By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Unity Bank Plc Friday announced the appointment of a new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO). Henry James Semenitari as the bank’s new Managing Director/CEO.
The bank said this in a notice to Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and made available to InvestAdvocate in Lagos Nigeria.
Aged 50, Semenitari holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from International Graduate School of Management, University of Navara (I.E.S.E) Barcelona, Spain.
He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Advance Management Programme (AMP173) in Boston, United States of America. He is also an alumnus of Cambridge Judge Business School, Advanced Leadership Programme (ALP 1), Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
Semenitari has over 22 years banking experience in Operations, Internal Control, Branch Management, Credit and Marketing, Commercial and Retail Banking, Consumer, Corporate Banking (Energy) etc. acquired in banks such as Zenith, Diamond, United Bank for Africa, ACB International Bank and Continental Trust Bank.
He also held seniour Management positions in UBA Plc as an Assistant General Manager – Commercial and Retail Banking Group, General Manager (Credit and Marketing) in ACB International Bank Plc, Acting Managing Director/CEO, ACB International Bank Plc and Executive Director (Business Development) in Continental Bank Limited, Afribank Nigeria Plc in May 2003 as General Manager in charge of Consumer and Retail Banking business with responsibility of supervising and development of business activities across the entire 150 branch network, before joining First City Monument Bank Plc in November, 2005 as Executive Director Retail and Enterprise Banking with responsibility for developing and growing retail and enterprise banking business across the entire branch network. A position he held till December 2010.
Semenitari’s recognised strengths are in Business Process Re-engineering and Design with specialization in Strategic Process Enterprise Management, and Integration of Business process models with Information Technology to drive business at Product and Strategic business unit levels.
In addition to these, he had development and implementation experience of major Banking Applications such as Micro Banker/Flexcube, Phoenix, Bank Master, SAP (Systems Application and Product), Globus and Finacle Banking Application etc.
He is a Director and Board member of SWAP Technologies and Telecomms Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Telecommunication Service Providers and American International Insurance Company (AIICO) Plc. Semenitari is married with children.
Unity Bank had earlier in August 2013 announced the appointment of Rislanudeen Muhammad as the Acting MD effective Wednesday, August 28, 2013, as a result of the voluntary retirement of Alhaji Ado Yakubu Wanka, the bank’s MD following the approval by its Board.
Similarly, the bank also appointed Abubakar Abba Bello as an Executive Director; he was born on November 5, 1966 and had his early education at Capital School, Kaduna in 1978 and King’s College Lagos in 1983.
Bello obtained B.Sc Accounting, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1989 and is currently pursuing MBA (University of Liverpool).
He has 23 years cognate experience in Banking with numerous Nigerian Banks rising up to be the Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa, Zambia. His work career has taken his across different organisations.
In the same vein, the bank also appointed another Executive Director in person of Arese Alonge.
She had her high school education at Queens College, Lagos in 1983 and obtained her BA in 1988 from the University of Benin. She further obtained an MA in 1998 from the University of Lagos and is an MBA holder from Lagos Business School (2003).
Alonge has worked in Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, and London Borough of Islington United Kingdom among other places.
