Women in Business: Bimbola Wright

In 2014, FBN Holdings Plc acquired 100% equity in Kakawa Discount House Limited and subsequently secured approval to commence merchant banking operations as FBN Merchant Bank (now FBNQuest Merchant Bank). The acquisition served as a strategic fit into the FBN Holdings portfolio and created an institution with a stronger balance sheet and access to a wider universe of funding sources.

Bimbola Wright heads the Corporate Banking Group at FBN Merchant Bank Limited, leading the team in charge of corporate relationships across the value chain. Most of her 26 years in banking were spent in NAL Bank (now part of Sterling Bank), with the last 8 years in Kakawa Discount House. Her experience spans Treasury & Financial Institutions, Strategy & Research, Wealth Management and Corporate Banking.

When people move careers, it is obviously because they have found a place where their essence is understood and their goals achievable. Many people are in jobs they aren’t happy about and for financial stability or pressing needs, they succumb to working in a place that doesn’t guarantee their peace. This is not the case for Bimbola.

Wondering why Bimbola is with FBN Merchant Bank? Let me tell you why. FBN Merchant Bank’s commitment to finding innovative solutions for their client base of high net-worth individuals (HNIs), small and medium enterprises (SMEs), corporations, financial institutions and governments is one of the many reasons she works with them. FBN Merchant Bank also caters to the diverse financial needs of its clients. Their distinctive heritage as an organisation allows them to leverage specialisation of the subsidiaries of their parent company to enhance delivery and provide world-class client solutions.

Bimbola’s key responsibilities in the course of her career have involved driving various initiatives including establishing the Private Banking Group and leading the TQM implementation both in NAL as well as managing diversity matters, anchoring CSR activities and co-coordinating the Balanced Scorecard project to implement a new performance management framework in Kakawa.

Bimbola was a member of the Board of Directors of Kakawa Asset Management from 2006 till 2012 and was Chairman of its Board Investment Committee from 2008 till 2012. As part of her contribution to the development of the Nigerian financial market, Bimbola served on various committees including the Advisory Committee of the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System and the Code of Conduct Committee of the Money Market Association. In addition to serving as an Executive Council Member of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), Bimbola is also an Alternate Director on the Board of Junior Achievement Nigeria.

She obtained a BSc from University of Surrey, MA University of Kent at Canterbury, Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. She is also a member of the Institute of Management (Chartered). She partook in Management programmes at Wharton (University of Pennsylvania), London Business School and Euromoney, UK.

Recently, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, the investment banking and asset management business of FBN Holdings Plc, approved by the Nigeria Customs Service as the first designated merchant bank in Nigeria authorised for the collection of customs duties and taxes.

Bimbola has this to say about the development. “In our continued effort to make our service offering more robust, seamless and convenient for our customers, we constantly innovate and introduce value-adding solutions to facilitate the international trade activities and requirements of our clients. Being the first merchant bank in Nigeria to be authorised for custom duties collection is a development we are very proud of, and we are excited to further expand the scope of support we provide our customers.

“The trade services business within FBNQuest Merchant Bank is responsible for delivering international trade and related solutions, by collaborating with the coverage and corporate banking arm of the institution. The bank is also set to fully implement its trade Information system early next year, which will serve as a hub for end to end execution of customers trade transactions,” Wright said.