Ecobank Replaces Tanoh With a Nigerian; Essien As CEO

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mr Albert Essien as its new Chief Executive Officer.A statement by The Quadrant Company, a public relations company in Lagos, also announced the departure of the bank’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Thierry Tanoh, with effect from March 12.Essien was formerly the bank’s Deputy CEO/ Group Executive Director for Corporate and Investment Banking.Thierry Tanoh: removedEssien has been at Ecobank for more than 20 years, rising to the position of deputy group CEO two years ago.Prior to becoming Deputy CEO, Mr Essien was the Regional Head for the Anglophone West Africa (excluding Nigeria) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regions.He started his banking career in 1986 with the National Investment Bank in Accra, Ghana and joined the Corporate Banking Department of Ecobank Ghana in 1990.Ecobank, one of the biggest banks in Africa, had in the past few weeks faced some internal crisis, leading to regulators in Nigeria advising the bank to address some governance issues.Matters came to a head two weeks when a major shareholder of the bank, he South African government-owned Public Investment Corporation’s (PIC), demanded the immediate removal of the Ivorian Thierry Tanoh.Four senior executives had called earlier that Tanoh step down, listing a series of allegations, including that Tanoh took a unilateral decision to dismiss finance director Laurence do Rego, contrary to a decision by the board.