The Board of Directors of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has named Mr. Kolapo Lawson as its new chairman.
The decision was made at the 135th meeting of the Board, held in Lome, Togo on the 28th of September, 2009. Kolapo Lawson is the group's 7th chairman, and succeeds the late Mande Sidibe, who passed away on August 25th. He has been a non-executive member of the Ecobank board since 1993.
Mr. Lawson is Chairman and Chief Executive of Lawsons Corporation, a diversified industrial and trading group with operations in West Africa and the United Kingdom. He is also the Chairman of Acorn Petroleum Plc and Agbara Estates Limited, as well as a non-executive director of three publicly quoted companies: Beta Glass PIc., Pharma-Deko PIc. and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc. He was a director of Ecobank Nigeria from 1989 to 1997 and of Ecobank Togo from 1990 to 1993.
Lawson has a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In his new capacity, Lawson takes over the chairmanship of the leading pan-African banking group. Ecobank, today, has a larger footprint across sub-Saharan Africa than any other bank in the world, with operations in 28 African countries and a 29th subsidiary, EBI SA in France.
Lawson, a Nigerian national, has been involved with Ecobank since its early days. He said, "I am pleased to be named Chairman of the Ecobank Group at such a critical time in the history of this great pan-African organization. I have always been passionate about Ecobank, and have been involved in the development of the institution since its inception."
Arnold Ekpe, Chief Executive of the Ecobank Group, said "Mr. Kolapo Lawson has been associated with Ecobank since its inception. He has been on the board for the last 16 years and knows the group well. At this critical time in the life of the institution and today's economic environment, the group could not possibly be in better hands."
The Ecobank board also named Mr. Christian Adovelande, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development, as First Vice Chairman. Mr. Adovelande, a national of Benin, has been a non-executive member of the ETI Board since 2002. Mr. Andre Siaka of Cameroon, a non-executive director since 2006, was named Second Vice Chairman. Mr. Siaka is Chairman and Chief Executive of Castel Breweries in Cameroon, and a former chairman of the Employers Association of Cameroon.
About ECOBANK (www.ecobank.com)
Incorporated in Lome, Togo, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) is the parent company of the leading independent regional banking group in Africa. It currently operates in 28 African countries, namely: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. The group is also represented in France through its affiliate EBI S.A. in Paris. ETI also has a presence in Tanzania and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where it holds licenses but is not yet operational.
ETI is listed on the stock exchanges in Lagos, Accra and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) - the BRVM. The Group is owned by more than 180,000 local and international institutional and individual shareholders. It has over 11,000 employees from 29 different countries in over 750 branches. Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals.
