Emefiele, CBN’s next helmsman

Godwin Emefiele

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 Officeron 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.

culled from PUNCH