Since his appointment as MD/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Limited in 2016, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan has completely transformed the financial institution and has made it attractive to every strata of the society. From an institution that used to be perceived as an old-generation bank, FirstBank is now a darling to all as it leverages latest digital tools to meet its customers’ needs.

Also, under Adeduntan’s leadership, the 128-year old bank has made huge contributions to national development, thereby stimulating development, setting standards and motivating excellent output across sectors. Clearly, these contributions to national development were what endeared Adeduntan to President Muhammadu Buhari who recently saluted him on his recognition by Cranfield University, UK, one of the most prestigious citadels of learning in Europe. Adeduntan will on Wednesday, June 22, be conferred with Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa and he would be delivering an address to the graduating class of the university. This feat, the president in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina, described as, “another testament to the fact that Nigeria is blessed with the brightest and the best in all areas of human endeavor.” Buhari lauded Adeduntan for being a role model to the younger generation, showing that hard work pays, and with resourcefulness and doggedness, great heights are achievable.

Adeduntan holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Ibadan, Master’s in Business Administration from Cranfield University, and is Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), as well as Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

The president sent best wishes to Adeduntan and family as he hoisted Nigeria’s flag proudly to receive an honor Cranfield University said was in recognition of his outstanding contribution to business. Incidentally, Buhari’s commendation came on the day the bank successfully held its AGM which showed a stellar performance in its financials, a transformational result that put the bank on course to reclaiming its leadership position of the financial sector.

Adeduntan has a distinguished career in finance having held senior positions at Citibank Nigeria, KPMG and Arthur Andersen Nigeria. He studied at Cranfield University as a British Chevening Scholar, achieving an MBA in 2005.

Commenting on the honour by Cranfield University, the FirstBank boss said: “I am extremely humbled and most grateful to the university for this recognition. My time at Cranfield served as a catalyst for my professional and personal development propelling me to the leadership position I occupy today.

“I am a firm believer in talent management, being vital to further accelerate Africa’s growth to enable it to benefit from its demographic dividend and the opportunities therein. I look forward to sharing my experiences with the students on the universal applicability of the skills the Cranfield MBA provides to positively impact the world.”

On his part, the Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University, Professor Karen Holford CBE FREng also congratulated Adeduntan, saying: “It is an honour to welcome Dr Adeduntan back to Cranfield to recognise all his professional achievements in this way. His own experience at Cranfield University has propelled his career forward and this serves as a true inspiration for our graduates both this year and in the future.”

Indeed, Adeduntan is an accomplished professional with distinctive international and domestic experience in commercial and investment banking, development finance, audit, and consulting; a philanthropist and leader with keen interest in providing platforms for the development of other young leaders.

The FirstBank Group, the commercial banking arm of FBN Holdings Plc, which he heads is made up of First Bank of Nigeria and subsidiaries including FBNBank UK, FBNBank DRC, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Senegal, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Sierra Leone and First Pension Custodian as well as Representative Offices in France and China.

Adeduntan is overseeing one of the most extensive transformation programmes in sub-Saharan African financial services industry, with the goal to reposition FirstBank Group to market pre-eminence.

He is leading FirstBank Group on the journey to win the most significant emerging business opportunities in the financial services industry through the development and execution of a digital-led strategy that has established FirstBank as the dominant player in digital banking.

FirstBank Group’s transformation programme, under the leadership of Adeduntan has enabled the bank to grow customer accounts from about 10 million in 2015 to over 36 million (including digital wallets), become the second largest issuer of cards in Africa with over 11.8 million issued cards, onboard over 18.6 million active customers on FirstBank’s digital banking platforms, and initiate and grow the most expansive bank-led Agent Banking Network in Africa with over 170,000 agents.

His career in banking and finance, spanning almost three decades, has earned him various recognitions and awards including Forbes Best of Africa – Outstanding Leader in Africa, Distinguished Alumnus Award by both the Cranfield University’s  School of Management and the University of Ibadan, African Banking Personality of the Year,  African Banker of the Year Award; Banking Icon of the Decade by the Sun Newspapers and induction into the African Leadership Magazine (ALM) Hall of Fame, Honorary Citizenship of the State of Georgia and Congressional Commendation Award from the Georgia Senate – USA, Bank CEO of the Year by the AES Excellence Club and several other awards.

