Despite the low-key lives, innovative banking and silent achievers in the banking sector, some bank CEOs command respect, accolades and strength among their peers. They are cool, calm and intelligent, they are the coolest bank CEOs of the moment. Their banking products are second to none and most often they shy away from the public glare.
Some of the criteria used in selecting these set of people include brand management and perception of their banks, fashion sense, coordination in public, organisational growth and how they have scaled through the various financial sector tsunamis. KOKO’s Business Week Sub-Saharan Africa by KOKO’s Men Of The Week takes a dive into the lives and work of Nigerian Bank CEOs who are doing excellently well in the financial space. From bottom to top, Here is our list of the top 6 coolest bank CEO’s in Nigeria:
6. Ademola Adebise:
In a less than a year as the CEO of the indigenous bank in Nigeria, Ademola Adebise continued to set the pace for Wema Bank in products and digital banking service – ALAT. As the then Deputy Managing Director, Adebise was among the brains behind Nigeria’s first digital bank growing the Bank’s retail business. With over 28 years’ experience in the banking world, he is one of the coolest dudes in the financial sector having worked at Accenture prior to Wema bank.
5. Peter Amangbo:
Peter Amangbo is the face behind Zenith Bank Plc and the initiator and executor of the various activities in one of the largest bank in Nigeria. With more than 24 year experience in banking activities in Zenith Bank, Amangbo understands the workings and professionalism of the leading Nigerian bank. He has been part of the success story of the bank.
Usually kitted in a black or blue suit with a touch of blue portraying the logo of First Bank, Adesola Adeduntan is a respected banker among his peers in the banking hall.
He started his banking career at Afribank as a graduate trainee in Ibadan, Oyo state capital in 1994 and was appointed Managing Director of First Bank in 2016, two years after joining the bank in 2014. Since 2014, Adeduntan combines his cognate years of experience at Arthur Andersen Nigeria, KPMG and Citibank to scale First Bank in the financial and internal control, enhancement and business performance as well as procurement functions. He is also among the brains behind the growth sustainability and how the bank continues to maintain its leading role in Nigeria’s financial sector.
3. Abubakar Suleiman:
Popularly known as Abu, the finest banker has been Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc since April 01, 2018. Within the shortest period, Abu has elevated the brand of the Sterling to an enviable height among its peers competing with top financial institutions in the country. The University of Abuja graduate worked with colleagues from the evolvement of the investment banking institution (formerly NAL Merchant Bank) to a full-fledged commercial bank resulting into what is known as Sterling Bank today. Sterling Bank is a result of NAL Bank’s merger with four other banks – Indo-Nigeria Merchant Bank, Magnum Trust Bank, NBM Bank and Trust Bank of Africa during the 2006 consolidation of the Nigerian banking industry. In 2011, the Bank consummated a business combination with Equitorial Trust Bank and Abu was named the Chief Financial Officer in 2012, a member of the Board in 2014. Since then, he has been overseeing the Finance and Performance Management, Strategy and Innovation, Brand Management and Communication, as well as well the Human Resource Management Department of the bank. His wealth of experience with KPMG, Citi Bank and MBC International Bank (now First Bank) is a test of strength in the banking industry.
2. Segun Agbaje:Â 
When you talk about the elegant story of Gtbank, you talk about Segun Agbaje and how he has made the Orange inscription of the Bank in every household. It is arguable that there is no household in Nigeria where you will not see GTBank account holder. Agbaje is one of the brightest Nigerian Banker and CEO making the wave with his innovative products and digital banking. The idea of 737 and the recently Habari, an app that’s everything from lifestyle to banking, are second to none in Nigeria’s banking sector. The 54 years old banker has been the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc since July 12, 2011. Young, smart and intelligent, Segun needs no further introduction among his peers in the banking industry. He has positioned Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) as a major player in the financial services industry for its branding approach to innovation and digital products.
- Herbert Wigwe:Â
Herbert Wigwe is one of Nigeria’s foremost corporate bankers and a silent achiever at that. His achievements have made Access Bank, one of the banks to reckon with in the Nigerian banking industry. The 52 years old stylish banker started his career at the Coopers and Lybrand Associates and subsequently went to work at Guaranty Trust Bank Limited from where he moved to jointly acquired Access Bank with his partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede in 2002. As a small commercial bank at the time, Access Bank has metamorphosed from being ranked 65 out of the 89 commercial banks in the country at the time to being among the top 5 financial institutions today. In 2012, Herbert and his friend also pulling through an acquisition deal with Intercontinental Bank to further expand Access Bank. His brilliance is current being out to work in the ongoing business combination agreement with Diamond Bank, a move that is expected to create a financial powerhouse in Africa.
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