FBN Holdings Nigeria oldest bank has appointed three new directors for the HoldCo and two more for the Bank marking the beginning of billionaire investor, Femi Otedola’s, tenure as chairman of the holding company.
Updating the Nigerian Exchange Group of recent development within the bank, the company’s Secretary, Adewale Arogundade, announced the appointment of Olusola Adeeyo and Viswanathan Shankar as non-executive director and independent non-executive director respectively in FBN Holdings.
The company also announced Remilekan Odunlami as non-executive director for First Bank while Anil Dua and Fatima Ali were appointed as independent non-executive directors for the bank.
The appointments of the five new directors are subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Late January, FBN Holdings Plc appointed Otedola as its new Chairman to succeed Ahmad Abdullahi.
Otedola was first appointed to the Board of FBN Holdings Plc on August 15, 2023 as a Non-Executive Director.
He was recently ranked by American business magazine, Forbes, as the 20th richest African with a fortune of $1.1 billion.
Profile of the directors
Until February 2023, Mr. Adeeyo was the Chairman, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc and had previously served on the board of other reputable companies Including, Central Securities and Clearing Company Plc and Viathan Engineering Limited, among others.
- Mr. Adeeyo’s banking career started at the Corporate Banking Department of the Nigerian International Bank (Citibank) and was later moved to the reconstituted Treasury and Foreign Exchange Unlt of the same bank where he had a remarkable stint.
- He capped his banking career as part of the founding management team/owner group that built and nurtured Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited (IBTC), now Stanbic IBTC Bank Pic, as Director/Group Head, Treasury, and he was credited with significant contributions in formulating and Implementing the strategic direction of the bank.
Viswanathan Shankar, a vastly experienced personality is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gateway Partners, a private equity and alternative investments manager focused on investing in the dynamic growth markets of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
- He previously served as CEO – Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas, and member of the global board of Standard Chartered Plc.
- Prior to that, he served as Head of Investment Banking for the Asia Pacific at Bank of America. Mr. Shankar is currently a Non-Executive Director on the board of the following companies; Dangote Industries Limited, Nigeria; Vision Blue Resources, Guernsey; Gateway Real Estate Africa, Mauritius; and, Fund for Export Development in AfrIca, Egypt.
- Hls past appointments in Non-Executive roles include the boards of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore; Enterprise Singapore; Majid Al Futtaim Holdings, and Vice-Chair of the Future of Banking Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum.
Remi Odunlami has served In various management and board leadership positions such as the Director/Country Risk Manager in CitiBank Nigeria Limited where she managed the credit portfolio and enterprise risk management processes within the bank, and she was the first female in Citibank across Africa to serve as an Independent Risk Senior Credit Officer.
- She also served as the Executive Director, Chief Risk Officer in FirstBank, managing a credit portfolio in excess of N1.5 trillion, and simultaneously, as a Non-Executive Director across other FirstBank affiliated entities and subsidiary such as FirstBank UK, FBN Capital and Kakawa Discount House.
- She currently sits on the Board of Access Pensions Limited as an Independent Non-Executive Director and on the Board of Rand Merchant Bank Limited as a Non-Executive Director.
- She Is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA), honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria (CIBN), and member of the Institute of Directors (loD).
Mr. Anil Dua has sat on the boards of Standard Chartered Bank Limited in Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Cote D’Ivoire.
- He also served on the Board of Dangote GSP Offshore FZE, Seychelles International Mercantile Banking Corporation, Heirs Holdings Oil and Gas Limited, Matador Investment Management Limited and Africa Property Development Managers.
- Anil currently sits on the Board of major institutions Including, African Export-Import Bank (Egypt), Network International Plc (United Kingdom), Geregu Power Plc (Nigeria), Gateway Holdings Limited and its several other operating partners.
Mrs Fatima Ibrahim All founded Santi Food and Beverage Limited In 2015, drove the company’s strategic direction and orchestrated business development efforts that yielded over 300% growth in consumer retail and supply channels within the first five years of establishment.
- Prior to that, she co-founded Adcity Limited, establishing strategic partnerships and spearheading operational processes that expanded the business footprint across multiple regions.
- She also co-founded magnet Limited where she brought to bear her skill in policy formulation to set standards for the company’s operations thus delivering strong performance in the financials.
- She currently sits on the Board of Reconnect Health Development Initiative International, a mental health charity organisation and she also partners with other government and non-government organisations to champion the course of education for less privileged children across Nigeria.