Mr. Arnold Ekpe is an accomplished banker with over 30 years’ experience building successful African and international financial institutions. He is well known for transforming the Ecobank group from a West African bank to Africa’s largest Banking group with a presence in 35 Sub-Saharan African countries, Europe, Middle East and Asia. On his retirement in 2012, Mr. Ekpe and the Ecobank Group were respectively awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” and the “African Bank of the Year Award” by the African Banker.
Mr. Ekpe is a key proponent of financial inclusion, driven by the conviction that improving the quality and standard of the poor, low income and SMEs will be critical to future sustainable economic growth in frontier and emerging markets. Through his philanthropic work, he is actively engaged in supporting aspiring entrepreneurs, serving on advisory councils and boards, and investing in ventures in these markets.
Mr Ekpe sits on the board of Opportunity International Savings and Loans Ltd as a shareholder representative of KDB Fintech Limited. He also currently serves as: NED, KDB Fintech (UK); Chairman, Baobab Group (Pan-African microfinance company); NED and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee, Dangote Group (Nigeria); NED and Chair of the Governance & Strategy Committee of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (“PAPSS”).
He holds a Bsc in Mechanical Engeneering from the University of Manchester and a Masters in Business Administration from Manchester Business School.