.
He is the grandson of Muhammadu Sunusi, the 11th Fulani Emir of Kano, and also a respected Islamic scholar. The new emir becomes one of the most influential spiritual leaders in Nigeria’s largely Muslim north.

Zimbabwe gets IMF country head
The International Monetary Fund is reported to be appointing a resident representative in Zimbabwe for the first time in 10 years. Christian Beddies is the IMF’s first appointment in Zimbabwe since 2004 when the Washington-based lender closed its office in the country. Prior to his appointment to Zimbabwe, he had been Deputy Division Chief International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1998.

Gondwe appointed finance minister
Dr Goodall Gondwe is the newly appointed Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development in Malawi. He is an internationally acclaimed economist who has served as General Manager of Reserve Bank, President of African Development Bank, Director of IMF for Africa, Chief Economic Advisor to former President Bakili Muluzi and Special advisor to IMF managing director. Gondwe has served as Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and local government in both two previous administrations. He has promised to invest all his economic management skills to ensure macroeconmic stability.

SME bank appoints first directors
Cameroon’s small and medium-size enterprise (SME) bank with French acronym, BC-PME appointed Agnès Ndoumbé Mandeng, formerly Director of Financial and Monetary Cooperation at the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, to the post of Managing Director of BC-PME.
She is a banking and finance expert and member of the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) since 2008.
 She will be assisted by Amadou Haman as Deputy Managing Director. Théodore Nkodo Foumena was appointed President of the bank.
The University of Maryland (USA) graduate previously worked at the World Bank The SME bank aims to reduce the financing obstacles that Cameroonian SMEs have been facing.


Johnson moves to Old Mutual
Ingrid Johnson, who has headed South Africa’s Nedbank’s retail and business banking, has been named group finance director at the bank’s parent company Old Mutual. She will join the Old Mutual board as an executive director and also become a member of the group executive. She was responsible for the strategic repositioning of the two businesses since August 2009 and has 20 years of leadership experience in Nedbank as a chartered accountant. Former power utility Eskom CEO Brian Dames had been appointed as an independent non-executive director of Nedbank. Dames also currently serves as a non-executive director of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).