TheCable

Nnamdi Okonkwo, the managing director of Fidelity Bank, has been named the banking sector CEO of the decade at the recently held BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.

Fidelity Bank was also named the Commercial Bank of the Year.

Obaro Odeghe, the bank’s executive director for corporate banking who received the award on behalf of the bank, dedicated it to the bank’s customers.

“The reward for hard work they say is more work. We are encouraged to continue to do more for the benefits of our customers and the overall economy” he said.

Okonkwo was honoured for “transforming Fidelity Bank into one of the fastest-growing and most trusted financial services brands in Nigeria” while the bank won the award in recognition of its support for economic activities in the real sectors of the Nigerian economy, particularly for its consistency in enhancing the development and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Gbolahan Joshua, the bank’s executive director for operations and technology, received the award on behalf of Okonkwo and dedicated it to all stakeholders including, customers, shareholders, board of directors, executive management and staff.

“This comes as a crowning glory to the contributions of Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo to Fidelity Bank, the banking industry and the entire Nigerian economy. As you may be aware, he is retiring as our CEO, after the completion of contract tenure, by December 31, 2020,” Joshua said.

“He has asked me to dedicate this to all the stakeholders of the bank, including his family and mentors. According to him his modest achievements and contributions would not have been possible without their unalloyed support and help.”

The organisers listed some of Okonkwo’s achievements to include the rebranding project which caused an increased youth appeal; revamping of the bank’s performance management culture to instil a culture of performance; technology refresh and digital transformation in furtherance of the digital retail strategy he implemented.

Under his leadership, the bank was reported to have witnessed a 236 percent growth in profit before tax from N9 billion to N30.4 billion in 2019; customer and savings deposit also grew from N806.3 billion to N1.35 trillion and from N83.3 billion to N312.1 billion respectively.

Other achievements of the Fidelity CEO include net loans and advances growth of 174 percent from N426.1 billion to N1.16 trillion; customer base increase by 121 percent from 2.4 million to 5.3 million and digital banking penetration improvement from 1.0 percent to 50.1 percent, accounting for 28.4 percent of total fee income.

BAFI Awards was established by BusinessDay Newspapers to identify and celebrate organisations, teams and individuals that have achieved excellence in the delivery of financial services across banking, insurance, fintech, capital markets, markets infrastructure and technology, investment management, pension fund, trustees, registrars, stockbroking, private equity and digital currencies.

An awards review committee made up of analysts and members of the BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU), evaluates and selects winners using parameters such as profitability, net interest margins (NIM), loan to asset ratios, cost to income ratios, non-performing loans (NPL), net asset value (NAV), share price performance, return on average asset, deposits and loan growth, return on average equity (ROAE) amongst other financial and non-financial indices.