WEMA Bank Plc announces CEO Retirement and Appointment of new MD/CEO

Wema Bank Plc. has announced the retirement of its Managing Director/CEO, Ademola Adebise.

Adebise according to a press statement will be proceeding on terminal leave from January 2, 2023, after over 13 years of meritorious service on the Board of the Bank.

The statement indicated he will be succeeded by Moruf Oseni, currently the Deputy Managing Director.

Ademola Adebise was appointed as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank Plc in June 2018.

He joined the Bank in June 2009 as an Executive Director and rose to become the Deputy Managing Director in 2015.

Under his leadership, he expanded the bank’s footprints to other locations in Nigeria, improved its performance and spearheaded the first dividend payment in 13 years. Since then, he has ensured consistent dividend payment over the last 4 years. The Bank has grown its Total Assets by 155 per cent from N470 billion to over N1.2trillion. Deposits also grew by 214 per cent from N350 billion to N1.1 trillion.

He initiated the partnership with Bank of Africa to support its customers across the African continent which has increased the Bank’s market share and customer base.

All of these led to an additional growth of 2 million customer accounts in Nigeria and a market share of 3 per cent of industry volumes. The Bank is now the leading collection bank for state and government agencies due to its effective and efficient platform.

The Bank’s rating by agencies was upgraded to BBB investment grade.

The Bank significantly changed the digital landscape through the ALAT platform. The innovative platform also came tops in the KPMG Digital Scorecard for leading retail banks in Nigeria and this was based on in-depth insights into the state of user experience on retail banks’ digital channels.

During his tenure, the Bank launched the first SME Business School for capacity building and empowerment of SMEs. This has benefitted over 20,000 small businesses.

The Bank also became one of the founding members of the United Nations Environmental plan for financial institutions (UNEP-FI) and continues to provide digital solutions for societal impact.

The Chairman of the Board, Babatunde Kasali on behalf of the Board and Management, expressed his profound gratitude to Ademola for his service and wished him the best in his future endeavors.

In the meantime, the Bank has announced the appointment of Moruf Oseni as the Managing Director/CEO subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Oseni joined Wema Bank in June 2012 as an Executive Director. He has over 25 years of experience with more than 16 years at Senior and Executive Management levels.

Oseni was an Executive Director for six years and Deputy Managing Director for the last four years and has demonstrated ability to lead the Bank.

He presently has responsibility for the Digital Optimization Directorate which includes – Digital, Retail, Treasury, Operations, and the Technology Divisions. Oseni is also the Executive Compliance Officer of the Bank. He supervised the launch of ALAT – Nigeria’s 1st digital Bank that has received local and global awards and multiple accolades.

Before joining Wema Bank, Oseni was the CEO of MG Ineso Limited, a principal investment and financial advisory firm.

Prior to MG Ineso, he was a Vice President at Renaissance Capital, and an Associate at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup Global Markets in London.

He holds an MBA degree from the Institut European d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France, a Master’s in Finance (MiF) from the London Business School and a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He is also an alumnus of both the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of the Harvard Business School and King’s College, Lagos.