Onyeali–Ikpe resumes as Fidelity Bank CEO as Okonkwo retires

OBINNA EZUGWU

Mrs. Nneka Onyeali -Ikpe, former Executive Director, Lagos and South West Directorate of Fidelity Bank Plc., has officially resumed duty as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank.

The Bank which announced the development in a post on Facebook, wished the new MD successful reign.

This follows the retirement of Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo.

The Bank had in July, notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the general public of the impending retirement of Okonkwo as MD/CEO from the Board of Directors of the Bank, with effect from December 31, 2020, upon completion of his contract tenure.

Okonkwo was appointed to the Board of Fidelity Bank in April 2012 as an Executive Director and was subsequently appointed the MD/CEO on January 01, 2014. He implemented a Digital-led Strategy which led to significant growth across key performance metrics and increased market share, with the Bank currently ranked 6t h amongst Nigerian Banks on most performance indices. Some of his key achievements include:

PBT growth of 236% from N9.0bn to N30.4bn.

RoE increase from 5.5% to 13.3%.

Customer Deposits growth of 68% from N806.3bn to N1,352.3bn.

Savings Deposit growth of 275% from N83.3bn to N312.1bn.

Net Loans and Advances growth of 174% from N426.1bn to N1,165.8bn.

Customer Base increased by 121% from 2.4 million to 5.3 million.

Digital Banking penetration improved from 1.0% to 50.1% and now accounts for 28.4% of total fee income.

In addition, the Bank successfully accessed the local and international markets through the issuance of N30bn Corporate Bonds in 2015 and $400million Eurobonds in 2017. The Board seizes this opportunity to express sincere appreciation to Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo for his significant contributions to the growth and development of the Bank during his tenure on the Board.

The new MD, Onyeali -Ikpe, who took office today, January 1, 2021, was appointed to the Board of Fidelity Bank in 2015 as an Executive Director and currently oversees the Lagos and Southwest Directorate. She led the transformation of the Directorate to profitability and sustained its impressive year-on-year growth across key performance metrics.

She has been an integral part of the current management team responsible for the remarkable increase in the Bank’s performance in the last 5 years with the area under her direct responsibility contributing over 28% of the Bank’s PBT, Deposits and Loans.

She has over 30 years of experience across various banks including Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Citizens International Bank Limited, where she held several management positions in Legal, Treasury, Investment Banking, Retail/Commercial Banking and Corporate Banking, in addition to serving as an Executive Director on the Board of Enterprise Bank Plc.

She has been involved in the structuring of complex transactions in various sectors including Oil & Gas; Manufacturing, Aviation, Real Estate and Export. As an Executive Director at Enterprise Bank Plc, she received formal commendation from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) as a member of the management tea m that successfully turned around Enterprise Bank Plc.

She holds Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) degrees from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Kings College, London, respectively. She has attended executive training programs at Harvard Business School, The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania, INSEAD School of Business, Chicago Booth School of Business, London Business School and IMD amongst others. She is currently undergoing a Diploma programme in Organizational Leadership at Said Business School, Oxford University, UK.