He has attended various executive and leadership programmes at Harvard Business School (USA), Wharton School (USA), London Business School (UK), IESE (Spain), University of Oxford (UK), University of Cambridge (UK), CEIBS (China) and INSEAD (France). He is a fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Adeduntan’s leadership drive also reflected in First Bank Nigeria Limited’s recently released full year 2021 financial statement. The results clearly showed the strength and resilience of the iconic African elephant as well as the financial institution’s leadership in the industry. The impressive results were a reflection of the robust strength and growth of the iconic African elephant, showing that the bank has taken its rightful position among the industry leaders.

In addition, it showed the level of work the current board, management and staff of the bank have put in to turn the tide in the 128 years old institution with entrenched corporate governance.

The full year 2021 performance by the bank represented a shift in the financial institution’s performance trajectory and was made possible through its undeterred commitment in pursuing its transformational agenda; cutting across customer-led innovation, building a digitalised bank, culture change, reinventing the bank’s workplace and safeguarding its assets for the digital age.

For the first time, FirstBank Group posted the best result in more than a decade history of the bank by crossing the N100 billion profit line. Specifically, in the full year 2021 financial statement, the FirstBank Group reported a 73.9 per cent growth in its profit after tax to N117.8 billion, as against the N67.8 billion recorded as of December 2020, just as its profit before tax stood at N130.9 billion, which was a significant rise by 77.9 per cent year-on-year, as against the N73.6 billion it was as of December 2020.

FirstBank’s gross earnings also increased by 30.3 per cent to N716.8 billion in 2021, up from N550.3 billion it was as of December 2020. Also, it recorded non-interest income of N342.2 billion in the year under review, which was 106.4 per cent higher than the N165.8 billion recorded as of December 2020. As a result of years of strategic restructuring of its balance sheet and operations, its gross earnings also moved northwards by 30.3 per cent, its total assets was up 15.9 per cent to N8.5 trillion as of the end of 2021, as against the N7.4 trillion recorded the previous year, just as its customer deposits also climbed by 19.5 per cent to N5.6 trillion, up from the N4.7 trillion recorded the previous year. The bank’s customer loans and advances also improved by 28 per cent to N2.8 trillion in the year under review, up from N2.2 trillion the previous year.

FirstBank has shown innovation, resilience and commitment to growth by significantly reducing its non-performing loans (NPL) from 25% in 2016 to an acceptable level of 6.1% in 2021.

To demonstrate that the bank’s performance in 2021 was not a fluke, the Bank equally performed excellently well in Q1 2022. FirstBank recorded 32% increase in gross earnings to N180bn in Q1’22 from N136.6bn in Q1’21. Profit after tax was up 108% to N32.4 billion (Q1’22) relative to N15.6 billion (Q1’21). This impressive performance is hinged on robust loan portfolio, effective cost structure and increased digital services.FirstBank recorded the highest decline in its cost-to-income ratio in Q1 2022, dropping from 79.5% recorded in Q1 2021 to 67.03% amongst tier-1 Banks in the review period.

With FirstBank under Adeduntan, the safety of customers and the security of their transactions come first. This has ensured the bank keeps the trust of Nigerians gained over the many years of its enduring legacy of safety and security.

The bank also delivers unique and bespoke financial services solutions across all customer segments underpinned by its commitment to innovation and the customer experience. It also leverages its strong investment banking capabilities to support clients in defining and executing innovative debt solutions as well as offer strategic advice at the highest level, arrange tailor-made financing structures, manage risk and ultimately help clients to realise their aspirations

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership.

Over the years, the bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the federal government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner. It is expected that the leadership excellence and recognitions accorded to Adeduntan would continue to reflect positively on the FirstBank brand and fundamentals of the bank so that the elephant will continue to stand ‘gidigba.’

Culled from ThisDay

In furtherance of the need to empower female business owners across the country, The ELOY Foundation, in partnership with FirstBank presents the ELOY Foundation Business Shower, created to support female entrepreneurs on their journey to building sustainable businesses.

