Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe: Steering Fidelity Bank to unassailable heights

08051000465

TWO major recognitions bestowed on Fidelity Bank Plc and its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, MD/CEO, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, namely the Bilateral Trade Ambassador Award and the rating of the latter  amongst the top 110 Outstanding Women in Africa, who have displayed rare courage and leadership acumen in their chosen endeavours in 2022 are remarkable and should be appreciated considering the many socio-economic and cultural barriers against most females on the continent.

The honours also, which came days ahead of the second anniversary of the assumption of duty of the MD, precisely in January 2021, are further evidence of the commitment and renewed drive for excellence and improved productivity by the current management team in order to consolidate on the growth trajectory of the lender for greater benefits of shareholders and adequate returns on their investments.

Specifically, the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) at the 2022 end-of-year dinner held  at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos recently confirmed Fidelity Bank’s market leadership in the trade finance space when it conferred the Bilateral Trade Ambassador Award on the leading financial institution, at a colorful event which featured a keynote address by the guest speaker and Hon. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo as well as goodwill messages from several dignitaries from the public and business sectors.

An elated CEO while commenting on the well -deserved acceptance said, “For us at Fidelity Bank, this award is a confirmation of our market leadership in the international trade space and we are honoured to be accorded this recognition by the Nigerian -American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), adding that “a little over a month ago, we hosted the largest private-sector driven trade expo by a Nigerian company in the United Kingdom tagged the Fidelity International Trade and Creative Connect (FITCC), where we hosted more than 100 export businesses from Nigeria, off-takers in the UK, investors, regulators, media and other guests to two days of exhibitions, networking and discussions with the objective of extending Nigerian businesses trade footprint. Our commitment as a bank is to do more in this space and we welcome collaboration from the NACC members in extending Nigeria’s export footprints.”

But stakeholders were quick to attribute the lender’s successful hosting of the maiden London event to the leadership of the lawyer turned banker whose transformational agenda, initiated in January 2021, in line with the bank’s vision ‘to be number one in every market we serve and for every branded product we offer’ as well as its mission of making ‘financial services easy and accessible to our customers’, is yielding greater dividends and receiving international attention.

Prior to the Bilateral Trade Ambassador laurel, Onyeali-Ikpe, who had made history as the first female MD of the Money Deposit Bank out shone her peers having been rated amongst the top 110 Outstanding Women that have displayed uncommon courage and leadership acumen in their chosen endeavours across Africa in 2022 which is by no mean feat, and cannot be ignored.

 So, apparently  giving honour to whom it is due and recognizing her strategic role in changing the narratives about the continent, the CEO, alongside top distinguished females, were listed amongst the top 110 Outstanding Women in Africa for the year 2022.

Unveiling the recipients recently, the New Africa Magazine said they were being celebrated not only for demonstrating exceptional courage and leadership in their mission to protect the environment and defend human rights but their advocacy to change the narratives about the continent through politics, arts and culture, development and economic partnership, civil society and diplomacy.

Publisher of the magazine, Gift Chidima Nnamoko Orairu maintained that “In Africa, one needs extra hard work, dedication and focus to succeed in addition to the many factors affecting women progress on the continent at the political and socio-economic levels; while a great number of them have been silenced with violence, hate, discrimination, and isolation”.

Continuing, she added that these Pan African women have never “been silent, and have led important revolutions for democracy, freedom and social justice. They have gone on to write their names on the sands of time; breaking old records and setting new standards, smashing barriers and dictating the pace”.

Apart from being  role models to the younger generation of men and women who deserved to be loudly acknowledged and celebrated, she declared that the publication is delighted to tell their stories because “they can inspire our world to rise to their courage” adding that the 110 women featured on the New Africa Magazine October edition of the Amazon Women and will greatly inspire others by their stories and “motivate you by their humility”.

Also selected for the special recognition alongside Onyeali-Ikpe are Hon. Joyce Hilda Banda, ex-President of Malawi; Hon. Jewel Howard Taylor, Vice President of Liberia; Jamila Sedqi, First Moroccan Female Judge at the United Nations, UN Administrative Tribunal; and Pastor Faith Oyedepo, wife of the Founder, Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners’ Chapel).

But reacting to the listing of the MD, an expert in the financial services sector, who chose not to be named maintained that she truly deserved it considering the integrity and dynamic leadership of the current management, the active support of both the Board and employees especially their determination to transform the lender into a tier-one bank by 2025 with particular emphasis on seven focus areas namely: Accelerated Growth, Innovation Drive, Brand Refresh, Performance Discipline, Digital Transformation, Service Excellence and Workforce Transformation.

Truly, since assuming duty as MD/CEO in January  2021 when the bank announced its ambitious agenda, its financial results have indicated significant growth on key reporting lines and improved assessments by Fitch Ratings which upgraded the lender’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from ‘B-’ to ‘B’, reflecting its increased creditworthiness.

Most significantly too, the globally acclaimed rating agency further raised the bank’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘A(nga)’ from ‘BBB+(nga)’ attributing the upgrade to its improving business profile and resilient financial metrics, stressing that, “Fidelity’s Long- and Short-Term IDRs are driven by its standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by its Viability Rating (VR) of ‘b’ ’’.

Before then, the MD had despite the challenging business environment,

driven Fidelity Bank’s financial performance for the full year ended December 31, 2021 to a record profit before tax (PBT) leap of 35.7percent to N38.1 billion from N28.1 billion in 2020 financial year.

Reputed as one of the best managed commercial banks in the country and ranked the 6th largest bank in Nigeria with a market share of above 5percent across key indices, the lender’s deposit mobilization that year also produced astonishing result with the bank’s total customer deposits rising by 19.2percent to N2.024trillion from N1.699trillion in 2020, driven by increased deposit mobilization across all deposit types including demand, savings and tenor deposits.

Other major achievements recorded by the bank under her include the release of $421 million to settle a Eurobond due on October 13 this year, sustained growth across key financial indices in the first  9 months 2022 results with Gross Earnings increasing by 38.7% YoY to N241.9bn on account of 53.1% growth in interest and similar income to N210.4bn from N137.4bn in 9M 2021 even as upward swing in Interest Income was driven by improved yield on earnings assets and 16.3% YTD expansion in earnings base to N2,579.0bn.

It is note worthy also, that the lender’s recent bold move to expand services from the local market beyond Nigeria under the incumbent management team paid off handsomely when Fidelity Bank entered into a binding agreement to acquire a 100 per cent equity stake in Union Bank UK Plc for which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had already issued “No Objection” letter for the deal but still subject to the approval of the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) of the United Kingdom.

Underscoring the significance of the acquisition, the CEO noted, “This transaction aligns with our strategic plan of expanding our service touch points beyond the Nigerian market and providing straight-through services that meet and exceed the needs of our growing clients. The diverse service bouquet and business model of Union Bank UK offered a compelling synergy, and we hope to build on the existing capacity to create a scalable and more sustaining service franchise that will support the wider ecosystem of our trade businesses and diaspora banking services.”

A full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 7.2 million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels, Fidelity Bank under Onyeali-Ikpe was recently recognized as the Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking & Finance Awards and bagged awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.

Based on the milestones already attained, coupled with the tenacity of purpose and unblemished over three decades career, a financial analyst  insisted that the MD in conjunction with the board and staff have the needed capability and focus  to continuously render cutting edge services and impactful corporate social responsibility, CSR, to the bank’s teeming customers and communities where they operate to further improve its bottom line for the benefit of shareholders.