Banking Briefs, BREAKING NEWS
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NNAMDI Okonkwo, executive director, Fidelity Bank, has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the bank. He is to succeed Reginald Ihejiahi, who is expected to retire from the bank, February 2014. Okonkwo, who is currently Executive Director in charge of South Directorate of the bank, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agric Economics from the University of Benin and an MBA in Banking & Finance from Enugu State University.
Okonkwo, is a graduate of Advanced Management Programme of INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau, France, and has attended various business and management trainings locally and overseas among them Harvard Business School, Oxford. Okonkwo, has over 23 years’ experience in various aspects of banking. He was managing director of United Bank for Africa, UBA, Ghana, between 2006 and 2009; he doubled as the regional chief executive officer of UBA West African Monetary Zone, with responsibility for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, between 2008 and 2009.
Okonkwo, later became divisional head for the corporate bank directorate between 2009 and 2012, before he came back to Fidelity Bank, as executive director, having earlier worked in Fidelity Bank, the old FSB that consolidated to form the enlarged Fidelity, between 1998 and 2000. He was the senior manager in Lagos and Port Harcourt both branches. Between 2004 and 2005, Okonkwo, was general manager in Standard Trust Bank, which later became UBA and in 2005, he was regional director of UBA in charge of branches in the FCT, Niger and Kogi states. He is the third CEO of Fidelity Bank after 25 years of operation, making it one of the banks with the most stable management in the industry.
According to the Central Bank policy which stipulates a maximum term of 10 years for Bank CEOs, Reginald Ihejiahi, the current CEO, who assumed duties in early 2004 will retire in February, 2014. Fidelity is today the 6th largest bank in Nigeria, by shareholders’ funds, and one of the few companies that have consistently paid dividends, without fail, in the last eight years. Ihejiahi and his team has led some of the landmark international financial transactions in the industry including the issue of Global Deposit Receipts, GDR, in 2007 and the $300m debut issue of internationally traded Eurobond in 2013.
Corporate Internet Banking in Access Bank
ACCESS Bank has introduced the nation’s first corporate internet banking solution with a variety of features designed to address the traditional payment and cash management requirements of large corporate and other categories of businesses. Olusegun Fafore, head, public affairs, Access Bank, said the solution called primus, was developed to address the complexity of daily business operations through an effective management of payments, receivables, liquidity and supply chain.
He said that primus is an intelligent banking solution with interactive capacity to help businesses forecast cash flow, optimise trade services, manage investments and support their internal reporting and reconciliation processes. “The revolutionary internet corporate banking solution is specifically designed to enhance business efficiency by simplifying the complex dynamics of daily operations of businesses and their relationships with value chains. Primus is one of the 200 industry defining initiatives scheduled for implementation by the bank in the coming months and the introduction of primus is the bank’s response to the growing need for a banking solution that supports the daily activities and operational success of businesses in the country.”
Also, Herbert Wigwe, deputy general managing director, said with the launch of primus, large corporate bodies, oriental businesses and other categories of businesses involved in the complex dynamics of daily business operations would have a “superlative experience in managing their daily activities. The corporate internet banking solution is not just a secure multi-transaction management platform that removes the complexities around daily financial management of multinationals and large corporations, but also facilitates easy transaction with suppliers and distributors as well as employees in the value chain by simplifying the processes involved in executing payment, managing receivables and treasury services in the daily dealings of organisations.”
Compiled by Chinwe Okafor
— Oct. 28, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT
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