Abubakar Suleiman: Driven by integrity and passion for excellence in Sterling Bank

Certainly, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, like most of his peers in the financial sector of the economy, are saddled with the task of ensuring adequate returns on investment and robust bottom line for shareholders despite the current harsh operating environment in the country.

But Abu, as he is popularly called, has remained very focused and determined to making a difference by piloting the  affairs of the bank not only on the path of sustainable growth and profitability but think outside the box in motivating both the management team and entire workforce for the institution to achieve its set targets.

And based on bank’s finances, the banker of sound repute and intimidating credentials has not disappointed the board, shareholders and the employees.

At a time the pandemic was taking its toll on the global economy last year, the CEO in conjunction with the bank’s board took several innovative steps to adjust to the new normal including a commitment of N10billion intervention fund for the domestic tourism industry immediately after the COVID-19-induced lockdown was lifted, to enhance growth in the value chain and save it from imminent collapse.

The stimulus is in line with Sterling Bank’s objective ‘to understand the needs of each customer in the communities’ it supports, by ‘consistently delivering the products and services which enhance their financial success’.

Besides, the lender also strongly believes that the private sector should support the government’s effort to enhance the quality of life of the citizens through job creation and a bright future of shared prosperity for all.

The intervention was also targetted to stimulate ‘innovation and entrepreneurship that will activate the potential of destinations across the country to attract local and international tourists’ and support recovery efforts by government to lift the economy from recession.

Before then, the bank under Abu had been implementing a programme known as the H.E.A.R.T. (Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation) which served asthe needed impetus for the selection of critical sectors for investment, in addition to its traditional businesses with a view to boosting employment generation and contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

To the admiration of many, and as part of determination to be gender-sensitive, attract and develop diverse talents at various levels, over the years, the bank had also initiated such unique programmes as the Bloom Network, Sterling Women Development Programme (SWDP), Women in Banking, Girls in Tech, Women Techsters and Sterling Embrace.

These initiatives, which have been vigorously upheld by the current management, were introduced to eliminate the under-representation of women in all areas, especially in tech roles and leadership, as well as create job opportunities for persons with disabilities for the greater good of the society, a development that clearly portrays the bank as very sensitive to gender issues.

This is against the backdrop of increasing awareness that different cultural inhibitions are at play across the country whereby most females especially the girl children, don’t have equal opportunities with their male counterparts to develop themselves intellectually, which is why they stand disadvantaged at adulthood.

Defending the initiatives, Abu maintained, “We will continue to prioritise our diversity, equity and inclusion agenda by creating equal working conditions, opportunities for promotion, and equal pay for work of equal value for women and men in the bank. I am proud of our achievements so far, but we are relentless”.

 Sterling Bank under its incumbent management has similarly carved a niche for itself through its massive investment in agriculture through soft loans to farmers not only to boost food production, so that Nigeria can depend less on imports, but as part of commitment to making the domestic agriculture value chain less hazardous and more viable for commercial lending.

The bank, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility also partnered  a firm, StearsData, for a comprehensive  report, entitled: ‘Agriculture Industry Report 2021’, which provides the most up-to-date view of the challenges and opportunities in Nigeria’s agricultural sector in a COVID-19 era.

The four-part report critically examines the country’s agricultural value chain state, state of affairs of post-COVID-19, the climate change challenge and opportunities for innovations and investments.

The lender, whose slogan is  ‘One Customer Bank’ to reflect its status as an egalitarian financial institution, where the teeming customers are considered as One in terms of seamless approaches to understanding them, their businesses and meeting their financial needs, also prides itself in its purpose to ‘Enrich Lives’.

Little wonder that the bank’s innovative schemes have begun to yield improved dividends. For instance, the bank’s audited results for the first half of this year indicated a profit after tax, PAT, of N5.69billion up from N5.42bn in H1 2020, while its gross earnings for the half-year ended June 30, 2021, was N68.61bn, compared to N66.54bn in the corresponding period of 2020.

The report further revealed that its cash and balances with the Central Bank of Nigeria stood at N331.75bn as at June 30, 2021, as against N303.314bn during the corresponding period in 2020.

So, to both the board, shareholders and teeming customers, Abu who,  assumed leadership of the bank on April 1, 2018, has lived up to their expectations.

The CEO has two decades of relevant experience spanning tax advisory, business audit and financial services.

His rich credentials include a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Abuja and an M.Sc. in Major Programmes Management from the University of Oxford as well as an alumnus of Wharton School, INSEAD, Harvard and Said Business Schools.

The board, while vouching for his capacity for the job had noted that ‘over the years, Abu has developed an outstanding strategic and operational track record across all our business areas and great relationships with customers and other stakeholders in key areas of our businesses.

‘Some of those outstanding contributions have spanned the leadership of our Corporate Treasury and Finance functions, Mergers & Acquisitions having served as Integration Director & Interim CEO of Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) prior to its consolidation into Sterling Bank and executive sponsor of some of our most successful growth initiatives,’ it added.

Described as  a seasoned CEO with exceptional ability whose emergence ‘underscores the quality of our leadership pipeline at executive level’ Abu led Sterling Bank Plc to clinch  the 2020 ‘Overall Best Workplace in Nigeria’ in the large corporate category of the Great Place to Work Institute, Nigeria (GPTW) awards held in Lagos.

Abu has also made history as the first CEO in Nigeria to virtually ring the closing gong for the trading day at the Nigerian Exchange Limted (NGX) even as the board and staff of the lender have expressed their resolve to sustain the current warm industrial relationship in the bank for it to attain set targets.