The support from FirstBank will be carried out through the FirstGem loan scheme designed for female-owned or partnered MSMEs and its SMEConnect initiative.

The partnership focuses on key sectors of the economy and designed to have female entrepreneurs exposed to essential business skills like training, networking and the ELOY Foundation Business Toolkit, a compilation of business survival skills nuggets. The business shower will avail businesses a platform to pitch their ideas to win seed grants and join the ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Programme 2022. Participants will also be able to access the FirstGem single digit loan, where eligible

The ELOY Foundation Business Shower will hold in 5 locations across the country. Kicking off in Lagos on 23 June 2022, the train moves to Port Harcourt on 25 June 2022, then Abuja on 30 June 2022. In July, Kano and Abia will host female business owners on the 2nd and 7th, respectively.

The ELOY Awards Foundation Business Showers will offer an avenue to sustain women empowerment by providing entrepreneurial training and mentorship from experienced businessmen and women, arming participants with tools and information to help them grow their businesses.

According to Tewa Onasanya, Founder of the ELOY Awards Foundation, “it is not just enough to talk about empowering business owners, it is very important to sustain empowerment by providing guidance towards their business progress and giving them access to different resources to help them continue to thrive. MSMEs are the backbone of any nation and there is a great need to sustain this chain of the economy. It is on this common ground that FirstBank has partnered with the ELOY Team to contribute meaningfully in empowering women to achieve fulfilment in their chosen business endeavours.“

FIRSTBANK secures $150 million Afreximbank Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) to support businesses in Nigeria

Speaking on the partnership, Folake An-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank said, “we commend ELOY Foundation for their efforts on this initiative as the continued strengthening and inclusiveness of female driven business endeavours is essential to the growth of the national economy. We are happy to partner with ELOY Foundation on its Business Shower. Together, we will drive the entrepreneurial viability of participants and expose them to business nuggets that will take their business to the next level.

Woven into the fabric of society for over 128 years, FirstBank plays a leading role in supporting women through strategic empowerment, capacity building and mentorship programs for women in MSME, leveraging its FirstGem and SMEConnect propositions to women across diverse sectors of the economy as well as strategic partnerships with women empowerment organisations like ELOY.

Registration is currently ongoing for the ELOY Business Shower via the link below.

https://eloyawards.com/eloy-business-shower-registration/

Female business owners are encouraged to send in their business pitch video and business plan for a spot on the ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Program and a chance to win a grant for their business.

About ELOY Awards Foundation

The ELOY Awards Foundation was launched with the primary aim to empower women business owners through partnerships for access to grants and affordable finance, entrepreneurial training, mentoring and networking for sustainable empowerment.

The ELOY Awards Foundation is about empowering and challenging thousands of women to be more and do more by providing access to resources and business skills for them to be able to grow, transform and sustain their businesses, which will in turn benefit their families and the community at large.

Our watch word is SUSTAINABLE EMPOWEREMENT. That is why we have developed programs and initiatives that invest in the success and the sustainability of women owned businesses.

About FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier Bank in West Africa and the leading financial inclusion services provider in Nigeria for over 128 years.

With over 750 business locations and over 150,000 Banking Agents spread across 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services to serve its over 30 million customers. The Bank has an international presence through its subsidiaries, FBNBank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.

The Bank has been handy at promoting digital payment in the country and has issued over 10million cards, the first bank to achieve such a milestone in the country. FirstBank’s cashless transaction drive extends to having more than 10million people on its USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code and over 4.5 million people on FirstMobile platform.

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.

FirstBank has been named “Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards and “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance for 15 years. Our brand purpose is always to put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision “To be the partner of the first choice in building your future”. Our brand promise is always to deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect.

For its contribution and support towards Environmental Sustainability, especially, in Lagos, the state government, awarded Heritage Bank with its 2022 Environmental Sustainability Award.

The bank joined other corporate organisations and schools within the State, awarded for their efforts towards protecting nature and limiting the impact of climate change on Earth.

The Award was given to the bank by the state government through the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Lagos State in the commemoration of 2022 World Environment Day Celebrations in which the bank was also a major sponsor.

