By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Pan African lender, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) on Friday announced it has reconstituted it board at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the bank held on Friday at the Group headquarters in Lomé Togo.
InvestAdvocate gathered that at the AGM, ETI passed all the ordinary resolutions which included the board reorganisation and the appointment of Emmanuel Ikazoboh as the Group’s new chairman.
Ikazoboh is an accountant with 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.
This reorganisation is coming on the heels of the governance action plan approved at Ecobank’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in March of this year.
Four (4) directors of the pan African lender have been retired from its board they are Sena Agbayissah, Kwasi A. Boatin, Assad Jabre and Sipho Mseleku who retired as directors.
InvestAdvocate gathered that the new board comprises three (3) executive directors which include Albert Essien, Group chief executive officer (CEO), Evelyn Tall-Daouda, chief operating officer (COO) and recalled Laurence do Rego as executive director (ED) Finance.
Nine (9) non-executive directors were also appointed to the board of ETI as part of its reconstitution includes: former interim chairman, André Siaka, representing shareholders in CEMAC, Adesegun Akinjuwon Akin-Olugbade, representing Nigeria and Anglophone minority shareholders.
Others are André Boboé Bayala, representing UEMOA and Francophone minority shareholders, Tei Mante, representing WAMZ, Kadita Tshibaka, representing the IFC.
While Hewett Adegboyega Benson is representing the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Bashir Mamman Ifo, representing EBID, and Daniel Matjila, represents the Public Investment Corporation (“PIC”).
Siaka, erstwhile interim chairman of the pan African lender addressing shareholders at the AGM said the board of the bank is committed to establishing the highest standards of corporate governance. ‘’We will learn from the recent past, address all of the issues and lay firm foundations for Ecobank’s continued success in the future,” he said.
On his part, Essien Group CEO of the bank while reviewing its 2013 audited report said the fundamentals of the bank’s business are strong and he is excited by the huge potential of ETI’s unique platform.
‘’However, I will not shy away from key areas that need to be addressed, including improving our profitability by driving efficiency across our entire network. Our performance in the first quarter of 2014 has been significantly ahead of the equivalent period last year, which gives the board confidence regarding Ecobank’s prospects for the year as a whole,” ETI’s Group CEO said.
In the review period of 2013, ETI said it generated revenues in excess of US$ 2 billion, whilst the Group’s total assets amounted to US$ 22.5 billion.
The reconstitution of the board of ETI came following the directives of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who on January 09, 2014, had advised the pan-Africa bank, to appoint a substantive board chairman who will lead the effort to attain an improved governance climate in the bank.
Nigeria’s SEC had done an investigation into the alleged breaches and corporate governance practices within the organization and issued this marching order.
