Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe became the new managing director of Fidelity Bank on January 1, 2021, with a focus on improving the bank’s impressive results.
That followed an approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which made her become the first female executive to lead Fidelity Bank, after her appointment into the bank’s board in 2015 as an executive director.
Before her elevation as the MD, Onyeali-Ikpe, a lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in the banking industry, was the bank’s Executive Director, Lagos and South-West.
She had worked in several high grade banks including Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Citizens International Bank/Enterprise Bank, where she held management positions in the legal, treasury, investment banking, retail/commercial banking and corporate banking fields.
She had also previously served as an executive director at two different banks -Enterprise Bank (now Heritage Bank) and later, Fidelity, where she is now the chief executive officer.
A citation on her described Onyeali-Ikpe as ‘well regarded’ and ‘turnaround specialist’ with vast knowledge with which she helped reposition her erstwhile bank, Enterprise Bank, before joining Fidelity.
Onyeali-Ikpe holds an LL.B degree from the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka and an LL.M from Kings’ College, London. She takes over from erstwhile MD of the bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, who retired on December 31, 2020, after the expiration of his contract.
She is now well positioned to consolidate on the bank’s tradition of stable leadership since inception. Six years before her latest appointment, she had been an integral part of the transformation team at Fidelity Bank.
She also contributed to the bank’s robust human capital capabilities, governance and succession policies, the bank’s chairman, Ernest Ebi, said.
Onyeali-Ikpe is expected to further drive Fidelity Bank’s achievements to improve on customer case, which in the last financial year, increased by 121 per cent from 2.4 million to 5.3 million. The bank also witnessed digital banking penetration improvement from 1.0 per cent to 50.1 per cent and improved on accounting for 28.4 per cent of total fee income.·
Fidelity grew profit before tax from N9bn to N30.4bn and raised return on equity from 5.5 per cent to 13.3 per cent.
Onyeali-Ikpe, an honorary senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, has attended various executive programmes at top international institutions. The list includes Said Business School at University of Oxford, London Business School, University of Chicago and Harvard Business School.·
She also attended Wharton University of Pennsylvania, USA, INSEAD at France, IMD at Lausanne, Switzerland and the Lagos Business School, among others.
