By Ade Jacobs
The newly appointed Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, has her job cut out in her new assignment to enhance the value and ratings of the bank in the shortest possible time.
The core target, according to insiders, is to make Fidelity Bank one of the top five banks in the country by next year, as part of the bank’s strategic plan unveiled in 2018.
Onyeali-Ikpe succeeded former chief executive officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo, on January 1, 2021. The former MD exited the bank after completing the mandatory 10-year tenure as prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
According to Start Credit, a rating agency’s reports on the biggest banks in Nigeria for 2020, Fidelity Bank Plc was ranked 7th in terms of current assets and non-current assets.
That, obviously, is not where the bank wants to be, according to insiders with the knowledge of its operation, who said the CEO is under serious pressure to change the fortunes of the bank to a tier one commercial bank within a specified time frame.
To underscore this point, the bank recently hired a former Deputy Managing Director of Skye Bank Plc, Amaka Onwughalu and two others, Nelson Chidozie Nweke and Chinedu Eric Okeke as non- executive directors to work with Onyeali-Ikpe.
The new MD has been saddled with the responsibility of transforming the plan to reality before next year. That’s a great task, experts in the sector say.
Since the bank appointed her to take over from Okonkwo, many industry watchers have been wondering what the new CEO will bring to the table as the first female Chief Executive of the bank, 21 years after it got approval from the apex bank to operate as a commercial bank.
The pressure has even become more intense now that the financial sector is facing serious challenges due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
The major question that is being asked in the financial sector is whether Onyeali-Ikpe will be able to surpass the achievements of her predecessor, in terms of growing customer deposits, increase total asset base and branch network.
The commercial bank’s handlers told 365Daily that the bank has settled the management issue and have now moved to the next phase of consolidating on the past gains, to secure the future.
In an email, last week, the bank assured customers and shareholders that the new chief executive has been groomed for the task ahead, detailing how she has been part of the successes recorded under its immediate past CEO.
The bank expressed its confidence in Onyeali-Ikpe, who it described as a seasoned, banker and administrator that would lead the commercial bank to new successes into the new decade.
It said the new MD “has been an integral part of management in the last six years and spearheaded the transformation of the directorate, leading it to profitability and sustained its impressive year-on-year growth across key performance metrics, including contributing over 28 percent of the bank’s PBT, deposits and loans.
“She is vastly experienced and has spent over 30 years working across various banks including Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Citizens International Bank/Enterprise Bank, where she held several management positions in legal, treasury, investment banking, retail/commercial banking and corporate banking.”