FirstBank of Nigeria Limited has announced a phased corporate name change for its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The affected Sub-Saharan African branches are FBNBank Sierra Leone, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank DRC, and the UK branch, known formally as FBNBank UK.
In a statement titled, “FirstBank Announces A Name Change Of Its Subsidiaries, Reiterates Its Commitment To Boosting Cross-Border Business Opportunities In Africa And The World,” and signed by Folake Ani-Mumuney, the Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, First Bank, on Thursday, the bank said that affected banks are now to be known and addressed as FirstBank UK, FirstBank Sierra Leone, FirstBank Gambia, and FirstBank DRC.
The bank went further to say that the Ghana, Senegal, and Guinea subsidiaries will be next in the phased name change implementation.
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According to the bank, the name change was necessary to “align the subsidiaries with the parent brand and to enjoy the strong heritage and brand equity built by FirstBank Nigeria in its 129 years of banking leadership. This will further enhance the quality of service delivery, resulting in better brand clarity, uniformity, and consistency across all the markets where the bank operates.”
As a financial group committed to nation-building, it said that it had taken these giant performance strides on its unique growth trajectory as it continues to build distinctive capabilities through partnerships and the constant drive to reinvent itself.
The numerous awards won over the years show how committed and devoted the financial group has been to investing on the African continent. Some of these awards include Best Private Bank for Sustainable Investing in Africa 2023 by Global Finance Awards; Best Corporate Bank in Western Africa 2022 by Global Banking & Finance; Best CSR Bank Africa by International Business Magazine in 2022; and being ranked as number one in Nigeria in terms of overall performance, profitability, efficiency, and return on risk by the Top 100 African Bank Rankings 2022 released by The Banker Magazine from the stables of the Financial Times.
Adesola Adeduntan, CEO of FirstBank Group, speaking on the name change, said, “The name change, which coincides with FirstBank’s 129th founding anniversary (March 31st, 2023) is indeed a milestone reflective of our resolve to continuously provide the gold standard of excellence and value as we put our customers First. The new identity of the subsidiaries contributes to an enhanced brand presence. It helps our customers and stakeholders better appreciate the value of the diversified product suites, competitive pricing, and extensive business networks the FirstBank Group offers. These include our commitment to boosting cross-border businesses, including trade and investment opportunities essential to enhancing trade relations amongst countries, thereby strengthening the economies of host communities and reducing poverty.”
