Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has as part of activities marking its 50th anniversary, conferred the fellowship of the institute, on Mr. Ladi Balogun, group managing director/chief executive officer of First City Monument Bank (FCMB).
Mr. Segun Aina, the Institute’s president, said the investiture was in recognition of his meritorious services, commitment to professional responsibilities and valuable contributions to the finance industry in particular and the economy in general over the years.
Ladi holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom and an MBA from Harvard Business School, United States of America.
He has over 20 years experience in commercial and investment banking in Europe, the United States of America and Africa.
Ladi began his banking career in 1993 at Morgan Grenfell and Co Limited, where he worked in the areas of risk management and corporate finance (debt origination).
He was responsible for managing the bank’s trading and investment positions in debt instruments numerous complex debt deals in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Asian sub-continent.
Subsequently, he worked at Citibank New York before returning to Nigeria as the executive assistant to the chairman and chief executive of First City Merchant Bank Ltd in 1996.
He has since then worked in various areas of the bank, including Treasury, Corporate Banking and Investment Banking, strategy and business development. In 1997, he was appointed executive director, and deputy managing director in 2001 and Managing Director in 2005.
During his tenure as managing director and subsequently group managing director, he has led the organisations transformation from a privately owned merchant bank to one of Nigeria’s top 10 banking groups with over 500,000 shareholders, 270 branches, 2 million customers, 20% market share in personal loan origination and a presence in 2 continents. He has also led the acquisition and integration of four banks with FCMB in the last 8years.
He is a member of Young Presidents Organisation, advisory board member of African Leadership Network and also an advisory board member of Helios Investment Partners, a leading pan African private equity firm. He sits on the board of several companies in Nigeria and abroad.
The CIBN also conferred fellowship awards on 52 bankers while 123 senior bankers were admitted into the honourary senior membership cadre of the institute among whom were: Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, deputy governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Mr. Emeka Emuwa, GMDs/CEOs of Union Bank of Nigeria; Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, Wema Bank Nigeria Plc; Mrs. Bola Adesola, Standard Chartered Bank; Mrs. Sola David-Borha, Stanbic IBTC.
Others include Mr. Ayorinde, Olabode, Pro-Chancellor, Achiever University and Mr. Bismarck Rewane, chief executive officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited.