Women in Business: Ireti Samuel- Ogbu

Ireti Samuel-Ogbu has been named the new CEO for Citibank Nigeria Limited. This further demonstrates Citi’s commitment to building an inclusive and diverse work force. As the first female CEO of the bank, she joins a distinguished group of women who make up over a third of Citi’s CEOs across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

She replaces Akin Dawodu after his appointment as Citi Cluster Head for Sub Saharan Africa. According to Dawodu, “Ireti is a stellar choice to lead Citi’s Nigeria franchise. Her skill set and experience are perfectly suited to the role and we are all very excited to have her on board. I am confident that she will lead the business on to bigger and better things” he said.

Prior to being appointed CEO, she was the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Head, Payments and Receivables, Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) under Citi’s Institutional Clients Group (ICG) based in London, UK. She has also been on the Board of Citibank Nigeria Limited for the last 5 years as a non-Executive Director.

Citi has been serving the banking needs of its local and global clients in Nigeria since 1984. Samuel-Ogbu will be responsible for leading and protecting the franchise and, with the talented and experienced team in Nigeria, continue to drive performance. She will assist Citi’s institutional clients by harnessing the potential of their significant product, functional and geographic capabilities in Nigeria and the region.

Samuel-Ogbu’s appointment has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Olayemi Cardoso, the Chairman of Citibank Nigeria Limited, in his statement said “I am particularly pleased with Ireti’s appointment. Her stellar career began at Citi (then Nigeria International Bank), and she has distinguished herself as a leader for over 30 years. I have enjoyed working with her as a non-Executive Director and the Board and I are truly pleased to see her emerge as the very first female CEO of Citibank Nigeria Limited.”

For the past 32 years, Samuel-Ogbu has held various roles across Citi’s businesses in the UK, Nigeria and South Africa, having worked in each of these countries twice. Previous roles have included Relationship Management with Global Subsidiaries Group and the Public Sector Banking Team, as well as TTS Sales, Corporate Finance and leading Citi’s TTS business in two of the largest markets in Africa.

As a champion of diversity and inclusion, Samuel-Ogbu co-founded two impactful mentorship initiatives within Citi – the Sapphire Leadership Program for Middle East and Africa (MEA) and the Momentum Program in the UK. The Sapphire Leadership Program is targeted at middle managers within Citi across MEA and the Momentum Program is targeted at undergraduates who were paired with Citi mentors. Both programs seek to provide new career tools, mentorship and networking opportunities

She is currently the EMEA co-Chair for Citi Women’s Affinity group and represents EMEA on the Global Affinity Steering Committee at Citi that is co-Led by Citi’s President, Jane Fraser.

Samuel-Ogbu is a Lead Contributor and Thought-Leader in various Banking and Fintech Forums across EMEA and has won awards in the UK and South Africa, including Financial Service Leader of the year 2019 at Black British Business Awards, Innovate Finance Women in FinTech Power List, 2017 and Best Professional Executive, 2009, at the Nigeria Achievement Awards (presented in South Africa by the former President Goodluck Jonathan)

She obtained a BA Hons Accounting and Finance from Middlesex University, UK and has an MBA from the University of Bradford, UK.

Commenting on her appointment, Samuel-Ogbu said, “I’m delighted to be returning to Nigeria where I started my career more than three decades ago. I look forward to working with our talented team to bring the best of Citi to our clients whilst enabling growth and economic progress.”

Citi is a leading global bank with approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions.