• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Diamond’s Chizoma Okoli joins Access Board as merger completes

Chizoma Okoli

Access Bank, tier-1 lender said it has appointed Chizoma Okoli as Executive Director of its Business Banking Division a week after completing its merger with Diamond Bank.

The appointment was brought to the knowledge of the investing public in a statement signed by the company secretary of access bank and filed on Monday.

Commenting on Okoli’s appointment, Herbert Wigwe the Group Managing Director of Access Bank said the new addition would deepen the quality of the board as well as propel the bank to loftier heights.

‘’Her appointment will no doubt improve the skill set and diversity of our board and support our quest to become the world’s most respected African Bank and Africa’s gateway to the world,’’ Wigwe’s comment read in part.

Until her new appointment, Okoli was Executive Director, Business Development at Diamond Bank for about three years.

She had her first degree in law from the University of Benin in 1989 and holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, Coventry.

Okoli commenced her banking career as an executive trainee in the operations unit of Diamond bank in April 1992 and served in various capacities in the Bank until her appointment as Executive Director in September of 2016.

She has undergone training in several world class institutions and is an honorary member of the chartered institute of bankers of Nigeria.

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Last week Access Bank and Diamond formally completed the merger deal after obtaining a court sanction of the deal and approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with shares of Diamond Bank placed on full suspension by the local bourse.

Okoli’s appointment is the first announced by the tier-1 lender since the formal completion of the merger.

According to the statement, the appointment of Chindima Okoli has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

At the close of trading on Monday, Access Bank closed 6.57 percent lower to N6.40 as the stock market resumed the week on a bearish note.

In the 2018 financial year, Access Bank grew gross earnings by 15 percent to N528.75 billion from N459.08 billion garnered in 2017, while after-tax profit rose 58 percent to N94.98 billion from N60.09 billion posted in the previous year.

 

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