Miriam Olusanya appointed as GTBank boss — its first female MD ever

The Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) has appointed Miriam Olusanya as the new managing director of GTBank, its banking subsidiary.

In November 2020, GTB announced that it had obtained the approval-in-principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reorganise the bank into a financial holding company.

On Tuesday, the company unveiled its new brand identity to commemorate the listing of its shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

Erhi Obebeduo, the company’s secretary, announced her appointment in a statement on Wednesday.

Olusanya, who until her appointment was an executive director at the bank, will be the bank’s first female MD since it was established in 1990.

She is said to have over 23 years of banking experience across various units, including transaction services, asset and liability management, financial markets, corporate finance and investor relations.

She joined GTbank as an executive trainee and rose to the position of general manager until she was appointed executive director in 2018.

The company also announced a new board of GTCO directors and changes to the GTBank board, adding that all the appointments had been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“GTCO’s board will comprise Sola Oyinlola as chairman of the board, Segun Agbaje as the group chief executive officer, Adebanji Adeniyi as executive director, Cathy Echeozo as a non-executive director, Suleiman Barau and Helen Bouygues as independent non-executive directors,” the statement reads.

“GTBank Board will comprise Mr Ibrahim Hassan as chairman of the Board, Mrs Miriam Olusanya as managing director, Mr Jide Okuntola as Deputy Managing Director, Mr Haruna Musa as Executive Director, Mr Olabode Agusto as Independent Non-Executive Director, Ms Imoni Akpofure and Mrs Victoria Adefala as Independent Non-Executive Directors.”

Segun Agbaje, the group CEO of GTCO, said, “We believe that a holding company structure will allow us to take advantage of new business opportunities in the emerging competitive landscape and strengthen our earnings base.”

“We are very excited to get started on the next phase of our incredible journey to driving Africa’s growth by making end-to-end financial services easily accessible to every African and African business by leveraging technology and strategic partnerships.

“As a bank, we were always looking to meet every customer need; with our corporate reorganisation, we will be able to do more to help our customers thrive in this new world of digital technologies and unprecedented possibilities.”