Not much is known about the Group Managing
Director/Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who has
been nominated by President Goodluck Jonathan to succeed Mr. Lamido Sanusi as
the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in June.
This is apparently because of his little public
profile.
Emefiele is an economic and finance professional
with experience in banking and academics. His calm demeanour bodes well for the
role of an economic manager and bank regulator, according to analysts.
His nomination came few hours after the
Presidency announced the suspension of Sanusi as the CBN governor, and
appointed Mrs. Sarah Alade, a deputy governor at the central bank, as the
acting governor.
Emefiele, who took over from Jim Ovia at the helm
of Zenith Bank, is credited with taking the bank to a higher level, with its
rating as one of the top three banks in the country and ranked among 500 global
brands.
Under his leadership, the bank is credited to
have performed brilliantly, recorded impressive annual profits and also assumed
grater market value.
Emefiele graduated as the best student in the
Masters of Business Administration (Finance) programme from the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, having earlier obtained a Second Class Upper degree in Banking
and Finance from the same institution in 1984.
He deepened his knowledge of macroeconomics at
the Oxford University, and has qualifications in negotiation, strategy,
leadership, critical thinking and delivering value/profit from the Harvard
University, Stanford University and University of Pennsylvania (Wharton
Business School).
Emefiele, who joined Zenith Bank at its
inception, was appointed Deputy Managing Director in 2001. Prior to this
appointment, he was the bank’s Executive Director in charge of Corporate
Banking, Treasury, Financial Control and Strategic Planning.
He has over 23 years of banking experience and
became the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer on August 1, 2010.
The bank became the first in the industry to
record N100bn after tax profit in a financial year in 2012.
Emefiele is said to be an expert in forecasting
and leverages on his acuity and calculated-risk-taking skills to crystallise
any benefits from existing and future opportunities.
According to some analysts, Emefiele’s
achievements at Zenith Bank since he took over stand him out as an accomplished
banker and manager of human and material resources.
An unassuming person, he is said to understand
banking and the Nigerian economy like the palms of his hands.
Before he came into banking, he was a lecturer at
UNN and the University of Port Harcourt, where he taught finance, bank
management and insurance.
Currently, Zenith is rated the largest bank in
Nigeria and the seventh largest in Africa by tier-1 capital. Forbes and CNBC
Africa rank it as the third biggest company in West Africa.
Under Emefiele’s watch, Zenith Bank shares are
currently trading on the London Stock Exchange, following a listing of $850m
worth of its shares at $6.80 each in a major step aimed at improving liquidity
of the stock through Global Depository Receipts.
But local analysts and investors seem to know
little about the man Emefiele, apparently because of he rarely makes public
comments.
The Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management
Limited, a Lagos-based research and financial advisory firm, Mr. Johnson
Chukwu, said because Emefiele was not given to public comments, it might be
difficult for investors to place his personality and economic philosophy.
Chukwu said the lack of clarity on his economic
policy orientation “might create uncertainties in the financial market with the
possible exit of some foreign portfolio investors, depletion of Nigeria’s
foreign reserves, pressure on the naira exchange rate and increase in fixed
income yield in the next couple of days.”
Analysts at Afrinvest Research believe Emefiele
will uphold the good policies of Sanusi, given his track record at Zenith Bank
and how he built on the successes of his predecessor, Ovia.
They, however, raised doubt if the controversial
exit of Sanusi would not lead to political interference that might subsequently
mar Emefiele’s performance.
Analysts at BGL Plc commended the Federal
Government for moving swiftly to propose the Zenith Bank boss as the successor
to the suspended governor.
Although it is not clear yet what his policy
focus will be if his appointment is confirmed by the Senate, Emefiele’s
management style at Zenith Bank suggests that he makes decisions carefully to
prevent unnecessary uncertainties and disruptions; something Nigeria needs at
this time, according to BGL analysts
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