Speaking at the year 2022 World Environment Day finale held at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos at the weekend, the managing director/CEO, Heritage Bank Plc, Ifie Sekibo, commended Lagos state government and its ministry for the efforts exuded during environmental sustainability to protect ecosystems in supporting health and wellbeing of all creatures.

Sekibo, who was represented by the Chief Risk Officer, Heritage Bank, Mr. Kehinde Olugbemi, said: “as this year’s World Environmental Day Celebration theme implies, we have ‘Only One Earth,’ and truly, only one earth to protect. The fact is that human well-being is closely linked to the health of the environment. And our planet is reaching a breaking point. We are beginning to see the consequences of global warming on ecosystems and communities.”

Today, he said, industrialisation, though positive for human well-being on the flip side, has raked lots of havoc on human existence.

Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), he said, 24% of deaths can be traced back to avoidable environmental factors, adding that, Heritage Bank Plc has continued to prioritise and make huge commitments to environmentally sustainable practices to help build thriving communities and secure future growth potential.

“We realized that our people and other dwellers need clean air to breathe, fresh water to drink, and places to live that are free of toxic substances and hazards.

“So, as a part of our sustainability drive in the Corporate social responsibility space, we have continued to put sustainability at the heart of our decision-making for the sake of humanity and the bank’s own bottom line because a healthy planet is the backbone of nearly every industry on Earth,” he pointed out.

Earlier at the event, Lagos state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated that, there is an urgent need for everyone to focus on the need to live sustainably with nature for the benefit of mankind, adding that, this has become necessary to shift to a greener lifestyle through both policies and individual choices.

He added that sustainability of the environment is among the most pressing issues in the world today out of which the Earth faces triple planetary emergencies namely, Climate change, loss of biodiversity and Environmental Pollution.

The governor, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr. Omolaji Gaji, added that, the impact of the challenges has negatively made the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) less successful.

“With nature in emergency mode, the #OnlyOneEarth campaign for World Environment Day 2022, wants us to celebrate the planet through collective environmental action”, he said.

The governor commended Corporate Organisations, such as Heritage Bank for ensuring that the persistent drive of the State’s policy towards entrusting the legacy of greening and restoration of indigenous trees to the citizen is sustained.

Similarly, the commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello said, government through the ministry of the Environment & Water Resources has implemented several programmes to mitigate these challenges through Tree planting, Climate change summit, Environmental bees’ clubs in schools, waste to wealth and ban on open defecation.

Speaking through the Director of Sanitation Services Department, Dr. Hassan Sanuth, the PS added that, the government keyed into this call in 2021 by commencing the greening of Abraham Adesanya setback, together with restoration of some historical plants in specific locations like Agege, Idi-Mangoro where Mango trees were planted, Idi-Agbon in Ifako-Ijaiye where coconut trees were planted and in Lagos Island where breadfruit trees were planted at St. Paul Anglican Primary School, Breadfruit Lagos as part of this year’s celebration.

The guest lecturer, Dr. Ayo Tella while delivering his paper, noted that, Anthropogenic effects caused by human activities such as the felling of trees have altered the earth’s natural systems and survival of many species.

Heritage Bank had earlier donated plastic bins to Navy Town Secondary School, Ojo, Lagos, to mark the World Earth Day even as it has embarked on a project to address water crisis, whilst contributing towards making clean and potable water accessible to all.

Similarly, a global open-source movement known as Liter of Light Nigeria partnered with Heritage Bank Plc to provide sustainable solar electricity for Itomaro community in Lagos State while the bank, in 2020, had been on the move to distribute over 10, 000 mosquito nets to rural dwellers.

R-L: Kehinde Olugbemi, Ag. Chief Risk Officer, Heritage Bank; Captain Babangida Zakari, Deputy Director of Coordination, Armed Forces Settlement Centre, Oshodi; Prince Ademola Docemo, MD, Lagos State Signage and Advertising (LASSA); Gaji Omobolaji Tajudeen, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Government Representative; Brigadier General Maxwell Ejike, Director of Training, Armed Forces Settlement Centre, Oshodi, as Heritage Bank wins Environmental Sustainability Award at the 2022 World Environment Day event held in Lagos State.