The board of Ecobank Group has congratulated and thanked Mr. Patrick Akinwuntan, the regional executive and managing director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, for his meritorious service for the financial institution spanning over 25 years.
The bank in a statement on Monday, had announced that Akinwutan would retire in January 2022, upon reaching the retirement age. The bank also announced the appointment of Jubril Mobolaji Lawal, as its new managing director designate.
Commenting on Akinwuntan’s retirement, Ade Ayeyemi, CEO, Ecobank Group, said: “We
warmly congratulate Patrick as he prepares to retire having given over 25 years of solid contributions to Ecobank. I extend my immense gratitude to Patrick for his long, illustrious and successful career that is now culminating in a well-deserved retirement. His contributions to the Ecobank Group have been invaluable. On behalf of the entire Ecobank Group, I thank him for his years of commitment to the pan-African ideals of Ecobank, his loyalty and hard work in the various positions he has held, most recently as managing director of Ecobank Nigeria, where he has repositioned the franchise for growth. Patrick is leaving an indelible mark and will continue to be a cherished member of the Ecobank family.”
On her part, the chairman of Ecobank Nigeria, Mrs. Bola Adesola congratulated Akinwuntan for his dedicated service to the Ecobank Group “as a whole and the significant work that he has done in repositioning Ecobank Nigeria. On behalf of the board of Ecobank Nigeria, I wish him a long and happy retirement.”
In his words, humility-personified Akinwuntan said: “It has been a rare privilege to have had the honour of serving for over a quarter of a century at Africa’s most exciting and unrivalled pan-African banking champion,
Ecobank. I am exceedingly thankful to God, my family, friends, all Ecobankers, our founders, shareholders, regulators and all our customers and stakeholders for the support and help that they have given on this journey.”
Within a significantly short space of three years as Ecobank Nigeria boss, the astute banker used his Midas touch to turn things around for the financial institution.
The seasoned banker has been able to change Ecobank’s narrative to a financial institution to reckon with. His superlative, uncommon innovations and transformational strides at the bank have continued to take industry watchers by surprise.
Akinwuntan started his career with Ecobank in 1996. He has held various senior and executive management positions in the over 25 years he has spent with the Ecobank Group, during which he has been based in Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. Before his appointment as regional executive and managing director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick was the group executive, Consumer Banking, where he was responsible for leading the consumer banking business across Ecobank’s global network of 39 countries, 35 of which are in Africa.
He managed the group’s digital transformation journey and has been instrumental in the development of the world-class digital products and services that Ecobank provides today.